Holger,

Sounds like a great trip. I know you said it was steep, narrow and with rocks. Do you know the name of the trail?

I know you said the montero owner is not on the wire. Do you mean both or just one of them? As for the 2002 Montero owner was he able to unlock the center dif? Have him post up on the monty tech forum if he hasn't already with this problem. I'm sure others can help him figure it out.

Did anyone actually overheat their engine during the trip? For those montero's if they have AC (likely they do) they can easily wire the AC fan on for the off road sections. The problem in many cases is simply lack of air flow to cool the engine/radiator so your engine can easily overheat even with a good cooling system but this only happens on steep inclines where the engine works hard (2-4k rpm) to climb slowly uphill.

Nice job helping the young couple out. I hope they made it to the end of the trail ok especially with bears roaming around looking for food.

BTW, did the 97SR have a locking rear differential?

Be careful with that Xterra off road. I've heard that many have complained because the front R&P's fail with off road use. Check with Lloyd Schwarz on that one. His have failed.