Nissan 720 What to look for?

[IJC]

Hello I am going to go look at a Nissan 720 with 200k miles. Its a 1985 4x4 with the z24 has a new t case and clutch. It's been parked for less than a year. Takes a couple seconds to start up and it sounds like it idles nice. Looks like a clean interior. Motor mounts are shot tho. What should I look for before buying it?  I'd use it as a daily btw.

[datzenmike]

Visually nothing obvious.

Excessive brake pedal rubber wear, very worn driver's seat and arm rest, and wear on mat under gas pedal should agree with the vehicle mileage.

Good tires, front ones not worn unevenly.

No broken missing glass or mirrors.

Lift floor mats or look underside for rust perforations.

Clean and complete exhaust system

No fluid leaks at differential, gas tank, transfer case, transmission, engine and power steering.

No electrical wiring hanging down under dash.

No hacked up wire harness from car alarm/stereo/trailer.

Check engine oil. A good owner won't let it get dirty and have lame excuse for it nor will he use a Fram filter.

 

Once warm, should restart several times in a row. No blue smoke!

All marker, parking, signals and headlights hi/lo working

Heater/air con, wipers working

All dash lights and indicators working, warning lights off.

Temp gauge in normal range.

 

 

Has to be drivable. If not walk away.

 

Smooth clutch engagement, shift easily up and down (all gears, the '85 only came with a 5 speed) and be quiet.

Quiet only in 4th is a worn transmission.

Be sure to use 4wd and go off road. Auto locking hubs.

Transfer cases are noisy when they have been abused.

On highway should track straight no vibration/noises.

Should have minimal steering wheel play, no steering wheel vibration or back and forth.

Perform several stops from highway speed. Should stop straight and be quiet. Should not have to pump brakes.

Check the emergency brake holds truck on hill.

 

If possible fill up and drive about 60 miles on highway. Mileage should be just under 20. Not a deal breaker but seller shouldn't mind.

 

 

[frankendat]

I have not had the pleasure of riding in, driving, or seeing the 85 720 Nissan, described by DatzenMike.

 

Food for thought: For an 85 to have 100000 miles on it, the truck must have been driven less than 3000 miles a year. Look for stickers, trinkets, a beer keg handle for a shifter, a "send it" sticker on the glove box. If the truck was driven less then half of the miles driven annually by the average American, the truck will have 200000.

 

But, all miles are not created equal. Stereotypes are stereotypes because more often than not they are true. I know, I know, everyone here is a unique snowflake, but the rest of the world...

 

So stereotypes, young males (under 25) beat the hell out of their toys. It is why insurance rates are higher for those under 25. It is why insurance rates are higher for males than for females. Look for insight into the previous owners mindset, working hard on an MBA? or pledging for a fraternity?

 

The above advice is "in addition to..." not "instead of" DatzenMikes advice and take it all with more than a pinch of salt.

[IJC]

21 minutes ago, frankendat said:

I have not had the pleasure of riding in, driving, or seeing the 85 720 Nissan, described by DatzenMike.

 

Food for thought: For an 85 to have 100000 miles on it, the truck must have been driven less than 3000 miles a year. Look for stickers, trinkets, a beer keg handle for a shifter, a "send it" sticker on the glove box. If the truck was driven less then half of the miles driven annually by the average American, the truck will have 200000.

 

But, all miles are not created equal. Stereotypes are stereotypes because more often than not they are true. I know, I know, everyone here is a unique snowflake, but the rest of the world...

 

So stereotypes, young males (under 25) beat the hell out of their toys. It is why insurance rates are higher for those under 25. It is why insurance rates are higher for males than for females. Look for insight into the previous owners mindset, working hard on an MBA? or pledging for a fraternity?

 

The above advice is "in addition to..." not "instead of" DatzenMikes advice and take it all with more than a pinch of salt.

previous owner said he was using it as a backup daily, only owned it for a year though. Inside is extremely clean for having 200k miles. After market radio is in it. They are asking 3500 for it. With these pictures and if I dont find anything wrong with it besides these, is that a solid price?

