Making modifications to your vehicle may make your vehicle less reliable and potentially more dangerous. The Mitsubishi Four Wheel Drive Club of North America is not liable for any effects caused by these modifications. Owners attempting these modifications do so at their own risk.
A: Yes. However, there were three available suspension types depending on the year, and model vehicle you have. Each type requires a different method of lifting. After making the change, take your rig out for a quick off road spin and afterwards, recheck to make sure everything's properly seated.
The most complex of all three suspensions, most owners don't understand how it works so I'll attempt to explain it in laymans terms. An IFS system raises and owers the front suspension by using a Bar (Tortion Bar) to apply upward pressure on one arm of a pair of arms that are held in parallel (see picture on right). By forcing the one arm upwards, the second arm also moves upwards, since again, they are both attached to the tortion bar..
You can raise the IFS front suspension by increasing the tension ("torque") on the
tortion bars. This is done by turning the bolts at the rear end of both tortion bars. Turn both bolts the same number of turns, compress the front suspension several times (push your front bumper down) and check that the left and right side are even.
To raise the rear of a Leaf Sprung Mitsu 4x4, you can add an "add a leaf" to the rear leaf system to stiffen them so the vehicle sits higher, or use different leafs to raise the rear higher or even replace or modify your shackles. Further research continues with different owners trying different spring combinations. Contact us if you would like to know more details.
To raise the rear of a Coil Sprung Mitsu 4x4, you can either use longer springs, or use spring spacers.
Longer Springs can be custom made by any competent spring maker, or you can buy them from a number of aftermarket manufacturers including ARB, and Valley Spring Works (see the Links Page).
AirLift TM Air Bladders
An AirLift TM Air Bladder is essentially a heavy rubber cylinder or air bladder designed to sit inside the coil spring and stay partially inflated/deflated when not in use.
When the user wants additional load capacity, they merely throw a switch to turn on a compressor that then fills the air bladder. This acts like the air suspension common in many of todays buses. The combination of lift from the coil springs and the air bladder give montero owners the ability to safely carry a larger load than normal.
Raider, or Montero Sport?
A: Possibly.
It depends on what you plan on using your rig for. If you take it off road, then you'll want the longer shocks to take advantage of the added articulation. We've done a limited amount of research into this and have found that shocks are available for Montero's with a 2" lift from several companies.
- ARB/OME: ARB makes shocks that are both longer (for a 1.5" lift) and valved for our rigs.
- KYB: For first generation Montero's 85-91, KYB makes a shock that is 2" longer that
works for our Monty's (minor modifications needed on the rear shocks) The part
numbers are KG5483 (Fronts), and KG6402 (Rears)
- RANCHO: RS9000's are recommended although not as highly as the KYB's and
ARB's. Reports of failures, are not uncommon among Mitsubishi owners.
If you don't plan on taking advantage of the added articulation from lifting your rigs...i.e. only driving it on road, then you don't need longer shocks. Stock, or standard aftermarket units will work just fine. The best are a toss up between a number of brands including KYB, Edelbrock, ARB, and Tokico.
Once you've finished lifting your vehicle, you'll need to test if your lines are long enough to handle the added lift. In the picture on the right (90 Montero, v6, 4D, between rear axle and gas tank) , this owner did need slightly longer lines but he was able to merely disconnected the existing lines from their perches and gained enough so that he did not have to replace them.
For other owners, you may find that even after disconnecting the brake cable from the hard mount, you will still needed a couple of inches of additional cable. With the help of a willing and compitent mechanic, you should be able to find one through a major manufacturer like Bendex. The picture on the right show's the longer line (Bendex p/n 77664) next to the original line for a 1990 v6 4 Door Montero.
You do have to be very careful because even though some fittings look the same on the outside, it's really the inside that counts. The fittings on the right seemed the same, but their internal flare was completely different which would have meant a potential if not probably failure. Another alternative may be Montero Sport lines for Gen I rigs. They are longer, but I'm not sure if the fittings are the same. A quick trip to a helpful auto parts retailer will tell you.
Making modifications to your vehicle may make your vehicle less reliable and potentially more dangerous. The Mitsubishi Four Wheel Drive Club of North America is not liable for any effects caused by these modifications. Owners attempting these modifications do so at their own risk.
