01 Montero Limited : Cheap Overlanderer or Bust

rustybuckets said:

I've been looking for a good value 4x4 for awhile now. I'd use it for winter, longer trips, and some light overlanding/camping. I wouldn't even call it overlanding- just camping out of my truck every once in awhile. This seems to fit the bill! Two questions though -

1) could you tell me how much room is in the back with the middle and back seats removed please?

2) What kind of gas mileage are you getting with your setup?

Thanks!

 

I doubt I'll be doing much "overlanding" either. Mostly a camping rig that could still go through some trails with ease.

Not sure on measurements at the moment. The wife is currently using it as a daily, so it's back at the casa. I'm fairly certain you can fit two humans laying down and still have foot or head room if you make a platform.

Our mileage has been 10-12 but we drive a very hilly, curvy, and mostly in town commute. They do so much better on the highway, and the STOP-GO traffic kills it. Also I have a right foot problem, I can't seem to let up on the accelerator pedal.

John Welsh said:

MPG: the epa rating on my 2001 w/ 3.5L is 12/14/18 and calls for Premium. That sounds about right. My gut answer would be 15

 

Damn. I didn't realize these needed premium. I haven't noticed any knocking on 87, but I'll have to keep my eye out for that.

Mine doesn't always get Premium either. There seems to be no glaring negative affects.  

Hmmm, that is going to be a cost hit for sure! I'll have to keep pondering this one. 

Thanks guys!

Interior space:

I walked out front and took some pics of my dirty, kid haul'n, Montero.

With the 2nd row folded there is about 55" (4ft 7in) of cargo floor.  It is generally very flat which would be goof for sleeping but even if on the diag your going to need to be Little Leaguer sized.

If you unbolt the second row then you gain about another 16-18" depending on front seat placement.  This could get you to a 6ft space, but the floor is not as flat under the rear seating so some platforming would be best.  

In reply to John Welsh :

Thanks so much for the measurements! I could fit in there diagonally, and alone with all the seats out, but whats the fun in that?? 

Either way it's still a sweet ride!

In reply to John Welsh :

I just noticed the 12v power source in the back! That's awesome. I need to find a spare black leather headrest for my 3rd row and a rear window wiper arm. If you run across any let me know!

On my Gen 2 Montero, I built a platform that's bolted in the back (removed rear seats) at the height of the middle row folded down.   No pics at work, but I can get some when i get home.  it works out pretty well - if we're going on a camping trip, I fold down the middle row and then put down the platform/mattress.  The rest of the time, I can still use the seats if needed. 

Brokeback (Matt) said:

On my Gen 2 Montero, I built a platform that's bolted in the back (removed rear seats) at the height of the middle row folded down.   No pics at work, but I can get some when i get home.  it works out pretty well - if we're going on a camping trip, I fold down the middle row and then put down the platform/mattress.  The rest of the time, I can still use the seats if needed. 

Is it necessary to remove the third seat since they tuck in below the platform area? Seems like you could build what you are talking about and skip that step if you didn't want to remove them. Just curious, don't want to pull the seat, but the platform would be nice.

In reply to captainawesome :

Honestly I'm not positive - I don't have third row seats, so i'm not totally sure what they look like folded down.  I have the platform bolted through to some tie down points in the rear - as long as the third row folded down doesn't get in the way, and is OK height-wise with the middle row folded down, seems like you could leave them. But then you gotta remove the platform to use them!

In reply to Brokeback (Matt) :

In the pic above you can kinda see the pivot for the third row around the 1' mark on the measuring tape, but the rest all sits under the factory floor. I imagine it would be easier to move/remove a platform than unbolt the seats, but I like your idea. You lose more room folding the second row completely toward the front rather than just doing the half fold.

In reply to captainawesome :

Oh yea - I see it.  That's nifty - on the Gen 2, it folds up and is stowed up against the glass. 

Mine is similar to these pics, although these are for Gen 3 (like yours).  Downside - not much headroom. The piano hinges in the first pic let you actually fold out the platform fully - otherwise it hits the roof.  I used 2" PVC and turnbuckles to bolt it to the floor in the back. 

In reply to Brokeback (Matt) :

Cool. 

Similar could be achieved with the 2nd row only folded 'flat', not lifted forward. 

Some other pics. 

The 3rd row 'stow and gos" into a large floor bin. It is easy designed so that you can remove the 3rd row w/o tools. Therefore, if you will be camping and not using the 3rd row you can leave it at home and gain a huge storage bin under the floor. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Hey John - 

Hard to tell from my description and in the pics, but that's what I was getting at - don't fold the middle row all the way forward, just fold it flat and use that as your sleeping platform height.  

This is stupendous and i am going to start collecting Jeep spares myself! 

I love my 87 Montero and while i have no real use for a 3g due to excessive overlap with other stuff i own, i know they're awesome too and this is gonna be great. 

