VanHans' 95 Montero SR

[VanHans]

Hello Portal!

Long time lurker/member under a different user name. Decided it was finally time to poke my head out share what I'm up to.

After enjoying our '02 Jeep WJ for a little over 5 years, Mrs. VanHans and I recently and suddenly found ourselves looking for a replacement adventure vehicle. With the family having out grown the WJ, and being tired of trying to camp in the minivan, we decided it was time to look for a 4x with a little more seating. After a little bit of soul searching, and a whole lot of internet searching, we decided a Montero gen 2/2.5 was the direction we wanted to go.

After a little more searching, we came across a 1995 SR not too far from home. I contacted the owner, and the next day drove a little over an hour to have a look. The Montero seemed to be well cared for, so we made a deal, and headed home with our new find. Now the fun begins.

Couple pics from the sellers ad:




Little bit about the Montero: 1995 SR, 160K, 3.5l, auto, leather, sunroof, factory(?) grill guard and the factory SR rear locker. :wings: Everything seems to be in working order, and the interior was in much nicer condition than any of the others we had seen.

The truck came with some of the maintained history, and show that the timing belt and the water pump were last done at 98k mile, so those are due for replacement. I'll get it into my buddy's shop in the next week of two. Any other baseline maintained or common problems I should have him check?

Two items that I will need to address very soon are a replacement windshield and the nearly bald tires.




Update 7/8/2013:
Running boards removed
Factory roof rack removed
33x10.5-15 BFG ATs installed








Update 7/21/2013:
Surco/Yakima roof rack installed

Current pics:

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I'm in the same boat, thinking about replacing one or both of our Jeeps with a 95-99 Montero SR. I don't really enjoy driving a hardcore rig on a dusty trail with nothing else to look at but rocks, much prefer an open green valley with some fishing involved.

 

[Clem]

Welcome to the group VanHans! Your rig looks fantastic. I like the blue.

I have some of that deferred maintenance to get after myself. As far as other baseline just normal fluid changes. Check the belts and hoses. There is some talk about butterfly valves in 3.5 DOHC engines but my 3.5 SOHC doesn't have them. I'm sure one of the Gen 2 guys will chime in if it may be an issue for your year.

Clem

 

[eurosonic]

I love that color, welcome on board! This party is getting bigger! :coffeedrink:

 

[TheAntiChrome]

hey! I am in the Wilamette valley too, Albany to be exact.

I like your SR and I think I'll own one someday but for now the gen1 Montero works for the Mrs. and I

Welcome!

~joe

 

[GFO]

Welcome to Monteroland; you won't be disappointed.

Not sure if the DOHC 3.5 suffers from high oil consumption due to valve guide wear like the SOHC 3.5 does, but with 160k on the clock, you might want to keep a close eye on your oil level.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I have a 3.5 DOHC as well, and it burns a fair amount oil. I'm assuming it's in the top end, but I haven't diagnosed it yet. Anyway, Welcome, VanHans! Another Oregonian! :wings:

 

[VanHans]

Thanks everyone.

TheAntiChrome and WorldTraveler - I live in Salem/Keizer and work in McMinnville. I have family in Albany and my wife's family is in the Portland area, so we're up there pretty often.

 

[VanHans]

The new truck seems to be a hit!!

Over the holiday weekend, we made a couple trips to the Portland area. Thursday, we headed to my wife's younger brother's place to celebrate the 4th with friends. We then headed back to Portland to spend Saturday at her parent's house visiting her older brother who had flown in from California on Friday.

The reason for needing the extra seats (ignore the faceless parental units in the front seats):


Back seat zombies!!


Between trips, I did manage to get a little done to the truck.

Thursday morning, my oldest son and I pulled the running boards, and got the new tires ordered. - I'll get some pics once the new tires are mounted.

Friday, I started out at DMV for the new Oregon title (bought it out of state) and the registration, so now we're legal.

