Se7en62's '99 Montero Gen 2.5 Overland Build & Adventures

[jeep-N-montero]

It's been a long, long 5 months since my last post. We haven't done many trips over the summer since I started working on my private pilot's license, but a lot of maintenance has been done. Namely, the last two week's work on replacing all the front-end bushings with Siberian Bushings, replacing tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings, Aisin hubs, and an idler arm with a Chromoly kingpin. I have also adjusted the suspension to exactly where I want it and gotten the tires rotated and balanced and the oil changed in advance of tomorrow's 2,400 mile trip across TX, NM, and through CO's most scenic backcountry.

I'll update with pictures of maintenance and another trip report soon...

I have a friend who just finished his licensing and is currently getting paid as an IP while getting his hours, did the entire program in under 11 months and it was intense. Good luck on your trip, where are you going in CO?

 

[L3TT3RS]

It's time for an update sir. Very inspiring. Doesn't help me in my decision between the gx and Monty. Actually makes it even harder...

 

[Se7en62]

I know I need to update this thread and I will soon! It's been a whirlwind lately. The truck made it home safe from that 2,400-mile trek to CO and back and covered some 400-miles off-road. We did it with a couple of close friends who joined the Montero community last year. After that, I took mine to West Texas and explored along one of my favorite rivers and then headed to the Matagorda Peninsula on the Texas coast. Now, in two weeks we are headed back to the Ozarks for another 1,000-mile trip and over 100-miles of gnarly trails and water-crossings.

That all said, what we have worked on is this short film. We created Driven Media as a media company and our overland-niche channel is Driven Over Land on Youtube and @drivenoverland on IG. Check it out and enjoy!

 

[Se7en62]

Hey everyone! Here's a LOOOOOONG overdue update to this build thread! A LOT has changed with the Montero and with my life! LOL! Had a son, sold our house in Austin, built a new house in the mountains of Colorado, bought and sold a 7.3L PSD Sportsmobile, had a daughter, recently replaced it with a new F350 and a plan to buy a slide-in camper.

The Montero, my trusted 4x4 explorer, is still kicking and is now living in it's new shop that we built at the new house. I'll include a post about that shop as well, for those who are interested. As usual more consistent updates are available on my IG @Overland_Pajero and I am launching a Youtube channel called Whittaker Outdoors.

Anyhow, here's the start of a long chronollogical update to this build thread! I wrote a nice article for OutdoorX4 and it was published in May of 2019:






...and I learned to fly a plane!





Then the Montero got a new pair of Hella horns...



Then took a short trip to an island campsite in the middle of a Texas river...



Then we were organizing camera equipment and gear over at Jeremiah's old house in preparation to head out on our trip that we planned to film and release our short film on Youtube: Driven Over Land...



Pics from the trip inbound in next post...

 

[Se7en62]

The route, counter-clockwise: San Luis Valley, Medano Pass, white-water rafting in the Royal Gorge, Monarch Pass, Black Sage Pass, Tomichi Basin, Los Pinos Pass, Slumgullion Pass, Lake City, the Alpine Loop, Pagosa Springs...



The Colorado/New Mexico border in the San Luis Valley...



Great Sand Dunes National Preserve...





The trail behind the dunes that heads up over Medano Pass...



Camp 1 below Medano Pass...



Heading up Medano Pass...



Old Monarch Pass, on our way to Camp 2...



Camp 2 on Old Monarch Pass in the Gunnison National Forest...



Filming in the Tomichi Basin on our way to Los Pinos Pass...

 

[Se7en62]

Lunch break on Los Pinos Pass...



Heading down through Cathedral...



Cooking dinner at Camp 3 near Cathedral...



Leaving the Lake San Cristobal area and heading up Cinnamon Pass...



Crossing over Cinnamon Pass...



Heading off Cinnamon Pass on our way down to Animas Fork



Animas Fork...





Heading out of Animas Fork and up California Pass...



California Pass...

 

[Se7en62]

Hurricane Pass



Heading over to Camp 4 below Corkscrew Pass...



Camp 4 near Corkscrew Pass...





Avalanche on our way down to Silverton...





Lunch at Clear Lake



Camp 5



My awesome, awesome, awesome wife the morning before we left Camp 5...



Heading up Ophir Pass...

 

[Se7en62]

Ophir Pass...



