Hardbody owners, please to helping me with the questions.

[themadscientist]

The title originally started "hardbody guys" but sound super ghey.

I have always loved the hard lines of the lil hardbody trucks. The styling reminds me of my RS and the shape is just right. I have almost bought one twice but for whatever reason it did'nt go through. I will be coming back in about 3 years and I need a truck, my lil Daihatsu is as illegal as a Skyline to import. Haters

The plan is start with a 4x4 short bed manual, drop it as low as I can and drop a hot engine in it. The goal is a Syclone killer. I always like those trucks but I think I can do it better. I would like some info about the truck from those who live with one every day.

I am not so much concerned with the engine unless that affects the quality of the drivetrain installed. I think a VG30DETT swap would be the most lethal motor to use, followed closely by a VG30ET, with a boosted KA24 bringing up the rear but still a potent choice.

1 drivetrain*any difference between the KA and VG transmission, transfer case, or axles? Any minor model change funny business wher certain years had better equipment? *Is the powertrain up to the task of drag launches in 4wd behind a 400hp engine? I have seen powerglide adapters for V8 swapped trucks, that gives me hope that it's tough stuff feeding power to the wheels.*I will need some highway gears I think. I will have low profile perfomance tires on at least 17" rims. I am not sure where the tach will be at cruising speed, 12,,,, I mean 55. Are wide wheels readily available in this bolt pattern?

2 suspension*How much would a 4wd drop? It's a hell of a lot easier to slam a 2wd, no front axle shafts and diff to contend with. I don't want a minitruck frame on the ground stance, just get the center of gravity down for stability.The torsion bars can just be tweaked to bring the nose down, axle over spring to drop the back? Is there a sway bar up front?

3 brakes*drums in the back and that's it? I hope not, I need real stopping power, the 50s are over. How does the front caliper mount up? Does it look like a set of 300ZX brakes wou fit on there?

4 reliabilityWhere do they break? Where do they rust? Any consistent defect I should be aware of?

thoughts, advice, encouragement, discouragement, good chili recipe?

[seang]

My truck hates being in 4wd on dry pavement, even with a perfect alignment. It is considerably harsh. Oil pan clearence is gonna be an issue because you need rear sump pan. The rear end is bigger than 9 inches, and I would imagine very strong, the front diff is not as strong as the rear. As for the rear brakes, you can swap in a pathfinder axle that has disc brakes stock, of course you will have to cut off the coil spring hardware and weld on the leaf spring perches as the pathy had coils. Rust is an issue with the frame rails. They can get full of dirt, which just holds more moisture. Eventually, it will need to get patched, but that can be done. The driveline vibrations in 4wd are my biggest concern with this one.

[themadscientist]

I am searching around, I see another guy lowering 4-by with the expected "why" posts.

With the frame, is it a box type or a c-channel? I have trouble finding the trucks here to peek under but we have plenty of Terranos (Pathfinder). I am guessing they are identical to the truck underneath, just shorter?

Describe the harshness. Is it a side to side vibration you can feel through the wheel or does the whole truck shimmy? Only when you have the 4WD engaged, 2WD is smooth at speed? It is worse when someone loads bigger tires on?

I am not surprized to hear of vibrations. It is my hope that with me planning on using street tires of an automotive size whatever is causing this situation will be somewhat alleviated.

Are the hubs autolocking? That would be pretty rediculous if another guy revved on me at the light and I had to jump out and flip the hubs on before the light turned green.

[seang]

The frame is boxed. The harshness is a low rumble that just saturates the whole vehicle, and gets worse as speed increases. The center diff is locked solid, so thats the cause of the harshness. The harshness was there for me with both 235/75 R15, and 31x10.5 tires. My hubs are manual, although some are automatic. However, the T-case is shift on the fly, with no clutch pedal work nessesary, just clicks in and out, you get the feel for it after using it a few times, its actually smoother than the 5-speed next to it. The stock manual transmission is probably the weak link under high torque applications. cool idea though, i'm happy to help.

