Seriously, someone give me something to drive over.

[IanS]

I cant believe I did it, I bought a truck.

My life is completely different. Everywhere I go, Im looking for things to drive over/through, or stuff that might need hauling.

Not the prettiest truck of all time, but its sturdy.





Its a 1986 with the TBI Z24, 5 speed transmission, and 4wd. 97,000 miles on the clock. It was 100% stock, including the OE cassette player. I will be leaving it mostly stock, though it needs some maintenance taken care of. I go right down to business by mounting up a set of 31x10.5x15 Dueler AT-Revo's. She rides pretty good, but I can tell the shocks are pretty worn out. Im going to try and pick up a set of Rancho's or Bilstien's this week. I also swapped the CD deck from one of my 240SXs into it.

One of the only problems, is a very leaky oil pan gaskets. Every time I park, it drops a 2" oil spot on the pavement. From looking at it, I will have to remove the motor mounts, and lift the engine to get the pan out. Anyone have any experience doing them, are they a huge pain?

I will be popping in and out as needed to ask questions, and update you on how she is doing. Hopefully I can get her good and stuck before the week is out.

[seang]

Nice D21. The wheel arches have less rust than my 97 from what I can see, it is good if the frame is in similar shape.

Here are some steps someone gave me on another website on how to get the oil pan off:

"to remove the pan, take out the front driveline, take out the bolts that hold the cv axle flanges to the stub axles on the diff, remove the vent hose, remove the bolts going through the pinion area of the diff that hold it to the rear crossmember, remove the 2 mounting bolts at the front of the diff(front crossmember), support pinion of diff with floor jack, remove rear crossmember, let pinion of diff down, and roll/twist it out of the front crossmember, a warning, it is HEAVY. it is a fairly tight squeeze to get it in and out, so be prepared. once the diff is out, you should be able to easily see what else is required to get the pan off"

(Thanks to ryanorr280 for ^^)

There are lots of good aftermarket parts nowadays for the 4x4 D21, including steering upgrades like heim-joint center links (to replace the wobbly stocker) and idler arm braces.

[PEZi]

UT-OHZ!

ian owns a a Z24????? the world might end now....

nice ian!

[Dano]

Nissan trucks rock. Welcome to our sanctum! and Congrats!

[RT22]

Run over some hondas and rid the world of some ricers LOL

[seang]

Run over some hondas and rid the world of some ricers LOL

>

[IanS]

Nice D21. The wheel arches have less rust than my 97 from what I can see, it is good if the frame is in similar shape.

Here are some steps someone gave me on another website on how to get the oil pan off:

"to remove the pan, take out the front driveline, take out the bolts that hold the cv axle flanges to the stub axles on the diff, remove the vent hose, remove the bolts going through the pinion area of the diff that hold it to the rear crossmember, remove the 2 mounting bolts at the front of the diff(front crossmember), support pinion of diff with floor jack, remove rear crossmember, let pinion of diff down, and roll/twist it out of the front crossmember, a warning, it is HEAVY. it is a fairly tight squeeze to get it in and out, so be prepared. once the diff is out, you should be able to easily see what else is required to get the pan off"

(Thanks to ryanorr280 for ^^)

There are lots of good aftermarket parts nowadays for the 4x4 D21, including steering upgrades like heim-joint center links (to replace the wobbly stocker) and idler arm braces.

I kind of feel a little bad for making you type all that out. I put the truck up on a lift at work today, and degreased the under side of the engine. Turns out the previous owner was wrong. $7.50 and 15 minutes later, and ta da, no more oil leak. The oil pressure sensor was the culprit. Good thing too, I really didnt want to do that pan.

I did discover a new problem though. I had noticed that the right front corner sat a half inch lower than the rest of the truck. I figured hey, easy fix, I'll just adjust the torsion bar. Wrong, its maxed out. Looks like I will have to either replace it, or re index it, if that is possible. If I can just pull it off, and rotate the adjuster a little, I should be set. Anyone know if that is an option?

I also picked up my new plates. I figured since this will be my offroad/hunting/daily hauler, I would get plates to match the feel of the truck. I went with Minnesota's Critical Habitat plates. You pay a little extra for them, but you get to be different, and help keep MN awesome, so its a win win. Plus they have deer on them.

[seang]

I kind of feel a little bad for making you type all that out. I put the truck up on a lift at work today, and degreased the under side of the engine. Turns out the previous owner was wrong. $7.50 and 15 minutes later, and ta da, no more oil leak. The oil pressure sensor was the culprit. Good thing too, I really didnt want to do that pan.

I copied and pasted most of that message, so it's all good. Glad you found the pressure sensor, I forgot about that one and it is a known leak cause.

I'm quite sure that you can re-index the torsion bars, but that is all I really know about it. Calmini and Sway-A-Way make torsion bars for our trucks that are a 20~30% higher rate than stock if you need to get new bars. Some people say that stock bars are better for off-road flexing, so it depends on what direction you want to take it.

[IanS]

I copied and pasted most of that message, so it's all good. Glad you found the pressure sensor, I forgot about that one and it is a known leak cause.

