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Isuzu bighorn VS Hilux surf


Dave8781

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2 hours ago, Dave8781 said:

What's the better 4×4 isuzu bighorn or hilux surf?

Interesting questions...they are both pretty good. The Hilux Surf, depending on the generation would either be based on the Hilux platform or the Prado platform. 

The BigHorn....well...its a Bighorn....the diesels did have Turbo issues but those would have been fixed a long long time ago...

I think most of the Hilux Surfs in Sri Lanka are Emperor assembled vehicles (locally assembled) whilst the Bighorns are for the most part manufacturer assembled units (although some might have had body swaps).

Both are pretty capable off-road, albeit in stock form I do believe the sheer grunt of the Bighorn gives it a bit of an edge off road over the Surf....

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29 minutes ago, iRage said:

Interesting questions...they are both pretty good. The Hilux Surf, depending on the generation would either be based on the Hilux platform or the Prado platform. 

The BigHorn....well...its a Bighorn....the diesels did have Turbo issues but those would have been fixed a long long time ago...

I think most of the Hilux Surfs in Sri Lanka are Emperor assembled vehicles (locally assembled) whilst the Bighorns are for the most part manufacturer assembled units (although some might have had body swaps).

Both are pretty capable off-road, albeit in stock form I do believe the sheer grunt of the Bighorn gives it a bit of an edge off road over the Surf....

Aren't tonnes of these 32- ex-plantation 80's (short wheel base in somecases) vehicles which had Bighorn bodies slapped on

Edited by Devinda_Z
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2 minutes ago, Devinda_Z said:

Aren't a tonne of these 32- ex-plantation 80's (short wheel base in somecases) vehicles which had Bighorn bodies slapped on

I wasn't sure...that is why I said some of these might have bodies slapped on (to the old Troopers that the plantations had)....so it might be more common than I thought.

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4 hours ago, Devinda_Z said:

Aren't tonnes of these 32- ex-plantation 80's (short wheel base in somecases) vehicles which had Bighorn bodies slapped on

It's pretty much impossible to find a Original Bighorn in here. Almost all are body swapped, some legally and some not so onto a trooper from a govt auction. I think most of the troopers were bought in for the Police and the plantations in the 80s.

7 hours ago, Dave8781 said:

What's the better 4×4 isuzu bighorn or hilux surf?

Engine power wise, a Bighorn with a 3.1 4JG2 diesel is much better than a surf with 3L or 1KZ, early bighorns had a issue with their transfer box but most would be fixed now. Some parts are hard to come by for troopers especially 4x4 accessories. 

Since you mentioned off roading, why don't you consider the original Prado? (Box Prado/Landcruiser LJ79). They are quite good off road and plenty of parts and accessories available. Bit more spacious than a Surf and easier to find one since quite a lot of vehicles are there.

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8 minutes ago, alds said:

It's pretty much impossible to find a Original Bighorn in here. Almost all are body swapped, some legally and some not so onto a trooper from a govt auction. I think most of the troopers were bought in for the Police and the plantations in the 80s.

Engine power wise, a Bighorn with a 3.1 4JG2 diesel is much better than a surf with 3L or 1KZ, early bighorns had a issue with their transfer box but most would be fixed now. Some parts are hard to come by for troopers especially 4x4 accessories. 

Since you mentioned off roading, why don't you consider the original Prado? (Box Prado/Landcruiser LJ79). They are quite good off road and plenty of parts and accessories available. Bit more spacious than a Surf and easier to find one since quite a lot of vehicles are there.

But the prado box is expensive af 4.8mil to 5.5mil if ur searching for a good one.

 

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10 minutes ago, alds said:

It's pretty much impossible to find a Original Bighorn in here. Almost all are body swapped, some legally and some not so onto a trooper from a govt auction. I think most of the troopers were bought in for the Police and the plantations in the 80s.

Engine power wise, a Bighorn with a 3.1 4JG2 diesel is much better than a surf with 3L or 1KZ, early bighorns had a issue with their transfer box but most would be fixed now. Some parts are hard to come by for troopers especially 4x4 accessories. 

Since you mentioned off roading, why don't you consider the original Prado? (Box Prado/Landcruiser LJ79). They are quite good off road and plenty of parts and accessories available. Bit more spacious than a Surf and easier to find one since quite a lot of vehicles are there.

I think the 1KZ and the 3L is better than the 3.1 4JG2 cuz they are more reliable

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5 minutes ago, Dave8781 said:

I think the 1KZ and the 3L is better than the 3.1 4JG2 cuz they are more reliable

Well...they both are pretty decent but the Toyota I believe last better and is a lot easier to maintain in SL. However, the Bighorn's engine jsut has a lot more grunt than the Toyota engine.

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5 hours ago, iRage said:

Well...they both are pretty decent but the Toyota I believe last better and is a lot easier to maintain in SL. However, the Bighorn's engine jsut has a lot more grunt than the Toyota engine.

