Spring Moab trip is out of the way so now its time to get back to this.

I figured out all the brake stuff both on my existing '97 SAS Sport as well as for this build. So, irrespective of my caliper choice for the new axle I have potential master cylinders and I know which one I'll need for what calipers. The Wilwood 'E' pads have been working great - noisy as hell but they work really well, especially off road.

I'm still sticking with the ProRocks for axles. I still need to talk to Dynatrac and figure out what the front one will look like. Unless there's some horked up geometry issue with the steering it looks like it might be a good idea to go with the new JK axles and JK brakes. Its a LOT easier to get JK brake and hub parts than D52 parts from the '70s.

On to the next thing to figure out. The change to the '1-ton' steering on the black '97 Sport has been great. Over a year now and the joints are still good. Unfortunately the steering box isn't doing so hot. For some reason I can't figure out I've gone through three steering boxes in four years. I had a new one slapped on the big Sport three months ago and its already loosening up. Which I know by now is just the beginning of the end. Another issue I never had with the original steering box. Sigh.

So its time to work out a replacement. I was looking at going with the upgraded '70s Saginaw Bronco ported for hydraulic assist - and FINALLY doing hydraulic assist. I stopped by the shop this morning and they were in the process of replacing the steering and box on one of their race trucks. PSC is selling both a ported and un-ported version of the new 'Grand Cherokee' box which apparently is an almost direct bolt in for the Ford Saginaw. It looks like a modernized version of the late '90s Mitsu box.

I need to talk to PSC about the pump, box and whatever, do a little research and then have everything installed. I still have a lot of little details to work out on this but the plan is to have it installed on the '97 by July and ready for Moab in Aug. If everything goes well I'll move onto the suspension.

I keep waffling on the front suspension and whether of not to do the 3-link or go with an extended radius arm setup. If I KNEW the 3-link wasn't going to turn into a architectural nightmare, I'd just do it, but ....

BUT, one of the fab guys gave me a good idea. To avoid the track bar/oil pan clearance issue, the plan is to do the 2" body lift and then raise the engine and transmission 1". I'm not keen on that from a CG standpoint but if I can cut 2-3" off the frame height, move the body up 2" and the engine up 1", at worst it'll all wash and at best I'll end up with a CG that's maybe (at least) 1" lower than the '97 while still running 37"s. And, while I'll have 22-23" of ground clearance to the frame (down from 25"), the transmission & transfer cases will sit 1" higher in the frame which will give them a little more protection.

The last couple trips to UT have been a kind of a PITA. The Easter Jeep guys fix the trails up and by the time we get there they've been flooded out. A lot of the trails have a lot more off camber/washout crud than they used to 10-13 years ago and a lot of the old mining, etc. trails scattered over southern UT are just getting old and degrading. So, moved to the top of my list is widening the track another 1.5-2" over my '97. That combined with the (hopefully) lower CG will make a huge difference in stability if the current abilities of my '97 are any indicator. The trick will be to do this without having to do body work.

Anyway, the project isn't dead. Its just not moving as fast as I wish it was.

Edward

Just a little early in the build, but ....

I've been thinking about switching from my 15x8 Stockton Series 22 rims to 17x9 rims on my black SAS'd '97 for the last year. I finally decided to move forward on that during our last trip to Moab. I'm using the '97 as a guinea pig for working out stuff before I get into this build. If they work out well, I'll use the same on this build.

Stockton Wheel Service - Heavy Duty - Military - Light Truck - Off Road

After a lot of surfing I decided to go with Stockton rims again. Mostly because I can't find anyone that will build custom rims that are useable on the highway and because I'm already familiar with Stockton's product quality.

I decided to go with the Series 24 rims (with 8 holes instead of the usual six). I could have gone with the Series 22 but I wanted something different.

I also decided to install 'rock rings' - which are just stiffeners that fit around the rim lip to help prevent taco'ing the rim lip/bead area. Which I managed to do three months after I bought my first set of Stockton rims. Anyway, even on 15x8s I still beat the crap out of the rim lip and bead area. That's not going to improve by going to a 17x9 with 2" less sidewall and less pinch.

