Well I don't have a ton of pics to show for it, but I've been busy with the Montero these past couple weeks! The didactic portion of dental school has died down so I finally have more free time to do things other than study and cry myself to sleep after school each night!

The biggest thing I've done is give the 'tero a slight suspension lift: gen2 springs in the rear, cranked torsion bars up front to match, and bilstein 4600s all around:



Impressions of the lift: loving it!

Gen2 rear springs have so much more comfort (in addition to the added height). The 4600s are superb too. From the facebook group posts I was expecting these to be a bit softer, but they really are a perfect blend of street-ability and off road ability. On the street the truck is much more comfortable on my back yet only slightly more lean in the corners. Off road is a huge difference. I let her stretch her legs on the dirt path next to the railroad tracks near my house and it's night and day! Where I previously had to go 15-20 mph to not rattle my teeth off, I now fly by at 40-45. Comfortably!
I was also going to align the truck myself, but after seeing how much a pain it would be to get the fronts done, I decided I will take it to a shop in the next week or so.
I neglected to take after pictures of the truck, so I'll have to get those later.
I was also stranded by my truck for the first time ever. Driving into school and I noticed my electrical accessories acting weird and A/C not blowing as cold. After a few minutes I realized my alternator was likely not charging, but there was no parking at all so I was still circling with the traffic in the garage trying to find a spot. Fortunately the truck finally died on a downhill slope into the covered section of the garage so I didn't have to scorch in the SoCal sun waiting for AAA to pick me up.
Naturally the AAA truck couldn't fit into the garage, so me and Carlos (my AAA driver) had a fun time pushing it around and out 3 stories of the garage by ourselves..
It indeed was the alternator. I ended up having it rebuilt by M&M alternators in San Bernardino, CA for $60. It seems like they did a good job, but time will tell. They gave a 24mo warranty, so that's good.


This (above) pic was after I had done just the rear springs and shocks. Look at the difference! That rear wheel gap used to be about even with the fronts.

Clean and shiny

Also picked up a curt hitch from a Gen2 and plan to shorten it at some point to improve departure angle.

Other things I've done:
I'm chasing some CELs. Currently getting an intermittent 11 and a constant 24. Haven't had time to pull the cluster and replace the reed switch (my guess for 24). And 11 I'm not sure. I put in a brand new O2 sensor during the process of getting the truck to pass smog so I'm assuming that hasn't gone bad and it's likely injector or air intake related.
For some reason I'm having constant power to the license plate lights and the rear hatch door sensor is slightly tripped so it sends (a dim) door ajar light on the dash. I've unplugged the harness to the rear door for now and just don't drive the 'tero at night.
Fixed some broken exhaust hangars.
Added a little dash cubby pocket below the stereo.
Got a new hazard switch to replace my grenaded one.
Chased an oil leak to maybe the rear main seal? It's pretty small leak (not even a noticeable amount on the dipstick after 500 miles, so I'm not too concerned about it right now.
Chased a coolant leak to I think the throttle body. The hoses had enough slack to cut about 1/2 inch off the ends of each one, so I just cleaned off the corrosion on the nipples and reattached. So far so good.
Deleted the nonfunctioning headlight washer. I've never ever used them in other cars either so I just capped off the plug and hose in case I ever change my mind. Now it's got me thinking about what to do with all the new real estate up there.

Also an update the to speaker install. Previously I was not that happy, and it's still true: listening to FM radio leaves a lot to be desired. But I have since tried hooking my iphone up to it via usb and boy what a difference! It actually sounds pretty dang good! Subwoofer plans to come!
Lastly I've slowly been adding in noico sound deadening material. I've only done the hatch floor area so far, but man, what a huge difference in road noise and exhaust drone already!
That's it for now, but there's still lots more to do!