It’s Not Thar But a Mahindra – The MM540


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rakeshkn

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From my child hood I was big fan of jeeps, I am not remember when it was started, but in my memory there was a marriage convoy with chain of jeeps and its recalls on me when I saw a good jeep on road., the story changed since Thar lunched in India., I thought several times to exchange my Alto with a Thar or a jeep. it’s never happened as I am not confident about the maintenance and all.

I am not going to write a lot as I am not good in writing![;)] To cut the story short, I got a Mahindra 540 at home to play around.

My brother took this jeep from panchayat auction and restored a little., now our 540 looks like a Thar but drive like a normal jeep.

I am planning to fix 4X4 on it since it is a 2WD, fitting power steering and other goodies to look exactly like Thar CRDE.

Masters I need some advice on my MM540., looking forward to hearing your reply.

I am sharing a picture of the beast., will share more soon

mm540.jpg
 
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Sam Dinkar

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Hey Vandipranthan, congrats to you for having realized a childhood dream!

Well, if you just want your MM540 to 'look' like a Thar, its an easy enough job. You should have got it painted in one of the Thar colours to make it a complete lookalike but never mind.

Start by adding fender flares and get rid of those crossplies - the Thar runs on 235/70R16 Duelers - plus get the front indicator holes sealed. That would almost complete the external look.

Fitting a 4x4 and making it work reliably would entail some more work. You shall have to source the differential and transfer case. Whats your level of mechhanical understanding of all this? Do you have access to a reliable mechanic in Trivandrum who has expertise on jeeps? Whats your budget?

Don't fit power steering unless you know what you are doing.

What are the other things on your mind? Let us know and we shall guide you with whatever little we know.

All the best.

Regards
Sam
 
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Thread Starter #3
rakeshkn

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Sam Dinkar said:
Hey Vandipranthan, congrats to you for having realized a childhood dream! ...
Regards
Sam
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Thank you Sam for your quick reply., I actually wanted to get the actual feel of 4X4 as I wish to do some offloading., For looks I will do the steps as you mentioned and for the rest I have to find out a reliable mechanic.

First of all I have to get confirmation from my brother [frustration]
 
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Sam Dinkar

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

rakeshkn said:
I actually wanted to get the actual feel of 4X4 as I wish to do some offloading.
Click to expand...
When did you restore this vehicle? Please do not spend money recklessly on sprucing up the looks of your MM540 unless you have driven it for a reasonable period of time and are confident of the mechanical reliability of its components.

What is the condition of the engine, gearbox, steering, body, and suspension? Please click as many photos of as many parts as you like and share them here so that experts could gauge the condition of the vehicle and suggest you appropriate things acordingly.

For a start, please share some snaps of the bodyline, engine, and the underbody.
 
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rakeshkn

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Sam Dinkar said:
When did you restore this vehicle? Please do not spend money recklessly on sprucing up the looks of your MM540 unless you have driven it for a reasonable period of time and are confident of the mechanical reliability of its components.

What is the condition of the engine, gearbox, steering, body, and suspension? Please click as many photos of as many parts as you like and share them here so that experts could gauge the condition of the vehicle and suggest you appropriate things acordingly.

For a start, please share some snaps of the bodyline, engine, and the underbody.
Click to expand...
I will share the pics., Engine and gear box are perfect I hope as it has covered only 95k on odo., there is some unwanted noise coming from the suspension and I hope greasing might help.
 
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generalmax

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Rakesh
Great to know about your passion and dream coming true now.
The vehicle from front end looks nice.
You can source the 4X4 parts from Kottayam or Cochin as there are lots of second hand parts available there.Still it may cost you something like 50 to 80 K (including labour).
You need to give more thought for this.
I believe you have done the primary check up with the axles,brakes and all.
In another view point why do you want to change the looks.
Just put in a little over sized tire and the MM540 looks great.I think Sam is guiding you nicely.
[thumbsup]
 
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msjawahar

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

We had a MM 540 earlier. We made it almost like Thar by spending around Rs. 60k. Right now we have a Thar DI 2WD.
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Thread Starter #8
rakeshkn

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

seems like 2WD, isn't it?, what is the reason selling this beast and taking up a new Thar DI
 
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msjawahar

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

rakeshkn said:
seems like 2WD, isn't it?, what is the reason selling this beast and taking up a new Thar DI
Click to expand...
yes rakesh, it was a 2wd. it was giving some problem in the mechanical side. so we sold it off and bought a new Thar 2WD. Now it has clocked around 5000 kms in the ODO.

this is the Thar DI

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Sam Dinkar

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Jawahar sahab, I give you two days to update that Thar ownership review with lots of pictures. And if I don't see it after two days, then please be prepared to be [gun].
 
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Thread Starter #11
rakeshkn

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Hahaha., what I thought to say., its came from the masters mouth., Thank you or else I too will join in the [gun]
 
Thread Starter #12
rakeshkn

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Re: It is not a Thar but It is a Mahindra., A MM540 be precise

Sharing some pics including engine bay and interior., please have a look [:D]

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