What to look for Surf 3.0?

[Suvvey]

The father in law has been looking at 3.0 Surf today. He then came round to try and pick my brains on them as I used to have an Pajero and obviously all Jap imports are the same :roll:

Well my Surf knowledge is pretty much zero so wonderd what exactly he should be looking for when buying one? He already knows about the overheating issues with the 2.4 so has decided on a 3.0 and has looked at one that a friend of his is selling but had a couple of little worries.
 Firstly there was a slight 'vibration' in the steering which the owner put down to the mud tyres, but apparently it was more noticeable at speed. To my mind this sounds more like wheel balance (not a major issue) as the vibration would lessen from the tread as speed increased? :-k
 Secondly and potentially more worryingly is he thought there was a slight whine from the rear of the car. This to me sounds like possible diff or driveline problems but again seeing as I don't know much about Surf's I'm not sure if this is normal? Or again maybe just from the tyre tread although the noise did seem to come from the rear. Oh yes the rear seats where down so don't know if this would make normal road noise any louder?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :D
 

[simondarby]

Whine and vibration could be prop UJs?

Rear diff on a Surf is an LSD also used in Hilux pickups and LJ70 Land Cruisers of a similar era.  Fairly easy to source and fit.

All comes down to how much the truck is in the first place.  Surfs are very cheap now, along with most other used 4x4 vehicles...

Si

[andyw]

The LSD was a factory option on Surfs, look at the Vin plate and if the axle code ends with a 5 chances are it has one.

[landmannnn]

Actually surf's hold their value well.  While prices vary 15 year old ones fetch around £2k, get a couple of disco's for that money.

[RutSurfer]

Actually surf's hold their value well.  While prices vary 15 year old ones fetch around £2k, get a couple of disco's for that money.

And Twice as many BREAKDOWNS lmao,   :roll:

[Smego]

I wouln't touch a surf with a bargepole....

 :lol:

[Suvvey]

Well he bought the one he first looked at very soon after my last post but I still haven't even seen it yet :roll: Let alone tempted him out laning :twisted:

[Smego]

with a surf if it has 4 wheels, starts and don't overheat is is a guaranteed better buy than a land-rover ;-)

[dxmedia]

with a surf it  is a guaranteed better buy than a land-rover ;-)

There you go, fixed that for you ;)

[jay2578]

no chance! landy all the way!!!!! every surf ive ever known has had massive problems! time for a re-mortgage type problems!