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Colorado Sport's '98 LS with 36" TSLs ...
Well, to the best of my knowledge these are the first 36" Super Swamper TSL tires to set "foot" on a Montero Sport in the US. You can tell all your friends that you saw it here first!:-) What can I say? Some times we get bored!
A lot of questions have been asked on the messages boards since the Montero Sport showed up in the United States in 1997 regarding bigger tires, lifts and such. Unfortunately, there are some basic issues that need to be overcome before a Montero Sport could be made driveable with 36" tall tires of any kind. Wheel wells need to be enlarged, either a suspension or body lift or both for clearance when the wheels articulate, stiffer torsion bars and possibly a second set of shock up front to control the heavier wheel and tire combination are just the start. Steering components and steering box, a second steering stabilizer, more horsepower, gearing ... well, anyway, we can all dream! Right now, though, the practical limit for the Montero Sport without investing very large sums of money and engineering time seems to be 35"s.
I've received a few questions and remarks about fitting the TSLs so I asked Colorado Sport to do a write up on the experience. Before anyone rushes out to their local tire shop and starts ordering a set of Boggers I need to make clear that this vehicle was NOT driveable on the road with tires this big! This whole attempt was more of an exercise rather then a real attempt to make a driveable vehicle. Anyway, I will let Colorado Sport tell the story ...
I did it just for the hell of it. My brother-in-law needed to get an emission test on his Jeep. He actually runs the 36"s. He has a Dana 44 swap front and rear on his (Jeep) and his lug pattern is the same as ours. So we switched because I was running 33"s at the time. I wanted them (the 36"s) to fit. I run about a 4.5" lift in the rear and the stock torsion bars cranked up full in the front. So about 3"s. The 36"s fit but I could not turn the front (tires). So out came the sawzall. I cut roughly 4"s of the back of the front fender off. And then reattached the front fender skin since I cut off the front bottom bolt. Then I proceeded to beat the inner fender parts with a sledge hammer. Got maybe another 2"s. So the 36"s just barely cleared. Enough to get it out and drive to take pics. I run an automatic transmission with everything stock and the power loss really bit. Not to mention no real wheel travel in front because they are pretty much stuffed. So we switched back at the end of the day. That made me sad.
I also test fitted a 35" tire off of ES_97Sport's truck. It fit quite well. So the next week I decided to get a set of 35" Goodyear MTR's. I was going to need a new set of tires this summer so why not now. They fit much better and I should have pics soon. There are some rubbing issues to work out still. But they should get fixed with the new Sway-a-way Powerbarz I ordered to replace the stock torsion bars. I should be able to get another 1.5" of lift out of the front and have no rubbing issues at all. Not to mention my stock bars were taxed from off-roading and were sagging horribly. The higher spring rate of the Powerbarz should also help with sagging and body roll around corners which is where I get rubbing now. So pics will be up soon on the 4x4 Extreme Sports site along with a install write-up for the bars.
So, there you have it. Sad I was to see them go back on the Jeep myself. I have to admit, they do look real good on the Sport. Well, maybe someday when one of us hits the lottery!:-) As for me, I'm really happy with my 35"s and have no urge to go any bigger. Nor really any need since I have more ground clearance now then I know what to do with. So, I'll leave this project up to another adventurous Montero Sport owner!
Pictures ...
