Toyota Hilux Surf cheap African explorer
Discussion
I was going to start a blog soon but actually wanted to have enough to blog about before starting. I was mainly posting on this with regards to how the car holds up throughout the whole thing. It was originally going to be on my prep work on getting the car ready but I completely forgot to take pictures and a note of what was done when.
I actually haven't planned the route exactly yet. The Russian/Mongolian borders that a UK national can actually pass through seem to change all the time so I'm going to decide when I am in Moscow. I don't want to drive for 6000km over 80 hours just to find the boarder is closed. Last time I checked, one of them you can't pass through because there is a uranium mine nearby so I'll need to avoid all that good stuff.
It probably will be chilly. Can't really say anything else about that except that I will remember to bring a blanket
. I do have mud/snow tyres on the hilux so nothing will stop me!
It probably will be chilly. Can't really say anything else about that except that I will remember to bring a blanket
. I do have mud/snow tyres on the hilux so nothing will stop me!Quick update. In St Petersburg amongst the suicidal drivers. By the time I reach Mongolia I'm going to have enough footage to make one of the dash cam fail montages at this rate. Hilux is doing really well with no changes although I was freaking out today when I went to where it was parked to drive to Moscow and it was gone. Spent the whole day trying to find it and eventually ended up at a impound yard towards the outskirts with one hell of a language barrier to overcome. I've not seen any cranes on their flatbed trucks so I am concerned that they might have just dragged the hilux onto the bed when they took it which is not the best thing with it being an automatic but it's driving fine.
On the bright side, diesel is between 30p and 35p a litre here along with everything else costing next to nothing after Putin's antics in Ukraine so its not so bad in the motherland just now.
I'll try get some pictures of all the mad soviet cars trundling around with bits falling off them that I didn't even know existed.
On the bright side, diesel is between 30p and 35p a litre here along with everything else costing next to nothing after Putin's antics in Ukraine so its not so bad in the motherland just now.
I'll try get some pictures of all the mad soviet cars trundling around with bits falling off them that I didn't even know existed.
Thats me reached Mongolia. I sold the car to a guy at the border and took a bus to Ulaanbaatar which I realise now was a horrendous idea. It was good I sold the car but the bus took 50 hours and was the worst experience of my life and I'm not even exaggerating. Anyway, here is a picture of the hilux in Siberia.
Dr G said:
Great project; have you read Ben Coombe's book or his blog? He's on here as V10ben.
In the book he drives an old 944 the length of Africa and on his blog (V8nam) he takes a Corvette to Singapore including crossing China.
Close; I'm actually FiveTenBen! Can't quite afford a V10 just yet...In the book he drives an old 944 the length of Africa and on his blog (V8nam) he takes a Corvette to Singapore including crossing China.
This looks like a great adventure - Russian driving really has to be seen to be believed. Any more photos?
Ben
fivetenben said:
Close; I'm actually FiveTenBen! Can't quite afford a V10 just yet...
This looks like a great adventure - Russian driving really has to be seen to be believed. Any more photos?
Ben
I'll try get some up soon. My camera is acting up. I've actually found sitting in a taxi in Ulaanbaatar to be worse than Russia. Whats the story with your book? I've just run out of reading material and travel journals/blogs are right up my street.This looks like a great adventure - Russian driving really has to be seen to be believed. Any more photos?
Ben
Lefty said:
Why did you sell it?!
Ben
Basically its almost impossible to get it into China so my plan all along was to sell it in Mongolia. I looked into what was required to take it into China and it would involve a lot of money (several times more than what the car is worth), a lot of documentation and a guide would have to accompany me in the car whenever I was driving it. Not to mention the car only has half an exhaust left, ran out of insurance somewhere in Russia, no tax and I don't have a carnet de passage since they cost a lot. It is a shame since I would have kept the car otherwise but China decided to be a dick.Ben
giuliatz2 said:
I thought a small part of Russia around Riga is controlled by Islamic State?
Riga is in Latvia
i had a 2.4 SSR-G a few years ago.
lasted a month then i warped the engine block. i hadnt done my research which would have quickly shown that the 2.4 engine was known for weakness. i left it with a recovery guy in somerset and never saw it again.
really wished id got one of the 3.0's but i was a bit put off after that.
great story OP.
lasted a month then i warped the engine block. i hadnt done my research which would have quickly shown that the 2.4 engine was known for weakness. i left it with a recovery guy in somerset and never saw it again.
really wished id got one of the 3.0's but i was a bit put off after that.
great story OP.
Great story OP.
Having lusted after one since I first saw one aged 14, I bought a Surf when I was 24 - a mauve over grey 2.4 SSR-G. Unfortunately it stands out as the worst car I ever owned. 12mpg, 72mph flat out, it burst every coolant hose in my ownership (leaving me stranded 3 times), the fuel pump seal failed and I made the mistake of following the manual to replace it (start at the front of the engine and dismantle EVERYTHING - which took a day - at which point I discovered it could be done in situe with a bit of deft wiggling).
It WAS amusing to put in RWD in the snow.
I sold it after 6 weeks at a loss of about £400.
I, too, fuelled it almost exclusively on veg oil.
I do still look at them sort of fondly, weirdly.
Having lusted after one since I first saw one aged 14, I bought a Surf when I was 24 - a mauve over grey 2.4 SSR-G. Unfortunately it stands out as the worst car I ever owned. 12mpg, 72mph flat out, it burst every coolant hose in my ownership (leaving me stranded 3 times), the fuel pump seal failed and I made the mistake of following the manual to replace it (start at the front of the engine and dismantle EVERYTHING - which took a day - at which point I discovered it could be done in situe with a bit of deft wiggling).
It WAS amusing to put in RWD in the snow.
I sold it after 6 weeks at a loss of about £400.
I, too, fuelled it almost exclusively on veg oil.
I do still look at them sort of fondly, weirdly.
Keith, the 3.0 engine is much stronger. Although they do crack heads rather than blow head gaskets, they are nowhere near as bad as 2.4s. I was getting anywhere between 20 and almost 30mpg and that was running it on straight veg oil so they can be run on the cheap. Still it was in no way fast, think the fastest I ever got it was just over 90 and that was going downhill but really you wouldn't want it over 70 or its screaming with the big wheels.
Just if anyone is still interested, I made a video of the Hilux driving through Russia
https://youtu.be/uWh5jeteFRE
I'm actually looking for a new (used) car for some adventures in China and the surrounding countries but its been very time consuming getting though all the red tape to actually buy a car and get a license here. I'm at a crossroad just now whether I should go for something cheap/reliable that car be fixed anywhere for little money and travel long distances/to other countries (old e-class or vw jetta) or just get another old jap 4x4 or a jeep so I can explore the wilderness. They actually make a complete copy of the hilux surf here but I'm very scared of Chinese cars so thats no on my potential list.
https://youtu.be/uWh5jeteFRE
I'm actually looking for a new (used) car for some adventures in China and the surrounding countries but its been very time consuming getting though all the red tape to actually buy a car and get a license here. I'm at a crossroad just now whether I should go for something cheap/reliable that car be fixed anywhere for little money and travel long distances/to other countries (old e-class or vw jetta) or just get another old jap 4x4 or a jeep so I can explore the wilderness. They actually make a complete copy of the hilux surf here but I'm very scared of Chinese cars so thats no on my potential list.
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