Windshield wiper fluid reservoir is cracked

[datzenmike]

44 minutes ago, frankendat said:

I have not had the pleasure of riding in, driving, or seeing the 85 720 Nissan, described by DatzenMike.

 

 

 

True and there will me more than one item that fails but... look at them all because some are very expensive to fix later, and besides.... showing the owner what's wrong can get the price lower to what it's really worth. 

[frankendat]

It would be a crapshoot even if I was there with you. When in a position similar to yours (for a rig I wanted) I asked to take the truck to a local shop that performs "vehicle assessments", or "vehicle check ups" or something similar, usually runs $50-$100. These shops ALWAYS find stuff wrong, doubly so, when assessing a nearly 40 year old truck.

I do this for three reasons: The first, to do my best to avoid serious problems, maybe I missed that a cylinder is dragging or some other serious problem; the second it gives me undeniable truth of future repairs and work needed (I have a habit of looking at what could be other than what is)and the third I use the sheet provided by the shop as a negotiation prop to haggle the price.

[frankendat]

1 minute ago, datzenmike said:

 

True and there will me more than one item that fails but... look at them all because some are very expensive to fix later, and besides.... showing the owner what's wrong can get the price lower to what it's really worth. 

Ah, you beat me by 1 min. I agree wholeheartedly

 

[powderfinger]

if it has a plastic bedliner in it be sure to remove it and inspect under it well or at least get under the truck and inspect the bed really well. Plastic bedliners in a truck that old are typically just there to keep things from falling through the rust holes lol. Rust in the front edge of the bed are really common in these trucks. I could stick my hand through the entire front of the bed on my last 2wd 720 I had, at least after I removed the plastic bedliner :-)

 

Like Mike said be sure to drive it because finding these with bad transmission bearings seems to be more common than not in my experience. If he won't let you drive it then there is definitely something wrong with it. In that case it's a matter of how good you are at fixing vehicles and the condition of what you can see and hear. I wouldn't offer much if I couldn't drive it though.

Edited March 29, 2023 by powderfinger

[datzenmike]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:14 PM, datzenmike said:

Has to be drivable. If not walk away.

 

How can you possibly evaluate drive train, steering, suspension, cooling system and other things without a drive?????

[powderfinger]

3 hours ago, datzenmike said:

How can you possibly evaluate drive train, steering, suspension, cooling system and other things without a drive?????

 

You certainly can't that's why I said I wouldn't offer much.

 

I should have read the original post more carefully, since you are looking at this as something you need as a daily driver then I would certainly walk away if you can't test drive it.

 

In my position, I would low ball them an offer if I couldn't drive it because I have spare trucks :-) It would be a very low ball offer though.

Edited March 29, 2023 by powderfinger

[None_zero]

7 hours ago, powderfinger said:

if it has a plastic bedliner in it be sure to remove it and inspect under it well or at least get under the truck and inspect the bed really well. Plastic bedliners in a truck that old are typically just there to keep things from falling through the rust holes lol. Rust in the front edge of the bed are really common in these trucks. I could stick my hand through the entire front of the bed on my last 2wd 720 I had, at least after I removed the plastic bedliner 🙂

 

Like Mike said be sure to drive it because finding these with bad transmission bearings seems to be more common than not in my experience. If he won't let you drive it then there is definitely something wrong with it. In that case it's a matter of how good you are at fixing vehicles and the condition of what you can see and hear. I wouldn't offer much if I couldn't drive it though.

I actually cut much of that wall off the bed off mine where it meets the bottom there's a band most of width of the bed and about 6 " high that's gone. I pla. To eventually weld a piece in its place as soon as I stumble across some suitable stock 

[None_zero]

I can't help it have to say it for Thomas.... in response to the title... a new truck