My Tan D21 work horse

[Icehouse]

Needed a truck with 4 wheel drive after me and my bro bought 10 acres.  I had to get a Nissan of coarse, and I wanted a small truck.  So the obvious choice was the D21 IMO the best Nissan truck ever made.  So durable!  If Frank couldn't kill his that's saying something!!  After a few different beater trucks I realized that the smart thing to do was sell the junkers and wait for one worth fixing if it broke showed up on CL.  I went back and forth between wanted a V6 or a 4 banger.  In the end I didn't want to deal with timing belts and the VG truck I had wasn't any faster then the NapZ truck I ended up buying.  Finally after looking of months I found and bought this truck.  1986.5 vin 5k with 61k on it when I bought it.  Its got some wear but nice for such an old truck.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's also cool it's the same color as my bro's truck! He got his stuck!!  

 

 

Got mine stuck in the same spot!!!  Need some mud tires.  Not sure If I'm going to get the BFG KM2's or the Good year MTS with Kevlar.  Don't want this happening again!!  Maybe even get a Pathfinder LSD.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our property came with an owl!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ditched the dumb brush bumper and picked up a later rack.  

 

 

 

It was going to bea temporary rack, but it's to damn handy.  So I decide this 100 dollar rack need some love.  So I shortened it and added some tie down points.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also made it adjusable to hold tires.  

 

 

 

 

It did have one issue I still haven't figured out.  It sometimes doesn't want to start.  I seems like a bad TPS but haven't put a new one on it yet.   I need to get to the wrecking yard and get one.  I used AAA to get it home due to cutting out.  Turned out the be more then just the TPS.  The exhaust plugs were in the wrong firing order.  This was the first drive I took it on after I bought it.  I think I didn't notice it because the way home from oregon it was all over 3k which I've heard the exhaust plugs turn off?  I did notice a miss when test driving it.  anyways its sorted.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[carterb]

Admit it - you were just jealous of my tan truck!  : )

[]2eDeYe]

Needs a pathfinder LSD and a set of 31" MTRs 😄

[Icehouse]

17 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Needs a pathfinder LSD and a set of 31" MTRs 😄

 

The BFG's are avalible in 30" and 1" narrower then the MTR's.  I worry since my truck came stock with 28.9" tires that the 31's will make it to slow.  I did the gear calculator and it doesn't look good with 31's to be honest 30's might be a bit big.   

 

 

 

4 hours ago, carterb said:

Admit it - you were just jealous of my tan truck!  : )

 

 

That too! 

[]2eDeYe]

Re-gear and install lockers. :)

[bilzbobaggins]

 

 

Love this pic.

[dukerollo]

Clean little truck. Any updates on it?

[Icehouse]

On 3/19/2020 at 2:40 PM, dukerollo said:

Clean little truck. Any updates on it?

 

 

Got new wheels and tires.  The wheels are just SE wheels I had powder coated black.  The tire are BFG's.  The old tires were really old, which makes sense since the truck only had 61k on it when I bought it.  Now it has 72k!  The new tires have 2 more plies then the old ones.  You sure can tell when hauling anything heavy or towing our little trailer.  I just buffed it a few days ago.  Sure shines up great!  Plus on the computer you can't notice any of the dings and small dents 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mrbigtanker]

On 4/10/2020 at 1:37 PM, Icehouse said:

 

 

Got new wheels and tires.  The wheels are just SE wheels I had powder coated black.  The tire are BFG's.  The old tires were really old, which makes sense since the truck only had 61k on it when I bought it.  Now it has 72k!  The new tires have 2 more plies then the old ones.  You sure can tell when hauling anything heavy or towing our little trailer.  I just buffed it a few days ago.  Sure shines up great!  Plus on the computer you can't notice any of the dings and small dents 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man that D21 is in greeat shape. looking good.

[dukerollo]

How do you like those headlights? Are they the eBay specials or the name brand ones? I am still rocking the sealed beams and they are trash. 

[Icehouse]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:20 PM, mrbigtanker said:

Man that D21 is in greeat shape. looking good.

 

Thanks.  For an 86 it is in killer shape.  I want to get the bumpers and ladder rack powder coated to match the wheels.  Then it would really look slick.  

 

On 4/12/2020 at 6:59 PM, dukerollo said:

How do you like those headlights? Are they the eBay specials or the name brand ones? I am still rocking the sealed beams and they are trash. 

 

I get flashed sometimes because they are so bright!  I need to aim them down maybe.  Since I don't daily drive it I haven't gotten around to it.  I use it only for truck things.  The sealed beams I had were so dim it was pathetic.  Turns out after buying the LED's my headlight switch was bad....  The sealed beams were only getting 8v!  So I bought a brand new Nissan head light switch from the Stealership.  only 20 more bucks then the after market unit which I bought at first, turned out to also be bad in a different way.....  I think someone may have done the old swappy swappy to save some dollars and I got their junk unit.  O yeah... And the first set of headlights had a bad bulb.. So I also had to return those for a new set.  Was a long project.  

 

 

[Icehouse]

Just hit 75K on a trip going to pick this up.  Just gotta collect all the parts to put it in my truck.  Got a bell housing for the 71C hopefully that position it nice and close to the firewall.  Hopefully I don't have to move the transmission.  If so it will be worth it for 200HP and 188 Torque.  Compared to the NAPZ 106hp and 137 Torque.  It's been a great truck but it needs more power.  So painfully slow.  If this isn't enough power I will upgrade to a 30A and a turbo RB.  

 

 

 

 

 

It sure has been a good rig though!  

 

[datzenmike]

You said RB20?

[Icehouse]

28 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

You said RB20?

 

It's a RB25DE so no turbo 😞 

[datzenmike]

Right. Pretty much doubling the hp.

[bilzbobaggins]

And then what happened?

[Icehouse]

15 minutes ago, bilzbobaggins said:

And then what happened?

 

I haven't done anything.  I can't make up my mind.  I keep thinking the VG supercharged would be best because it's 100% bolt in.  But turbo would be cool too. 

[Icehouse]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:07 PM, bilzbobaggins said:

And then what happened?

 

 

Decided I'm going to turbo the Z motor in the truck.  Seems like the best option for now.  I just want a little more power doesn't have to be a race truck.  I picked up a ECU from a 1986 D21 4x4 from Pick and Pull.  Going to make a Megasquirt plug and play.  Once I get the truck running good on MS I'm going to add a turbo to the mix.  I'll keep you guys posted.  

[dukerollo]

Please do keep us posted. Once I get my 720 to decent, it is getting the Sniper EFI that is on the shelf and a turbo. Interested to see how make out with it.