New Member.1980 Datsun 720 truck, 4X4

[hippie667]

I have never owned one of these trucks before and found following truck for sale. His add is as follows:

 

1980 Datsun 720 truck, 4X4, newer Z20 4cyl., 5 speed, 6" lift, 35x12.5x15s on 15x10 chrome wheels. Truck has new radiator, plugs, alternator, distributor, and battery. Truck runs good, 4X4 works, does not smoke.He is wanting to trade me this truck for 83Z28 Camaro I have. I love the look of this truck but running those big tires there? Please give me your thoughts on this as not sure what to look for and if I should avoid this truck. Thanks,

Ronnie

 

PS. I have photos if you wish.

Here is link to site truck is located http://memphis.craigslist.org/car/554674187.html

[]2eDeYe]

Nice looking truck. :D

[datzenmike]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Yes that seems like a lot of tire for that truck. I have a 620 (L20B very similar to your Z20) that I converted to 4X4 with a Nissan transfer case and Toyota SAS in front... so it's a similar weight to yours. I had a problem with the original 4.375 rear and only had the 4.11 to swap in. I only have 12.5X33s and it is VERY slow on take offs. Every incline on the highway is a down shift. I am currently stripping an '81 Nissan 4X4 with the proper ratio and will put it back to the stock gearing. This will help, but still expect it to be sluggish in town.

 

If it has 35s on it , it must have some kind of lift kit on it? I think 10.5X31s was the upper limit on the 720 without clearance problems. You could reduce the tire size or change the rear ratio. Difficult to find, but some of the old 521 and early 620s had 4.88 and 4.625 ratios in them.(yours should be 4.375) You could ask on here if anyone has one. Cheaper than tires. Or you could find a larger Z24 (more torque) motor, as yours has already been converted over to the Z series.

 

The '81s had a larger motor to help pull the heavier 4X4. The smaller engine like your's or mine just don't have the power to pull over 3,300 lbs around smartly I'm afraid.

 

Take it for a drive and see how she runs in town and on the highway as this is where most of your driving is done anyway. See if you can live with it. If it's not licensed or there is some other reason for not taking it on a road test, I would think very carefully about it. I'm not happy with mine for any driving and am in the process of putting a larger Z24 engine in it. This combination plus the 4.375 gears should wake it up. I hope.

[hippie667]

Thanks Mike:

 

Here is some information he gave me on truck.

 

it could use some seats and some carpet or floor matts. The carb is supposed to have electric choke but someone has removed it, I was going to get another carb for it they arent very much. All the glass is good, all lights work, heat works. Everything under the hood that needed to be replaced to make the truck reliable has been. New alternator, radiator, distributor, plugs, and battery. Also the truck rides pretty rough, it has independent front suspension so I was just going to back the torsion bars down a little and maybe put some 2" blocks in the rear. The rear has 3 or 4" blocks right now. But as I have drove it I have gotten used to the way it rides and it doesnt really seem like a big deal anymore. I have a chrome grill and extra headlights for the truck. And I have a full service manual for it as well. It has a few rust spots on the floor boards and the passenger side fenderwell is pretty rusted, but the body only has a few minor spots, not much at all. Truck goes through all 5 gears good, locks in 4wd good, has at least half tread left on the tires. Thats all that comes to mind about the little truck, its a cool mini, I havent seen many around here that are that big.

 

Mike: I have other cars around here for daily drivers and just thought this might be cool little truck to drive to town once in while but you do have point on me not liking how little power it is going to have. One way I guess to look at it is it should not burn as much gas as my 305 powered Z28 Camaro which sits around house just parked most of time?

I am still trying to think if swap is worth it or not. Thanks,

Ronnie

[pope_face]

Do you really want a 4x4, or is it more the Datsun aspect? If it's the 4x4 part, then you could swap the tires out for 31's, or (like Mike said) trade the rear axle with someone who has a 4.88 or 4.625 rear end, then replace the front with a Toyota or something similar.

 

If you want it because it's a Datsun, then I would wait. I don't know how many of them are in your area, but some fairly nice ones might pop up from time to time that are fairly stock. Once you get one of those you're free to do whatever you like to it.

[hippie667]

Its more for the 4x4 truck part. I had 80 toyota truck I loved which this looks just about like it. Right now I have 84 Bronco II and 92 K1500 both 4 wheel drive so its not a must have truck. I just like to swap vehicles after I have owned them while I guess to just try other vehicles out. Weakness I have I guess.

 

Vehicles I own now are as follows:

83 Z28 Camaro

92 K1500 Chevy 4x4

74 Ford F 100 (2wd)

77 El Camino (Young sons pride and joy)

95 Suzuki Esteem

92 Olds Cierra

84 Bronco II

88 S 10

85 GT 350 Mustang (Middle Sons play car)

[makya]

I don't know much about the 720's, so this may be a dumb question.

 

What diff is in the front axle? is it interchangeable with any of the earlier rears? If so, you could run 4:88's, that is what I have in my 75 620 on 35" super swampers"(read big,heavy tire) and it seems to do well.

[hippie667]

(What diff is in the front axle? is it interchangeable with any of the earlier rears? If so, you could run 4:88's, that is what I have in my 75 620 on 35" super swampers"(read big,heavy tire) and it seems to do well.)

 

 

Not really sure about above as I am new to these trucks. I may just drop down to 31 tires. I told owner I would swap with him if he still wants to. Thanks for all help guys, and I will let you know if I get truck.

Ronnie

[datzenmike]

The 720 4X4 front diffs are R-180 (same as the 510 rear), the rear diffs till about '84 were H190, same as the 620/ 521. After '84 the 4X4 rears were C-200 with 4.11

 

The R-180 in the 4X4 came with 4.375 before '84 and 4.11 after .

[pope_face]

Hey Mike... theoretically, you could set up a 510 to have 4-wheel steering then, couldn't you? Using the 720 4x4 front end in the back of a 510, and finding some way to link the front and rear wheels together...

[datzenmike]

Geeezzzus! There do you think up this stuff?? :lol: j/k (I do the same)

 

Well, let's see... The 720 set up has the diff to the driver's side to clear the oil pan, so the two axles are different lengths. The 510 rear has little drive shafts, but I don't know how much they could be made to turn off axis like for steering. Add to that, is there any room for the wheels to turn in the wheel wells in the first place? You might only need a few degrees of turn to get good results? Maybe the 720 front end with torsion bars, (facing backwards?) upper and lower control arms and steering linkages. (aah, too heavy)

 

Some cars have this... how did they solve this???

 

KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. We can always fall back on the original Datsun design which is close to perfect anyway, I guess.:D

[hippie667]

Just posted pictures of new truck under photo section.

 

Thanks for all help,

 

Ronnie