Offroad-Express

Well, I've officially done it...still got the Zuk in the garage but gone n bought a Safari to show him what to be like when he grows up.

1988, 4.2d, man, 2" OME lift, 2" body lift, some worn BFG muds, ARB rear locker, snorkel, PTO winch, redneck lights all over roof, rear seats out and cargo barrier in, endless air, some rather solid looking bars front and rear, and set of 32" Simex's.

The not so good...
speedo, oil pressure and temp gauges stopped working on drive home,
few bits of minor rust around the place to get rid of,
a shudder when first accelerate or decelerate (only when just do it, then stops - almost feels like a driveshaft moving forwards n backwards?)
and a bit of a thunk sometimes when turn round lefthand corner.

So seems a decent wagon and some things to tidy up.

Oh, and a turbo on the To Do list

Any wisdom on shudder when only first accelerate or decelerate welcome...or any common gauge faults.

Welcome to the dark side dude...........

Weasel wrote:a shudder when first accelerate or decelerate (only when just do it, then stops - almost feels like a driveshaft moving forwards n backwards?)
and a bit of a thunk sometimes when turn round lefthand corner.

Any wisdom on shudder when only first accelerate or decelerate welcome...or any common gauge faults.

just a quick thought Panhard Rod Bushes.................

Shudder likely to be panhard rod bushes, or steering dampner. Your description is not how it would normally present itself though, so be prepared for it to be something else.

Thunk when cornering....start with body mounts. Most likely to have flogged out the rubber part or elongated the hole on the chassis. Otherwise, could be crack in the floorpan where the firewall comes down then curves under to join it. Body lift hasn't helped.

Gauges.....well, its a Nissan thing. Much like how Rangies leak oil, water and fuel, then all electrics stop working....just before it catches fire. In fairness, most of the gauges are 12Volt, so check the reducer behind the LH kick-panel.

Thanks will check those out

Was also surprised at how little fuel used...just over 1/4 tank Gisborne to Napier and less than half tank from Napier to Featherston where I left it as had to pick up another car. Thought would use more.

The gauge cluster problem can also be in the fuse box. Mine had arced out and melted all the connections. Lucky i didn't have a fire.

Al

Is the shudder speed dependant or just acceleration and deceleration dependant?

Weasel wrote:Thanks will check those out
Was also surprised at how little fuel used...just over 1/4 tank Gisborne to Napier and less than half tank from Napier to Featherston where I left it as had to pick up another car. Thought would use more.

Fuel consumption should be around 10-12L/100kms on highway and 12-14L/100km around town. Like anything, the harder you push it, the worse it will be. Bigger tyres, suspension lift etc all affect the fuel consumption.

Doesnt seem to be speed dependant. Regardless of speed:

When first press accelerator, or first let it off then shudders. The best way to describe the feeling is to think of a loose driveshaft and when accelerate the driveshaft shudders backward a bit then smooth, and then when let accelerator off the driveshaft shudders forward a bit then smooth.

If feather the accelerator on and off (just) then it shudders each way.

Dont know if that expert description helps??!!

Otherwise she drives smooth, and the wife drove it a fair amount of the way home and she commented it holds the corners better than the RAV4!

I will also check fusebox...

Thanks

oh they hold the road well for a two tonne block of steel

Weasel wrote:Doesnt seem to be speed dependant. Regardless of speed:

When first press accelerator, or first let it off then shudders. The best way to describe the feeling is to think of a loose driveshaft and when accelerate the driveshaft shudders backward a bit then smooth, and then when let accelerator off the driveshaft shudders forward a bit then smooth.

If feather the accelerator on and off (just) then it shudders each way.

Dont know if that expert description helps??!!

Otherwise she drives smooth, and the wife drove it a fair amount of the way home and she commented it holds the corners better than the RAV4!

I will also check fusebox...

Thanks

It's a {manual} Nissan thing, all 5 Manual Saf's ive driven including my own whale do it to some degree or another, Mines not to bad just a slight shudder between 1000 rpm -1100rpm ..
have driven ones though that feel like the drive shafts falling out, again at the 1000-1200 rpm

It's a bit like the 80-90kph death wobble more Saf's than not seem to have it

MINE DOES'NT

coxsy wrote:MINE DOES'NT

pfffft where's the blowing raspberry smilies when you want one

Nor does mine

All 4 of mine had a small vibe when first accelerating, ranged in milage from 83,000 to 350,000, but none was worse than the other, but could be different to what you are describing

Weasel wrote:Doesnt seem to be speed dependant. Regardless of speed:

When first press accelerator, or first let it off then shudders. The best way to describe the feeling is to think of a loose driveshaft and when accelerate the driveshaft shudders backward a bit then smooth, and then when let accelerator off the driveshaft shudders forward a bit then smooth.

If feather the accelerator on and off (just) then it shudders each way.

Dont know if that expert description helps??!!

Otherwise she drives smooth, and the wife drove it a fair amount of the way home and she commented it holds the corners better than the RAV4!

I will also check fusebox...

Thanks

Have a look at the trailing arm bushes, mine wobbled around a little turned out to be lower bushes.

