more surf questions

[lowlander]

Hi there,

A few more questions from a potential owner.

1. I understand that imported surfs were not undersealed in Japan. Is this the case and do the chassis suffer badly from rust?
2. I know that there is no centre diff and in normal running the surf is RWD. Are either of the front and rear diffs LSD's? Also how is the power split between the front and rear axles? 50 : 50?
3. How hugh is a standard surf (i.e. will it fit in my garage?)
4. Where is the best place to get cheap parts? I've looked on the roughtrax website and they seem quite competetive on price.
5. What sort of mpg can I expect from a 3.0 surf with a manual 'box?
6. How do they handle on road compared with other jap 4X4's?
7. Is it easy to remove the side steps and is this something that would improve off road ability (I prefer the looks of the vehicle without the side steps in any case!)
8. As surfs are imported vehicles are they generally more expensive to insure than vehicles originally registered in the UK?
9. What is the service intervals for a 3.0 2nd generation vehicle and how often should the cambelt be changed?
10. Are the gearboxes reliable?
11. As the 2nd generation vehicles have long been out of production has anyone found difficulty in obtaining spare parts?


Thanks again.

Martin.

[Slugsie]

Hi there,

A few more questions from a potential owner.

1. I understand that imported surfs were not undersealed in Japan. Is this the case and do the chassis suffer badly from rust?
2. I know that there is no centre diff and in normal running the surf is RWD. Are either of the front and rear diffs LSD's? Also how is the power split between the front and rear axles? 50 : 50?
3. How hugh is a standard surf (i.e. will it fit in my garage?)
4. Where is the best place to get cheap parts? I've looked on the roughtrax website and they seem quite competetive on price.
5. What sort of mpg can I expect from a 3.0 surf with a manual 'box?
6. How do they handle on road compared with other jap 4X4's?
7. Is it easy to remove the side steps and is this something that would improve off road ability (I prefer the looks of the vehicle without the side steps in any case!)
8. As surfs are imported vehicles are they generally more expensive to insure than vehicles originally registered in the UK?
9. What is the service intervals for a 3.0 2nd generation vehicle and how often should the cambelt be changed?
10. Are the gearboxes reliable?
11. As the 2nd generation vehicles have long been out of production has anyone found difficulty in obtaining spare parts?


Thanks again.

Martin.

1. Virtually no rust on them. The Japs don't use salt on the roads which is the major problem over here.
2. The centre diff is either open or locked. Some vehicles have an LSD rear diff, look for an axle code ending in 5 to find them.
3. About 1.8metres
4. Roughtrax and Milners are good.
5. Varies, but I get between 18mpg (urban) and 28mpg (motorway) from my auto 3ltr
6. Just great
7. Very easy to remove (couple of bolts). Increases side ground clearance a bit, but also increases likelyhood of sill damage.
8. Not really. Some insurers don't cover them.
9. Oil filter etc every 5,000km, belts every 100,000km
10. Yup
11. Nope

[nero279]

Hi there,

A few more questions from a potential owner.

1. I understand that imported surfs were not undersealed in Japan. Is this the case and do the chassis suffer badly from rust? Most surfs are in better condition underneath than UK cars of the same age, i believe this is because they don't use salt on the roads over there.
2. I know that there is no centre diff and in normal running the surf is RWD. Are either of the front and rear diffs LSD's? Open diff was standard, a lot had rear LSD specified as an option (look at the axle code on the VIN plate if it end 3 or 5 i believe that means it's rear LSD), i believe electric lockers were also an option, but very rare.Also how is the power split between the front and rear axles? 50 : 50?
3. How hugh is a standard surf (i.e. will it fit in my garage?) Should do, they are a bit shy of 6ft i think.
4. Where is the best place to get cheap parts? I've looked on the roughtrax website and they seem quite competetive on price. Depends what you're after, but milners or roughtrax and there's a few others for various bits & pieces
5. What sort of mpg can I expect from a 3.0 surf with a manual 'box? Variable depending on each car and how you drive it but around 20-25 as a ballpark figure
6. How do they handle on road compared with other jap 4X4's? Dunno cos i ain't driven other jap 4x4s but they seem pretty well mannered to me
7. Is it easy to remove the side steps and is this something that would improve off road ability (I prefer the looks of the vehicle without the side steps in any case!) Yep, several people on hear have done it, whether it would improve off road ability much i don't know as the transfer case skidpan and central cross member are near enough the same height as the steps
8. As surfs are imported vehicles are they generally more expensive to insure than vehicles originally registered in the UK? Yes but the insurance is still reasonable. i'm 23, 3 points, 3years NCB, modified and it's still under £700, have a look through some of the recent threads about insurance for a few figures.
9. What is the service intervals for a 3.0 2nd generation vehicle and how often should the cambelt be changed? Cambelt i think is 100,000km, and i think most people do their fluids+filters every 6000km/6months. I don't know what the servicing intervals should be though
10. Are the gearboxes reliable? So far
11. As the 2nd generation vehicles have long been out of production has anyone found difficulty in obtaining spare parts? I have found everything i need so far, milners and roughtrax stock a comprehensive list, and someone on here normally knows where to get anything they haven't.


