Hey guys, a friend of mine who seems to really like my Montero wants to trade me the Diamante I rebuilt for him for my Montero. Of course that's an offer I am trying to refuse but cant. The Montero has been sitting a bit, and if he goes through with the deal with me it has to make it to Virginia Beach AFB. Got any tips of what I should check out? I know its going to need an alignment and an exhaust. Other than that it seems no worse off than my Raider was (and that drove me 2 hours each way to work for 3 weeks).

The Montero aside from a little bit of rust a few good points:

Rebuilt heads
new oil pump
10k on rebuilt crank
85k transmission
New front brake calipers
new pads
new passenger lower balljoint
SR steering box
Goodyear AT tires with less than 1k miles
New distributor
New rear wheel cylinders
New Alternator
Brand new OE radiator

Only thing I can really think of as being a problem is front wheel bearings from sitting for about 3 years.

I am just drawing a blank on where to start looking for potential problems. I might throw my manual hubs on there so I can eliminate those as a possible problem.

Depends on if you want to keep a friend. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

If it runs, drives good, does not overheat, charges the battery, and the brakes work, the rest depends on the deal. Are you offering anything other than a tail light guarantee?

Both of my last 2 Monteros sat with dead engines for some time. My latest LS got a replacement motor, was driven for 400 miles. No leakage, it did what it needed to do. I changed out the tires and drove it 1100 miles cross country. Then I went wheeling. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

Drive it a bit then give it a good looking over like you would before any trip. The wheel bearings should only be a problem if it sat with water inside the hub. If they have never been repacked as far as you know, refreshing the grease would be a nice touch. I'm guessing with all of the brake work, the fluid has been replaced. Fluids in the axles, trans, transfer case OK? sometimes after sitting seals may start to leak.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rodent.gif" alt="" />