I knew I wanted to remove the factory roof rack to make way for something stronger, so after I finished up at DMV I then ran by the hardware store to pick up some stainless 1/4-20 bolts (thanks off-roader) to fill the roof rack mounting holes, and then headed home and pulled the rack.

I also ordered the parts I needed for my CB radio, and some parts for the roof rack. Truck should be coming together nicely over the next couple weeks.


Overall, the verdict is good. The kids love the Montero, and it seems to be working out even better than my wife and I expected.

 

[VanHans]

New tires

Whoo Hoo!! New tires are on!!

33x10.5-15 BFG ATs

Stopped on the way home to grab a couple quick poser shots.

Here's my fav:

(Also shows off the running board and roof rack deletes.)

It's setting a little more nose down than I'd like, so I'll probably be adjusting the front torsion bars soon.


Parts have started rolling in from my little holiday weekend shopping spree. Hopefully, by next weekend I'll have the new roof rack on and the CB antenna and coax installed.

Speaking of the CB, where are you guys mounting them. I have a Uniden 520XL I pulled out of the Jeep. It's a pretty small radio, but I'm still not finding anyplace I like to mount it. The only thought I've had is to replace the factory double din head unit with a single din, and then mount the CB under that. I'd love to see how you guys have mounted your radios. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Looks pretty dang sweet I must say! Did you by chance measure your lowest unprotected spot under the vehicle before and after the new tires?

 

[off-roader]

Speaking of the CB, where are you guys mounting them. I have a Uniden 520XL I pulled out of the Jeep. It's a pretty small radio, but I'm still not finding anyplace I like to mount it. The only thought I've had is to replace the factory double din head unit with a single din, and then mount the CB under that. I'd love to see how you guys have mounted your radios. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have a hand held that doubles as a in vehicle CB (has a separate base unit for in vehicle use) so it usually stays on my lap. The antenna is mounted on the roof.

Otherwise, most mounts I've seen have been in the 2nd DIN slot or on the side of the center column.

Looks pretty dang sweet I must say! Did you by chance measure your lowest unprotected spot under the vehicle before and after the new tires?

Stock tires = 31"
New Tires = 33"
Means 1" of lift from current ride height. :ylsmoke:

 

[Clem]

Stock tires = 31"

Not wanting to contradict one of our gurus, :sombrero:

I may be wrong, but from the America's Tire website Montero Gen II and GEN II.5 seem to have 265/70R15 (29.7 in. dia.) listed for stock tire size. This appears to be about the same as the 30" (29.6 in. dia.) tire and slightly smaller than a 31" (30.6 in. dia.) tire. I know only makes 1/2 inch difference in ride height, but seemed more accurate.

YMMV,

Clem

 

[off-roader]

I think you're right Clem. Don't worry, I never claimed to be a Guru since they require a far better memory than mine LOL.

VanHans, did the tire shop complain or express concern when you asked to put 33's on? I know mine did pretty vehemently when I told them to throw the 35's on it. Eventually they did when I told them I'd pay for the mounting if even if they didn't fit.:ylsmoke:

 

[VanHans]

Not wanting to contradict one of our gurus, :sombrero:

I may be wrong, but from the America's Tire website Montero Gen II and GEN II.5 seem to have 265/70R15 (29.7 in. dia.) listed for stock tire size. This appears to be about the same as the 30" (29.6 in. dia.) tire and slightly smaller than a 31" (30.6 in. dia.) tire. I know only makes 1/2 inch difference in ride height, but seemed more accurate.

YMMV,

Clem

My old tires were 265/70-15, so about 30" (although mine were so bald, they looked like they were probably closer to 29"). I assume that was the stock size. I never checked. I was planning the 33x10.5s from the beginning.

VanHans, did the tire shop complain or express concern when you asked to put 33's on? I know mine did pretty vehemently when I told them to throw the 35's on it. Eventually they did when I told them I'd pay for the mounting if even if they didn't fit.:ylsmoke:

They didn't say anything about the size. I was a little surprised. I was expecting to have to explain to them that I had seen others running this size on stock Monteros, but they acted as if I had rolled in and asked for a set of stock size tires.