So... I currently have an 07 Frontier and my 91 shorty Pajero. I use the Frontier as my DD and the Pajero as my wheeling truck. This set up has been giving me a few problem lately:
1) I love my Mits and I'm starting to hate my Frontier
2) What's the point of making a truck payment on the Frontier when I'm always driving the Mits
3) Even though I love my Pajero I have complete fear of it breaking and have no patients for the "great parts hunt" (JDM parts aren't easy to come by)

I'm now thinking I want to sell the Frontier and go with just one vehicle. I just don't think the Pajero will make a DD.

I want a truck that meets the following criteria:
-Unique
-Fun
-Relatively easy to find parts (at least a vehicle sold in Canada)
-Off road capable
-Affordable (say no to payments!)

Eric suggested getting a 3rd Gen or a Monty Sport from the states. I see he's already started a thread about the 3rd Gen. The 3G's are a little out of my price range but I drove home behind a Sport today and like it allot.

What do I need to know about the Sport?

I see they have the 3.0L or the 3.5L, leaf or coil depending on the year. I'm leaning toward 5 spd but they seem less common. What else do I need to know? Are the Axles as strong as other Mits products? How hard is it to find one with an LSD? Do they make lockers? What will it take to clear 33s?

Most importantly... How do they drive!

Right now this whole thing is just an idea... but watch Kijiji 'casue you just might see a Red Nissan Frontier for sale.

Maurie

Post deleted by joestruck

Car payments suck. I don't understand why people do that to themselves. SO many nice vehicles available for under $4k USD, and a decent amount under $2k.

Anyways, I like Mitsus and Montys. I guess that is the best answer I can give you!

Sports are good to go in my book. Same engine family as the Montero and same bulletproof diffs...Just not as much room as the Montero. You'll have a little bit more trouble fitting 33's but its possible. There are some sport guys on here that will fill you in..

The sport is based off the pickup frame. I snagged a leaf locker rear axle off a 99xls. Looked maybe a touch skinnier framed than the monty. Lots of trim levels, and most are 2wd. If I was gonna get an MS, I'd have to have the 3.5 and all the bells and whistles.

I'd actually prefer an 91 gen1 ls, if I could address the power issue some way, but then I have a special fondness for round headlights and vent windows, too.

For some reason, MS fog lights seem to be a cottage industry on fleabay. Must come out easy...

Hi Maurie,

I've seen you over on CN4xc and have followed your progress on Phil's old shorty. Someone can correct me if I've got some 'facts' wrong, but here's my opinion. I've got an '03 sport and can say that the engine in mine is fairly stout (134XXX trouble free kms). Under the hood is fairly full in my opinion and would take some creative work to get, say, a 2nd battery wired in.

In my opinion, the trans is a little sloppy (at least on mine it is). I've read reviews from other owners and car mags about this trans issue and can confirm this to be fairly true. I'm not sure if this is due to the A4WD system in mine or if the tranny's in all the sports are this way. Having owned a Gen 1 auto, I thought this auto was more quick in shifting and overall 'feel' than the sport trans. I'm also comparing this to my dad's jeep cherokee, and my brother's old 4runner and Grand Cherokee.

Space wise, it has less room than a Gen 2 LWB. Headroom is less than the Gen 1's. The seating position is more car like, not like the gen 1 seating. One thing I wish we had is a rear mounted tire carrier like the overseas Mits Challengers. I've also found the placement of the A pillars to be a fairly significant blind spot (to me anyway). Driving range is about 500 highway kms per tank (70L-regular grade recommended) leaving about 1/8 on the gauge (regular trips to Ft. Mac).

Stock ride height is fairly good and I've found that 265-75R16's are about the largest you can fit without rubbing issues. If you're going to offroad it you will need to take off the factory side steps (if so equipped). Body wise, the steps have proven to be the only rust prone parts on mine.

As FastEddy mentioned, it is based on the pickup body on frame config and I have read of owners doing 1" bodylifts with no issues in order to fit 33's. I believe OME has a rear lift kit (leafs and shocks); this plus a torsion bar crank would be the other option for lift to fit 33's.

I don't know if the XLS package had the option of the rear LSD (mine doesn't have one), but I think the Limited models had this option. As with Monty's, North American aftermarket support is fairly weak compared to your nissan or a toyota. ARB does make a front locker for the later models and there are rumors of a rear locker for the larger (3.5L engine) rear axle in the works. ARB also has a winch bumper for the earlier model with minor tweaking to get it to fit on later models.

Parts wise, I had some trouble getting regular maintenance items (filters, gaskets, etc) at the time the belts needed service so I went to the stealership for full service parts.

This is all just my opinion of course and it's worth what you've paid me for it. Go out and test drive a couple. All in all its a good truck and I like driving it, but I love driving my Gen 1's over the sport. Its currently a dedicated baby hauler and grocery go getter (for now). You'll find others who have transformed these rigs in great offroaders. Check out the Mitsu section on ExpeditionPortal.com PM me if you want anymore insight or if you have anymore questions. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for all the help guys. It's funny in a market flooded with SUV type trucks how few are actually drivable vehicles and how many are lifted station wagons. In a country that has such diverse weather and terrain why are we stuck with such a limited selection?

