Hello all,

It's been about 4 years since I was on here last. I had at the time, a 89 raider 2.6 on the road and a 3.0 raider I planned to fix. Well those trucks are gone and I have been putting along in a KIA sportage POS. Anyway I am looking to get back into a real ride. I have been eyeing/craigslisting, two 1995 Monties. One is an RS and the other looks to be an LS. The one I think is an LS doesn't list it being either one but it doesn't have the trim over the wheel well. Do SR's come with out the trim over the wheel well.

Is one better then the other LS vs SR for offroad use? Other then the 3.0l and the 3.5l is there anything that makes one varient more offroad worthy or easier to mod?

Thanks alot for your time!!!
Chris

1994-1996 SR gets larger rear diff and stock rear air locker w/ 1" body lift. W/ 3.5L engine in proper running conditions you can easily turn 35's on the highway. Add 4.9 R&P gears from mitsu and the 2.9:1 xcase gears from australia and you can turn 37's off road! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

LS gets none of the above. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the info.

I just talked to the guy selling the one I couldn't tell if it was SR or LS. He said it's an SR with 68,000 bone stock with sunroof and leather interior bla bla. He's asking $5200 good price but a bit more then I have now. Oh well. Not sure I would want to go mudding with leather seats anyway HE HE.

Pretty sure the 95+ LS has the lift too. It has a comparable bigger tranny like the SR, compared to earlier 3.0s.

Miles at 68k is pretty dang low. It will most probably need its t-belt done, unless the current owner is a stickler for maintenance. Given the age, it should get the water pump and front end seals too. You're looking at $1300 from the stealer. If you can do the work, try and talk him down for the needed work and then do it yourself and save nearly a grand.

MontyMcV

Thanks for the info. I am not so sure which I'd rather have an LS or an SR. My old 89 Raider v6 was not to bad to work on at least the timing belt, water pump wasn't to rough. I did the valve stem seals on the truck. Did they work out the valve stem seal issue on the 3.0L by 1995?

Did they make SR's with out the trim around the wheel well and no headlight squirters? The guy did say it was an SR but he was hard to understand, he sounded to be from India or a country with similar accent. Not to say he doesn't know what he has because of his ethnicity, only I found it hard to makeout what he was saying. Every SR I've seen on the internet has the wheel trim and squirters. The pictures of his truck on craigslist had neither.

I am going to look at the truck on Tuesday. I don't buy that a truck driving in New York winters for 13 years doesn't have some issue, the guy claims the truck is in better then mint condition. I'm sure it's clean and is in good condition .

Thanks again
Chris

SRs before Gen II.5 had the add-on flares. Can't recall ever seeing one without HL washers. Most were leather, especially in later years. Later years too invariably had rear lockers. SRs from 94-96 had the 3.5 24V DOHC at 214HP. Prior to that they had the same 3.0 12V SOHC 151HP(?). LSs in 95-96 had the 3.0 24V SOHC at 177HP.

I had a 95 SR way back and don't recall noticing the effects of putting 31s on it. We put 31s on the wife's 98 3.5 24V SOHC 204HP(?) and 4.2X gears and you can definitely tell. My 95 LS had 31s on it when I got it, so can't compare there to the 265s. I now have 33s and you can feel it for sure, especially when loaded for a weekend and heading up a hill.

My 95 LS is a MT, which is why I got it. Otherwise, I'd go for another SR in second. So much so, that when the time comes for a rebuild, I may look for a 3.5 donor...