I guess in a country like SL reliability is better than grunt. 

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11 hours ago, iRage said:

Well...they both are pretty decent but the Toyota I believe last better and is a lot easier to maintain in SL. However, the Bighorn's engine jsut has a lot more grunt than the Toyota engine.

I have had few of them from both the model here in NZ and used Surf for a reasonable period as my off-road truck here.

My mate had a Bighorn back in SL which we use to drive around and it's a Gen 1 when it comes to the spare parts it was near impossible to find them so I guess Gen 1 out of your list anyway.

Gen 2 Bighorn bit sluggish compared to Gen 3 Surf regardless of manual or auto.

I would recommend the Surf over Bighorn due to below reasons based on 3rd Gen diesel surf KZN185,

1. It's Toyota

2. Plenty of off-road mods available for Surf compared to Bighorn

3. Lockable centre diff

4. Surf is little cheaper on gas

Isuzu engine's on Bighorn's shared with Isuzu commercial trucks (ELF, NKR, NPR) so they have a mode for heavy-duty but KZ shared with the light-duty lorry or van (Hiace or Dyna) but KZ's not bad as I have seen some of them done near 400k KM's before any major works.

KZ's does have own issues especially the head problem but later models it was resolved by adding slightly larger exhaust valves but never heard such an issue from Isuzu engines. Turbo issue is common for both so I would say you look after them they look after you.

Good Luck and please share a snap once you have your new truck with you.

regards,

JC

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19 hours ago, john cooper said:

3. Lockable centre diff

 

Just for the OP's record...in regards to the pre-facelift, not all Surfs came with a center diff lock. The center diff lock was offered only with the multi-mode 4WD system. The Muli-mode 4wd system was available in all engine variants of the wide body SSR-G trim/grade and only in the diesel variants of the wide-body SSR-X.  It was not offered in the wide body SSR-V and all grades of the narrow body with any engine.

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10 hours ago, iRage said:

Just for the OP's record...in regards to the pre-facelift, not all Surfs came with a center diff lock. The center diff lock was offered only with the multi-mode 4WD system. The Muli-mode 4wd system was available in all engine variants of the wide body SSR-G trim/grade and only in the diesel variants of the wide-body SSR-X.  It was not offered in the wide body SSR-V and all grades of the narrow body with any engine.

Honestly, SSR-V's bit hard to find here since it's lower trim level and you might be correct on that.

This is my actual truck prior to mods and the gear stick of my truck

This particular truck is SSR-X Limited trim. I wasn't aware lockable diff was an option attached with the trim level

image1.JPG

image2.JPG

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21 hours ago, john cooper said:

Honestly, SSR-V's bit hard to find here since it's lower trim level and you might be correct on that.

This is my actual truck prior to mods and the gear stick of my truck

This particular truck is SSR-X Limited trim. I wasn't aware lockable diff was an option attached with the trim level

 

The locakable diff was assorciated with the 4WD system (Multi-mode 4WD) whic was associated with trim and engine variant. 

The SSR-X got the diff lock only in the diesel variant. The petrol SSR-Xs came without it. Then the SSR-X Limited was a special spec car (kind of like Axio X Limited, RAV4 C Limited, G Limited, etc..). It took the SSR-X and mixed a bit of the SSR-G features in to it.  The multi-mode system became standard on all grades with the facelift.

Yes..SSR-Vs are hard to find and so are the narrow body variants. Most of the narrow body variants and in Japan I have seen were highway repair vehicles or cop cars. 

No photo description available.No photo description available.

This is my ex baby....it was a Petrol SSR-X with what was called Active Package II (there were three offered by the manufacturer). So it came with the front guard, and the moon roof, a light that indicated if the fuel lid door was open, the tinted UV cut glass in the rear as standard. Plus there were some other dealer options inside.

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?
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19 minutes ago, iRage said:

The locakable diff was assorciated with the 4WD system (Multi-mode 4WD) whic was associated with trim and engine variant. 

The SSR-X got the diff lock only in the diesel variant. The petrol SSR-Xs came without it. Then the SSR-X Limited was a special spec car (kind of like Axio X Limited, RAV4 C Limited, G Limited, etc..). It took the SSR-X and mixed a bit of the SSR-G features in to it.  The multi-mode system became standard on all grades with the facelift.

Yes..SSR-Vs are hard to find and so are the narrow body variants. Most of the narrow body variants and in Japan I have seen were highway repair vehicles or cop cars. 

 

Mine actually came with front nudge bar but i have crashed into a concrete fence soon after purchase the truck, so it was a bit expensive to find and later I have replaced the front bumper with MCC bull bar.

If I am not mistaken mine is Outdoor Sport or something, came with Toyota Conlight, adjustable shocks (soft, normal, hard) guess this is a Limited feature from SSR-G and rare view mirror mounted compass unit.

