I need for advice for anyone who would like to throw their two cents in. I need to ship a car to West Africa for my work there and my preference is a 4 runner. The roads are just like you think they might be. My budget is limited; call it 10ish thousand. Is there a specific model/style/engine etc that you would recommend for this situation?

Thanks for the help.

 

I would get the simplest model with the least amount of electrical stuff. Manual tranny, manual hubs, manual windows. Carbed version better(except those are old) unless you think you'll be spending a lot of time at higher elevations,FIwon't lose as much power at higher elevations. I'd seal the ECU in a ziploc bag, though.

I don't think you can get a manual rear window in any vintage. Which is a bummerbecause the electric rear windows are a PITA to keep operating.

Equip with either a full locker or limited slip diff in the rear. Roads are very dusty, so you may want to consider installing a safari snorkel to save wear on the engine.

If you think you will be making a lot of water crossings, then shift over to an electric fan (so you can turn it off when you start across the river) and install elevated breathers for your tranny and diffs. Seal everything electrical up.

I'd try and find a model from avintage where parts are mostly exchangable between 4Runners and pickups. For example, if you get an old resin top just about everything is interchangeable. I don't know about the newer models. Unfortunately, the resin tops are only available in two door configuration.

What side of the road do they drive on in whichever country you are going? If they drive on the left side, you might be better off getting a righthand drive truck from the Japan used car market, or even Australia. Plus they have diesel versions in those countries. Actually, if you are going that route, better to get an oldmanual tranny manual hub diesel Land Cruiser instead.

 

yeah what he said hehe

Whats the market like in Africa just to pick one up? Or will your company ship it for you? Otherwise I would say you will look at $1500ish just to ship it. Depends on what side of Africa too.

 

Thanks for the input.

The market there is very limited and expensive so shipping is still more economical and they do have left hand drive so that is another reason to buy in the US.

I don't think I will be doing much in the way of river crossings but the snorkel to avoid the dust is a great idea.

Are there engines to be looking for? Especially important is gas mileage (5 dollar plus gas) and of course reliability.

 

depends..

I heard the 4-banger is alot cheaper to maintain then the V-6 in the 89-94 versions. 95 and up I heard the V-6 is actually pretty dependable.

Thing about maintenance stuff too man.

I was in Japan at $5 and some change a gallon, probably closer to $6 now, but certain models etc might be hard to get parts. so see whats easy to get from the states and blah blah blah you know.

I heard the 4cyl is really the best way to go though. Either way you go you can always come back here and we can point you in the right way for parts.

 

A safari snorkel from ARB is about 300 bucks. Ouch!

You couldprobably make your own ghetto system from PVC pipe and/or gutter parts. You mightwait until you are actually in Africa to get thesnorkel. I remember in Kenya, just about everytruck or vanhad a snorkel mounted. Theymight be pretty reasonableto procure locally wherever you are going. Do you have a local contact?

Yup, a four banger would be a lot simnpler to maintain. I was talking to a guy pulling the valve covers on a V-6 4Runner, he said he had to detach something like 16 items before he could pull the covers. Yikes!