New owner of a 2005 Montero Limited. As a Canadian, I waited years for Mitsu to come. Always wanted a Montero.Lived with two Isuzu Troopers in the meantime. Love the truck.

One question I am hoping someone can help me with. The truck handles very well for its size, very little body roll. The compromiseseems to bein ride quality, which is ironic given that ride quality I understood was one of the Montero's strengths. I don't want a Lexus ride (owned one already), but the suspensionseems almosttoo stiff, even compared with my Troopers. Expansion joints are a real wake-up call. I would give up some of the handling for a better ride quality. My thought is that a set of good adjustable aftermarket shocks mightimprove the problem. Any suggestions? I also wonder aloud whether Mitsu stiffened the suspension a little in later models in response to the ridiculous Consumer Reports fiasco. I test drove a 2001 prior to buying my 2005 and it seemed to me that the suspension had a better compromise between handling and ride quality, but that could just be the fact the shocks were five years old.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

On my 03, I always thought the ride was too soft, with too much body roll, soI put on a two inch lift. Now it's stiff, but not much body roll. You may want to check the pressure in your tires.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/712331

 

I've tested pressures ranging from 26-32 psi. Anything below that will set off the sensor. Hasn't seemed to make a big difference. Thanks for the advice.

 

I like the stiffness of my '03. I hear that there were significant differences between the 2000-2002 models and the 2003 and up models. They did some mods to help reduce the risk of roll-over, and of course they added stability control.

 

My 03 suspension does not feel too soft. If you want a stiffer ride, the cheapest way to get it is to get LT or load E tires. You need tires with thick sidewalls. The OEM tires are car tires designed for comfort...

 

Montero1,
is the lift you have OME? How much stiffer and flater handling is it compared to stock? What size tires are you running? I assume you had to do a full alignment?
Is the lift installed in those pics (doesnt seem like it).

I've had 2" OME lifts in the past, but never on a full IS suspensions, sorry for all the questions, please pm me or email me any feedback or comments you have about your lift!

Thanks
corvetteboy6988@aol.com

 

I haven't done it yet, but, I understand Bilsten shocks make a world of difference on these Montero's. I am planning on replacing all of my shocks soon.... I am sure they are the originals from 2001. My Monti is a 2001 LTD, never quits and is always reliable. Absolutely love it. I reran all new brake lines in my driveway last year, swapped out discs and calpers at same time. Only run Bridgestones on it, they are a great tire, but expensive. NY salts the heck out of the roads in winter (I am in western NY) and I am starting to get pipes crumbling away. Gotta change out my muffler pipe this month. I always do my own work, never trust the mechanics here. Last time I trusted them with spark plug replacement, and they left the old plugs laying over the top of the engine... glad they didn't fall into the spinning belts or fan blade.

 

I always thought the ride on my '01 Montero was in a perfect Goldilocks spot - not too soft and not too hard. I love driving it over uneven terrain or dirt/gravel roads since the wheels just follow the ground but the body doesn't bounce around. It always surprises me when I take my work truck on any of dirt road on which I previously drove my Montero. When I do that I have to slooooow waaay down, or else I'm bouncing all over in the truck. Few times I drove my friend around in my Montero and purposely accelerated going over speed bumps or rail tracks. He was surprised by "the lack of impact"...
That was on OEM suspension. About half way through Monty's life, I replaced OEM with OME (not a typo - Old Man Emu). I went with "standard" load OME springs and shocks. In my experience the ride quality improved even further. Perfect balance of stiffness and smooth ride, no side to side rolling ether.
As OP mentioned, it is possible that a '05 model year they've stiffened suspension and roll resistance to prevent non-existent vehicle instability. Never drove later model, so can't really comment on those.