hi all i thought i would pass on some more info that may be helpfull
i had been running around getting ready for another fisihing trip to the pilbara(north west australia)about 3000klm round trip . had some air bags put in the rear coils as on the last trip up the rear sagged a huge amount while towing a five meter boat loaded with gear. once the trailer was taken off every thing went back to normal .anyway the air bags in the coils make a huge difference without stiffening up the ride too much.i also had a wheel alignment at the same time and they never noticed anything out of place and i might say it was still driving beautifully.i started to notice the brakes getting spongy and a bit hit and miss.i was driving down the freeway and felt like a lefthand rear tyre was going flat ,but it checked out ok.when i started to look for the brake problem i discovered the front right wheel bearings were knacked. well when i pulled things apart because the bearings were like it for a time the spline on the drive shaft and the splines in the drive plate on the hub were flogged out. NOW comes the awkward part about owning an import van ,trying to find out info because not many people know a great deal and MR TOYOTA tells you where to go because you didnt buy an aussie model well i was told they are hilux and i was told they were surf but they are not. THE drive shafts are about two inches shorter than a hilux but the good news is that the wheel bearings are the same as hilux TIMKEN 3021 KIT FORTUNATELY the outer part of the drive shaft is also same as a hilux so a CV REPAIR place here called OUTER CONTROL cv joints were able to put a new outer on my drive shaft new boots and grease inner and outer for about $170 bucks . it took them about half an hour and also headed me in the right direction for a new drive plate at the right price and a couple of sets of wheel bearings .and so a couple of days inconvenience and shitty hands saved me a lot of money and maybe a very expensive and or disarsterous trip. also there was no brake problem that prob was caused by the brake rotor floating on the bad wheel bearings when the brakes were appllied .
I HOPE this might help someone else because i was starting to feel sick in the guts when it happened and was starting to wonder myself about imports but everything is good and i love the van again ,they are the best