Newbie equipped with questions 'n' advice

[Leakypants]

Hi All

Having recently purchased a 95 SURF 3.0l (kZN185) SSR-X import, my redundancy money is now burning a hole in my pocket, plus im bored with sitting around now all the jobs for the lady have been completed 

Question I have are:

• Is an Oil temp switch easy enough to fit and where do you locate the sender ( I saw a thread with a member fabricating on the oil pan)
• Has anyone changed the seats with other/ later models. Looking at the seat rails and a recent trip round the scrappy I found old fords have similar layouts, The Surf seats are a little dull for me!
• With regards to body lifts and suspension lifts, can these both be done in tandem or does it only need one tut other? Should I fit free wheeling hubs?
• RE the body lift thread from the states, when replacing with the poly blocks (50mm) do you remove the current standard ones.
• Has anyone uses Jegs or summit in the USA for truck parts ( I used these a lot for my corvette) whom is the preferred retailer for the surf

Any other recommendations are welcome for a new owner

Thanks in advance

[Leakypants]

Just to add...with the 3.0l TD diesel do the TB's need to adjusted. If so where is the best place to buy from

Thanks

[legendgamesmaster]

Hello Leaky.....

Parts are usually Roughtrax4x4 or Milners plus Toyota of course, depending on the item.

Welcome to the best surf shack on the beach....

[Bogus]

If temperature switches ( or senders) are your thing you,d be better off fitting an auxiliary water temp sender and gauge.

Seats --Read this thread http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73303

Lifts- Do a search, theres gazillions of threads on the subject, but with regard to your second post you dont need to buy anything to adjust a torsion bar, but if you hanker for uprated ones theres Roughtrax. If however you have a KZN 185 you may not have torsion bars, I could be wrong but I thought a KZN 185 was a 3rd gen and started 96

If its an auto you could consider an extra ATF cooler.

Oh and welcome and well done on slipping in that bit about the corvette.

[tonupteabag]

If temperature switches ( or senders) are your thing you,d be better off fitting an auxiliary water temp sender and gauge.

Seats --Read this thread http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73303

Lifts- Do a search, theres gazillions of threads on the subject, but with regard to your second post you dont need to buy anything to adjust a torsion bar, but if you hanker for uprated ones theres Roughtrax. If however you have a KZN 185 you may not have torsion bars, I could be wrong but I thought a KZN 185 was a 3rd gen and started 96

If its an auto you could consider an extra ATF cooler.

Oh and welcome and well done on slipping in that bit about the corvette.

If i'm right the early 3rd gens had 2nd gen running gear, and i think a 96 3rd gen was the start of the coil over shock front suspension and AWD transmission, But we'll find out for sure when another grown up replies.

[Karma Supra]

When doing a body lift on a third gen there are no factory blocks to remove. - don't forget a steering column spacer and bumper lift brackets! - for 1" you can leave the rad.

[Leakypants]

When doing a body lift on a third gen there are no factory blocks to remove. - don't forget a steering column spacer and bumper lift brackets! - for 1" you can leave the rad.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I've been through the search of body lifts and im gonna go for a 4inch lift (2inch suspension through roughtrax) and 2inch body lift. I indeed have a 3rd Gen 96 KZN185, alghough it it seems there are body mounts to replace but apparently on the body (i think the rear) it optional to install the mounts as from factory there not needed. This was taken from on of the links within.

I have sourced a steering column from 4crawler, so thank you for that advice.

I have quite alot of plans for this beast having worked on many cars I happy to carry it out but its always worth using forums like these for advice, as onone is an expert from birth!

Cheers

[Bogus]

So no Torsion bars then ??

[Leakypants]

Hi Bogus

I will get under the beast today to have a look.

One thing that does raise a question is date of registration. On the log book it shows 31/12/95 but then it has KZN185 on the body plate and chassis. is this still classed as an early 96 be it its still technically released on the 31st (unless the jap's rolled it out at 1min to midnight)

[Bogus]

It looks like a standard 3rd gen KZN185 Surf. Its not going to have torsion bars. 96 would be the Model Year so its feasible that it was registered in Dec 95. Id guess that it has the normal 3rd gen 4WD set up with centre diff as well. ( some of the early 3rd gens had second gen running gear , 15" wheels as standard so therefore the smaller 2nd gen discs/calipers) Is the wee stubby 4WD lever on the nearside ? ) If it is then its a normal 3rd gen