2nd Gen Montero vs 3rd Gen 4 Runner?

[dynamice]

I'm narrowing down my search. After deciding that a 80 and 60 series cruiser was out of reach for me after required maintence, MPG and being older and rustier in this north east, I diverted my search towards a 2nd Gen Monetro SR or a 3rd Gen 4 Runner.

I used to have a 2nd gen 4 runner that was a total money pit: blown headgaskets, rusting out body, no power etc, but it was a nice looking truck.

I am not planning on any hardcore crawling, just offroading and lots of highway for commuting. Looking for ample room on the inside, great reliability, ease of service and somehwat decent MPG. Needs to be an auto so the wife can drive it, and should have a rear locker for the blizzard conditions of New England. After market support isnt a huge deal as all I am planning to do are the basics(tires, bumpers, sliders, winch, lift, suspension) then alot of DIY like storage, commo etc.

I have narrowed down my search. I can find 95-1998 Montero SR's for about 3-4K and 3rd Gen 4Runners for 6-7K. Getting a Montero would save me money to put towards baselining and mods, which is a plus. On the other hand, Toyota's are pretty well known for their reliability and the 4runners do look nicer(pretty subjective). Anyone have experience with both vehicles?

 

[78Bronco]

I just recently bought the Japanese equivalent of the US Mitsubishi Montero. So far I love the truck. It has ample room for 5 adults and gear. I've had to replace the steering idler arm and one headlight. I was also considering Nissan and Toyota SUV's but found they were overpriced and had a ton of miles on them. The toyota v6's are notorious for head gaskets and being underpowered. Consider that the Montero was the Dakar champ for a number of years whereas Toyota has got nothing in that arena.

I paid $13k for a 1993 Pajero (1994 US Montero) with a 2.8L Intercooled Turbo Diesel, 4spd Auto, 122k kms, sunroof, leather, etc. It consumes 10L of diesel for every 100kms travelled (22 US MPG). Pretty good for a 5000# SUV. The only fault I can find is the cup holders:smiley_drive: I plan on installing a solid axle in the front once the IFS starts to show signs of wear. For the street I run 31x10.5x15's and offroad 33x10.5x15's fit just nicely with only a 1/2" crnk on the torsion bars. It handles great on all surfaces.:coffeedrink:

 

[off-roader]

I'm definitely partial to Montero's (this one is my 4th Montero and I currently this one and an 89 2 door Montero) so take that fwiw.

They've certainly got a great off road racing heritage and are definitely on par w/ Land Cruisers (albeit LC's of the same era have far more options available and came with a solid front axle).

My 96SR has a 2" body lift and I run BFG MT's (35x12.5") KM2s. Very comfortable in the city or on the freeway (capable of 95mph w/ my tire/gearing combo) although I'll be installing 4.9 r&p's so the engine works less.

The SR's have adjustable shocks (made by KYB for mitsu and only available as an OEM product and not directly from KYB <GRRR>) and a locking rear differential among other options. Mine also came w/ very nice 2 tone leather seating although being quite old now the driver seat is definitely showing signs of wear. If it matters to you, then def. check for this if you're buying one.

Also check to make sure the front central axle disconnects don't stick since most owners bought them because they were so luxurious and almost NEVER put them in 4WD. If you run into this, cycling the xcase usually fixes the problem. As most you'll need to clean and re-lube everything for it to work.

Gas mileage (if that matters to you) w/ my 35's averages at 15mpg w/ an 80/20% highway/city driving mix.

Off road trails? I'll be running everything from basic expedition trails to +5 rock crawling trails like the Rubicon, Fordyce, Dusy Ersham trails.

As for why I chose montero's over toyota's or any other 4x4 for that matter? I prefer taking the road less traveled and enjoy having a very unique yet more than capable 4x4.

HTH

 

[OneTime]

I have been looking for a Gen 2 myself. Ive seen a few with blown head gaskets lately and was wondering if that is a hit or miss thing, or if then tend to go a a certain milage.

