Vibration/judder...

[Shalershasker]

There si nothing 'wrong' with the truck, you can get 3rd Gens without the multimode 4WD, it works the same as the 2nd Gen but isn't the same, as the front prop on 3rd Gens is on the other side to 2nd Gens so its not the same parts.

its just a 3rd Gen with part time 4wd, not very common, but not anything 'iffy'

Must be another one of them "it all depends on what the oringinal buyer specified", must admit, I've not heard of a third gen as late as a 98 without multimode on.

[malxwal]

A couple of pics:

[TonyN]

anyway, back to the problem, if its warped discs you'll only notice it when braking, suspect UJ's, rear wheel bearings or track rod ends for now. Grease the UJ's and tryi t again, then check the rear wheel bearings, by pulling the rear drum off and try pulling the driveshaft flange in and out, it should have 1mm movement max.

Also old/cheap tyres may be not prefectly round, try swapping them front to back and see what happens.

[malxwal]

Excellent, thanks for the interest and advice folks. Will hopefully let you all know it's cured and how soon, work/wife/kids permitting. The guy I bought it from reckons he's a Surf expert, and I'd have no problem driving it in 4WD on any surface, saying it's the same transmission as the Prado's, and that I should ask Toyota if I don't believe him...whadya reckon ?

[stormforce]

don't drive it in 4wd unless on slippery/loose ground.
Sorry for the uncertainty about your truck but i never realised that a 3rd gen that age would have the same trans as a 2nd gen

[malxwal]

Could any of you folks tell the difference between a very early 3rd gen and a later one from the gear position lights being in a horizontal row underneath the rev counter ? The N and P reg ones I drove didn't have this.
Greased all the UJ's, changed the rear diff oil (not been done in a looooong time I think), then had a look over the steering; two track rod ends and two anti roll bar links and bushes are on their way....Going to have to save up for new back tyres next

[KERRSURF]

yoshie is having similar issues, we recently replaced all balljoints and trackrods on his truck, arb's are fine, no play in steering or judders under braking. Rotated all the wheels round truck, so no out of rouns tires causing problems.
We took off the rear prop and judder was still there.
I suspect bushes or rear axle bearings, let us know how you get on and I'll post up what we find.

[TonyN]

The guy I bought it from reckons he's a Surf expert, and I'd have no problem driving it in 4WD on any surface, saying it's the same transmission as the Prado's, and that I should ask Toyota if I don't believe him...whadya reckon ?

He's not, lol, he B/S'ed you, You can't use 4wd on the road.

All the Colorados i've seen are the same as the mulitmode 4wd Surfs, but without the 2wd option, no idea about the Prado's.

[malxwal]

Yeah, B/S is what it sounded like when I confronted him about it, but in his defense, he did say he would take the truck back.
So, does the positioning of the gear indicator lights on the dash below the rev counter point to this being a very early 3rd gen ?

[Streetsurfer]

My 3rd gen is a '96 (P), it has the multimode transmission, but no gear lights on the dash. It looks like yours is a 98, maybe the gearbox was replaced by one from an earlier 3rd gen?

[malxwal]

Well, to update, I have now replaced track rod ends, which were OK, top and bottom ball joints passenger side, which were not the best, anti roll bar links, which weren't great, and anti roll bar D bushes which were absolutely shagged. Once I replace the driver side ball joints I reckon I will have completely eradicated the judder...from the front end.
My 2WD Surf is going everywhere the Rangeys go in 4WD....