I'm quite sure that you can re-index the torsion bars, but that is all I really know about it. Calmini and Sway-A-Way make torsion bars for our trucks that are a 20~30% higher rate than stock if you need to get new bars. Some people say that stock bars are better for off-road flexing, so it depends on what direction you want to take it.

I plan to drive it. Everywhere, and through whatever I can find.

[S14toRPS13]

I'm in the market for a truck myself. I got my eye on a Titan right now. It would be nice to not have to worry about my car making up driveways and speed bumps.

[IanS]

Put some new shocks on the front of the truck today, rides way better. I also cleaned the leaves out of the blower motor. Now all I have to do is get the ride height figured out. Anyone know for sure if the keys on the torsion bars can be re indexed?

[jdansmith]

Congrats. on the new truck, looks good! Not sure about your question on the torsion bars but I
am curious myself. I just got mine back from the paint shop today and I will have an alignment
shop look at it soon. It's eating the inside of the front tires and sits a bit lower on the pass.
side.

You lucked out on the oil pressure sensor instead of being the oil pan. Keep us posted on
the progress.

[JC87HB]

Put some new shocks on the front of the truck today, rides way better. I also cleaned the leaves out of the blower motor. Now all I have to do is get the ride height figured out. Anyone know for sure if the keys on the torsion bars can be re indexed?

Yes they can be reindexed.. at the lower control arm.. just mark the splines pull them out and rotate clockwise for the driver side bar and counter clockwise for the passenger side bar... Although.. thing to look out for as i found out with my 2wd D21.. when adjust the torsion bars alignment goes out the window and camber will be affected.. cause the tires to tilt inward at the top of the tire. TO my understanding as long as the Toe is in good shape, camber shouldnt cause drastic wear.. 4x4parts.com sells control arms that help compensate for this camber problem, and also they correct the ball joint angles. If you need any pics I have some pictures of when I did it on my truck.

JC

[IanS]

Yes they can be reindexed.. at the lower control arm.. just mark the splines pull them out and rotate clockwise for the driver side bar and counter clockwise for the passenger side bar... Although.. thing to look out for as i found out with my 2wd D21.. when adjust the torsion bars alignment goes out the window and camber will be affected.. cause the tires to tilt inward at the top of the tire. TO my understanding as long as the Toe is in good shape, camber shouldnt cause drastic wear.. 4x4parts.com sells control arms that help compensate for this camber problem, and also they correct the ball joint angles. If you need any pics I have some pictures of when I did it on my truck.

JC

Thanks. I plan to pull them apart on Tuesday to get it straightened out. I had a feeling they could be adjusted, either at the control arm, or at the key. Im not worried about the alignment, I have an alignment rack at work, and Ive just been putting off getting it on there because the ride height is so goobered up.

Got my Nicoclub banner installed.

[nismoka24e91]

im just curious, what do the z24 engines red line or limit at stock?

i saw a add on craigslist a while ago and some guy claimed that his z24 reved to 6.5k stock. it looks like the intake manifold is kinda small wouldn't you lose power by then? i know on my ka24 after about 5.7k power starts to die. but it still keeps a reasonable amount of power to 6.5k

[IanS]

im just curious, what do the z24 engines red line or limit at stock?

i saw a add on craigslist a while ago and some guy claimed that his z24 reved to 6.5k stock. it looks like the intake manifold is kinda small wouldn't you lose power by then? i know on my ka24 after about 5.7k power starts to die. but it still keeps a reasonable amount of power to 6.5k

Not sure what the redline is, I usually shift between 2 and 3K.

Got my torsion bars adjusted. Ride height is leveled out, and the truck rides/drives much better. I also picked up a set of off road lights to supplement the crappy sealed beam headlights.



I also pulled the tailgate off. It was honestly the worst looking part of the truck. Huge rust spots, and the sheet metal was all wrinkled. Not wanting to spend too much time on it, I ground all the rust off, sanded a little, and repainted it. Its still all dented and pitted, but it looks better. I also changed the color of the "NISSAN" logo. What do you guys think?

[seang]

It's agricultural.

About that revving thing, my old z24i would rev that high if you were driving on ice, or in neutral. Under load it is pointless to go that high. I used to chirp the tires on 1-2 upshift, shifting at about 5900rpm.

[Dano]

You should totally do a big CB whip antenna on that thing (and the cb obviously!)

[dvdswan]

welcome to the truck world. You're going to love the truck. I would get new bushings for the front suspension, get an idler arm support bracket and start looking for things to upgrade.

[IanS]

welcome to the truck world. You're going to love the truck. I would get new bushings for the front suspension, get an idler arm support bracket and start looking for things to upgrade.

Yah, it needs a new radius arm bushing on the passenger front. Someone already did the drivers side. Its on my list, but not very high. The idler and center link are still tight, as well as the ball joints and tie rods. I will upgrade as things begin to fail/loosen up. Im about done working on her for now, I need to get back to my other project.

[seang]

Those upgraded parts are for more advanced wheeling anyway, the stockers should hold up adequately for many things. Some people wheel these 4x4 D21's to hell and back, so what is "normal" to them is radical to the average owner/observer. But, like you said, when the stockers do go, just get the upgrade and be done with it. Lots of good recommendations in this thread already.