Offroad-Express

im thinking about buying my first 4wd and i have found some ones on trademe that i like the look of, but i dont know much about 4wd's so am after some advice

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=188538610
and
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=188203716

i dont really want to spend more than $2,000, and I'll need it as a daily driver so it has to be reliable
what are the main differences between a hilux and a surf?
the hilux has a suspected leaking head gasket.... are these easy to fix and cheap?
the surf has a leak in the power steering.... are these easy to fix and cheap?

the surf hasnt got a cert for the wheels or the body lift, are they hard to get? how much do they cost?
and its got a fuel injected engine too, i thought these came out later? is the efi engine better than the carby one?

im new to 4wd'ing so it'll need to be good for a beginner to learn in and easy to drive.
the surf already has some big tyres and a 2" body lift, but the hilux has dual fuel (lpg/petrol) so will be cheap to run
theyre both 2 litre petrol engines. are these alright for going offroad? i guess i can upgrade them later if i have to?

what are your thoughts?

dave

Go the d/cab. The 3Y is an easy engine to find and install, so the leaking head gasket thing will not be an issue. I run 35" Kuhmo tyres on my sons yn60 surf and the 3Y spins those OK in low box. On the road it is acceptable with its performance. I am not saying go straight to 35" inch tyres but you need to think about future mods and requirements when making decissions. The D/cab will go further than the surf in standard to light modified form. There is a world of knowledge on here on how to get the best bang for your buck with these. The IFS front on the surf will piss you off very quickly when off road. When you start getting stuck because one of your front wheels are in the air, you will know what I mean. That surf looks a little rough too, for the money he wants.
Have you considered other trucks other than surfs/hiluxs? There is a whole range of trucks/marques out there that with very little money spent modifing them can be reasonablally capible offroad with an inital purchase price in the regeon of 2K.
The first thing to remember when thinking about offroading any truck is that the purchase is going to be the cheapest thing you do with your truck. As soon as you take it off road and think about modifing it and recovery gear and safety gear and winches and tyres and....You get the idea, it all mounts up pretty quickly.

You are doing the right thing though, asking for peoples opinions and advice. Remember we all drive different trucks, so we all have different opinions, none better or worse than the other, just different and so you will get a different answer everytime someone replies.

Good luck.

Jase.

Are we assuming the hilux is a beam axle front? some of the ssr imports came independant, although i don't think that was until about 1990 but im not sure..
surf looks like a fun hack around but the hilux looks like a better everyday driver that you can mod as you can afford it..
Its nice to start with something stockish like the hilux and then your driving skill can grow as you mod it

OK the hilux:

likley have a solid axle (good thing)
leaf sprung (harder ride in standard setup)
good workhorse motor (Toyota Petrol what can you say)
pretty honest looking truck
If the head gasket let go I would get the radiator flushed and checked and the head gasket done ASAP, the head could also have gone soft and there is no way to check (been no antifreeze).

OK The Surf:

Looks to have been someones toy (look for damage to sills and fuel tank)
IFS can be limiting
Front diff in them is weaker (put it in 4wd and make sure it drives OK)
better road manners and turning circle

For both:
Check for rust in the sills behind the front tyres and in front of the rears
Check for rust in the rain gutters above the doors
I have a Hilux and am biased because it is so useful!

each to there own really, like the guys said, the hilux will be beta offroad, and i personally like to buy unmod-ed vehicles, so you know what you are getting and you can build them up yourself. good to see another Pukekohe-ian in the mix, good luck

oh yea and the l.p.g option is a good 1, mines l.p.g aswell, and by spending $70 on gas and the same on petrol, im getting 120ks more on gas