Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005 at 20:40
Hey Bandit, can speak from experience on this one, owned a 91 mod SR5 ltd in yr 99-2000 had about 160klm, first thing I did was
suspension torsion bars heavy duty springs, extractors and exhaust was fitted and 31" bfg muds as
well.
Tried it out on
the beach fantastic the v6 was great, should have taken a gerry can with me though. Then a couple of mates put together day trip in the bush, medioca
(spelling???) tracks, tried a little bit of a climb "BANG" there goes front diff. Replaced it with reco then went back to same place for testing, as it definatley was not difficult terrain "BANG" diff for second time. Replaced it as reco was still under wty, then was on another
4wd trip this is for the third time, a steep climb loose rocks an ruts "BANG" I bloody
well gave up took the reco back for third time and sold it. My uncle purchased it off me and yes he was aware of the diff problems, but since his intended use was not 4wdring it suited him perfect.
Diagnosis:- there was no wheel travel, every time a wheel lifted in the front it would spin in the air and when it came down between the power of the V6 and the grip from the muddies it snapped the diff...
A common problem i found out later there front diffs are weak p#%s.
Though speaking to diesal owners not a worry...
12 months later under my uncles ownership the head gasket blew, cost him almost 5 gees for a rebuild...
Heres one for you, I met a gentleman by the name of Mal Blanks, if your familiar with the Bornio safari's from 1990-91-92-93-94. He was one of the bushdriver magazines 4runner drivers. This guy did the hard core stuff with moddified runners. Great watching if you can get your hands on the videos, I have them.
In conversation with him I was picking his brains on the safari, what was involved and his thoughts on the runners. In his opinion they were the biggest piece of S#!T toyota ever made, and if you watch the vids you will see partly why.
Im with him only because of my experiences...That should answer the offroad performance side of it.
Apart from that i enjoyed driving it around town very versatile comfortable driving.
sorry for being so negative but I got burnt...
Regards,
Babs
AnswerID:
120224
Follow Up By: Bandit - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005 at 23:17
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005 at 23:17
Thanks Babs for the a very
well explained account and to all the others who have kindly responded to my question. You have all been very honest and it is appreciated, but I have it now and maybe I'll just use it for my trav'lin'
treks along the highways and byways and the odd
creek crossing and pulling the camper trailer. Other than that I will just keep in in the garage (uses no fuel that way) and bring it out once a month for a wash and polish and pretend that I own a Toorak Tractor!!!
See what research does, cannot beat it, just that I done
mine after I bought the damm thing!!! Seriously though, it's gonna see a lot of Australia, I'll just be that little bit carefull. Thanks.
FollowupID:
375314