Wild_South's Toyota Surf KZN185 (3rd Gen 4Runner) Build - NEW ZEALAND

[Wild_South]

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Wild_South's Toyota Surf KZN185 (3rd Gen 4Runner) Build - NEW ZEALAND​

Hi all, welcome to my build thread!

I am based in New Zealand and have now been privileged to own a few Toyota Surfs (as we call them down here), a.k.a 4Runner's to a lot of you guys. I have recently bought a blank canvas to work with - it's a 1997 Toyota Surf KZN185 Intercooled Version, in silver/grey. It is absolutely stock-as-a-rock, owned by an older couple (in their 60's) since it was imported in 2004. With it came records of all servicing and any mechanical work they did during their time of ownership. It has done 215,000kms (134,000 miles), and is very straight, with tidy paint work - bar a few stone chips as expected for the age of the truck.

To give you a bit of history of the market here in NZ: we are a Toyota nation. The Hilux (ute mainly), is a bit of a nostalgic Kiwi icon. You can find a Hilux in just about every farm shed, around every corner, outside every pub, and in just about ever third person's driveway. We love 'em. They are perectly suited to out country - mountainous, harsh weather and most of all amazing scenery to explore. The Surf (which is a derivative of the Hilux), is just as popular. The non-intercooled versions seem to suffer from head cracking issues and overheating (if not serviced regularly), whereas the intercooled versions are far more reliable and a extremely sort-after; to the point where when one is up for sale it is generally snapped up in a whizz. Therefore, I was just lucky when I spotted mine for sale for a great price - it has been on the market for no more than 4 hours when I bought it (they had already received 3 offers in that time).

My plans for my rig are to build it up into a comfortable but capable weekend wagon, but also friendly enough to use as a daily driver. I do a bit of fly fishing and hunting, plus the odd day trip into the High Country with my family, so having something with a bit of storage space as well as a place to sleep should the weather turn, is a big point for me.

My planned list of modifications is as follows:

- 2" suspension lift - ✓
- MCC front winch bar - ✓
- 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust system
- Custom dump pipe
- Limb risers - ✓
- EGR blank
- 285/75r16 (33") mud tires
- 16x8 black steel rims
- Auberins EGT and Water Temp gauges
- Genuine Toyota roof cage - ✓
- 240 watt LED light bar - ✓
- Rhino Rack Sunseeker awning (2mx2m) - ✓
- Aftermarket stereo system - ✓
- RAM iPad mount
- Garmin GPS mount
- Remove rear bumper for better departure angle
- LED cabin lights
- Daytime running lamps ✓
- LED strip lights under bonnet (hood), tailgate and side doors
- Genuine Toyota roof racks ✓
- Remove factory running boards ✓
- Fab up Rock sliders
- Tinted windows ✓
- Narva Plus 120 headlights

​

 

[AxleIke]

Awesome Rig!

Where are you at? I gave some serious thought to buying one of the OEM tire carriers from one of the ute salvage yards in Lower Hutt when I was working there last year. I love those Surfs!

Looking forward to the build!

 

[Wild_South]

Awesome Rig!

Where are you at? I gave some serious thought to buying one of the OEM tire carriers from one of the ute salvage yards in Lower Hutt when I was working there last year. I love those Surfs!

Looking forward to the build!

I'm in Christchurch mate. Oh that would've been good! I love the rear swing arm.

Yeah they're great - having the intercooler is fantastic, and IMHO the Silver/Grey colour scheme is best (not to mention very hard to come by!!)

 

[Elbee]

Jealous. Love that engine setup and those JDM options.
Can't wait to see what you will do with the truck!

 

[Wild_South]

Jealous. Love that engine setup and those JDM options.
Can't wait to see what you will do with the truck!

Cheers mate..Yeah they're a great all round truck!

 

[Wild_South]

More Shots

MORE PHOTOS OF THE TRUCK
​

Here are a few more pictures to show you what I have to work with. I picked up the truck last night and it drives beautifully! Got great results on a leakdown/compression test and everything is in great condition. The only issue is the Park Brake light illuminates sporadically on acceleration/deceleration - after owning a few of these I am fairly confident the brake fluid level is low in the Master Cylinder, so when the fluid sloshes around it sends an indication.

 

[Wild_South]

BITS AND PIECES HAVE BEEN BOUGHT!​

Since taking ownership of the truck about five days ago, I must say I am very impressed. It is just so clean and tidy, both cosmetically and mechanically. With my old car finally sold I now have a bit more disposable income to "invest" in my wagon, in line with the modifications I listed in the first post.