Heading down Ophir Pass, toward Telluride to get to Imogene Pass...







Heading up Imogene Pass...





Imogene Pass...





Heading down Imogene Pass, toward Ouray for dinner before heading to Camp 6...

 

[Se7en62]

No pics of Camp 6, unfortunately. Here's the following morning as we headed up Engineer Pass...











Fueling and airing back up in Lake City, before heading to Pagosa Springs to relax at the hot springs before heading back to Texas.



AirBnB in Pagosa...

 

[Se7en62]

Scouting out some spearfishing spots on the Nueces River in South Texas...

 

[Se7en62]

Heading down to Matagorda Island, which is one of Texas' barrier islands...

 

[Se7en62]

Back toward the end of 2019, my friend Hein at Quick Pitch in South Africa was introducing a new all metal roof top tent. This was one of 4 prototypes to be imported into the US for testing and I was fortunate enough to get one. - The testing we did on these went back to Quick Pitch and improved the design and materials before launching them for sale to the general public. These are very cool and very robustly built tents, roof racks on top to carry my canoe or kayak, etc.



Something else I picked up (in 2019) from Quick Pitch North America was their Mini-Kitchen. I had originally added a Summit camp stove, but moved to a lower profile Coleman that I still run today. This camp kitchen rocks, has a nice cutting board that slides out from under the main drawer, and the mechanism of the drawer slide moves the fridge down and out behind the drawer as you pull it. VERY COOL!



One project I wanted to get done was these limb risers to replace the one's I had previously added that weren't up to the task of keeping low branches off the windshield. These are much stronger and use a marine-grade stainless turnbuckle to tighten them.





Next was to install the Quick Pitch Mini-Kitchen and wire up the power for the SnoMaster fridge to my rear fuse panel (previously outlined in this thread.)





Then I took the Montero over to an old friend's shop to get a hand mounting the Quick Pitch 270 Awning...later we mounted this to the Quick Pitch RTT's built-in accessory mounts...



Then it was a late-night departure to meet a group of friends in Arkansas for our annual winter trip...



As we left Austin, I realized my rear door latch had failed on our first fuel up, so we made a quick pit-stop in Waco at another friend's place who happens to collect Monteros and had a spare latch for me...



Then it was BACK ON THE ROAD!

 

[Se7en62]

January 2020: Made it to Camp 1 of our annual Arkansas trip, this is in Western Oklahoma...



Then we made it Camp 2 and met up with the rest of the scumbags I call friends...they decorated my Montero overnight since it was my birthday.



Clearing trail...if you travel the Ozarks bring a chainsaw and winch t, because the trails are always covered in downed trees.



First big obstacle, after crossing a creek, crawling up a rock garden, we got to this massive boulder obstacle that only 2 of 6 (Early Yota Pickup and 80) made it up. The other 4 of us winched...




The following 4x4 was my buddy Andy's XJ and his rear driveshaft snapped at the yoke, so after he limped down to the river's edge, we strapped up so I could drag it across the swollen creek and back to town...





After dragging his Jeep back to town, he decided to limp all the way back to TX in FWD. I turned around and made my way back through this remote part of the Ozarks to find the group. We established radio contact around midnight, so after a few beers I just went to sleep in my front seat since it was pouring rain.





After a full and long day of water crossings, trails, winching, and lots of mud we made it to Camp 3 in the boonies...

 

[Se7en62]

The following morning we headed out for another day of trails and exploring, slowly making our way toward Camp 4...









Fun Fact: If a new 4Runner shears it's ABS Sensor off the rear hubs, then the entire thing goes into debilitating limp mode and nothing works...

After Tanner fixed Patrick's 4Runner, we continued on...





Finally, we made it to our last camp at Camp 4...



Then we headed out the following morning and made our way home through winter rain storms...

 

[Se7en62]

Next up in late February, 2020, I picked up a set of 17" 4Runner Trail wheels and they happened to be at the exact same wear level as my other set of Genral Grabber X3s. These tires are amazing in all conditions, by the way.



Finally, I had time to slap the Quick Pich RTT and 270 Awning on, so back over to my buddy's shop...













If you're ever romping around in Central Texas, avoid the Mesquite Trees.



After the weather warmed up a bit, I took my wife out to my favorite spot on the Nueces River in South Texas...