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New to me 1986 720 pickup


matrophy

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Couldn't pass up this truck with 63000 miles on it that a neighbor owned. 5-Speed with 2.4L engine. Clean body and interior and everything works but it is a strippo model with very few creature comforts.

 

I have a couple of things going on I am hoping to get some advice about:

 

1) Steering

- Squeaks a little when turning the wheel. Is there a lubrication point somewhere?

- Steering is a little sloppy. I see that there is an adjustment locknut on the steering box. I've adjusted play in steering of other cars and I'm wondering if it is done with slight adjustment of the nut or if there is a different way of doing it on these?

 

2) Radio - No radio in this one and I would love to add one. Are OEM radios readily available or can anyone recommend an aftermarket radio that fits right in - or fits with minimal hacking on the dash?

Is there anything different about radios in these vehicles that I should be aware of?

 

There are speaker holes in the kickplates but I would be surprised if speakers were there. Anything I should know about speakers? What size/type will work without the aforementioned hacking.

 

3) Engine hose

The only thing I see the engine needing is a hose between the air cleaner and a shroud that goes around the exhaust manifold. What is that for and do I need it?

 

Thanks for any help.

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1/ Squeak inside the cab could be the plastic surround of the column rubbing the turning parts. Outside could be anything including the rubber suspension parts. Visually inspect.

 

The steering wheel ratio is about 19 to one so if ALL the slack in the wheel bearings, all the steering ball joints (8) the idler arm and the steering box itself were added up to 1/16" the steering wheel would have 1.8" of back and forth play. So a little wear will cause a lot of slack feeling in the wheel.

 

Steering box adjustment.... most of the wear, if any, will be in the most common use position which is straight ahead. So if you remove all the play in the center and then turn the wheel tightly to enter your driveway it becomes stiff and jams. This is not good. The best you can do is raise the front wheels off the ground and make an adjustment, Quickly turn the wheels lock to lock. As long as there is no increase in turning effort or tightness try a bit more. If you find increased effort to either side reduce the adjustment and call it good.

 

To check the ball joints, (one or more may obviously be damaged) have someone quickly turn the steering wheel back and forth in the 'loose' area while you watch for movement lack of movement. Even grab the ball joint and see if you can feel play in it while the wheel is jogged back and forth. Idler arm should turn side to side and mimic the steering pitman arm. It should not wiggle and NOT move up and down. Grab each tire at top and bottom and try to push in and pull out on it. Movement could indicate a bad ball joint in the steering or suspension.

 

2/ The missing pipe is the aptly called the 'stove pipe' and is part of the ATC or automatic temperature control. This is a vacuum operated valve that opens a gate in the air filter horn and mixes cool/cold outside air with warmed air from the hot exhaust governed by a sensor in the air filter housing. It regulates the air going through the carburetor to around 100F. The engine is more derivable over a wider temperature range when the air temperature is tightly controlled. It's most noticeable effect is when missing and causes carburetor icing from cold very moist air at near freezing weather. Most auto supply have lengths of this special hose.

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The builders of this vehicle took a small machine screw, decided to use it to hold the radio in, mounted on the back and bottom of the radio. Then they built the truck around that machine screw. Just to let you know how much fun it is to re/re a radio.

 

Mike, do you know a good source for quality carburetor kits?  1984 720 4x4 xtra cab.

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The squeak (problem #1) could also be the contact point for the horn button. I don't know for sure just how the horn contact in the Nissan/Datsun is, but I have seen this in other older makes of vehicles. They have a spring loaded brass button that slides on a brass "washer" as the steering wheel is turned that has a potential for squeaking. If you look at other areas and don't find anything that could possibly cause the squeak then pull the steering wheel and investigate this area.

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The 720 has a springy brass arm with a contact on the end that contacts a brass ring on the steering wheel seated on the column. I have a zx steering wheel on my 710 and it rubs the plastic clam shell around the column.