20150316_110843.jpg

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On 1/13/2020 at 4:13 AM, iRage said:

Just for the OP's record...in regards to the pre-facelift, not all Surfs came with a center diff lock. The center diff lock was offered only with the multi-mode 4WD system. The Muli-mode 4wd system was available in all engine variants of the wide body SSR-G trim/grade and only in the diesel variants of the wide-body SSR-X.  It was not offered in the wide body SSR-V and all grades of the narrow body with any engine.

Quick question on this diff lock. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought a part-time 4wd does not have a center diff as when you shift from 2wd to 4wd the power distributed 1:1 vs a full time 4wd has a center diff that can be locked.

Reason to ask this is the newer version on Hilux Surf (called 4Runner for US) some trims have part time 4wd and when you shift to 4wd it distributes 1:1 from front to back. On the limited trim its full time 4wd has a option for  center diff lock when locked will be equal to part time 4wd. On top of that the part time 4w has rear diff lock.

So what I think is part time 4wd = full time 4wd with center diff.  If that the case I think if any trim has a rear locker would be an advantage.

Wonder if the Hilux surf came with multi terrain select  / a-trac system / crawl control like the new ones.

Sorry if my question is stupid as I'm a newbie on this subject.

 

 

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47 minutes ago, kmeeg said:

Quick question on this diff lock. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought a part-time 4wd does not have a center diff as when you shift from 2wd to 4wd the power distributed 1:1 vs a full time 4wd has a center diff that can be locked.

Reason to ask this is the newer version on Hilux Surf (called 4Runner for US) some trims have part time 4wd and when you shift to 4wd it distributes 1:1 from front to back. On the limited trim its full time 4wd has a option for  center diff lock when locked will be equal to part time 4wd. On top of that the part time 4w has rear diff lock.

So what I think is part time 4wd = full time 4wd with center diff.  If that the case I think if any trim has a rear locker would be an advantage.

Wonder if the Hilux surf came with multi terrain select  / a-trac system / crawl control like the new ones.

Sorry if my question is stupid as I'm a newbie on this subject.

 

 

To it's as below.

Part time - you do get the option to run as 2WD and you need to select a switch or a lever to engage all 4 wheels + some comes with a separate transfer box and set of gears for low range.

Full time - all the wheels ready to get the power when it detects a slip or losing grip, you may get a lever or a switch to change between low range gears and an optional switch to lock the C.Diff or the rare and/or front diff.

Below link explains more about this 

Question about A-trac = I am not sure so will wait for someone else to shed lights about that.

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5 hours ago, kmeeg said:

part time 4wd = full time 4wd with center diff

Correct. Full time 4wd w/ center diff locked = 1:1 speed ratio front vs back = Part time 4wd.

I dont think any of the 180 surfs got automated traction aid systems like A-trac or terrain select. only the optional electronic rear locker. A-trac first appeared on the Landcruiser HDJ100/UZJ100 in 2000 model year. Only the N210 surf/4runner got A-trac in around 2003.

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9 hours ago, kmeeg said:

Quick question on this diff lock. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought a part-time 4wd does not have a center diff as when you shift from 2wd to 4wd the power distributed 1:1 vs a full time 4wd has a center diff that can be locked.

Reason to ask this is the newer version on Hilux Surf (called 4Runner for US) some trims have part time 4wd and when you shift to 4wd it distributes 1:1 from front to back. On the limited trim its full time 4wd has a option for  center diff lock when locked will be equal to part time 4wd. On top of that the part time 4w has rear diff lock.

So what I think is part time 4wd = full time 4wd with center diff.  If that the case I think if any trim has a rear locker would be an advantage.

Wonder if the Hilux surf came with multi terrain select  / a-trac system / crawl control like the new ones.

Sorry if my question is stupid as I'm a newbie on this subject.

 

 

Now they did not have those in the Hilux Surf. 

The Multimode 4WD had a switch on the side. If it was turned off it would be a normal 2WD just like a part time 4WD with 4WD turned off. If the button was pressed then it would be like a full-time 4WD system without the center center diff lock. Then you can switch in to high and low range modes with the CD lock....and I just realized that was not what you were asking...

the rear diff lock was optional on all grades...but most of the higher grades seems to have come with them.

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4 hours ago, iRage said:

 

the rear diff lock was optional on all grades...but most of the higher grades seems to have come with them.

 

Thank you iRage, JC & alds for the great info.

In my case Mrs get really scare if she feels wheel slip. A-trac on the newer ones only activate after wheel slip. I was practicing left foot braking but cannot compare to the easiness when I enable rear diff lock.

So in my opinion Hilux surf (with rear diff lock) + good tires + good suspension would be the best choice for Dave8781.

 

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15 hours ago, kmeeg said:

In my case Mrs get really scare if she feels wheel slip. A-trac on the newer ones only activate after wheel slip. I was practicing left foot braking but cannot compare to the easiness when I enable rear diff lock.

 

Its all about education so..take your wife to a drift course and an off-roading course :D

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