Offroad-Express

Hi all,
I'm off to look at a 84 surf in napier tomorrow.
It will be a bush hack for my son to thrash on runs when we go out. I will keep it wof and reg so it can be driven to the tracks.
As I am a nissan man, I would like some pointers on what to look for when i have a look at it.
It already has 35" tyres and a 2" body lift. It is running the 3y engine.







Thanks for any input.

I hope you put on the back of it =

WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A NISSAN

has the guy only just bought it? looks like one that was forsale a few months ago down here

I think he said it was in ChCH. He said he bought it sight unseen. When he got it, there was alot more wrong with it than he was told.
Here is the trademe link

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=119817408

If anyone knows the truck, thiwer opinion would be appreciated.

PR, I like your bumper sticker idea. I might have to slip that on.
Of course the disgrace will be if he ever out drives me in it.

yea i remember it, think the guy bought it for 3 or 4 grand, im sure it needs a bit of work but thats to be expected with a 23 year old 4wd which has im sure been well used, looks like a good starting point, i'd be interested to no why he doesn't think it will get a wof again..
Just with that engine and those tyres don't expect it to go anywhere in a hurry, but its a cool place to start. goodluck

oh and throw a couple of mods at it, and it'll be leaving the nissans crying in the mud, mu ha ha ha

Are you sure they are 35's they look kinda small.

if it wasnt so far away, i would have been there.

I thought they looked like 33's myself. I asked him about them and he said they were 35's, I guess I will confirm the size tomorrow.

Looks good, it'll need HiSteer tho

you guys are as keen to modify this as much as my son. I think he has already spent about $10k of my money for mods on his truck in his head.
I have always thought the cheapest part of four wheeling is buying the truck.

look for rust in the rain gutters over the doors, look for rust in the sill's and check to see if they are blocked there is a plastic inspection point in the back.
Jack the formt wheels and see if there is any movement in the front hub if it is only the wheel and disk it is bearing if it is the hub then it will be kingpins and these take a bit to do.
look to see if there are breathers on the diff's otherwise check the oils, look at the gearbox engine mount if it was abused this will show the scars
Have a look how the snorkel was fitted some are a bit rough and leak badly better to look and be happy.

Oh and if you look up and think Oh god I am only painting the worst things, having been a CHCH truck the rubber seals in the axle may need changed some time. I have no idea why he thinks it won't get it's next wof tho.

tgaguy1 wrote:PR, I like your bumper sticker idea. I might have to slip that on.
Of course the disgrace will be if he ever out drives me in it.

PR your bumper sticker sucks like your Pissan :cyclops:

And he will outdrive you Daddy-O

Parts are easy to get for it, and cheap.......so don't worry too much about expense.
If it's running standard gearing in the diffs and they are 35inch tyres it'll be gutless, so don't be surprised if it won't even pull 5th gear.
If the front axle hasn't been shifted forward those size tyres will rub like absolute crazy offroad, and tear themselves to death, even 33's rub bad without shifting the front axle
You could always sell the 35's and go back to 33's

being the little petrol engine, what diffs would it of come with i thought they came with the 4.8's or something???

i took it for a test drive the other day, was a absolute pig to drive, ride was rough as f**K, shit loads of rust, gutless, in my opinion only worth parts, yes they are 35" tires, looks the part but but hey i guess its what you get when u buy a toyota!!!!

Give him $1000, any day of the week its worth more in parts.

Reg on hold, repower, cut and paste out the rust, cane the living shit out of it.

I dont think you would get a cheaper more capable off-roader.

You could sell the 35's to cover some cost.

tgaguy1,

BUY THE POS, you can't put a price on a Father/Son or in my family FRIEND/FRIEND project. If your son and BEST FRIEND is keen money just can't buy this bond. If your scared of him kicking your arse ---- he is going to do it anyway. Those 35" KUMHO's measure if lucky 34" but are a very good tyre, just ask the Trails guys. --------- well have you got the cheque book out yet .