 

8 hours ago, weldingrod said:

The builders of this vehicle took a small machine screw, decided to use it to hold the radio in, mounted on the back and bottom of the radio. Then they built the truck around that machine screw. Just to let you know how much fun it is to re/re a radio.

 

Mike, do you know a good source for quality carburetor kits?  1984 720 4x4 xtra cab.

 

There is also a separate ground for the radio. It will be taped up in the harness? I put a 720 dash in my 620 and the slot for the radio opening is pretty much a small useless package tray without it. Someone had torn the radio out so (I had my own anyway) I trimmed it away and fitted a CD player/radio/amp. Looks fine.

 

2seccAv.jpg

 

Try e Bay or an auto supply for a kit. A good one is $30+ but I find that not much wears out on them but the accelerator pump. The rest is just cleaning and adjusting. The gaskets usually come off entire or with a carpet knife.

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9 hours ago, datzenmike said:

The 720 has a springy brass arm with a contact on the end that contacts a brass ring on the steering wheel seated on the column. I have a zx steering wheel on my 710 and it rubs the plastic clam shell around the column.

 

 

There is also a separate ground for the radio. It will be taped up in the harness? I put a 720 dash in my 620 and the slot for the radio opening is pretty much a small useless package tray without it. Someone had torn the radio out so (I had my own anyway) I trimmed it away and fitted a CD player/radio/amp. Looks fine.

 

2seccAv.jpg

 

Try e Bay or an auto supply for a kit. A good one is $30+ but I find that not much wears out on them but the accelerator pump. The rest is just cleaning and adjusting. The gaskets usually come off entire or with a carpet knife.

OK. Thanks. For the radio, did you have to build a new panel or were you able to use the hole where the 'package tray' is? I found a used OEM radio on ebay  just now so hopefully it comes with whatever brackets were there and also hopefully that they'll cut the wires after any connectors that plug in so I can try and wire it up more easily. It dawned on me that I'll likely need an antenna so I'll add that to the list I guess.

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On 2/16/2019 at 7:30 PM, matrophy said:

OK. Thanks. For the radio, did you have to build a new panel or were you able to use the hole where the 'package tray' is? I found a used OEM radio on ebay  just now so hopefully it comes with whatever brackets were there and also hopefully that they'll cut the wires after any connectors that plug in so I can try and wire it up more easily. It dawned on me that I'll likely need an antenna so I'll add that to the list I guess.

Honestly I'd just go with an aftermarket one and make some adjustments to fit. The OEM radio is barely tolerable. 

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2 minutes ago, MaxChlan said:

Honestly I'd just go with an aftermarket one and make some adjustments to fit. The OEM radio is barely tolerable. 

I've heard a few stories of people who had to hack their dash up and figure out how to avoid the heater components. If I could find an aftermarket radio that fit right in without a bunch of hacking, I'd swap the OEM one out. 

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On 2/16/2019 at 5:30 PM, matrophy said:

OK. Thanks. For the radio, did you have to build a new panel or were you able to use the hole where the 'package tray' is? I found a used OEM radio on ebay  just now so hopefully it comes with whatever brackets were there and also hopefully that they'll cut the wires after any connectors that plug in so I can try and wire it up more easily. It dawned on me that I'll likely need an antenna so I'll add that to the list I guess.

 

I think I had to trim the hole out to fit the CD player in. Came out alright.

 

Also I popped the ash tray out so I could reach in underneath it.

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On 2/17/2019 at 10:20 PM, matrophy said:

I've heard a few stories of people who had to hack their dash up and figure out how to avoid the heater components. If I could find an aftermarket radio that fit right in without a bunch of hacking, I'd swap the OEM one out. 

To that end, you won't have issues with hitting the vent tubes behind the radio. There is a LOT of excess plastic in the 720 dash. Just get a radio without a CD player or something equivalent in size. If it isn't too much deeper, then you shouldn't have issues. The OEM radio is a pain; personally I have to run a bluetooth FM transmitter and it just takes up the cigarette lighter and makes it look weird. 

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