Hey hows it going guys i figured i would share the info i have found the last few days regarding the old ITT trucks, one of the many "claims to fame" of the hardbody platform. anyway...
It was tough to dig up anything specific about these trucks on the internet (possibly because their heyday was BEFORE the internet!), but luckily i was able to talk to a previous owner of 2 Nissan factory racer's!
he said he campaigned 2 racers in the 97-98 IT Truck series and won championships both seasons! he went on to say the series was fun at the time, and the trucks were like spec miata racers... fast fun durable and cheap! he said they handled GREAT with the nissan racing torsion bars 3 degrees of negative camber for the dot hoosiers, and a simple leaf spring/2 inch drop block (yes blocks) setup! he did add that one of his trucks had fiberglass springs, but it was not any better or worse in handling.
the main "ingredient" was torsion bars, but overall the trucks were very simple. they basically took a stiffly spring hardbody, added the safety equipment and rollbars, ran a 11:1 comp nap-z motor, stock 5 speed, stock driveshaft, v6 front brakes, and went racing!
he said they rode very stiff though so they may have had extra things done like solid body mounts and stiffer bushings etc even though the rules stated that any parts used must be available to the general public, they could not be one off's.
other information from other scca fans point to extra prep as well - they said the nissans had the upper hand over the rangers s10s mazda's and jeeps, especially the old factory racers, because they were really well prepped although other manufacturers had their own prepped trucks too. then again i think the nissans had the upper hand because they were allowed to run high compression...in the rules below i don't see any other manufacturer allowed to do that...hardbody FTW!
heres a link to the it truck rules, gives you an idea of the modifications done to these trucks besides what i postedhttp://
www.atlantascca.org/clu...-rule
as for tracking down these nissan factory parts used back in the day, i called nissan motorsports and they still had torsion bars..... two stage torsion bars. after more research i found out they were made for nissan motorsports by jim connor racing way back, and they were most likely off road oriented, although i did find a post from a 240zx fan that said he ran them on a lowered 86.5 truck. basically they had a extra arm halfway down the length of the bar that would touch the frame adding a 2nd stage of stiffness.sounds cool, but most likely this is not what was used in the racers it was probably to stop bottoming the suspension on hard off road conditions. not to mention racers usually like linear rate springs for being more predicatable
so the search for the racing parts continues...
however it would be interesting to run the torsion bars adjusted so that you were only using the 2nd stage...
furthermore, nissan still had 1 inch front sway bars in stock. there are other parts which i will list here but i dont know whether or not they are still available54560-RS910 ALL 2 Hard rubber front lower control arm bushing.99996-2102G ALL 1 Polyurethane rear spring bushing set, 4x4.99996-2103G ALL 1 Polyurethane rear spring bushing set, 2WD.99996-7104G ALL 1 Polyurethane tension rod bushing set.99996-D21BF2 ALL 1 1.0" front sway bar kit, 2WD only.99996-D21BR4 ALL 1 7/8" rear sway bar kit, 4WD only.99996-D21SK1 ALL 1 Steering stabilizer kit includes stabilizer, mounting pin, all hardware and bushings.Requires the use of steering cross rod originally equipped with mounting ears.2WD.99996-D21SK2 ALL 1 Steering stabilizer kit includes stabilizer, mounting pin, all hardware and bushings.Requires the use of steering cross rod originally equipped with mounting ears.4WD.99996-EG800 ALL 8 Polyurethane sway bar end link bushing.99996-T1440 ALL 1 2 stage front torsion bar set, 2WD.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<99996-T1456 ALL 1 26.5mm front torsion bar set, 4WD only.99996-W4101 ALL 2 Rancho front shock (13.25"/8.69").99996-T5040 ALL 1 Single leaf spring conversion, for 4x4 only. Reduces load capacity but gives<<<<<<these might be the fiberglass ones only difference between 4x4 and 2x4 is the axle mounting
btw i also found out stillen still has its air dam availablehttp://
www.stillen.com/product...ICKUP
and they have an awesome closeout sale! guess whats in the list...drop leafs! STILLEN LOWERING LEAF SPRING 86-97 NISSAN HARDBODY PICKUP (EACH) $95.79 $43.36 too bad i bought mine already...
http://www.stillen.com/blowout.asp#SU02
overall i still find it surprising that the trucks ran such a simple setup, they had the option of running rear sway bars 1 piece drive shafts offset bushings etc and they didnt.. the setup was really simple and he said the trucks were faster than quite a few cars! i think these trucks have the ability to be little cheap racing beasts, and i can't wait to enter this years autocross events.
i still have other racers to email if i get more info i will post it here. also if anyone has more info please feel free to add.