MONEY CAN'T BUY LOVE, BUT TIME TOGETHER CAN,

FITZY.

Well said Fitzy

Picked it up today.

Not as bad as I thought.
General condition would be the same as any surf that has be in a few mud bogs.

There is a few days work to get it up to speed before it can be used in anger.

I am wrapped with it for the price and so is the boy.

I will post some picks when we get it out on the first thrash.

Thanks for your help everyone, I appreciate the input.

Dont forget the bumper sticker

tgaguy1 wrote:Picked it up today.

Not as bad as I thought.
General condition would be the same as any surf that has be in a few mud bogs.

There is a few days work to get it up to speed before it can be used in anger.

I am wrapped with it for the price and so is the boy.

I will post some picks when we get it out on the first thrash.

Thanks for your help everyone, I appreciate the input.

Good to see your positive now.
If you dont mind telling us, how much did you knock off the asking price??

Good work on the toy, and a father son progect is really cool. Was anything mentioned in the list observed or was it just a little rough?

Also good work on getting the boy out of stupid fast cars and motorbikes like I had and mum and dad didnt want me to drive ride.

if only I found offroading first...

Rust has started in the a pillars. I will have to weld one patch for the next warrant, the rest is still surface rust so hopefully be kept at bay with a bit of grinding ang treating.
Over all it is a good bush truck. The interior is well trashed, But it is only going to get treated worse. The number of dents will only increase as well.
The little 3y is a sweet runner, should go for some time yet, long enough to keep my eyes peeled for a supra eng come up for sale on TM for the right coin.
It has so much potential to become a weapon with the right mods, (yes I will be picking the brains of forum members as we go), and teach the boy some mechanical sympathy; as he will be helping with the repairs/mods at first, then peforming the repairs/mods later on himself.

I am really looking forward to this project, it should be a whole lot of fun.

tgaguy1 wrote:(yes I will be picking the brains of forum members as we go)

try the search function dude.. powers of info on the old lux mods on here...

good luck with it too... sounds like ya got plenty of plans.. how hard core/modified it gonna go?

If you dont mind telling us, how much did you knock off the asking price??

He would only come down $200. I am happy at that price though, as it ticked just about all the "must have boxes" on the list of features and ticked a number of would be "nice to have boxes".

good luck with it too... sounds like ya got plenty of plans.. how hard core/modified it gonna go?

I don't know yet. I think it will be an evolution thing. It will develop as my boys driving and skills grow. It certainly has loads of potentional if some of the rigs on here are anything to go by.

mint... father son stuff is cool... i Just got full custody of my son, and he loves 4wding so im planning to invest my " secondry tax" into my lux so the lad and I can go out on more trips, hopefully by the time he gets his licence ( shit, only 2 years to wait on that) he will be wanting a 4wd of his own, instaed of fast cars like i did at his age!!

Why wait till he has his licence? My boy has been running my winch for a while so knows a thing or two about recovery now. He doesn't have a licence yet so someone else will be driving his truck to the track and he will be taking it from there. If your son has the skills, the maturity and the motivation, get him into it as young as you can.

I agree with TGAGUY, why do you not look at getting an A framed bush truck, drive out with the other framed behind you and you drive one he drives the other (you choose), the earlier you get him into 4wd the better.

I wish I had experienced the challenge of 4wd before my motorbike (900cc Fireblade and Yamaha R1 suicycle) and car (Mitsy VR4 and Misti evo 2) stages, the tickets, repairs and mod's that did and what I put my parents through with them.

The difference is a challenge and sence of achievement over an adrenaline rush from the speed, and you can get adrenelin many ways like running sport's (touch, Rugby etc).

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 550187.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 834650.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 790925.htm

Go on I know you want to do it and what an excuse!

i only just got my lerners the other day so now i can drive my truck there with a adult who has had there lisence for more then 2 year . i was looking at that truck for a friend i geus u got ther 1st lol?? wen i come to get those shocks u wouldnt mind me having a look would you?

No worries.