In reply to Vigo :

I had a few search criteria that found the ones I was looking for all within a short period of time, but the one that popped up the most was just "jeep spare". Hopefully there are plenty in your area to snatch up as well. It's almost comical how many ads for just one new/never used tire there were. Just be careful of the date codes. I wasted one evening to meet a guy that failed to mention there was cracking all around the treads. For some reason he still thought that was BRAND new.

As much as I love the First Gen, the 3rd just is so much more refined. I'm sure plenty will argue they aren't as capable, but I'll probably never reach the threshold of what would hold this back anyway. I'd still snatch up a good example of another early LS model though, they really are neat.

Stainless said:

If you can swing it (and if you plan to be the only vehicle out there), an auxiliary battery with a manual isolation switch is really nice. That way, you can run lights or whatever at camp without ever running the risk of killing the starting battery. It's not strictly necessary, but it's nice to not worry about remembering to start the truck every couple hours while you're drawing power. 

 

Just realized I have a couple spare batteries. One of these may just become the auxiliary, just gotta sort some wiring.

Back to the top on this one.

Mid October I replaced the brake accumulator as it was leaking out brake fluid randomly. One month it was fine, the next thing you know the reservoir was close to being empty. $128.24 from Amazon.

Around mid November the Monterry started sputtering and acting real unhappy. The code reader mentioned o2 sensors and cylinder 2 misfire. I knew the o2 sensor stuff was already there, so I decided it was time to start knocking some stuff off the list.

Valve cover gaskets, intake gaskets, timing belt set, water pump, crank bolt, serpentine belt, spark plugs, plug wires, cam seals, another oil change, and the only o2 sensor throwing a code.

After the million brackets removed and reassembled my oil leak was lessened but still there. Drats! The timing belt looked like it would snap before even removing it, so I'm glad I went ahead and knocked that out. Cylinder 2 plug was soaked in oil from the plug seals leaking at the valve cover. The only thing I didn't manage to do was the o2 sensor. I didn't have the exhaust gaskets to seal the system back up, and with the oil leak still there I thought it's worth holding off. $429.07 for the parts through RockAuto. I probably could have gone cheaper, but there are some nightmare stories out there about cheap timing belt stuff. Seemed silly to save a couple hundred bucks and then scrap the whole engine a thousand miles later.

Late December I replaced the rear window motor and a new wiper arm. $33.64 for a used motor on ebay, and $38.20 for the wiper arm through Mitsubishi Parts Warehouse.

New Year's Eve I finally took all of my fresh tires in to get mounted. I kept the ones that were previously mounted and managed to sell them for $200 since they still had decent tread. The Jeep rim sold for $20, so all in all I ended up with 4 new tires mounted and I think ended up with $20 or so towards some of the parts I previously installed.

So far it's been running great, and officially made it's off road debut at the previously mentioned rally. It did everything I asked it to, and honestly made it all effortless. We didn't go crazy trying to push the limits, but water crossings were simple and controlled. Rock and hill climbing was done without a slipping tire. Ground clearance was fine for everything we threw at it. Obviously we weren't on the winch required trails, but it did great and kept up with most of the big boys all day. We did manage to get stuck in a tight spot after making one poor decision. One of the trails had a huge tree covering it and there was no way to get through other than going back to the front of the trail head. We found one spot that looked like enough space to turn around, but the rocks were loose and started to wash out putting me super close to a tree on the passenger side. We tried like hell to get it out safely without rolling down the massive hill or banging up the passenger door and fender. In the end I called my wife over in her h3 so we could pull the front end safely with tow strap. That was the most drama we had, and in the grand scheme of things completely simple to rectify. As for the previously mentioned h3 I'll post up a thread about the adventure it put us through as well leading up to the event.

Stickered up and ready to go:

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Day one was some mild water crossings and dirt roads, but more asphault than expected:

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A lot of Jeeps and Toyotas, but some other cool stuff as well. How about a Porsche Cayenne Turbo? Gotta dig up some pics of that one.

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One of my favorites was this v8 Grand Cherokee, and I don't think I've ever thought much of them until now.

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It was hard to get a good pic of the spot I got stuck in. Hard to see the huge drop off below or how tight the trees were to touching body panels.

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Not too long after, and this was the last pic I took of the trip.

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Oh man, thats cool.

Just a photo dump of the event. The wife had a ton of fun, so I think we will be going on a similar trip in June if we can swing it. We are still very much amateurs to the off road side of things, but I think both the H3 and the Montero did extremely well. Gotta get some skid plates and recovery gear for the next go though. Better to be prepared.

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That cayenne.... much want 

I like this! I usually have to head over to expedition portal for my off-road fix. It's nice to see that kinda thing on here too!

Do I see a Vehicross????

ebonyandivory said:

Do I see a Vehicross????

Yes, yes you do. He was sending it the whole day at the off road park. I always wanted one before, but even more so after that day. It was glorious.

spandak said:

That cayenne.... much want 

I like this! I usually have to head over to expedition portal for my off-road fix. It's nice to see that kinda thing on here too!

He was pushing the Cayenne hard up a couple spots on the trails. As far as I know he only had to turn it around or skip an obstacle once.

That looks like a most excellent adventure!