Looks like a good place for my 1st post.
I see some familiar rigs so I know some of you may know me as Off-Roader on 4x4wire and the Expedition Portal.
Been into Mitsu 4x4's for over a decade when I bought my 1st Montero (mid 90s). It was a
metallic brown 1990 3.0L v6 petrol/gasoline model (same as the 1989 Pajero's). She's now in Mitsu heaven after I totalled her in a roll over the 1st time I was EVER off road.
Being the stubborn guy I am, this setback only fueled my need and I soon bought a
metallic blue '90 petrol v6 4 door Montero. This one I never rolled but did learn where protection was required through trial and error

. Upgraded her well with an ARB rear locker, reinforced the trailing arms (after breaking one on the Rubicon), added a 2" suspension lift (longer coils in back, torqued torsion bars) so I could mount 33's, added rocker panel protection, added a 1/4" transfer case skid plate, trail clearanced my petrol tank (aka dented the heck out of it), added custom bumpers 1/4-3/8" (6-9mm plate steel), etc. This one was legendary with the trailing arm failure on the Con and then 2 years later axle housing destruction on the Slick Rock trail in the central Sierras (we swapped the entire rear end on the trail

).
After nearly a decade of hard use, an engine rebuild and an engine swap with a low mileage used japanese import engine, she developed electrical issues I no longer wanted to troubleshoot so I donated her to a friend who's place we 'lovingly' call the Montero Ranch. He has about 1/2 a dozen Montero's there in various levels of being parted out and really he's doing it for the love of keeping other rigs on the road and just makes enough from it for lunch each day. What a great resource to have right? He's planning to rebuild the engine in my old Blue Monty (and tracing down an electrical gremlin I couldn't fix) so he can drive this one.
I'll have to track down some pics since the picture hosting site I used to use crashed with all my pics.
Next I purchased a
red 1989 2 door v6 petrol model. This one has been mildly upgraded with rocker panel protection, the aftermarket front bumper from my blue Monty, a 2" body lift, rear coils from a 92-96 Montero and 33x12.5" BFG MT KM's. This one I drive regularly but have determined its too small for multi-day trips but is fine for weekend trips.
Most recently I purchased a
Sudan Beige (aka gold) 1996 4 door 3.5 DOHC v6 petrol Montero. This one has rocker panel protection, aftermarket front and rear bumpers, a 2" body lift, 35x12.5" BFG KM2's. It also has a fold out bed in back (so I can still use the middle row seats) and gear storage underneath the bed in back.

Detail on the fold out bed...
