Mr K & his 1989 Hilux Surf
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:52 am
Hello there
My name, is Mr K ... I bought myself a 4x4 toy last September ... after having not been 4x4ing for some many years (many = almost 12 odd).
I figured TradeMe a good place to start and ended up picking up a 1989 Toyota Surf 2 Door. It's been modified - (excuse my ignorance .. but)... I think it has a 2 or 3 inch lift, it's running 33" BF Goodrich MT on the rear and 33" Bridgestone MT on the front (it had AT on the front when I got it). It has Rancho 5000 in the rear, unnamed in the front, and a Rancho Sterring damper in the front (I'm 99% sure that's not stock)
Anyhoo ... my brother invited me out 4x4ing up Thomsons Track, as an introduction back into driving. What was supposed to be a gentle drive turned into .... well yeah.
We (a mate and me) left Auckland early arriving in Paeroa around 9am. Time for a coffee while we wait for my bro. I rang him to check on him & woke him - that should have been enough of a warning bell. Well he & his mate turned up from Tauranga later & we headed into Te Ahroa and Thomsons Track.
The first big hole and I got stuck - see it'd been over 12 years since my last 4x4ing trip...and I was a passenger. So my bro tows me out, gives me a quick lesson about using 2nd gear etc etc and we carry on.
Somewhere along this trip we realised my 4wd wasn't really working - that and AT tires are not reall ALL Terrain ... basically they are crap. Long story short, he ended up stuck for about 5 hours in a hole, and a little after midnight we finally drove out of the forrest (he was showing off, and made a stupid mistake - which resulted in him bogging in a hole he shouldn't have bogged in - something to do with too much speed + water + intake + ... you get the idea)
Some pics can be seen here http://flickr.com/photos/studiowhiz/set ... 659083936/
Anyway ... my truck had been making this HORRIFIC noise for most of the trip - infact it had for days before too. No one was sure if it was a loose timing belt, something in the tappets .... or what - but the truck ran fine so I drove it (yeah yeah .. dumb move). My brothers mate (an automotive sparky) said it was the gear box
So ... 2am driving back through Paeroa I stop to add a little oil to the engine - and badda bing suddenly 1st wouldn't work. 100meters down the road no gears would work. So we left it in Paeroa overnight and arrived in Tauranga around 4am. Next day we hired a salvage trailor and headed back to auckland.....
$2700 later ... I have a new clutch, cambelt etc etc. The dual mass fly wheel had flown to bits. Needless to say I now have a Solid State with High Pressure gear around it *sigh*
I've also had the steering box & brakes rebuilt (funny they failed a wof) ... and now she's back on the road and tearing up the streets of Auckland (yeah, hard 4x4 country I know) ...
Still ... Yahoo! decided to use the truck in a billboard - so it wasn't a complete waste
http://flickr.com/photos/studiowhiz/2251850604/
Okay, I've rambled on enough .... oh did I mention my 4wd still doesn't seem to work - so need to get that looked at, CRAP more $$ *sigh*
My name, is Mr K ... I bought myself a 4x4 toy last September ... after having not been 4x4ing for some many years (many = almost 12 odd).
I figured TradeMe a good place to start and ended up picking up a 1989 Toyota Surf 2 Door. It's been modified - (excuse my ignorance .. but)... I think it has a 2 or 3 inch lift, it's running 33" BF Goodrich MT on the rear and 33" Bridgestone MT on the front (it had AT on the front when I got it). It has Rancho 5000 in the rear, unnamed in the front, and a Rancho Sterring damper in the front (I'm 99% sure that's not stock)
Anyhoo ... my brother invited me out 4x4ing up Thomsons Track, as an introduction back into driving. What was supposed to be a gentle drive turned into .... well yeah.
We (a mate and me) left Auckland early arriving in Paeroa around 9am. Time for a coffee while we wait for my bro. I rang him to check on him & woke him - that should have been enough of a warning bell. Well he & his mate turned up from Tauranga later & we headed into Te Ahroa and Thomsons Track.
The first big hole and I got stuck - see it'd been over 12 years since my last 4x4ing trip...and I was a passenger. So my bro tows me out, gives me a quick lesson about using 2nd gear etc etc and we carry on.
Somewhere along this trip we realised my 4wd wasn't really working - that and AT tires are not reall ALL Terrain ... basically they are crap. Long story short, he ended up stuck for about 5 hours in a hole, and a little after midnight we finally drove out of the forrest (he was showing off, and made a stupid mistake - which resulted in him bogging in a hole he shouldn't have bogged in - something to do with too much speed + water + intake + ... you get the idea)
Some pics can be seen here http://flickr.com/photos/studiowhiz/set ... 659083936/
Anyway ... my truck had been making this HORRIFIC noise for most of the trip - infact it had for days before too. No one was sure if it was a loose timing belt, something in the tappets .... or what - but the truck ran fine so I drove it (yeah yeah .. dumb move). My brothers mate (an automotive sparky) said it was the gear box
So ... 2am driving back through Paeroa I stop to add a little oil to the engine - and badda bing suddenly 1st wouldn't work. 100meters down the road no gears would work. So we left it in Paeroa overnight and arrived in Tauranga around 4am. Next day we hired a salvage trailor and headed back to auckland.....
$2700 later ... I have a new clutch, cambelt etc etc. The dual mass fly wheel had flown to bits. Needless to say I now have a Solid State with High Pressure gear around it *sigh*
I've also had the steering box & brakes rebuilt (funny they failed a wof) ... and now she's back on the road and tearing up the streets of Auckland (yeah, hard 4x4 country I know) ...
Still ... Yahoo! decided to use the truck in a billboard - so it wasn't a complete waste
http://flickr.com/photos/studiowhiz/2251850604/
Okay, I've rambled on enough .... oh did I mention my 4wd still doesn't seem to work - so need to get that looked at, CRAP more $$ *sigh*
