I don't know man, why don't you unbolt it from your other pickup and take it for a spin and find out for yourself. I've got the chopped montero with no sway bars and the bed is really high and so is the 25G tank and even with all the lift and gear loaded up high it will break traction and drift before leaning much. I've also got downrated coils and oil shocks so i'd think you'd be fine even with the heavier engine. But maybe if you really need a sway bar you might be able to custom fab some mounts and run a jeep sway bar. I'm really not trying to be a jerk i'm just sayin' <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I know you're not bein a jerk Toasty, I LIKE when people challenge and give reasons, ideas, and other avenues. Even If I don't end up going with them it spurrs others into thinking about it.

The 2G Mighty Max 4WD's are t-bar front with leaf rear, not a coil to be seen. I've heard of swapping between some Mitsu parts to adjust ride height without doing the full crank and index, but the info is lost in my head.

I'd take the gasser for a spin but she's not on the road yet, and I'd rather not loose my permit.(long story short, when everyone says not to take the road test in X place because they fail 80% no matter what, they mean it... next test is the 14th of december... and I went in august...)

So I concede I have no real data to speak of about the Mitsu trucks, but I'd rather get a thourough understanding of what and how and why before I do anything.

I like breaking traction in the rear... Not sure if the trucks COG will be right for that sort of fun though.

I guess it breaks down to the old "keep all variables but one consistent, and record the variations" that's been beat into my brain. Get the driveline installed, see how she drives, go from there. I sometimes get ahead of myself in my quest to see the big picture.

I'll keep heep in mind, as well as the other Monty options for when the time comes, be it tomorrow or next week.

Darn weird dreams waking me up at 2:00... purple rooms and convinience stores with bestbuy style electronics isles, cement art deco buildings with crawl spaces you can barely fit in that open into entire rooms... buying bean dip and wasabi almonds with a side of candy stir sticks...

Darn turkey sandwich causing it I'll bet... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

Well, I'm now irrevocably committed to getting an oilpan finished!

This is the relief for the starter, since I rotated it down under the block to match the transmissions starter location.



Roughing out the other side. There's a profile in it to clear the rods/crank/etc.




Partway through the finish cycle, stopped to check how it was doing under the little pond of coolant. Looks good so far!



I've got ~ another 40 minutes to go...

Curiosity got the better of me, I had to check again!


By far, one of my FAVORITE photo's so far!

And, profile is finished! WOOOHOOO!




The other side pan will be milled out Monday, then it's cutting the angle on the top that mates with the block, and drilling the holes. That needs a fixture I spent the last 3 days making, but didn't document.

Holy <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />!

Maybe I wont be doing this swap next year. That's more than beer and a grinder can handle I think.

It's easier than I make it seem, you can just notch the front of the frame(or move the engine back 4 inches), cut the bell housing to clear the starter in the stock benz location(or make a jig and weld the front part of a mercedes bell housing to the Mitsu one), and be done with it. The radiator is the toughie part though, still haven't figured out where to put it...

You could also redrill a mitsubishi flywheel to fit the mercedes crank with a spacer, instead of modifying the mercedes flywheel to fit the mitsu pressure plate. That would deal nicely with the starter clearance problem because you could just use the mitsubishi starter in the factory location, and cut the interfering mounting ear off of the pan. I didn't go this rout because I'm not sure the Mitsubishi starter can crank the diesel fast enough in the winter, but I have no real evidence to support that hypothesis...

If this pan works out, I might be convinced to sell them and an adapter plate if there's demand, but that depends on how things are by then.

That was from back on dec 6th, never got it into this thread.
The upper one is pass side, lower is part of the drivers side.







That's the rear main seal retainer/upper pan end plate, 2 operations left and it's finished. Click through for the gallery pages, as usual.

Front main seal retainer, after the third to last operation. Tomorrow both retainers get their block mounting holes drilled and counterbored.



A a few quick comparison shots of what's done so far.

a bit of stuff has happened, IÆll C&P the relevant, and the pics.

Finished the intermediate plate, made the intermediate block that clears the oil pump shaft, trimmed the longest side rail to final size, and got everything drilled and tapped to hold it all together.

This was this past tuesday.





This past Wednesday


Drilling the mounting holes in the drivers side pan rail.




Machine was on the fritz yesterday(Thursday), so I probed out the t-stat housing to get the needed dimensions to make a new one that won't interfere with the grand plan to raise up the A/C compressor.

Got the machine going again today, turned out to be a backup battery that was just dead enough to cause issues, but not dead enough to trip the "low battery" alarm...


Pass side pan rail in the fixture, after counterboring. Decided to do it in the CNC once I remembered where the 3" long 5/16 endmill was. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />




Need to face .04" off the inside of the rear main seal block in order to get it all to fit the way I want it to, still drill and counterbore the other 2 holes, then deck the bottom surface down nice and even.

Getting there...