Body roll 1994 Montero Fullsize
 

I recently purchased a 94 montero for my son. 103k original miles. I have put in a little to get it running fantastic, but it also had a lot of body roll. I tried replacing the worn out shocks with Bilstein HD (all 4). The ride is greatly improved by not the body roll. Any suggestions where i can start if there is a problem?
Or is there a mod I can do cheaply(!) to improve this. 1994 was before all the consumer reports issue on flipping so maybe car was just engineered this way? I'd still like to improve it. It is very unsafe at highway speeds. Thanks.

Welcome to the boards. :) Have you checked the sway bars and springs?

rolling monty
 

Check for what? I had a mechanic and myself look at it. Bushing are ok, a littel cracked.. How does a sway bar wear out? What about the springs? Just let me know what to look for. But I doubt it is either of these. thanks.

What is "a lot of body roll"? Compared to what? You are making a very broad and subjective statement that is impossible for any of us to interpret correctly. Are you comparing the body roll of the 1994 Montero you just bought to other Monteros you have driven? To other SUVs? To your car? To what?

All SUVs have more body roll than cars of the same era but the Montero is one of the most stable and well-mannered SUVs that ever came out of the 1990s. If you want your Montero to handle like a car, you should have bought a car. 103K is nothing on a Montero so it's unlikely that anything could be worn on the suspension so badly as to cause excessive body roll, other than the shocks which you already took care of. Maybe you just have unrealistic expectations for a vehicle of this type.

Rolling Monty
 

Ok I will try to clarify. It is unsafe and very unstable anything over 40 mph. I have owned burb, trooper,LR And rented many others. It rolls excessively compared to these. I would NOT characteriize it as stable or good hwy manners. I must Improve it. If anyone in Austin area I would love for u to drive.

Under inflated tires or the wrong tires could cause this problem.

get an alingment put air bags in the rear coils and remember that this truck tips the scales at 5200 lbs

monty roll
 

the tires are Fuzion radial A/P M+S, 30x9.50r15LT and inflated to 34-36PSI. Are these tires incorrect? I also recently had the alignment performed at Firestone and it is perfect, but if I remember correctly they said the back doesn't need (or they cannot) align the rear. Is that true or just too complicated for them? Should I try a rear end alignment at Mits dealer?

What are airbags in the rear coils? send me a link if you can.

Also I never heard back on how to check the sway bars and springs. Any thoughts?

Thank you.

Check the tag inside driver door for correct tires. I just put new tires on mine (1994 montero sr) and they are different from what you described. My tire press is 50 lbs. I think this may be your biggest problem. Low press will make the vehicle feel mushy and when you turn the steering wheel back and forth while driving it will feel like your on ice. I do know alignment wont help you and worn sway bar bushings wont do it unless one side is completly off. Check your tires and put the max press stated on the tire in them and see if that help then you'll know your on the right track.

rolling monty
 

The labels says P265 70R15 110 H. Frnt PSI 26 and rear 32 PSI cold. These "look" like they are stock (no big mud tires or low profile). It looks like every other stock montero. You think that could make a big difference? What tire goes up to 50PSI??!!! Do you like you tires? recommend a brand? Thanks.

Also- how cracked can the sway bar bushing be? when is it a problem. They are there, cracked, but seem ok (but I didn't see them new).

J

My old tires were "scrambler" from pep boys (P265 70R15) about $70 each. They are more of a highway tire but still looked good on the montero. The new tires are not as rugged looking but there higher milage tires and I got them even cheaper with a rebate.
Before a sway bar will make any noticable differance on ride you would hear it making noise. I it has to come off to make any differance on ride.


Go test drive one on a used car lot to have somthing to compare yours to.

I went through the same issue with my '99 - i.e. it seemed to roll more than other SUV's and in fact more than other Montero's I'd driven. So I don't think you're making it up. But even though Monteros are a bit on the tall and thin end of the spectrum they are very stable and safe when properly set up - and by properly I mean exactly as they came from the factory. I can go into a whole bunch of background on my situation but here's what I think you should consider:

Sway bar bushings: They are cheap and easy to replace so change all 10 of them. (Four round ones on each side drop link and the two block bushings where the bar attaches to the axle.) It's not cracking that is the issue it's firmness of the rubber.

