Thread: Thinking about a change - Safari or something else?

Mate who used to have a SWB now has a LWB with the king-size sunroof, loves it for bunny sessions.

What about Jeeps. Cherokees and Wranglers. There are a couple good lookn Cherokees in Ashburton $$$ already spent.

Thought about Cherokees but all automatic, big thirsty petrol engines (or the rare diesels have a bad rep), heard gearboxes aren't too reliable either.

Nissan Safari LWB plenty of room and will sometimes go further than a shorty, because sometimes a SWB will still have both sets of wheels in the problem area. Safari/Patrol usually more truck for your dollar.We dont have the thousands of KM,s of corrugated dirt roads that Aussie is cursed with to shake a Nissan to bits.Landcruiser every bit as good but expect to pay more for an equalivent truck. I have worked in the drilling industry for 33 years allways the work trucks were Toyota, they got stuck and broke down plenty.But Nissan and Toyota are the only two I would choose if driving across Africa.I own a Suzuki SJ410, Landrover series 2a. 86 Mk Nissan, 91 GQ Nissan. All will stop at some obstacle that the others will drive past. I have a very steep hill on the farm and the only 4x4 to get up it was a L200 ute with allterrain tyres never been able to get up in my 4x4s and my son has ripped it to bits trying in his Landcruisers.It dosent matter what you drive when you get to your destination someone will be there in a 4x4 that shouldnt have been able to get even half way.

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Thought about Cherokees but all automatic, big thirsty petrol engines (or the rare diesels have a bad rep), heard gearboxes aren't too reliable either.

Yeh 4L petrol definitely not an every day vehicle.

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Thought about Cherokees but all automatic, big thirsty petrol engines (or the rare diesels have a bad rep), heard gearboxes aren't too reliable either.

only thing that is reliable on a cherokee is the fuelbill.

The main thing against the LWB for me is just the sheer size of the thing - have driven a few on and off road and I like how they drive, but having to 3-point turn tight corners on steep tracks got annoying, you need a lot of space to turn around. SWB a couple hundred kg lighter too which should help a bit with the slowness.

One of them was a work vehicle we had up in Central, 430k on it from memory and withstood serious mechanical abuse from some of the guys - redline from stone cold etc, I'm sure they were actually trying to kill it. They eventually managed to after I had left, but they had to submerge it in the Clutha to do it.

Thread summary so far:

Safari still on list, check for rust in roof.
Terrano still on list, check for rust under back seats.
Rocky probably off list, too small for main vehicle.
Prado still on list if I can find a decent one in price range.
Landcruisers too expensive unless I find a bargain.
Surf back on list as long as its a 3.0td, pref intercooled.
Bighorn added to list if I find one I like.

Keeping Legacy for now and buying a truck at an unpecified point in the future still an option too.

"Top of the list is probably a SWB Safari, I know they're about the most solid thing you can buy but any specific hints on things to look out for and check would be handy. Would be a 4.2 non turbo in that price range."

Solid, heavy, slow...not much fun on the road....off road however,



Yes, I assume 4.2 diesel? the non-turbo is terribly under-powered I have a 1988 one with a pto winch.



Avoid the 2.7diesels....

Check the fuel pump or get it checked, they can wear badly, $1k to $2k for the fix, ditto injectors, a re-tipping will set you back $1k lok for lots of black smoke on moderate acceleration, get compression checked but that should be OK. Blocks seem solid, gearboxes solid but can leak a little.

Water pump bearings can wear badly, rock the fan blade, if it moves more than a mm or so $150 ish for a new pump, easy fix, so no biggee.

Carefully check the power steering block for leaks at the joints...especially the 4 bolt one at the back...

The early ones like mine had a limited slip diff, entertaining on a tight corner with full throttle.....ie it spins easily...use the right LS140 oil, change it every 3 years, it gets abused a lot.

Doors rust very badly at the hinges area on the door, a second hand drivers door can cost you $500 if you can find one, I got my one welded for $150...covered it in anti-rust oil.

