94 MightyMax Sport- New Member Project

[KevinB90]

Names Kevin, Ive been a long time reader and its time to get my feet wet with a build this coming summer. I've read just about every thread within the 2G section and have a good idea of what Id like to do. I'm curious to what direction you guys would go and want some feedback. I have a clean slate vehicle with no modifications made. Nice to meet everyone and looking forward to this project.




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[tortron]

cut and polish and drive as is would be my go to

[KevinB90]

Ive drove it daily for about the last year and during that time I replaced both timing belts, waterpump and had the starter rebuilt.

[geezer101]

Hi and welcome to mightyram. I wouldn't worry about anyone else would do with your truck - like you said it's a clean slate. If you want to keep it reliable and easy to live with but get a little more out of the stock engine, I'd source headers for it, an exhaust upgrade to maybe 2.25/2.5" and retune the ignition and replaced anything that is getting tired (ignition coil, suspension, brakes etc) The paint should bounce back after a good clean and a couple of layers of wax polish (if the paint feels grainy and rough, a clay bar will make a big difference) The engine bay is nice and clean! Post pics, keep us up to date and ask questions! :thumbup:

[xboxrox]

Hello KevinB90

Maybe -- shiney window visors, window tint, covercraft carhart dash cover, shiney wheels or shiney center caps, buff the paint shiney, BOSE soundlink mini II speaker to play tunes from spotify through your phone... Vinyl graphics..?

You are blessed --
George

[KevinB90]

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty happy with how it runs right now. No hesitations or vibrations work for me. Already greased all service points and fluids replaced in transmission and rear diff. I'm interested in a clean cold air setup and upgrading the exhaust from headers to tail pipe.

[KevinB90]

One thing I don't know is what gear ratio I have and if it's factory lsd or not..i haven't seen any sticker indicating what additive that's needed. Any ideas besides jacking it up and watching the wheel rotation?

[tortron]

do you have a build plate under the bonnet on the firewall, or in one of the door jambs?

there is supposed to be tags on the dif housing, but in my experience they are all long since lost
There may still be a silver and black sticker on the housing if you clean it up

[finalfighter]

the door panel should have a yellow tag on it that would say its equipped with an lsd. the gear ratio is listed after the trans axle model. so for you thats 3.909.

[finalfighter]

i should have mentioned this but make sure the ecm has been recapped. the caps WILL LEAK eventually if they have not been changed. if the truck starts acting up, check the ecm first.

[KevinB90]

So what gears are preferred? The 3.909 gears keep me at about 70mph at 3k rpm. Smooth as it can be...

[finalfighter]

what is your tire size? im at 3200 rpms when doing 70 in my truck, thats with 215/75r14.

i live in hills where im at but if i where freeway driving all the time i would look at an lsd rear out of a starion/conquest. they are 3.545. that should get your rpms down to 2800.

another mod witch i believe is worth doing is swapping the lash adjusters for a set of manually adjusted ones. the truck will sound like a little diesel but makes more power and gets better gas millage. this is one of the first things i did to my trucks. also replace the valve stem seals while in there. next thing you should do is replace the fuel filter on it. try and get a good filter and not the cheapest autozone brand.

next thing to do is replace the lower control arm bushings. they are probably rubbed threw by now.mine where at 80,000 miles. your going to need to get the truck aligned after this. while under there put a fresh set of gabriel ultras in it. it will ride much better.

once you have done all the stuff listed above, advance the timing 2 degrees. the truck will feel real peppy after this.

these are my thoughts on what i would do to that truck.

if i did not have inspection for smog i would have put a 2.4l from a 1997-1999 montero sport in it by now. all you would need to do is use your injectors, and wire up the distributor. everything else stays the same.

good luck.

[geezer101]

Mechanical lash adjusters/lifters have advantages over hydraulic. You can get them to run quietly but you have to throw the rule book (or in this case, the workshop manual) out the window by adjusting them hot by feel. It'll take a little while to get it right but you can get them to run near silently. I am not sure if you can just 'swap' the hydraulics for mechanicals though - the heads on these engines are oil pressure eccentric and might do weird things - what did you use for donor parts finalfighter (what was the original engine application, rocker ratio etc?) 90% of Mitsubishi engines using oil or blowing smoke especially at take off from the lights is caused by bad valve stem seals so that's a good call from finalfighter. You can retune OBD I/II engines without a timing light (other than to check base timing) by running the engine @ approx 2000 rpm and gently swinging the distributor between advance/retard until you get the engine rpm to spike by itself. Find the sweet spot, lock the distributor adjustment up and you should find some useable extra torque and throttle response (I'd advise regapping the plugs to 0.85 mm and use premium fuel as well)

[KevinB90]

Yeah Im gonna stick with leaving the engine how it is since theres no lifter tick, oil use or poor throttle response. I feel lucky to have a shelter kept pickup with no common issues. I do have ideas to lower the suspension 2 -2 1/2 inches and installing a front sway bar with some sporty handling wheels/tires. IN THE END, I'd like to see the DOHC swapped from a 4G63T and with any luck, enjoy it for years to come.

[geezer101]

^lowering your truck 2.5" will dial the front camber to 1.5 degrees which is near optimal for handling. It's tricky to get Mitsubishi trucks to really handle like a car due to how light the rear ends are without a load and the fact they're designed to haul cargo and not ass. Still, they're more compliant and comfortable to drive than other equivalent small trucks. It would improve handling by installing a rear stabiliser bar and run wider low profile tires and wheels + lowering the ride height.

[KevinB90]

^lowering your truck 2.5" will dial the front camber to 1.5 degrees which is near optimal for handling. It's tricky to get Mitsubishi trucks to really handle like a car due to how light the rear ends are without a load and the fact they're designed to haul cargo and not ass. Still, they're more compliant and comfortable to drive than other equivalent small trucks. It would improve handling by installing a rear stabiliser bar and run wider low profile tires and wheels + lowering the ride height.

Hey geezer what did you scavenge the rear stabilizer and front sway bar from? I remember you writing something about the Montero sport or making ur own mounting tabs for it?

[geezer101]

I haven't as there isn't a rear bar for these trucks. I have a half ton capacity rated Gen 1 and all of the suspension stuff is lower rated (upper control arm pivots, stabiliser bar and tail shaft...) I found that Gen 2 stabilisers are thicker (and are the same spec as Gen 1 one ton rated) so I swapped it up (+ mine was actually bent anyway on one end along with a radius rod :shakehead:) It appears that early Ford F150 aftermarket rear stabiliser mounting kits will work on our trucks and that will really help with turn in response and keep the rear end from twisting around.

[tortron]

There was aftermarket rear bars available

[claych]

^^^
Still available ---
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ZOIAAOSwB-1Yrd5W/s-l300.jpg

$242.50 to 295.40

[tortron]

nice, looks like a decent kit (no weld?)

id think about an anti tramp bar before a sway bar though

[finalfighter]

for the lifters is get them out of 84 and under 2.0l mm/d50s. i use all the hardware except for the parts circled. for those i use the ones that are already on the the truck.




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