In order for the rings to go on without interfering with the valve stems, Stockton is relocating the valve stems to about 1/2 way between the outer face of the center section and the first curve in the rim. With the rings in place it'll be almost impossible to scrub a valve stem off on a rock. Also something I'm looking forward to not having happen again.

After spending a couple nights looking for ready-to-weld-on rock rings I gave up in disgust and decided make a set myself. 90% of everything I could find alternated between tacky and useless. The 10% left just didn't really appeal to me and everything was in 1/4" - I want 3/16".

Back to Solid Edge 2D. It didn't take long to mock something up. I don't have the outer rim dimensions so this was just an excercise to come up with a design and see kinda what it would look like. The following are what I ended up with ...





I did the yellow before I knew they'd be able to relocate the valve stems so the divot isn't necessary. I also - duh - forgot that laser cutters STILL need some metal for wastage so you can't do the diagram like you would draw on paper. :rolleyes: So, the red rings have the logos correctly laid out.

Everything is to scale - 2.25" ring on a 17" rim and I tried to make the rim look as close to the Series 24 as I could with my limited abilities.

Not too bad. Except I just realized that I'll NEVER be able to sell these to anyone without a Mitsu if it turns out I don't like them.

Edward

I'm working on the under-hood wiring diagram for all the accessories. Lockers, lights, fans, etc.

I want to install 'corner lights' - two LED packs, one in each 'wing' on the ARB bull bar. This has been an issue forever on my big '97. I love the OEM glass headlight housings but light distribution to the front corner sides is horrid. I had this problem fixed off-road back in the day with the IPF floods mounted on the forward edge of the roof rack, but I'm not installing a roof rack. Too much of a liability where I wheel. The problem isn't just off road. Driving and turning through poorly lit intersections is kind of nerve wracking in my big Sport. There just isn't enough light on the corners when making a right hand turn.

I've been noodling this around in my head and I can't make a decision. I have two options as I see it ...

1) True cornering lights - when I turn on the right hand turn signal, the right hand corner light turns on solid and stays on until the turn signal is turned off. Same thing for the left hand turn signal.

2) Manual on/off - wire both sides into a dash switch so I can turn them on/off as needed. Great for off road. I dislike anything that requires manual management and decreases my attention on the road while driving on the street though.

All opinions/thoughts are welcome. KIM this vehicle will see a LOT of road driving in unfamiliar territory - neither the big Sport nor this one are strictly off road vehicle.

Edward

Updates:

The running boards are off and the rocker panels are Rhino Lined ...





Just finished the 2" body lift from 4Crawler ...









I spent the last month and a half working on the electrical accessory system. I'm building an entire harness and fuse panel for the cornering lights, b/u and rear corner lights, rock lights, ARB air lockers, compressor, etc. and an accessory switch panel that will fit where the OEM single CD player normally sits in the console forward of the shifter. Everything I add will tie into this rather than run everything separately.

1/0AWG for the XD9000 winch, 1/0AWG for the alternator to battery and replacement for the OEM negative battery cable, and 1/0AWG for the new fuse panel to the battery.

And, the 175A alternator from QualityPower was installed this week as well.

I'll post up all details when I have more time.

The next steps are: rip out the OEM intake and ABS, install the new air intake, do all the wiring and rebuild the brake system sans the ABS system. THEN the fun begins - the transmission swap, crawl box and NP231 install. Oh, boy.

Then its off to the shop to get the All-Pro rock skids, ARB bull bar and winch installed. Custom rear bumper and tire carrier after that, and then it'll be time to torch the bottom off and do the SAS.

Hoping to have this project completed and tested before our April trip to Moab.

Edward

17" rims

For lack of a better choice, I'm going to stick with the Stockton Series 22 rims. They're good, solid rims, but mostly because I can get them custom built pretty much however I want them.

Stockton Wheel Service - Series 22

I also finished up the rock ring design and sent it off to the shop that does all my laser cutting.





