Possible Gear change.

[AKLJ8]

The drive trains are exactly the same in the Monteros and Montero Sports for each year. From what I know there are no different axles for these truck. They have always been the way they are now, except for the leaf spring to coil spring change over in 2000.

ARB is the only ones I've found that seem to be a viable option. I was looking at an Eaton Detroit, but two different websites had two different part numbers for the same thing. SO I got confused. As far as I can tell, if it fits a Montero it'll fit an MS.

For the money I think a locker will get you further down the trail then lower gears. You can always go lower on the gears later on if you want to...

As for bigger axles... Thats a ton of work to do right. All the projects I've done like that had a way of blossoming into bigger and more expensive projects.

My amphicar is a prime example of the blossom factor. I pulled it in the garage one afternoon to replace a small panel under the battery that had rusted through. 3 years later it's getting soda blasted and a full on show car restoration...