Thanks again.

Martin.

Hope that helps, my opinions, based on 9 months of surf ownership, but i'm glad i bought a 2nd gen surf over the mark 1 paj and various defenders that i looked at.

[Sancho]

Hi there,

A few more questions from a potential owner.

1. I understand that imported surfs were not undersealed in Japan. Is this the case and do the chassis suffer badly from rust?
2. I know that there is no centre diff and in normal running the surf is RWD. Are either of the front and rear diffs LSD's? Also how is the power split between the front and rear axles? 50 : 50?
3. How hugh is a standard surf (i.e. will it fit in my garage?)
4. Where is the best place to get cheap parts? I've looked on the roughtrax website and they seem quite competetive on price.
5. What sort of mpg can I expect from a 3.0 surf with a manual 'box?
6. How do they handle on road compared with other jap 4X4's?
7. Is it easy to remove the side steps and is this something that would improve off road ability (I prefer the looks of the vehicle without the side steps in any case!)
8. As surfs are imported vehicles are they generally more expensive to insure than vehicles originally registered in the UK?
9. What is the service intervals for a 3.0 2nd generation vehicle and how often should the cambelt be changed?
10. Are the gearboxes reliable?
11. As the 2nd generation vehicles have long been out of production has anyone found difficulty in obtaining spare parts?


Thanks again.

Martin.

1. What they said.
2. What they said.
3. 4640 x 1790 x 1755 (wide body)
4. Milners are cheaper, Roughtrax are better
5. What they said.
6. They handle pretty well once they've got UK tires on. Grip's a bit dodgy with the jap tires. They're no sports car, but certainly much better than the other trucks and vans I've been in.
7. I took mine off. Well, Chillitt actually did the work while I had a nice cup of tea, but I don't have them on mine anymore. It looks loads better, but there is all sorts of stuff hanging down so I'm not convinced it helped ground clearance. It certainly helped me to lose favour with my 5 foot girlfriend
8. Yep, maybe a couple of hundred quid. You could look for a UK 4runner if you're that bothered.
9. http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/techsit...ceshcedule.htm
10. Autos seem to be very good as long as you keep the fluid in order. Manuals have some issue with the dual mass flywheel. I don't know what one of those is, so try a search on it.
11. Absolutely not.

[laser_jock@work]

Hi there,

A few more questions from a potential owner.

1. I understand that imported surfs were not undersealed in Japan. Is this the case and do the chassis suffer badly from rust?
2. I know that there is no centre diff and in normal running the surf is RWD. Are either of the front and rear diffs LSD's? Also how is the power split between the front and rear axles? 50 : 50?
3. How hugh is a standard surf (i.e. will it fit in my garage?)
4. Where is the best place to get cheap parts? I've looked on the roughtrax website and they seem quite competetive on price.
5. What sort of mpg can I expect from a 3.0 surf with a manual 'box?
6. How do they handle on road compared with other jap 4X4's?
7. Is it easy to remove the side steps and is this something that would improve off road ability (I prefer the looks of the vehicle without the side steps in any case!)
8. As surfs are imported vehicles are they generally more expensive to insure than vehicles originally registered in the UK?
9. What is the service intervals for a 3.0 2nd generation vehicle and how often should the cambelt be changed?
10. Are the gearboxes reliable?
11. As the 2nd generation vehicles have long been out of production has anyone found difficulty in obtaining spare parts?


Thanks again.

Martin.

1) If you get a fresh import- get it undersealed ASAP or it will start to rust. Having said that winters are so mild lately I haven't seen a single gritter this winter!

7) Remove the sidesteps if you want to do anything more than mild offroading or you will bend them.

8) I'm paying £260 FC, (full NCB, 39 years old, semi-rural location) with loads of DECLARED modifications. With Adrian Flux.

10) Get an auto- nearly everyone on here is now an auto convert! The autobox on these cars is one of the most reliable components- and that's saying something. Problems are very rare.

[Surf01]

How would you recognise if your vehicle has been undersealed? If it has not, how can you go about getting it undersealed?

[joker??]

How would you recognise if your vehicle has been undersealed? If it has not, how can you go about getting it undersealed?

easy enough to do yourself , machine mart , schultz or something like that done mine last summer , may do it again in the summer

[Gtdog]

I had a 94M 3.0 Manual for two years,
Easily the most reliable vehicle I haved owned, I should have undersealed it when I Imported it, I supprised a few of the local wideboys with its handling, and was a far more engaging drive than wifeys Shogun. I made 30-33mpg on a gentle motorway run, and averaged 25-27 on average.
It cost the same to insure as my 1995 audi 80 tdi estate, about 330 through Norwich Union.
The gearbox was fine, even after dumping the clutch at 3000rpm to smoke the old tyres.
It will fit in an average single garage door, but may be too long for the garage.
to simplify the service issue, just ask Tony N, aka Dr Anglegrinder. My Surf loved him.

Spare parts easy,
Why do you think eight out of ten of the worlds terrorists are photographed in toyota hilux pickups? Dependable, virtualy unbreakable, and easy to find the bits.

All the best,
Gtdog