So after a few days of researching and calling around for various quotes on different parts, I decided to sit down with a cup of tea this morning and do a spot of online shopping; and this is what I bought:

2" Suspension Lift and new Shocks

I was always anticipating lifting the truck up a bit - approximately 2" (50mm). Reasons for this are that the New Zealand terrain is quite harsh on suspension set-ups, especially factory ones that are quite weak and not made for such conditions. Also to prevent the inevitable "Surf Sag", where the rear of the truck drops below the front and causes poor handling and also looks awful. As a daily driver I was wanting something with a bit of quality (ie: made by somebody reputible), and I also wanted a fall-back option incase they didn't turn out as I wanted. Therefore I went to see the boys at Autolign in Christchurch and came away with the following parts:

Front

Cobra CTFR-73 Coils (2" Raised)
Monroe Adventure Series Struts

Rear

Cobra CTRR-74 Coils (2" Raised)
Monroe Adventure Series Shocks

I will be fitting these over the next week!




JVC Head Unit

So this was an immediate mod. The truck still had the original factory head unit which meant it didn't receive all radio bands here in New Zealand. I quickly grew sick of this (I'm talking about 15 minutes), so I stopped by Repco (a local auto shop) and bought a new JVC KD-R461 head unit. I had one in my old truck and was very impressed with it for the relatively cheap price, and I am impressed still. A mate of mine who is an electrician was popping in for a cuppa so he promptly installed it in about 3 mins flat!




New Thicker Core Radiator (KZJ95 Prado Radiator)

After inspecting the Radiator and the colour of the coolant currently sitting in it I have decided to replace both. I decided to go for a thicker core (42mm) radiator that is meant for the 95 series Prados. It still has exactly the same inlet/outlet and mounting points as the KZN185 (3rd Gen 4Runner) but will cool much more efficiently. Especially in the hilly South Island here.




Auberins EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) and Water Temperature Gauges

This is essnetial. The 1KZ-TE are known to have head cracking issues, however if you can monitor your temperatures and drive religiously to them, chances are you'll never have an issue. The gauges will be set to limits (EGT - 650 degrees Celsius; Water Temp 95 degrees Celsius), and will alert me via an Auberins Buzzer. Many Surfs that crack heads are because of over stressing/overheating issues over a long period of time. Needless to say, by driving TO the gauges, I will prevent any undue stress and therefore damage to my 1KZ-TE engine.




Genuine Toyota Roof Cage

This was on my old truck (along with the Awning and LED Light Bar mentioned below), and I was fortunate enough to be able to keep it - I am stoked about this as they are so hard to come by down here and very expensive. This robust piece of kit is actually used mostly just for mounting accessories, however on trips away I will use it for light objects. I read a very good article the other day talking about the dangers and stupidity of carrying the likes of tyres, fuel etc on roof cages, and agree. This will be used to tie down tents, tarps etc.




MCC Winch Bar

I decided the truck was in need of some front-end protection, and in my opinion there is no better bang for your buck than the MCC winch bar. The MCC bars are essentially the same as an ARB or aTJM bar but for nearly half the cost. They'll offer the Surf some decent front end protection along with a good mounting point for various accessories such as radio antennas, aerials, spotlights, light bars etc. This is currently in transit and should arrive soon!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Great truck. I am sure your build would be great. looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Wild_South]

Great truck. I am sure your build would be great. looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers mate! The truck will hopefully look a lot better in a week or so after I fit all thsee mods.

I'm trying to decided if I want to "black out" some parts to contrast with the silver but match the MCC bar and also my soon-to-be black powder coated roof cage. I might black out the grille, door handles, wing mirrors and maybe the head/tail lights.

Thoughts?

 

[Wild_South]

SHE'S BEEN LIFTED​

Yesterday I managed to get the truck lifted with the supposed 50mm (2") lifted suspension kit I bought. After fitting it, the measurements from before and after actually indicate that it's more of a 60mm (2.36") lift - however I assume after a week or more driving it will begin to settle to a 40-50mm (1.5"-2").

I am quite impressed with the new coils and shocks - they seem to ride a lot nicer on the road than the factory ones and have certainly levelled the truck out a lot more. I must admit, given that the truck currently has it's Highway Terrain 265/70/16's still on it, it does look a bit ridiculous. I am sure she'll come up looking quite aggressive in a few days time once the black MCC Bull Bar and black rims are on.

My plan is to have a contrasting theme with the silver/grey against black features such as the bull bar, roof cage (which I am getting powder coated black), black wing mirrors, black door handles, black snorkel, black rims/tyres etc.

​

 

[Wild_South]

First Few Mods

TRANSFORMATION INTO AN ADVENTURE RIG​

RADIATOR INSTALLED

After fitting the suspension kit last week which has raised the truck about 50mm, next on the list was getting the new Radiator fitted. This was bought from the team at Silverdale Radiators in Auckland, NZ, and was on my doorstep just one day after ordering - excellent service! The thicker core (42mm) rad virtually slotted straight in. A few new hoses were needed as some of the old ones had begun to perish slightly. I went down to Ilam Toyota and picked up some Genuine Long Life Coolant (the good red stuff!) - this wasn't overly cheap, but as a key aspect of the cooling system (which is known to sometimes be a bit temperamental on these 1KZ-TE engines) I thought it was best to do it once, do it right.