I'm sticking with the same dimensions I was thinking about in my previous post (top of this post). I did widen the rings and change the design, but otherwise 17x9", rings and relocate the valve stem with Geolandar 37"s.

Edward

Whoohoo! Body lift is finished.

I had dropped the '99 off at the dealership Tuesday to take care of a couple misc things before I started tearing into it. The tech that does all my work agreed to do the 2" body lift on his own time when he could. I figured it'd take a couple weeks but he stayed after work last night and got the whole body lift done in one evening. WHOOHOO!! There is some major benefit to having someone who makes a living working on Mitsus doing the work.

For thems who might be reading this, redraif's information was spot on. (see the link below) I got my complete body lift from 4Crawler and it went in without a hitch.

01 Montero Sport 4wd. Body lift & suspension lift info...

Here are some notes from the lift ...

The ABS wheel sensor wires at the wheels had to be detached at the last mount point at the wheels. The wires were too short otherwise, but are the perfect length now.

There were a few places where the wiring harness goes for the frame to the body where the harness at the last attaching point on the frame had to be disconnected. It really was 'a few'. Like three or four. I think he said three.

The front brake HARD LINES - as redraif pointed out - needed to be tweaked a little. There was way more than enough coiled up for the little that was needed. It took more time to readjust the hard line to sit in the middle of the grommet where it goes through the fender wells.

There are two steel 'bumpers' that mount to the radiator support behind the OEM fascia that must be removed. When the fascia goes up with the body lift the fascia is tweaked up against the 'bumpers'. These are basically a 'stop' behind the fascia that prevents the fascia from being pushed into underlying pieces and parts. If you have an ARB bull bar, there's nothing to do here as these would long since have gone away.

The fuel filler hose that redraif used - the same that I supplied the tech - is the same diameter on both ends. The OEM Mitsu filler hose is not. Stupid. One end fits fine but the other end is a little over sized and requires that it be clamped down pretty good to get it to seal. The tech is concerned that this may lead to a evap leak. Time will tell. There are a couple ways to fix this that we came up with, but we're going to take a 'wait and see' approach here.

Ah, yes, and then there's the negative battery cable .... redraif and I have been over this several times. Her negative cable required a slight adjustment but was otherwise reusable. Mine was not. The length from the frame to engine block was too short - apparently it ended up like a guitar string, so it was in no way, shape or form usable. Before anyone asks - yes, it was the OEM cable with the OEM part number still attached, so its not an aftermarket piece. I purchased a new OEM neg cable a week and a half ago using the '99 VIN - I think - to get the length and bolt sizes as well as a spare for my stock Sports. I tossed it in the '99 in case the tech needed it - everyone pretty much knows how the neg cable looks after 170K+ miles, so .... When the cable length thing came up, the tech just assumed I'd included the appropriate - LONGER - cable 'cause I knew he'd need it. Sure, right, except I'd done no such thing. Apparently the cable I supplied him with is about 2-3" longer between the frame mount and the engine block mount - coincidentally, the EXACT length needed for a 2" body lift.

I have absolutely NO idea what is going on here. The Mitsu part number is different for the two parts - off by the trailing digit. They appear visually identical and are functionally identical. I was under the impression that the neg cable was the same for all the US v6 Sports, but that appears to not be the case. The tech said, other than than needing the extra length, it was just a direct bolt in.

The tech saved the old cable with its P/N and the P/N of the new cable so I'll look into this more this weekend. I guess maybe the good thing out of this is we have a OEM P/N for the negative battery cable that is a drop in part to go along with the 2" body lift. Maybe.

No changes were necessary to the steering - also pointed out by redraif.

According to the tech, the only 'bad' part about the entire body lift was the fact that half the interior has to come out. He was otherwise impressed with how relatively easy and simple the entire process was.

