Toyota Hilux V Frontera

Looking for opinions, past experiences, present experiences etc etc.

Person at work keeps bleeping on if you get my drift.......

Any feedback as always, very welcome.

Gregsters ya man for this one bud!! :wink:

Good posting matey....

Probably a better comparison would be the Yota Surf/4runner v frontera as more similar to compare...

I have had both, and they are both good...

The yota has a tougher drive train than a fronty, but the Toyota engines 2.4td and 3.0td are far more unreliable than the Isuzu 2.8td...

Both the 2.4 and 3.0 diesels suffer from head problems, and eat starter motors...and a 2.4td starter motor change in a car without a body lift is an absolute mission...( if I needed to do one again, I would fit a bodylift kit purely to make the job easier!)

The yota has more aftermarket goodies available if you wanna mod it...but you can buy the equivalent fronty for a lot less, leaving more money for mods that may be unaffordable if spending more on a surf...

Suspension is much the same, both running torsion bar front and coil rear...and both easy to mod...

Surf doesnt run auto locking hubs, but a solenoid operated front diff disconnect, which is reliable, but your cv's are rotating all the time, may be an issue with big lifts and extreme driveshaft angles...wheras the fronty dislocates at the hubs..
The surf system is more like the fronty B system giving 4x4 on the fly by just pressing a button...

Yota gearing is a bit lower in low box, run 33's and still the gearing is easily low enough, wheras the fronties on 33's are a bit taller geared than I would like...

Yota has better ground clearance out of the box, but transfer box sticks down stupidly in the middle...

Yota has better brakes...4 pots on the front (if I remember righly-but that might be my landcruisers) but nearly all had drum brake rear, not so good when they get full of mud...

Got to admit I actually prefer the shape of the surf with its fat wheel arches, if only the lwb fronty had the same arches as a sport all round,
Surfs always seem to look taller, as the body sits higher on the frame and the car has a higher bonnet/lower roofline...

Surf has a neat motor retractable rear window....but it goes wrong at the most inconvenient times and is expensive to fix...

Surfs have stupid spare wheel stowage underneath, and not enough space for a 33" under there...chains that lower spare always seize up...some do have after market/ optional wheel carriers on the back...fronty's spare solutions are much better...

Most surfs came with a decent size electric tilt and slide sunroof, but they do go wrong...but the fronty has an awful afterthought kinda budget aftermarket thing cut in the roof in most cases, unless its a much later one...

Surf comes with a retractable twin cup holder in the centre of the dash...much needed in the fronty

Surfs have a stupid under dash handbrake, which will drive you mad if you drive other cars as well, as you will always reach for the wrong place for the handbrake!

Surf paintwork seems to suffer the sun, more than fronties...yota's early paint lacquer was awful and roof's in particular are often flat with no laquer left...
Many surfs came with aircon, an unusual find on earlier fronties...

Surf trims do wear really well, wheras fronty drivers seats tend to suffer with the side bolster wearing badly and that dreaded bar digging into you...
Fronty trims were cool colours, wheras there are some really nasty surf trims in blue and other yack colours...

Well there's a few to get on with...I would have another surf, but would be a petrol 3.0i one, they are good, but I reckon the 2.8 fronty is the better car in honesty...For the same money as a good diesel surf, you could build a really tricked up 2.8 fronty that would put it to shame...

My thoughts anyway... :wink:

Laters

Gregster

Told ya!!

Hmmm... I coulda sworn I just posted on here and it went and disappeared on me

Anyway, as I was saying, I had a mate with a Surf and found it to be really cramped inside. It would be OK for short journeys but I wouldn't want to spend an extended period of time in one

I think it's fair to say that if there was a qualification invented for fronty/brava/hilux knowledge and mods, Gregster would be the tutor and lecturer and practical class teacher :lol:

Nah, stick to what you're good at :wink:

Probably for the best....dont wanna give all my "Knowledge" and "techniques" away, do I???!!!

My mates got a two door Surf, quite rare apparently, anyway the main bonus is that it can fit two in the back seats folded down after a days climbing and a nights drinking and you cant be arsed pitching a tent.

Though there was the day we went laning in the snow and his Surf lost it on the very slippy lane up to the wayfarer, Trugga was leading I was following in my old sport and Leo was in the Surf, he lost traction on the tarmac lane that had about an inch of compact iced snow on the ground (you couldnt walk on it) he slid backwards and hit a tree, ripped rear bumper and exhaust off and cost £600 to put right.

He stayed out to finish the day and even dragged a fronty or two out of some deep snow filled ruts.
The only thing putting me off them it the very large overhang at the rear, lwb frontys are bad but....

He still has the car and its totally unmodified

And its a 2.4 and no head gasket problems in 5 years :shock:

I do like them a lot BUT they are bloody heavy cars :shock:

I can believe that, I was shocked at my mates, it was mint when he got it after 3 years it looked like it had been dipping boats in a harbour for 10 years, no underseal, he has sorted it now.

A tip, your Jap import may be rust free, it wont in a couple of years unless you underseal it :lol:

A mate of mine's got a 2.4 diesel Surf - he's only a little bloke (5' nothing) and I can remember seeing him sitting up under the rear axle (motor was jacked up) trying to work on removing the rear drums - that's how much the ground clearance is.
The one thing that everybody comments on is how uncomfortable the flat the floor pan is. When you sit in the front seat, there seems to be no depth to the foot well so your legs stay more horizontal to the seat, like your feet are on a foot rest rather than a comfortable seating position.

Wouldn't you say the same in the Frontera?

I'm 6'1 and sitting in the Frontera for any length of time for me is relatively uncomfortable - my legs start to hurt and my ankle ache. If I raise the seat, my head hits the roof so it's a no win situation.

Unless I'm missing something completely

Frontera definately more comfortable than laying in a Surf - unless you've got little legs I suppose!