[themadscientist]

So the transfer vibrates and it' a solid mount so the vibes pass to the frame? I wonder why it does that. is there something unbalanced inside?Which side is the output for the front diff? If it is on the passenger side maybe it would be better to shove an RB26 in it with the GT-R tranysfer and Atessa system.

[Rev_D21]

HB Cyclone Killer, I like that. I always liked the Cyclone but being a Nissan man I wanted to make the Nissan version. VG30DETT will be a very tight fit and I'll tip my hat to you if you do it.

[themadscientist]

I thought the idea up years ago before I decided to come back to Japan which shelved it, kind of like getting orders to here in the military killed my 351 Ranger project.

I still remember the conversation with the local Nissan dealer's service dept. manager.

"can you fit a VG30DETT into a hardbody""Christ, maybe, but I ain't helpin you, if you do it let us see it"

[Rev_D21]

The only issue I see with fitment would be the turbos. They will either require removal of a lot of sheet metal or relocation themselves since the HB engine bay is pretty small. I have read threads elsewhere...not naming any other forums...about attempts, don't know how many succeeded. VG30ET would work but I have heard that engine is not a great choice when there are others out there. A lot of guys here are dropping in RB's which with some mods to the core support can be shoe-horned into the HB. That could be an interesting way to go but when it comes to the 4wd HB I wouldn't even begin to speculate how much work would be needed to make that happen.

[themadscientist]

It's all brainstorming right now. I might pop the hood on one, take one look and know it isn't going to fit. I could always swap bellhousings and throw a FJ in it.

[RT]

Maybe v6 pathfinder would be easier as it has V6 and maybe you can lower it enough that low profile tires will get it low enough to handle. v6 platform would be better and yes the TT from 300 would kill cyclone with a basic upgrade from stock. I had 90TT a Jim Wolf or stillen chip boost jets will with a pop air charger and free flow exhaust net from 300 to 390hp at flywheel. My stage 3 as it was called would eat a cyclone and the stuff can be done for about 800 bucks. stock 300 twin turbo had 300hp if engine is still in good shape. Just remember the 300 can become money pit for HP as not much is cheap on a engine that is not common like a 350 chevy. But they can be built to out run new corvettes and car and mods not cost as much as new corvette. check twinturbo.net for all the Z motor info and hop up stuff you would ever need.

[Desert Rat]

There is no 'center diff' in a D21 4x4. The Syclone had a viscous coupling type center diff that split power 65/35 to the rear and front and allowed front and rear wheels to spin at a different rate through 'slip' in the system. The Hardbody uses a conventional transfer case with a 50/50 split. Because it's an actual transfer case (chain driven, in this case), the front wheels are forced to spin exactly the same rate as the wheels, which causes significant drivetrain bind as soon as you turn the truck on dry pavement - something needs to let go; either traction or truck parts.

As for 400HP launches in 4wd, I'd say no, the drivetrain isn't up to the task. The rear axle may be if you start with a V6 truck or a 96-97 4 banger truck with the larger H233B rear axle, but the Nissan 4x4 system is not what you want to use for what you're trying to accomplish.

If you want a true center diff and something that can handle the oomph, look for a quadratrack Cherokee or something and transplant the entire drivetrain. Otherwise, settle on building a mean 2wd truck and concentrate on how you'll get the rear end to hook up (tubs, wide meat, and a triangluated 4 link should help dramatically).

D21 frames are boxed until about the last foot of the frame rails. If you're looking at east coast or northern trucks, check the frame carefully for rust, as they typically rust from the inside out due to salt and crap getting caught inside the framerails.

[themadscientist]

I know the bind you are talking about. My truck now exhibits terrible lurching when in 4WD. Can someone put up a pick of the transfer and front driveshaft? I am still wondering if I couldn't put an RB26 and transmission in it and just make mounts and drivehafts to mate up with the D21 diffs. The R32 Attesa system is simple compared to the later models, I could just drop the whole system in if the front diff is to the passenger side of the truck.

[seang]

The front diff is more towards the drivers side, which is my left side.

[themadscientist]

I got a chance to climb under a pathfinder. DAYM, it's tight in there.