Anyway, he's already driven it and all appeared well. I'll get it back tomorrow afternoon. This should be interesting. I did walk out to the back lot and took a long and got a pick. I think this thread should be renamed, "How to make your brand new 31" tires look like roller-skate wheels!" (rofl)

Edward

Before and after pics of the body lift. The running boards were pulled off and the rocker panels Rhino Lined a couple weeks ago, too.

Before ...


After ...


Edward

For the most part I'm done with all the electrical accessory design and I'm ready to start building the enclosure, harnesses and installing the base pieces.

I have the 175A alternator installed. I settled on 1/0 AWG from the Blue Sea 150 fuse/buss panel that will be mounted where the existing OEM air box is to the battery, 1/0 AWG to replace the OEM negative battery cable, 1/0 AWG for the positive run from the alternator to the battery and 1/0 for the winch to the battery. 1/0 for fuse/buss panel is overkill right now, but its easier to do the heavy cable up front while the entire front is tore off rather than have to tear into it after everything is built. I'm going to install 500A bulk head pass-throughs in the radiator support for the winch - run two short runs from the battery to the radiator support, and two short runs from the winch to the support. The way I wire the winch, this allows me to easily disconnect the winch without disturbing any of the wiring if the bumper has to come off. My black '97 has two long runs and its a PITA. It was worth $40 for bulkhead pass-throughs and four 3/8" lugs to not have to deal with this again.

For lack of a better place to put a bunch of switches for the lighting, compressor and air lockers, I'm pulling the single CD player located in the console and installing a custom built enclosure. Its an enclosure rather than a 'panel' because it will also hold the three relays necessary for the front cornering lights and the delayed-off enclosure illumination and exterior lighting feature. The enclosure is connectorized just like the OEM CD player so it will be easily removable if I need to tech to do something under the dash.

The enclosure illumination (the switch lettering) will stay lit for 15 minutes after the ignition is turned off. The compressor and locker solenoids are powered continuously so the lockers will stay engaged even with the vehicle turned off and the key removed. I wanted the exterior lighting only powered with the ignition on or in acc - so normal OEM behavior - but I wanted the exterior lighting to stay on (if it was already on) after the vehicle was turned off for the same 15 minutes as the enclosure illumination and then automatically turn off. InPOWER supplies a nifty delayed-off relay that makes this all possible in a simple, single tiny package.

The really annoying fly in this setup is having the front and rear locker switches in the console out of easy reach. Fine for a mall-crawler, but otherwise not so good. I've lived for almost 15 years with the front/rear lockers in my big Sport wired together so that one switch turns both on or off and its rare that this is an issue. Mostly I wanted to be able to turn the front and rear on/off independently of each other in the this build BEFORE I hit an obstacle - not during. If I could get that functionality I'd be happy. The '99 has the OEM R/D locker so it has the switch in the left side of the dash which will be removed since I'm installing ARB air lockers. I reworked the wiring a little and found a company that will 'print' custom Carling rocker switch covers so this switch will replace the OEM locker switch and will effectively be a master on/off switch for the differentials. I can set whatever configuration at the console, and control on/off form the master switch next to the steering wheel.

The toggle switches are Carling illuminated tip - white off and red on - and the Carling rocker also has off and on illumination. I think I'll either paint or powder coat the enclosure using the black 'wrinkle' paint - I haven't looked that far ahead yet. If I end up having to make a custom enclosure for the shifter, I'll make them match. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I ran out of space on the face of the enclosure so I had to cut out one switch. I integrated the backup lights and rear corner lights into on switch figuring that if I needed one or the other, I probably needed both.

I'm looking forward to having the front corner/cornering lights and if they work as well as I expect, I'm going to integrate this design into my big '97. The design has two 'modes'. The front lights can be used as 'corner' lights were both LT/RT can be turned on/off from a switch in the console enclosure - handy off road - OR they can function like 'cornering' lights found in higher end sports luxury vehicles where the corresponding LT or RT corner light is turned on when the turn signal is activated.

This has nothing to do with any overall real benefit in functionality, its just my personal preference - if the corner lights are turned on via the console switch, when the turn signal is activated, both corner lights turn off and the corresponding LT or RT corner light activates. I have no idea why I'd have the corner lights turned on on the street, but I didn't want the opposing light on making a turn - especially a right hand turn. Like I said, just personal preference.

