Outer Limits 4x4 Board

OK we are going to start fresh here, I will canvas the 3 big Mitsi forums (again) and hopefully some of these guys will post on an open forum (it's a big, wide 4x4 world out there).
OK my Bitsamissin is a 93 lwb 3.0 V6 5sp 4.88 gears (HiLux white ), it was bog standard when I got it 3yrs ago.
Current mods:- 33" BFG muds, TJM steel bar, 9000lb Warn winch (still a virgin), 2.5" s/lift, Koni shocks, Pedders torsion bars, snorkel, ARB rear locker, dual batteries, cargo barrier, air tank, custom front bumpstops, removed rear swaybar, front swaybar disconnect, extended diff breathers, Aisin manual hubs (from a base model diesel) and lots of other little useful things.
Future mods:- front Detroit locker (very sooooon), Lightforce spotties, 2" b/lift, 35"s (still deciding which), custom armor/rear bumper, 2.85 t/case gears, maybe 5.29's, and more dents............

Lets hear about your Bishi.......................

Here in Victoria we don't have a lot of slow rock crawling it's mostly mud, ruts and more single obstacle orientated. There are some awesome hillclimbs however and if it's wet can be outright dangerous. The sad thing is that slowly a lot of popular tracks are being secretly closed off without consultation, this is a very serious issue and one of the main reasons I joined the Vic Paj Club.

I also have forged links with the US and some Japanese Mitsi guys who run the little swb softtops (J Toppers) they luv big body lifts and tyres (34-36" Swampers mainly). I wondered where they would drive these things but they form there own tracks/obstacles on mostly private land. Anyone thinks they are soft are dead wrong they wheel as hard as they can.
The US scene is different again as they have an abundance of slow rockcrawling, hence heavy body armor is the go. They have learnt the art of sliding their IFS rigs over big rocks as they have no/minimal front wheel travel.
I still can't believe the stuff they drive IFS vehicles over and just shows what can be done with the right mods. They also have an interesting track rating system and each trail is graded 1-10 or "minimum 32"s and rear locker for a swb" or "33"s and rear locker for a lwb".
The most modified Paj/Monty I know of is Lloyd Swartz from the US, we built him up a 2.85:1 t/case and I sourced him a set of 5.29 Mitsi gears (from the Oz diesels) for his Gen 1 swb V6 auto. It also has a 3" s/lift, 3" b/lift, twin lockers, 35"s and a heap of custom armor. He is in 7th heaven now with the gearing mods and he wreckons it's unstallable now. Remember they can wheel at altitudes up to 16,000ft above sea level so stalling is a very real problem on big tyred undergeared rigs. There have been a few that have gone the SAS route most notably a US Challenger (Monty Sport) with Dana 44"s, 5.29's, 35"s ra ra ra, they call it the Jeep killer.
Hopefully in a few years (if things pan out) I want to visit Swartzy in the US for a wheelin trip hopefully Tellico, Moab or the famous Rubicon trail, likewise he wants to visit Oz but I've got no idea where to take him ??????????
Here's some pics of Swartzy on the Rubicon Trail.

Just poping in from the 4x4wire..

dc

Hi frank good to see some interest trying to be generated in this forum,,, cheers Shane

Hi Shane, glad to see you posting :wink:
Will call soon.

Cheers, Frank.

ah yes we'll give you something for the stress, good to see things are off to a fresh start, lets hope for some renewed mitsu enthusiasm come on guys.....

Baz

Hey Frank et al...

I started the Mitsu 4x4Wire message board a few years ago, so some of you may know me as already. There are very few of us Mitsu owners up here in Canada, since we only got the badge-engineered "Dodge Raider" from 87-89. Mitsu only opened shop up here in September. When that happened, I promptly bought a new Mitsu Lancer, and the ol SWB (Ol Betsy) became my trail rig.

Here are ol Betsy's particulars: 89 SWB V6 w/lsd. I Cranked the front torsion bars, and installed LWB coils and then fitted 33x9.50 BFG AT ko's on the factory wheels. The front wheels are kept close to the ground via Rancho 9000 adjustables. I junked the front swaybar, and was gonna get disco's from Frank, but after it became a trail rig, I decided that it wasn't worth his trouble to make them. The suspension otherwise is bonestock, aside from lowprofile bumpstops on the lower control arms for a little more flex. Oh, and I chucked the auto hubs, replacing them with Aisin Manuals.

Junked the front and rear bumpers and replaced them with steel channel. Also sprayed the rocker panels with bedliner, to minimize scratches. Installed an old Cadillac air compressor under the hood, and the quick connect comes out where the headlight washer jet used to sit.

Inside, I removed the carpet and the backseat, and sprayed bedliner on the floor as well. The rear interior panels are completely covered with chrome diamond plating, with shovel/axe/saw attachments on the walls. Also mounted a CB overhead, and put in another 12v accessory outlet.

Future mods? Homemade snorkel, and seriously considering welding the front diff. Would like to get lower gears, but can't justify the $$...

PHIL

Nice hat Phil....

Just kidding.

I'll be hanging around bishi. And when I get the truck running, you'll be hearing from me about gears too.

DougH wrote:Nice hat Phil....

Hey, watch it pal. Goretex hat comes in handy when you are going through 3 feet of water! Something you should know about...

PHIL

Phil, if you have powersteering I'd highly recommend welding up the front diff. Best bet is to find a spare, get that welded up, then install it to your car...if worse comes to worse and you don't like it, you can go back to your original diff I did it about 6 months ago on my Daihatsu and it's increased my offroad ability 500%...I can crawl things now rather than flog it.

PHIL wrote:

DougH wrote:Nice hat Phil....

Hey, watch it pal. Goretex hat comes in handy when you are going through 3 feet of water! Something you should know about...

PHIL

Actually I found it kinda funny. I have the same one in red. I wear it wheeling all the time now.

Cool guys great to see ya here
I also gotta mention that Phil puts a lot of time into Trail Talk along with the other dudes. It really is a great forum probly the best on the net IMHO.
Philmeister you gotta get Gordo to share some of the workload, I'll lend you my diamond encrusted riding crop if ya like to get him motivated
Now as for that Swartzy character................................

Bitsamissin wrote:Cool guys great to see ya here
I also gotta mention that Phil puts a lot of time into Trail Talk along with the other dudes. It really is a great forum probly the best on the net IMHO.

I spend alot of time bothering people, ermmmm I mean moderating on the wire as well.

On the note of Shwartzy, I send the last MO to him for those front gears. I think he is out on the trail though, since he didnt anwser my emails. Wohooo.... half way there.

Let me introduce you to BJ on Roids.................
He is young like you (not crusty like me) I think he hangs out on Pirate a bit to, he is our resident comedian but knows his stuff
Drives a customised BJ Toyo.
I think you to will get along just fine