Well put about the station wagons, I call them minivans without the sliding doors! Many auto makers, Mitsubishi included have decided that they know what we should be driving and left our opinions out of the decision. The Montero/Pajero is one of the most imported vehicles in the world in as far as the number of countries it is sold in but it isn't any longer sold here.. Not even the Montero Sport. And they are upset about their sales dwindling, go figure.

Well, you could pick something more unique, but not MUCH more. With CoSport's sold off and disappeared, Steve no longer 'wheeling his and DC getting rid of his in CA there are only a hand full left set up for off road. I haven't seen one on the trail here in Colorado in 5-6 years; I've never seen on in Moab.

The Sport is a full frame as mentioned above. That said, don't expect it to drive like a car. They're also not 'powerhouses' so if you're expecting to tow a 5000 lb. trailer you'll be disappointed.

I'm shopping for a second one to start building next year and I highly recommend the 3.5L. Especially if you're planning on going with 33"+ tires. If you decide on a 3.0L you'll be happier with 33"s and installing 4.88 axle gears (in a 5-speed) or 4.64s (in an auto; your torque converter and tranny will be happier with you, too).

The 5-speed was only made from '97-99 and was only available with the 3.0L. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Good transmission. If at some point a clutch becomes necessary - upgrade it. If you add a lot of extra weight and take it off road a heavier clutch will last longer and pay for itself. Something to be aware of: a significant number of 5-speed vehicle specific parts are no longer manufactured and no aftermarket manufacture has picked up production. That includes the torque roll stop assembly (transfer case), transmission mount and transmission to transfer case adapter.

Personally, I recommend the '98s on up. There are a few idiosyncrasies in '97. In mid-'97 they swapped ECUs. Cruise control behaves better on the '98 on up models.

If you decide on a Sport make sure it's loaded with every option known to man and everything works. Factory locker, gauges, rear tire carrier, etc. It'll save you money in the long run. Parts are not as cheap as on your Frontier and there are virtually no after market suppliers dealing with the Sport. So, anything you can get already installed will be something you don't have to buy and pay to have put on. I also recommend considering one with leather if you're going to drive it a lot and plan on owning it for quite a while. The factory leather was very good quality; it'll take a lot of abuse and is easy to keep clean.

I found a '99 here in Denver last month for $4500 loaded to the hilt; all you'd need to make it trail ready was a skid plate for the front, rocks skids, manual hubs, a set of rear leaf springs and a set of M/T 33"s. Disconnect the sway bars and it'll keep up with any Jeep similarly equipped.

TYPICALLY the Montero Sport can fit 33"s relatively easily. For the '97-'99s the best solution is to replace the rear leaf springs with custom springs; you can do the removal/installation with basic hand tools. This is more expensive up front but the springs will last longer. Less than $500. You can have the factory springs re-arched for about half the money but they also won't last as long if you're doing a lot of 'wheeling. Usually around $125-250. The cheap, cheesy solution is to use longer shackles and/or 'add-a-leaf's. It'll ride like crap, you'll drag the butt end everywhere and eventually you'll break something. But, it'll probably last for a year or two. Your millage may very. Somewhere in the $25-$150 range. For the '00+ Sports you'll need to replace the rear coils. I haven't done a '00+ so I'm not sure if JUST adding coil spacers will give you enough lift. Not that I'd try that in the first place - custom coil springs aren't that expensive and when built right they're worth their weight in gold. Whichever way, you need about 3". All that needs to be done in the front is tightening up the torsion bars and trimming the front bumper to clear the tires.

Durability wise, expect the same as the Montero/Pajero. I just tipped over 465,000 on my '97 with the original engine and this vehicle gets the crud kicked out of it on a regular basis.

Suppliers:
ARB - front/rear air lockers, bull bar (97-99 only)
Iron Man - suspension lifts
Alcan - custom leaf springs
Rancho - adjustable shocks
OME - shocks, springs
Mark's 4wd Adapters Marks 4wd Adapters - crawler transfer case gears
All-Pro Off Road - rock skids (personal favorite)

Here is some more info on Sports. 4x4 Extreme Sports

Edward

Ton's of good info here, thanks guys. The price of these trucks used is very reasonable and one of the things that brought them to my attention. I'm use to a lack of after market parts, I'm more concnerned about a lack of general day to day parts (I'm currently trying to find a phantom "o" ring).

I think I'm going to toss the Frontier up for sale in the next week or two and see what happens after that. I have to pay off the loan and have enough left over to buy a Monty Sport. It really isnt' the best time to be selling a pickup so my plan may be dead in the water... we'll see. Seems like the Sport is a reasonable way to procede but we'll wait 'till we have cash in hand if you know what I mean.

Edward; Have you ever dealt with Extreme Sports? I love there site, they have allot of great info there. I'm thinking that if I go through with this plan I'd look for a truck in there general area then send it to them to add a few things befor I bring it to Canada.

Cheers
Maurie