Overland Preparation - 3 gen 3.0td

[mullinsj]

Hi All,

I bought a 3rd gen surf about 3 years ago thanks to the advice on this site.......... Thank you so so much, its been great!!!!!

i've have tried to slowly build it up over the last 3 years..... its a 96 diesel auto with a allisport radiator and trans coolier, 2 x oddessy PC1500 batteries, national luna battery management system, 5 BF Goodrich A/T and hopefully I should have a Magnolia tent in the next few weeks.

OK it has IFS but it has never let me down .... EVER!!! so why change it for my travels!!!!

We have all read so much about toyota 70, 80, 90 & even 100's on different forums but nothing about the surf's on distant travels (except bushwhacker in his 2nd gen 4runner)

I do know I will need a major suspension upgrade before i go. I would much prefer to pay for a quality product rather than fcuking arround with stuff that looks good so any advise would be great!!!

I like to travel as light as possible so I don't plan on fitting a snorkel or winch and I will not be taking that many spares .... toyota are everywhere!!


The surf will get a good service before leaving and thats about it!!!!.
After that its the visa card and the local mechanic and worst case DHL


I plan on traveling to e europe, russia and n africa to start, after that who knows!!!!!!!!!

I've heard OME are the best, any advice on sizes etc?
I would like to keep the Surf level, front to back.

FYI: I have a 96 3rd gen 3.0TD on standard suspension at the moment

[slobodan]

Can't help much on the Surf front as I'm relatively new to them.
But I've had all sorts of Suspension systems over the past 30 years. And OME are by far the best I've had.
Def. get what you pay for and well worth the extra money.
Good Luck.

[rbaz]

Hi wow sounds like a fantastic road trip Updates as you go would be good
Cant help you I am also a newby.
I would ask the question in the general section a lot of people dont see them down here. It is kind of a general question.

[wishbone]

The expedition forum is a good place for info.

I'd suggest stiffer springs all round if you're going to be fully loaded most of the time. My 2nd gen used to dive at the front when braking until I fitted uprated bars. (only when full of camping gear etc)

Also buy a decent fridge - they're a godsend. I have a waeco cf-50 which I'm happy with but if I bought again I'd check out the Engel stuff before choosing. (My waeco is a bit flimsy on the lid catch)

Have a great time with your travels!

Rob.

edit : check out the book 'Sahara Overland' too..

[Albannach]

£500+ for a wee fridge!

[wishbone]

Yes but mines paid for itself already by not having to buy fresh food everyday on our camping treks. It means a bottle of milk lasts 4 days and you can keep big packs of bacon / sausage etc for days.

Before we had it we ended up buying dinner in the pub every day and throwing loads of food away as it would not keep.

In Spain it kept our water cold in 40 degree heat.

I love it - best thing I ever bought for the truck

Rob.

[truckarms]

I think I have a step of 4 koni heavy tracks sitting in the garage, they are about 4 years old and I had them on my car for a year or 2 before my car grew, I also have a set of 20% stiffer springs (roughtrax).
But......
They are for a 2ng gen and so I dont know if the are the same size on the 3rd gen (anyone know?)

Both the shocks and the springs are much better than the standard stock ones, I loved the shocks they were great and not cheap!

If you wanted them I am sure we could come to some agreement (forum obviously gets its share)

Cheers

[adpsimpson]

We're doing a similar thing - got the truck a year ago, and we're leaving for a 6 month trip to Cape Town in a year's time.

There are people who do it with Surfs (search the forum, there's been a couple in the last year), and there's no reason they shouldn't be adequate. I'm more than happy with the choice of vehicle - nearly half the price of a similar LC, and spares for Toyotas are all over the world. Especially for the Hilux, which shares much of the Surf's design.

Our truck came with 4 good BFG ATs, and I got another cheap from a scrappy. I'll be getting one more too, one underslung and one on the rear. I've fitted a home made snorkel (not hard, and it'll protect you from dust as much as water), roof rails and mounted an expedition roof tent (see picture - http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/sh...ad.php?t=60303), and lately put some decent spot lights on it.

I've also fitted a temperature-measuring circuit to keep a close eye on critical systems, as this seems to be the biggest weakness of the vehicle/engine. I've still to fit the split charge system and a new leisure battery, and some decent internal lighting.

For tools, the best bit of advice I've had is to build a tool kit that you think is adequate, then don't use any other tools while you're preparing for the trip. Anything you need to borrow from elsewhere goes in, anything you don't need comes out.

Have you got a blog? Would be good to follow what you get up to!

[slobodan]

I've also fitted a temperature-measuring circuit to keep a close eye on critical systems,

Any further info on that?
If you've posted it before then I missed it.

[rbaz]

Any further info on that?
If you've posted it before then I missed it.

I assume you fitted a temp gauge. Excellent idea especially if you are offroading in high temps.
If anybody is interested I have a friend that lives in Singapore (tax free) that deals in Prosport gauges very good gauges for the money I had some in my Impreza.
Will possibly do a group buy if people are interested

[slobodan]

I assume you fitted a temp gauge.

I was more interested in This sort of thing.

[adpsimpson]

I've built a custom circuit that displays through a 4 line alpha-numeric screen, and currently shows inside, outside, under bonnet and coolant temperatures, and is wired to a warning light/buzzer if any go out of range. I'm still to add the ATF temperature (identical to the water temperature sensor). It's based on a micro controller, so is pretty versatile in what it can do.

When it's finished it'll include a display of what gear you're in, with an over-ride on the torque converter lockup. I'd originally built a circuit that allowed full control of the gearbox, but I'm not convinced either how useful or how safe it was.

This has been quite a project, but the end result should be a circuit that anyone could put together as they like - I'll create a decent write up of it soon, and would be happy to put kits together if it's something people would want.

[TonyN]

I fitting 2 or 3 40mm TJM lifts on 3rd Gens, its a very high quailty kit. Call me or PM if you want more info.

Also if budget stretches, rear airbags are wonderfully for leveling the truck no matter whats on board.

I would take a spares package, You'll mostly find toyota pickups and LandCrusier Amazons everywhere, and these arn't the same as your L/C Colorado based truck. At the very least go through Milners website and see what parts have the same part numbers, and what is special to your truck. Also you've never break down somewhere convienent, it'll always be days or miles away from rescue, its sods law.. At least filters, brake pads, belts, UJ's and rear wheel bearings, and the tools to change them.

[Albannach]

Tony! What's wi the Pidgin English? Have you been abducted again?

[TonyN]

Tony! What's wi the Pidgin English? Have you been abducted again?

lol, yeah, i just re-read it, its pretty crap!! Good job Matts not here....