Nissan Noob, Picked up an '85 720 KC 4x4

[GrettaGreen]

Hey ya'll this is my first post here at Ratsun, glad to be here!

 

I'm previously a Toyota 22re guy but mine was only a 2wd and a mule deer ran into her at 65 on the freeway headin home from South Dakota. Sooo that gave me an opening to get a 4x4! But i wanted a 4cyl. and there weren't any favorable Toyota's out here in Idaho as I could find (it was killing me to share a car with my GF) I could only wait a couple weeks until I gave up on the search.

 

I ended up finding Gretta (the '85 720) in Spokane this last weekend for $1200. She's got 204,000 miles, and a few quirks to go with her. Looks like a few minor leaks and a weird tranny noise but said dude I bought her off of said it was a bent piece and that it would wear back to normal after normal use.. with that being said, I'm no professional mechanic but I've got quite a bit of mechanical experience and I trusted the guy but it was still kinda weird hearing a rubbing noise coming from the tranny when it was in gear and coasting. I've still got his number and I'm getting a list of all the things he did to her.

 

I know he took all the smog stuff out of her I'm just hoping that North Idaho has no smog for vehicles '85 and older.

 

I have yet to get some pics, although they are coming very soon. I'm gonna need some help! haha.. I use to be the only one who worked on my Toyota so I'm sure Gretta and I will get along just fine. Glad to have a community to help out!!!! =D

 

Thanks all

[poor-mans-720]

congrats!!! cant wait to see some pics of it!!

check out my build, its in my signature. alot of good ideals and stuff...

[GrettaGreen]

Speedo, got her with 204k that just turned over. Front shot. Interior is in good shape but the PO tried spray can painting the interior gloss black from the stock blue.. height shot. bodies pretty straight. no rear bumper, have the bracket but it's pretty mangled. body lift... need i say more =/.. more of the body lift. and more.. front end needs a bit of work.. idler arm has some play.. passenger side CV boot is goin' power steering is leaking. heard u can use chainsaw bar oil to slow the leak. Yeah Baby!

[poor-mans-720]

good luck with the front end... When I looked at how much it would cost to replace everything in the front end, I just did a SAS. It was cheaper, and i FAWKKing love it... good looking 720. showing the love for the 4x4....

[GrettaGreen]

charcoal can mysteriously replaced with brake fluid.. EGV taken out weber 32/36 dagv carb

[GrettaGreen]

so i've heard this SAS mentioned around the forum, what is it exactly?

[poor-mans-720]

its called a solid axle swap. I am putting pics of mine in my build thread right now. Its when you change from the IFS that you have to a solid axle. like the more heavy duty trucks. It handles more power, is way stronger, and is way more off road capable.

[GrettaGreen]

and i'd really like to take off this body lift, the bumpy roads around here make me think she's gonna fall apart she's so rough. but at this point i have 33's on her and im not sure if they'd fit if i did. i was thinking of cutting around the wheel wells to make more room or getting a suspension lift. any thoughts on that?

[GrettaGreen]

i'll check that out. sounds way better than dealing with the IFS

[poor-mans-720]

I have a body lift on too. and running 33's. now i would be able to tuck them, since I did the SAS and rear springs. but before, there is no way. I think 31's would be the biggest. maybe 32's.

Dont get me wrong. SAS isnt just a bolt on deal. but if you plan on keeping the truck for a long time. (forever)... Then plan for a SAS some time. took me about 6 months to study and learn, then i busted it out in a week.

Cutting is a rough deal. the front fenders, are easy to replace if you dont like the cuts. But for the bed, if you dont like them you have too replace the entire bed.

 

I noticed in one of your pics that you are sitting on your bumpstops. need to crank down on the torsion bars until you have just a little room in there. it will make the ride, 1000x's smoother.

[ronnny]

Nice score on the truck. Wish mine was a kc.

[GrettaGreen]

poor-mans: i was checking out the chilton and it has some instructions on how to adjust the ride height for the torsion bars on the front end, i'm assuming this is what you are talking about when you said to crank em? also i was thinking about getting the FSM online, best price i could find was $60 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0029UFLXU/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used would that be a good resource to your knowledge? I had the FSM for the 22RE and it was invaluable so I can only assume this would be too.

 

oh yea and i forgot to mention that it is mostly the rear end that rattles like a tank goin on bumpy roads. i did notice though that the springs in the rear are fully extended. i had a big load of wood back there yesterday and it ran a lot less rough than it does empty. it seems safe to assume that i need longer springs and shocks.

[poor-mans-720]

yep. Search out torsion bars on here. There is a How-To on how to re-index. It'll give some insight on how its done. But yea, it is the cheap and easy way to raise or drop the front end. But the issue is, if you have it to high, your torsion bars will be forcing your A-arms down onto your bumpstops, and then when you hit a bump it will push them up, and then slam them back down onto the bumpstop. That is what gives you that really rough ride. I did 1.5" spacers, and removed my bumpstops. they were already rotten and one was already missing, so i just popped them off. It gave me enough room to run the amount of lift, but when i did hit a big enough bump it pushed my control arm into my frame. but the ride was tons smoother on the road.