 

[off-roader]

It's not that common if you take care of the cooling system. What many people do is use Tap Water w/ their coolant. The problem w/ tap water is the mineral in it which end up clogging the cooling system. I recommend regularly inspecting the radiator for scaling on the interior as well as inspecting & replacing the rest of the cooling system regularly (hoses, water pump, thermostat, etc.

 

[off-roader]

I should add that unlike the v6 motors, overheating and blowing the head gasket / cracking heads is a common problem in the 2.6L I-4 engine.

 

[78Bronco]

The SR's have adjustable shocks (made by KYB for mitsu and only available as an OEM product and not directly from KYB <GRRR>) and a locking rear differential among other options.

Not a huge deal but once the factory adjustable shocks wear out you can install rancho 9000 series adjustables for $100/corner. Still pricey but a good replacement option over the KYB.

 

[off-roader]

Not a huge deal but once the factory adjustable shocks wear out you can install rancho 9000 series adjustables for $100/corner. Still pricey but a good replacement option over the KYB.

Actually from what I've heard from 9000 owner's they're valved too high for SR's so they're very harsh off road.

Most end up replacing them with KYB's but not the adjustable ones.

 

[dynamice]

Very cool truck

thats a nice Monty.

Are there any important things to initially look at when buying a monty? Does high milage potentially raise issues? I am looking at a 96SR with 179K, it's had it's most recent timing belt done at 120k, so it's probably due for another overhaul(belts, pulleys, pump, hoses, coolant flush) and tuneup. That's probably $600 in parts right there. Guy says it eats up 1qt of oil per oil change, but from hat I remember from my car tuning days, thats normal for a DSM. Any issues with the axles? I know on LCs, the birfields need rebuilding etc. I am trying to see what maintenance is expected and what to budget for in order to give a reasonable offer to a seller and not get stuck with a money pit. I know for Toyotas, 179K is "just breaking in", but is it a fine line with a Mitsu?

 

[off-roader]

Timing belt every 60k.
Do water pump, seals (Camshaft), accessory belts, etc at the same time. Def worth doing.

Running gear/drive train failures over time...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
still thinking...
nope, not much goes south other than normal wear items like cv boots.
I do a tranny flush every 20k miles to be safe (not just a drain & refill) and you should be ok.:ylsmoke:

 

[off-roader]

Oops, before I forget... smoke after a cold start (grey blue) or after a couple of minutes of idling may indicate faulty valve guide seals which are common on mitsu 3.0 and 3.5L v6 engines used in Montero's as well as the Chrysler minivans.

 

[OneTime]

Good info!! Is the 95SR worth the hassle to have the DOCH? What are the advantages over the SOHC?

 

[off-roader]

Good info!! Is the 95SR worth the hassle to have the DOCH? What are the advantages over the SOHC?

DOCH is more powerful at the disadvantage of being more complicated to work on. Also, IIRC it comes with 4.63 r&p gears while the 3.5L SOHC models come with 4.2 r&p gears.

Now the DOHC engine does have a butterfly valve issue with age. What can happen is the plastic guides for the butterfly valves wear out which can lead to ingesting them (VERY BAD THING) and a new replacement intake is $$. I believe (not sure) this was fixed in the SOHC engine but you should verify that to be sure.

 

[OneTime]

Sounds like the cons out wiegh the pros of the DOCH. Also dont you loose all the valves and essentially the engine if you loose the timing belt with the DOHC and not so with the SOHC? I had a turbo Eclipse the shut off one day when I pulled into a parking stall and never started back up. I miss that car... Good thing my line of work gets me out of tickets.

 

[off-roader]

Sounds like the cons out wiegh the pros of the DOCH. Also dont you loose all the valves and essentially the engine if you loose the timing belt with the DOHC and not so with the SOHC? I had a turbo Eclipse the shut off one day when I pulled into a parking stall and never started back up. I miss that car... Good thing my line of work gets me out of tickets.

I don't agree with you. Having the extra power and lower gearing are pro's that I would use as important reasons to buy the dohc engine.

The dohc 3.5L is an interference engine and you do bend the valves if you loose the timing belt. I'm not sure if the 3.5L SOHC engine is an interference engine or not. Regardless, this is very rare to happen if you replace your timing belt on schedule (60k) and typically only an issue for those pushing that replacement time line.