Jacob,
Sorry for the long post but i've just got to respond to this one!
Below are two articles from what is widely considered to be one of, if the not the best 4wd magazine in the world. It's so good i pay a fortune to have it flown in from Oz! They are completely brand impartial which is more than can be said of any of the UK magazines and when they test something, they really test it (to destruction)
The articles are about the Prado and the Patrol, pro's and cons, strengths and weaknesses, you may find it useful in making your choice.
The first thing i'll say is, Crusher, what is the this 'Playdo' crap of which you speak? Have you broken a 90 series in the past? Because i know LOTS of people with Landcruisers of all series including 90's and as far as i can recall i have never heard of one breaking, and for the last few 'long' overland trips i.e. Charlie and Nina, Martin and Nicole, Kevin, the 90 series have been the vehicle of choice.
Timebomb for a diesel engine? despite it's known liking for cracking it's head, the 1KZTE is still one of the most reliable diesel engines ever produced and has powered not just the 90 series but many other Toyota vehicles for nearly as long as the 4.2 straight 6 in the 80 series, i have owned a 1KZTE 90 and a D4D 90 and would buy either again in a heartbeat. i could say the same for the 4.2 engine and it's liking for failing big end bearings or front axle issues could i not? EVERY engine in the world had areas you need to keep and eye on, no?
As for the D4D, although i know it's not an issue because you'd be extremely lucky to find a D4D 90 for £4000, the D4D now powers everything from the AYGO to the V8 landcruiser in one form or another, with the 3.0 litre version powering the Landcruiser, Hilux, Hiace, Dyna.... i could go on. So as a percentage of the amount of units out there worlswide, how many have suffered this 'catastrophic ' injector issue?? Not very many i would wager. Mine is at 150,000 miles and still on original injectors. Can we not just collectively accept that Toyota once used a bad couple of batches of injectors in their manufacture?
When my friend was out in the Congo with the army, their vehicles were D4D Hiluxes which were overloaded and thrashed everyday in horrendous conditions and were often fueled by diesel bought out of a barrel in a village with leaves floating in! i.e. massively contaminated. How much did this affect the so called 'fussy' D4D unit.... not at all, not once in the two years he was out there, and these trucks had in excess of 250,000 miles on them. When i drove mine to Ukraine last year we were getting pretty low quality fuel there too, did it bother my fussy D4D? Again, no it didn't!
Even if you do plan on taking it overland as i occasionally do with mine, don't worry about this IFS/SFA debate. There is a reason why every single major 4x4 manufacturer has stopped making SFA vehicles (including the Patrol and excepting the 70 series which are more working vehicles). There just aren't many advantages to it any more. For any overland trip you will spend 99% of your time on a road or track of some description, whether this is a sealed metalled road or a mud track. In any of these conditions IFS has the advantage because you get better ride quality and steering control. The only area really where the SFA has the advantage is in areas where you have extreme ruts and need maximum articulation. This is not not say that an IFS vehicle cant do it, add a rear locker (the vast majority of UK spec 90s come with them as standard) and you will get to 99% of the places a SFA vehicle will. I go offroading with an 80 all the time and have been for years now and never once has he got to somewhere i couldn't.
i really wouldn't worry about it breaking either. In Iraq i was driving IFS Hiluxes around. Again, massively overloaded and with high mileage and trust me when i say these trucks were getting hammered every day, bumping over 3 foot steps at 50 mph whilst being shot at etc. You would never drive a vehicle you owned like this! How many IFS failures did we have, again, none.
Anyway you might find this interesting:
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=10942
and the articles are below, enjoy!!