There's several ways to make the cornering light thing work, but again I'm two relays from InPOWER - in this case 5 second 'one shot' relays - to make the corner lights stay steady rather than flash like the turn signals. I also added a small mini solid state relay to cut power to the InPOWER relays when the vehicle is turned off. Its only a few milliamps of draw per relay but there's no reason to power them when the vehicle is sitting off in the driveway for three months. Half a dozen 3A rectifier diodes finish up the logic to make the corner/cornering lights work.

I'm going to use the new ARB air compressor in this build as well. I'm pretty happy with it to the point - even if the price is outrageous. I haven't used it to air up tires yet, but I want to keep that as my emergency backup method so I'm using 8 AWG for the run from the compressor to the fuse/buss panel with a 75A relay. The Blue Sea panel uses AMI/MIDI and ATO/ATC fuses so the compressor will tie in though a 40A fuse in the panel.

I'm testing a new headlight harness from CE Auto Electric Supply on my big Sport. If that works out well, I'll get another one for this build and tie it back into the same Blue Sea panel with a 30A AMI/MIDI fuse.

The sucky part is I'm still trying to work out how to attach all this to the battery. Monster stopped making the battery terminals I use on the big Sport. I need two 175A, one 500A and one 60A fuses at the battery for the alternator, fuse/buss panel, winch and electric cooling fans and there's precious little space around the battery.

This is what I'm waiting for: MRBF Surface Mount Fuse Block - Common Source, but I'll probably end up using these Dual MRBF Terminal Fuse Block - 30 to 300A directly off the battery terminal. I found one that looks like it might work but it will require a little modification - like replacing the three 5/16" that they come with with 3/8" screws.

Bassik Positive Battery Terminal

While I am still underwhelmed by the components that Derale supplies with their cooling fan controller, I'm pleased with the controller itself so I'm going to stick with that for the time being. It works well controlling the dual Ford Contour fans using the in-hose sensor. The Contour fan motor plugs are now available even on Amazon and its simple enough to wire up a custom harness so there's not much point in crawling through the salvage yards for wiring anymore. I think I paid $12 for two brand new plugs with pig-tails - less than the cost of gas to the nearest yard.









I have all the parts and pieces - I think - to start working on this piece this weekend. I'm only going to wire up the engine bay, winch to the radiator support, and the harness into the cab to the enclosure and the master locker switch harness for now. Once the bumpers are on with the corner lights and the SAS is done, I'll finish the exterior wiring.

Next on the list after all the electrical will be installing the ARB bull bar - which is taking up like 1/4 of my driveway right now - and the XD9000 Warn and the All-Pro rock skids. Then its off to the shop for a custom rear bumper and tire carrier. Then the SAS. A lot left to do before this thing will be done.

Edward

Updated wiring diagram. Forgot the under hood lights and added documentation.



Edward

Long time between updates but the project is still moving forward.

Brake master cylinder -

Raybestos MC390426 1 1/4" bore. This BMC is - ALMOST - a direct replacement. The flare fittings are a different size than Mitsubishi but that's easy enough. The unit is about 3" longer than the Mitsubishi BMCs. This means that the Group 65 battery will not fit in the standard location with this BMC installed.

I spoke to Steve at Dynatrac two weeks ago. Dynatrac uses the 'standard' late '90s Ford Exploder rear brakes on their rear axles. The information for that caliper and rotor are posted earlier in the thread. They use the 2004 Dodge 1500 4x4 front calipers and rotors on their D60 and D44 axles. The calipers are 2x2.12" dual piston with 13.22" rotors. The MC390426 should work just fine with this setup - provided an adjustable proportioning valve is used to dial down the rears.

So the existing plan is the Dynatrac D60 in the back with the D44 HP in the front. 6x5.5 with the D44 outers on the front axle. I just couldn't justify the D60 outers on the front.

Edward