Carefully look for rust around the gutter, it will rust from the inside so big bubbles but its not that common. They doesnt seem to rust underneath.

Look for corrosion under the twin batteries in the engine bay.

On the firewall there is a spot welded joint/seem that runs across the engine bay at high level, check this isnt rusting.

The front windscreen rubber shrinks with age at lower corner joints and lets rain water in, silicone rubber keeps your feet dry.

Top door hinge drivers side can wear badly, WOF failure, $50 ish for a new one.

The most annoying and common rust point to fix is the rustng of the rear windows you cant get the steel inserts, Ive seen some trucks with no longer opening windows.

The vacuum pump on the back of the alternator, if it leaks (engine oil) it buggers the alternator, dont get it repaired, the seals never hold (tried that, twice), get a new entire alternator with a NEW vacuum pump, on trademe, about $700.

Starter motor teeth can go while the motor is fine, $400 for a new starter motor head.

Passenger side seat mounts and slide fail, crack, wear out, check.

Seats are cheap so aoften look bad, not to bad to get replaced.

Air con is R12 so no chance of a fix now, but thats OK use the air con pump as an air compressor for the tyres.



Front wheel bearings can wear and need adjustment but no biggee.

Auto hubs seem reliable dont bother going manual.

Brake disks wear and can be the source of imbalance so fail WOF but are cheap new. The biggest annoyance is the floating rear caliper which dont. New pins, copper grease and seals solve that fairly cheaply.

Shocks dont seem to wear, but the bushes go, cheap to repalce though. Good ARB aftermarket are the same price as monroe crap ($180 ish each)...so get the ARB's.

The front trailing (or leading arms) have 2 bushes per side where they attach to the chassis, last time they cost me $150 each so 4 are needed (ouch). The bushes of the same arms where they attach to the axle are also expensive to replace, look to see if the arm looks cocked to one side in the bracket in which case they'll need replacing if the WOF guy notices/gets concerned.

24volt system, seems fine, I fitted a 24v to 12v unit and a 24v to 240v inverter...

Tyres dont seem to wear too fast, I have M&S Kanooks seem OK in the mud......

<grin>

This list might sound bad, but Ive had it 10+ years and its a battered 400k truck....been a lot of fun...fuel consumption sucks though.

Originally Posted by username

What about Jeeps. Cherokees and Wranglers. There are a couple good lookn Cherokees in Ashburton $$$ already spent.

Cherokees...ew....expensive and uh expensive. Wranglers better and fun but uh expensive....

Toyota | Landcruiser Prado | 1998 | For Sale | Buy | Turners Auctions
Apparently got handed in last auction with no bids at $7k. Drops out of 5th some times apparently. Used down at Te Wai point as a security wagon...

tiwai point? go have a good hard look at it before buying, betting the undersides are covered in surface rust.

What about a ?

Sorry I haven't read through the thread.
It's on the market once I get time to get it to gather for a warrant

Sent from my Galaxy SIII

The biggest complaint Nissan fans live to make about Landcruisers is that the diffs are weaker and COMPETITION TRUCKS ARE ALL NISSANS I READ IT IN A 4WD MAGAZINE FURTHERMORE

I've been driving various Landcruisers for work since 2008, seen probably hundreds of them and done a loooot of Ks in them

Things I have seen wrong with them:

-fuel gauges stop working
-aircon pulley bearing goes
-handbrakes are shit
-79 series clutches go
-starter motors don't like lots of water crossings
-radiator fans can pull into radiator core on deep water crossings
-a few bent tie rods
-1 fucked leaf spring when a geophysics crew went through a washout at like 100ks
-1 bent diff housing when a safety officer hit a giant anthill at like 80ks dafter driving off a corner
-3 rollovers all of which drove away after being righted with not much damage beyond glass
-1 100 series with 1hz that got a mouthful of water while parked in a river, was still running 14 months later when I last saw it, just blew smoke in the morning


Never actually seen any evidence of these weak diffs etc

Haha very good, and true.