 

This is mine with out the bumpstops.

[poor-mans-720]

all trucks will ride smoother loaded, it is cause of the shocks and springs are designed for the load, so they seem rough when it is empty. Shocks that are over extended will make it worse, and cant imagine them coil springs are helping much either. When your truck is empty, its light and not really enough to compress all that suspension back there, so it would ride stiff and rough. invest in some Rancho shocks that are long enough for your setup. Front and rear will help the ride out.

[GrettaGreen]

btw I have Skulptr's old rig.

 

Your '82 looks like it has more room under there than mine. Is that cause of the SAS?

[poor-mans-720]

Haha... Do ya now?? I knew that one looked familiar... Yea, I have about 4" wider im the front and there isn't a fraction of the amount of stuff that the IFS had. So there is toms of room. And im about 4" taller then before. So probably 6-7" over stock. And that's just suspension, plus tires, 33's, puts me right at about 8" over stock... Its tall... Have to see it in person to understand.

 

 

[GrettaGreen]

I'm lookin at buyin new shocks, tryin to pick between OEM KYB http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=503750

 

and rancho rs5000's http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1132876

[Skulptr]

guess i better butt in before you reindex again! lol i made a video for HOW to reindex, using this truck. gretta is already reindexed, 2 teeth, you have plenty of room in the adjustment bolts to raise and lower, its about dead center in the middle of each bolt, IIRC. and the front blocks are 2" custom machined, by poor_mans_720, which is suspension lift, not body. if it were body, there would be blocks at every attachment point of the body to the frame.

 

here's the reindex video link. and look up my exploded tranny thread, you'll see the pictures i had of the grooves in the teeth.

 

videos ---> http://community.rat...post__p__655296

[Skulptr]

I'm lookin at buyin new shocks, tryin to pick between OEM KYB http://www.rockauto....o.php?pk=503750

 

and rancho rs5000's http://www.rockauto.....php?pk=1132876

 

the rs5000 are whats in the back IIRC, just not as long as they should be with the blocks that are in the rear, which came with the truck when i got her btw lol

[GrettaGreen]

right on, thanks for the info. weird so it came with rear blocks and didn't have anything in the front to raise it up? must have looked like a dragster

[GrettaGreen]

oh yea Skulptr, I want to lower this truck back to stock or somehow get it to be less rough on the road.. it's killin me living in the backroads of Idaho. does this rig ride with the 33's on it without the lift?

[poor-mans-720]

Nope. They were actually pretty level. I have a pic of mine in my build thread. Completely stock, no torsion bars adjustments. Nothing. Just how it came. Minus the little bigger tires, 31's. But it sat pretty level.

I don't know if 33's will tuck under there at all... I think maybe. Can always try. there was some one on here, in my build thread that says they ran 33's no problem. Might look in there for some more info.

 

 

[poopypants720]

i had 32's that had TONS of clearance under the wheel wells, 33's will fit fine. I just went back down to 31's and a lil less wide with some meat on them. Looks great with anything 31and bigger imo.

 

Btw, back off those torsion bars and take it to get a legit alignment to fix the camber. I just did this on my set up since i have the exact same ball joint spacers you and poor man have and it finally rides great again with decent lift. I had to go get longer adjustment bolts for my a arms so enough shims could be put on to fix the camber the spacers created.

 

That's the only thing you should have to do to fix the jaw jarring ride.

[GrettaGreen]

hey poopy, what did u pay to get it aligned?

[GrettaGreen]

Hey here's a little update! haha... soooo I drove to CA from ID to visit family and on the way down hit a curb on my passenger side and messed up the passenger side front end. The upper ball joint went out and the A-arm cracked and Im pretty sure some other things are bent and contorted. As for now I have yet to take it apart. Goin to the Picknpull and the local JY to see what they got. AAAAnnnndddd because of the camber on the passenger side and the load weight in the truck at the time the Tranny started clicking. Now Ive got it down to where Im pretty damn sure its the throwout bearing and not actually anything in the Tranny that is making the noise. All I know is that when I was driving the last 650 miles from north oregon to northern california and my tranny started clicking, it progressively got worse and worse and worse. gears still shifted but the noise was unbearable. It only subsided when in 4th gear, a mechanic friend said it is because it is in direct alignment with the driveshaft.

 

SO the question of the hour: Is it worth it to fix her up and get her goin again, or just to sell her as a parts truck and get a couple bucks more for her because im in Cali instead of north idaho? OR part her out piece by piece....

 

I really like this Truck named Gretta, yet I am stuck because the PO took the emissions out of her and she cannot be registered in CA. So I wonder if I should fix her up and sell her in north idaho or do a mechanix special or part her out down here in cali.