Grumpy Update: Front end work.

[Rev_D21]

First, I replaced the centerlink and tie-rods tonight. Took me about an hour and a half. I've done them before and kind of knew what to expect. Carquest scored me a 555 centerlink! Nice stuff, Japan made. 1/2" breaker bar is the only way to roll!

Second, while I had the front end off the ground I noticed the LF tire turned very hard. At first I thought it may have been an over tightened wheel bearing but upon inspection it wasn't. Come to find out the truck has brand new (I mean BRAND NEW) front pads, rotors and brake hoses! Well that's all nice except for the install...whoever installed the parts lost the caliper slider boots. The sliders were left out to battle the elements, well they lost. The sliders were frozen and rusted. I lucked out they came out using only a pair of vise-grips. So next on the the agenda is caliper sliders, boots and bolts.

Still dreading the fuel sending unit repair. I am debating removing the bed for this but the bolts are pretty rusty. I'll try but my fear is I will ending up dropping the tank from underneath in the end.

I was able to run Conzult on the truck from my laptop, pretty neat program if you have a Consult port on your truck. I am able to test lots of things under the hood using the laptop inside. I can monitor every signal the ECM receives in real time. I used the program to see what was up with the P0135 code I was getting with my ODBII scanner. The truck needs the front O2 sensor replaced to pass NY state inspection.

Finished replacing driver side fender and the front grille. The truck took a hit to the left front but nothing under the hood is damaged, just cosmetic.

Torsion bars do need to be re-indexed, the control arms are riding on the bump stops. I am having a spring shop do that along with the alignment.

Windshield needs replacing, that's last on the list at the moment. Oil change and fuel filter, that should do it! Currently it's sitting on jackstands waiting for my return. $800 truck, needed a little work but so far so smooth.

[seang]

Good deal on the truck! I know of a place where you can get brand new slider boots, but I need to re-look it up as it's been awhile since I first found it. I can try to look it up if you want me to.

My truck has slide-pin boots, and I still have to periodically pull the bottom pins, clean them, grease them, and re-install them. Good thing they can be pulled quite easily and without removing anything else (I'm talking about the bottom pins, the top ones are less troublesome).

I used to use wheel bearing grease for the slide pins, but I recently bought some synthetic caliper lube that holds up much better for some reason. It's good stuff and I'm sticking with it from now on.

I recommend cleaning the slide pins with a wire wheel or wire brush. The gunk gets thick on them. Also, clean the slide pin bores with something as the gunk gets on them, too. Don't just do it half-a** and clean just the pins. Do whatever it takes to get that s*** out of there.

Use liberal amounts of caliper lube on the pins, don't just skimp it. Those lower pins are very exposed to the elements and a good gooping will hold up better.
Modified by seang at 7:03 PM 11/25/2009

[Rev_D21]

The lower sliders seem to be a Nissan problem, my old Altima, my mothers 2.5L Sentra and my dads 03 Xterra all seem to have that problem. I switched to synthetic lube this year as well so we'll see how those hold up. I try to service the brakes every 7500 miles which includes removing the pads, cleaning them and re-lubing everything.

If you want to look the boots up for me that would be cool. It's a 96 XE short bed 2wd 5spd, I am sure all the 2wd models use the same thing except maybe the SEv6 model.

[seang]

Well, sorry Rev. All I could find are these 240sx boots. The good thing is that they are under 6 bucks, and look the same as the truck ones do, at least on my monitor. http://www.rockauto.com/catalo...41623

This company (Rock Auto) didn't seem to have them specifically for the D21. I remember now that these are the ones I was going to go with. If you can find other ones, post them please.

[Rev_D21]

Thanks for looking, I'll have to bother the shop around the corner from me on Friday.

[seang]

Oh, about that sending unit. Is that like rusted out beyond belief? And what are you gonna replace it with? The ones I found were all like 500 dollars! For that price, I'll fabricate...

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I ordered a sending unit from Peoria Nissan, and they sent me the in-tank fuel gauge. I was like WTF! The part I need is the plate that mounts on top of the fuel tank because it's nearly rusted through.

The metal lines (that are under pressure) are rusted so bad that I can smell gas vapors seeping through them. It's gonna just blow out sometime and my truck is gonna stall out wherever I be. I need to address the problem, but I have been procrastinating because of fabrication downtime.

I tried to scrape the rust off the lines so I could paint them, and the rust just didn't end. I almost went through the line with the scraper and gas started seeping out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, taking the bed off is much simpler than people would think. You have probably done this before, though.

[Rev_D21]

That's what Carquest sent me, the level sender, not the top plate. I talked to my wholesale account sales-woman over at Dorschel Nissan, we are taking a chance on a 25060-S3801, she told me that had a hard time trying to break down the sending units and ended up selling the complete unit. Carquest says they can get a complete unit for about $150. Dorschel took the chance and ordered the S3801 number to see what comes in, if it works awesome, if not then plan B is always around the corner.

In all honesty I have never taken the bed off a Hardbody before.

[seang]

There are 6 mounting bolts for the bed. These are going to be rusted completely and will break while you torque them. Not a big deal, it just takes a little muscle once you get the wrenches in place. That part is actually the hardest, because the bolts are obscure.

Next, there is the gas tank filler tube, which mounts with 3 (count 'em) phillips head screws. Then it just gets bent down and pushed out of the way.

The taillights are connected by a plug in harness. I think just one plug for both sides, but make sure before you pull the bed.

Then the license plate lights are connected somewhere. You might need to cut and re-crimp them.

That is all that holds the bed. You can set it on some saw horses, or upside down on the grass. It's about 200 lbs, and is kind of awkward to carry, but if you are careful it won't be the end of the world : )

PS, if you do find the part number for that mounting plate, please post it. I need the same part, and I need to get it for less than 500 dollars.

[Rev_D21]

Would you recommend using wrenches or sockets on the mounting bolts? I see the two front bolts are completely hidden by a metal block. I was thinking of hammering a long 1/2" extension with socket on to the bolts from below and using a ratchet to break them loose...better way?

I will post that number as soon as I have the part in my hand.

[seang]

I think there is holes through those blocks to access the bolt heads. Basically any way you can get some torque on those things is fair game. It is kind of a pain, and you could probably just take the air chisel to them if you want to. You will need new bolts.

There are some rubber spacers under the bed that you want to keep around so you can make the body line up from the bed to the cab.

Make sure you generously WD40 the spare tire carrier if you do take the bed off. I recommend loosening it all the way to make sure it works good.

[Rev_D21]

I had to call all over town to find the caliper bushings but I found them. Picking them up tonight.

[Rev_D21]

Brakes=Done!Steering=Done!LOF=Done!Tighten belts=Done!

Grumpy is now off the jack stands and awaiting phase II: The rear end.

The truck runs good now that I can hear the engine, getting rid of the squealing belts was the best move I ever made.

[seang]

What's LOF?

[Rev_D21]

What's LOF?

Lube, Oil, Filter. A carry over from my technician days.