Hi guy
So viewed the Prado there yesterday,had a good look over the car.
From looking at the floor pan/chassis its not that bad in areas,ive been looking at newer hiluxs and there in similar condition from memory.
Where the axle is,and bolted to its not bad,dont get me wrong there is rust but nothing i can see that looks worrying ,theres the part that is on the axel that he told me he cut of and replace and welded back on...which is linked to some sort of pan rod or tie bar,this has been done.
The areas of concern are....
Drivers rear inner arch where it comes up from the sill and to about 40cm up the arch where the arch would tie onto the quarter i would say theres about 2" gone that needs plating,im assuming this is far enough from the suspension area as from memory its around 30cm within for a mot faliure...which the car has just had a recent mot??
And looking above the plastic body arch trim which is at the same side,just above the trim round the edge of this theres rust starting its not much but can see its going to be needing looked at in a few years time.
The back panel is okay,its not soft but its not solid if that makes sense,i would estimate again in so many years time there might be issues...
the engine runs sweet as a nut for 185k its spot on.
the bfgs are in good nick with still the nobbles at the side of the treads just there so they have hardly done any mileage id say.
hes replaced one side of the suspension fornt and rear,the drivers side hasnt been done but both springs are there...correct me if im wrong but looks to be an easy job?
now as for the why the diff and transfer box were rebuilt he had said that the seal was leaking on one and the bearing went on the other so just got in about it and replaced the chain and did properly...
i did notice a wee weep of oil coming from there,it didnt look fresh tbh but still a weep there.
what would be the other reason for this
goodoldboy? again im new to these so i dont know the problens these come with
test driving the prado,this is my first time driving one..i like the drive very much,the sheer simplicity of them is what i like.
theres not much up on the dash and that means less having to fix.
when i drove it theres a kind of judder when you go into 2nd gear...
it drives fine baar this judder.
when i viewed the car i noticed under the transfer box i think that there was a rubber jammed beteen it and the cradle that holds it in place.
i asked and he said that he does think that mount needs changing,maybe this is causing the judder???
or is it an engine mount possibly or something even worse?
Now so you guys know ,the reason im looking at this vehicle is simply im renovating my property,and need something for towing a trailer for my materials and off scaffolding job i do on the side...if i can get 2/3 years out of this to do my jobs get the garden done up ill be delighted.
ive viewed hiluxs 08 plates to 14 plates with in a budget io set and tbh the condition chassis wise is just terrible..
the quality of whatevber wax oil is being put on them at the time is not good.
this is what led me to look into this landcruiser,its an affordable price,its not winning any shows but its not bad by no means...and as for underneath ive seen some pickups that are not far away from the same condition and there 10k more than this price tag.
the welding i can get done and dabble myself.
im not a stranger to working on cars,but havent done any work on a 4x4 tbh.
i just dont want to be throwing my money away,when im in the costly process of doing my property up.
but i do want to save myself and not pay a price tag of 10k to do the same job this land cruiser could do.
ive had a look at the likes of engines and parts and thinking at worse case scenario if i get stung and its a shed i could break to get my money back,maybe im wrong but seems these engines are a fair price tag on them.