Interested in buying a mid 90's V6 4x4 Mighty Max

[kairo]

Hi all,

My neighbor across the street passed away, and his mother is looking to get rid of his truck. From what I know it's a mid 90s, v6, 4x4 with about 145k on it. Its got a mild lift, but I haven't crawled underneath to see if it's body or suspension. Body is straight and I started it up and drove it around the block. Runs fine. No rust. I was thinking about offering her a grand for it.

Anyways, It looks to be about the perfect trail rig or spare runaround vehicle to have. I was trying to find out if it shares a common drive train with anything and it seems like the Ram50 is about as close as it gets.

Couple questions:
Any idea what the v6 might be? Were there several options or just one?
Any idea what the rear axle is?
Transmission pretty stout?

And, shot in the dark, anybody done a front axle swap on one of these?

I've built a few jeeps in the past, but don't know much about this little mitsu.

Thanks!

[geezer101]

Hi and welcome to mightyram. The V6 is a Mitsubishi 6G72 3.0. It is not the same as a Chrysler or Dodge V6 engine. There are a number of variants of this engine used in other Mitsubishi platforms including quad cam, 3.5 litre and the later 3.8 litre MIVEC which will mount to the 4x4 transmission (there's also factory turbo). Check out the 4x4 threads for info on the drivetrain. LSD was an option in Mitsubishis and they work brilliantly. It'll climb almost anything.

[kairo]

Hi and welcome to mightyram. The V6 is a Mitsubishi 6G72 3.0. It is not the same as a Chrysler or Dodge V6 engine. There are a number of variants of this engine used in other Mitsubishi platforms including quad cam, 3.5 litre and the later 3.8 litre MIVEC which will mount to the 4x4 transmission (there's also factory turbo). Check out the 4x4 threads for info on the drivetrain. LSD was an option in Mitsubishis and they work brilliantly. It'll climb almost anything.

Much obliged, thanks for the info!

[dancinggecko]

Solid axle swaps have been done to these trucks before, just have to find the build threads for them. Someone on here has a swap in progress somewhere, don't think he's updated in a little bit though. The V6 trucks came with mostly 4.22 gears in them, I think. The tag on the firewall in the engine bay should say on the bottom right corner

[B-Line]

Unless its rusted out you would be smart to pick up that truck. They are getting rare. As noted they came with 3.0L engines. They are part of the 6g7* family that includes 3.5 and 3.8L engines. All of which bolt to your V5MT1 4x4 transmission. There is another user on here, chargerx3, who has installed a 300hp 3.8L MIVEC into his and so far hasn't mentioned any issues.

Rear axles are the large 9" (similar to Ford 9") and all come with 4.22 gearing. They are VERY strong. I have yet to see anyone break one. Some come with Limited Slip Differential, but you can always swap one in if yours doesn't have it. Front suspension is independent and is an open differential. You can swap in a Starion rear differential to make that LSD as well.

To sum up, the 4x4 trucks are very stout. They will outlast any Toyota, or Isuzu, or most anything else out there. Just stay on top of your maintenance.