The radiator is now in and having driven it for a couple of days there is nothing to report (because I am still waiting on my Auber gauges to get an accurate reading of my water temp!) - with this in mind, no news is good news so the radiator must be doing it's job!


ROOF CAGE POWDER COATED BLACK AND INSTALLED (ALONG WITH AWNING AND LED LIGHTBAR

Up next was to powder coat my roof cage off my old truck (see in pics up the thread) black. The powder coat should give a long lasting and heavy duty surface to work with, particularly when loading the cage with any gear required for a trip away. The coat came up great, and I can't believe I didn't do this earlier - it's so much nicer and cleaner looking in black, rather than aluminium.

Once installed on the roof, I mounted the accessories. Firstly was the Rhino Rack Sunseeker 2x2m awning, then the 42" LED Lightbar.


MCC WINCH BAR INSTALLED


My MCC Winch Bar finally arrived a couple of days ago, so last night a mate and I got stuck in and fitted it. I was actually quite impressed as the job was pretty straightforward; almost just bolt on. However it was a bit time consuming as I wanted to get it right, and also the old bolts holding on the factory nudge bar and corroded and almost fused to the chassis - nothing a good long soak in WD-40 didn't fix though!

The bar is great - it is very solid, airbag compatible, includes LED daytime running lamps, fog-lights, indicators, as well as looking the part!


LIMB RISERS MADE UP AND FITTED

I wanted a bit of windscreen protection when going bush, but I also wanted the ability to "clip on, clip off" at the drop of a hat. I decided the best method was to use some cable and carabiners - obviously the way I have done this is not as serious as making up limb risers for the likes of the Camel Trophy, but these will just give me the protection I'm after on weekend trips.

​

 

[pallmania45]

wow nice information
fix me problem
thanks all

 

[MFoltz]

Great truck!

I had a 1999 4Runner (Surf) SR5 4x4 while in college. I was lucky enough to go to school in southwestern North Carolina right ********** in the middle of the Great Smokey Mountains. The truck to me and friends to a lot of really cool remote spots. I look forward to the build. I now have three small kids and have a 2007 Sequoia limited 4x4. I miss the 4runner!!

 

[Bacon1]

Hi Wild South
You have done a great job it looks really good.
I have the same model Surf and have been looking at bullbars for some time now so I am happy I found your photos.
I have been looking at the Prado ARB bullbar that fits our model Surf but it still has to be modified as there is a big gap at the corner of the bulbar and the indicator. Also I understand that you have to cut a bit out so it will fit in by the guard, I don’t think the ARB bar is worth it even though it has a good name.
Did you have to modify your MCC bar in any way to get a nice fit?

 

[Wild_South]

NEARLY THERE!​

It has been a good three months now since I have owned my 1997 Toyota Surf (3rd Gen 4Runner). I have managed to transform her almost "To the T", of what I want in a truck. These characteristics from the start were: a reliable daily driver (i.e. Not a big brut that was laborious to drive around), but also a rig that would get me to the places that I want to go with friends and family.

The thing I really like about the Surfs (4Runners) compared to the more popular Hilux Ute (here in New Zealand), is that there is plenty of dry space in the back of the truck. Whether it is for just knowing that you have a dry area for gear, or even worse having somewhere warm and dry to sleep if you really get caught out.

My modification list thus far (and I doubt it will ever cease) is:

​

• 
  [*=1]2" suspension lift (Dobinson coils and Monroe shocks all round)
  [*=1]16x8 ROH Black Series rims with a -22 Offset (just some minor trimming of the guards was req'd to stop rub when flexing and at full-lock)
  [*=1]285/75/r16 Hercules Terra Trac D/T tires
  [*=1]Tait TM9100 Series radio unit
  [*=1]Silverdale thicker core radiator
  [*=1]New fluids/filters
  [*=1]MCC winch bar
  [*=1]Limb risers
  [*=1]Genuine Toyota Roof Cage (powder-coated satin black)
  [*=1]Fire extinguisher
  [*=1]Fishing rod holder
  [*=1]Jerry can
  [*=1]Water can
  [*=1]Outdoor 1st Aid kit
  [*=1]Rhino Rack 2m x 2m Sunseeker Awning
  [*=1]42" LED light bar
  [*=1]JVC head unit
  [*=1]Coated entire underbody in fish oil spray to prevent corrosion/rusting
  [*=1]Various GoPro mounts

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