That would be a lot of work! And what axle shafts would you plan to use? They'd have to be custom made shafts. The Mitsu rear is a center pumpkin, and you'd have to retube it to be a drivers side drop pumpkin, and then have custom axle shafts made. Not only a lot of work, but a lot of money.
And it would suck if you broke an axle shaft....now you need another custom one made.
As I recall, in the article they shortened the Toyota axles and either resplined them or attached a U-joint yoke on the end...I don't recall. And since you'd be having to cut down both sides anyways, to get an offset you'd just cut more off one side than the other...if that didn't leave you enough, yes, you'd have to re-tube that side.
Personally I've never bought into all that "ours is better crap". No matter what vehicle forum you go to, they will all say "ours is better". I think it's bull crap. The Mitsu's are good capable vehicles. The best??? I don't believe so.
Never said Mitsu's were the BEST, just damned good, unlike a lot of 4WD vehicles out there (like YEEPS) that really don't have much going for them if they didn't have such a monstrous aftermarket. Lloyd's said it, and I believe it...Mitsu's are one of the best, out-of-the-box. If I WERE going to build a high-end rock buggy, I WOULD start with a Yeep, but only because there's such a huge aftermarket. If I want a reliable, capable, and strong vehicle, both on- and off-road with a minimum of modifications, I'll stick with the Montero. Anything that diminishes the Mitsu-ness should be avoided if possible.
If you were talking about American-type parts that were of the same level of quality (and metric <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />) as Mitsu or Toyota parts, I might reconsider my stance. However, I'm far from convinced that a Dana 44 is an adequate substitute.
If you'd use a rear Mitsu with 4.875 gears, and a D44 front with 4.88 gears, you'd never, ever, ever know they were not exact.
Probably. Nevertheless...