Clarify a few things for us....when you say it shudders, are you refering to the entire vehicle? Or just the steering wheel?

Or is the "shudder" actually a noise you're hearing, rather than a specific movement of a part (or parts) of the truck?

When you're accelerating / decelerating, does the shudder only occur at a particular speed / rev range?

Oh, when setup correctly, they stick to the road like a cat on carpet.

Just brought it home tonight over the Rimutuka hill road so experienced the 2 funny things again...

Shudder
Doesnt change at all with speed differences, a shuddering when just accelerating or decelerating.
If hold throttle so not accelerating or decelerating, then press or release it doesnt do it...it's when speeding up and take foot off throttle it shudders then decelerates smoothly, and if slowing down and hit foot on throttle it shudders and then smoothly speeds up.

Clutch issue???

Thunk
Did it as going round rimutuka hill rd corners...best described as a piece of 4x2 inside a box section cross member and it slides as corner and thunks into chassis each side.
Will check body mounts.

Anyone found a good diesel mechanic in hutt valley (Wellington members) who can clean and reset injectors/nozzles??

So when loaded with torque it doesnt do anything, check engine and gearbox mounts and UJ's would be my guess.

I would pick bushes in the front arms for the 'clunk' if it sounds like it is coming from under your feet in the foot well (either on the axle or on the chassis mount - sorry cant be specific as I am going from memory and not a vehicle in front of me).

Good luck.

I had a similar issue with my leafsprung ute in the back. When I cornered the loading shifted and the springs moved a little on the bushes and made a clunk noise. Hated it but couldnt be arsed fixing it (too cheap )

Heath has raised a good point with the bushes on the rear of the front control arms. They generally only chop out with heavy use on a big suspension lift, but its still worth looking at if the body-mounts check out ok.

have a look at your drive shafts if one of them is 90 degrees out it will vibrate during excelertation till it gets to speed then will self balance happened to me tookbout 3 weeks fo find the issue

Weasel wrote:Anyone found a good diesel mechanic in hutt valley (Wellington members) who can clean and reset injectors/nozzles??

go see Graham at Classic Car Services in Cuba Street, Alicetown just beside the railway bridge on the Mitre 10 Mega side

my thing has bit of a shudder also when you are in 1st or reverse at low revs releasing the clutch...feels like when clutches get worn so im hoping its just that since everyone is saying it just a nissan thing...???

Thanks for advice everyone, waiting for rain to stop so can get outside! Have to take those lights off the roof and let the tyres down to get in garage...anyone know a stockist of body lift kits for garage's??

Skidtoy...a friends one is a bit rough when first engages clutch to move off in 1st or reverse, could be what you describe. He put it into clutch shop (assumed was buggered) and came back that it was fine, just what it does it seems.

Bring on a bit of fine weather on weekend so can get under the new wagon!

Well the body mounts were all tight (80ft/lb) and couldnt see any obvious cracks or anything in engine etc mounts (hard to tell though as they could close when it's resting).

But...did find that one rear brake caliper only had one of the two bolts in that it slides on though, and when not braking it flops down (back of it all worn down on inside of rim) and when brake it grabs and flys back up into position up. Yeehah.

Tripped round Supercheep and ripco but they dont have caliper bolts (and the sleeve they fit into), might try BNT tomorrow. Unless anyone has any i can buy off ya?? Work during day so cant get to the likes of Pick A Part.

Weasel wrote:Well the body mounts were all tight (80ft/lb) and couldnt see any obvious cracks or anything in engine etc mounts (hard to tell though as they could close when it's resting).

But...did find that one rear brake caliper only had one of the two bolts in that it slides on though, and when not braking it flops down (back of it all worn down on inside of rim) and when brake it grabs and flys back up into position up. Yeehah.

Tripped round Supercheep and ripco but they dont have caliper bolts (and the sleeve they fit into), might try BNT tomorrow. Unless anyone has any i can buy off ya?? Work during day so cant get to the likes of Pick A Part.

Ideally you should remove a body mount to see how much the rubber has compressed. As for the engine mount, when you rev the engine (do it by hand on top of the fuel pump), the engine torques up and lifts the LHS, and you can see it lift as the engine mount separates.

I lost a caliper bolt once also, shaved quite alot of the casting away. Try a wrecker.

In the latest Aussie 4wd mag they discussed these issues (its at work so I cant get to it) but they were things like worn pinions, worn centre bearing on two part drive shafts, worn UJ's, incorrect spacing on R and P gears and a few others. If someone here has it they might let ya know what else.

i dont suppose it was this safari??

gary_in_nz wrote:i dont suppose it was this safari??

Ha, I was on that trip, it was run by NZ4WD Mag few years ago. That is a pit for helicopters fighting fires. Its somewhere in the akas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1T7j_PIhew&NR=1
Check out these nobs doing a river crossing. Was done as a safari advert. Feck doing that, they're just floating waiting for traction.

Heath wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1T7j_PIhew&NR=1
Check out these nobs doing a river crossing. Was done as a safari advert. Feck doing that, they're just floating waiting for traction.

feck my safary snorkel didnt help me when i drowned the girl lol