Shocks: After trying 3 different aftermarket and advanced "highly recommended" alternatives I gave up and bought factory shocks. Others may argue for HD gas filled replacements but the fact is that as soon as I went to the stock shock my truck was dramatically more stable. For what it's worth I used to drive stock Montero's at speed around Laguna Seca Raceway as part of my job so I know the factory set up is good. Rear shocks are only $77 at www.mitsubishiparts.com and I really recommend them.

Finally: You do indeed have a tire and/or tire pressure issue. The stock 265/70/15 size is an "oddball" size according to most tire shops (I know becasue I just bought a set) They are certainly available (Yokohama highly recommended) but they usually have to be ordered in and some shops will try to talk you into an "equivalent" and more numerous LT tire, which is no doubt why your truck has the 30x9.50's. The dimensions may be close but they are vastly different in construction and purpose and are more about vertical load rating (think pick up trucks) than about resisting side deflection. In fact, Yokohama and other companies refer to them as Flotation Tires. However they are listed as an acceptable substitute but require much higher tire pressure as noted in this Yokohama tech bulletin:
http://www.yokohamatire.com/pdf/tsb-070302.pdf

So richbix is right about the 50psi (assuming he as the flotation type tire) But if you can, I would recommend going to the stock 265/70/15 at the pressures specified on your label.

Hope this helps,

Ron

P.S. If you have the fold up third row seats and don't use them, take them out. You'll improve MPG slightly and lower the center of gravity. Nothing adds to roll tendancy better than bolting 120 lbs or more way up high in the back of your truck.:confused:

One more thing while you're at it......

You don't mention whether or not you have the SR version. Your door jam label info is no-doubt correct but in the Yokohama tire guide book they list all 94's as having 6" wide wheels and 235/75/15's. For 95 they show only the SR version moving up to the 265/70/15's, and a 7" wheel.

The point is that it might be worthwhile to have a tire shop check the width of your rims (they have big plastic calipers and should do it for free without needing to raise the vehicle.) If for some reason you do have 6" rims then the 30x9.50s are not a good fit as they require a minimum of 6.5" rims.

Also, going back to my last post, note the fine print at the bottom of the chart which warns that switchinig to an LT tire "may affect the handling of your vehicle"
Ron

rolling Monty
 

That is SO helpful! I do have the SR. Read the articles. Great stuff. SHould I go to the max 50psi? I bumped them up to 43 psi and notice a huge improvement.
I will go with stock tires later this year when I need to replace them.

I will next replace the sway bar bushings. SHould I use Mitsub parts or is there an acceptable aftermarket?

I think all my probs will be solved after that. It is already way better. Thanks guys.
John

Glad to help. As far as proper PSI you should find a really good tire store rep (if you can) to confirm - perhaps take in a copy of the tech bulletin. Note that even the Yoko document does not list our 265/70/15's but reading between the lines it looks like most of the recommendations in that size range are door sticker spec +15. It's also interesting to note that they show your 30x9.50's as replacements for smaller tires (235/75/15') but for the 255/70/15's (closest, but thinner, than the 265/70/15's you're supposed to have) they recommend 31x10.50's so you're really running with a sub-optimal set up - at least according to this document. And having to run anything with close to 50 psi is no doubt not helping your ride quality.

As far as sway bar bushings, I may have put too much emphasis on that in my prior post but if you're going to replace, stock is what I'd recommend. As a simple test to see if yours are too squishy try cranking down on the nuts on the ends of the drop links (you can do this with the truck on the ground) If you squeeze most of the play out of the bushings and the truck feels better you can then decide to replace or just keep it that way. You should also be able to visually check the block bushings on top of the axle to see if they're worn.

Once you've got the tire situation sorted I still recommend the stock shocks. I can't explain why they made such an improvement over supposedly firmer replacements but I suspect that Montero's represent such a small relative market for aftermarket shock mfg's that they do not really inventory a shock with valving specifically tuned for and tested with Monty's. Rather they match up the closest version from their range of SKU's.

Ron

rolling monty
 

Thanks again. I am +10 psi right now and together with the Bilsteins HDs (i'm stuck with them, and happy i'd say) they have made a big difference. I will try tightening up on the sway bar bushings. It is a much more firm ride but doable. If I go off road would u recommend dropping down 10 psi to absorb more of the terrain?

What about the front bushings? there are no drop down bushings just the sway bar links right? I looked hard but I don't think i can tell if they are worn. They make no noise though. How do I know if they are worn?

Thx.