Hi everyone! So I was hoping some of my Nissan brotheren would be able to help me out with this. I have decided that, though the Xterra is a more than capable vehicle I can't bring my self to justify dumping a bunch of money into my rig so that I can trash on it. In its current state with some new MT tires and a few pieces of armor it is going to be able to serve its purpose just fine. Camping, trail, go everywhere DD rig. However I still want a to build a true off road oriented vehicle as well as after buying a house I need something with a bed. SO I am looking for a forum similar to this dedicated to the nissan hardbody. I haven't been able to find anything even close to as good or complete as this forum. If anyone has any information or a link it would be appreciated. As far as plans for this truck, I would like to be able to eventually put 33 on it. This will be similar in requirments to the xterra. Body lift required. I will be also adding a suspension lift as well. I'm lloking for info on how to's and the such. Your hekp is appreciated

There are no HB forums that I know of. I've owned one the past 6 years.

www.nissanoffroad.net
www.4x4parts.com
www.nissan4wheelers.com
Were the main ones I checked on a daily basis.


Also
www.clubfrontier.org might be a better option then this board.

I know of none as well I used to float around the 4x4parts forum when I had my old hard body...and fyi you won't need a body lift to fit 33"s under one a pml will be more then enough

There are a few HB guys over on the NOAS boards and a lot of the members are really knowledgeable of the HB's. Expedition Portal has a dedicated Nissan section but not sure how much it would have on the HB. Outside of those and the few the others mentioned, I think you'll be hard pressed to find one solely dedicated to the hardbody.

www.noas4x4.com

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43

Cool thanks guys. Xterror04 what did you have done to your hardbody?

Pirate4x4.com has a dedicated Nissan section but pirate is more of a hardcore crawling website and you will prolly get bashed for only going with 33's and using a body lift.

Try NissanOffRoad (http://www.nissanoffroad.net/messageboard/index.php?PHPSESSID=1481ba3f319b301186b840291fc816 82;www)

there is some decent info at WWW.RONINWHEELERS.COM as well

Yeah man, Try RONIN, we have the biggest baddest collection of Nissans in one spot. I promise. there are some HB's in there that will make you go poopoo in you pants. That's right.

Oh, and a Hardbody is a more capable vehicle than the X. Especially when modified.

Here are a few:

http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=95

http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1564

http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=589

There seems to be a fair amount of info here: http://nissan4wheelers.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/717603133

On my wife's hardbody we had a PML, and a body lift with 33's on it (although you really don't need both). The only thing we really had any issues with, was the idler arm going bad about every 18-24 months or so, because of the 33's. We just bought one with a lifetime warranty, and it only takes about 10 minutes to change, so it really wasn't a big deal. Oh, and change out your auto-hubs for manuals.

try this site... they are a great group of guys... and there are a few hardbodys on there....

http://www.nissantrailriders.com/

heres my hardbody...
the most recent pics are in the beginning of my build thread
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/660041
http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12860
any questions just ask..... i miss that truck

Thanks for the responses everyone. Xterror, that was a really really nice HB! Thanks for all the links as well. Seems like it would pretty dang similar to moddin the X. For those who have owned a HB what was your biggest complaint?

Mine was frame rust. My truck rotted away and I had to get rid of it. They are really the same problem wise as the Xterra's. Steering needs upgrades, motor mounts tear. I found the front suspension to be of a stronger design with the bolt on lower ball joints and female tierod adjusters. Though the tension rod bushings occasionally wore out quickly. I loved mine it was little longer wheelbase then my Xterra so I was always long enough to be out of the Jeep ruts. Though like wise the turning circle was pretty bad. It was just a blast to drive visibility was fantastic. After rolling down windows and removing the sunroof it was like having a convertible. Very capable offroad, the square shape was handy as you could easily estimate every corner of the vehicle. It had 215,000 miles I'd still be driving it today if my folks didn't press me so hard into a newer vehicle.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/silverdude/attica007r.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/silverdude/attica026r.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/silverdude/attica020r.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/silverdude/attica011r.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/silverdude/DSC05957.jpg

Silverdude, what mods if any did you have done to your HB? That was some serious rust on that frame! We have less of an issue with rust over here in western oregon as it mostly just rains. Any body have any recommendations on motor options? 4 or 6 cylinder?

I have no complaints with my '87 hardbody at all. I love the thing, and it's got 250K+ miles on it, and runs great still. I drive all the time, it's never left me stranded, and in the last 12 years, all I've had to do to it was put a clutch in it.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn2/BrainDead13/P1020549Small.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn2/BrainDead13/P1020550Small.jpg

Xterror04, That's a really cool rear bumper.

I had
32x11.50x15 BFG tires
3" Super lift
Shrockworks rock sliders
Warn Hubs

Took me everywhere I wanted to go.

You want the V6 the 4 banger has no power. The 4 bangers also came with weaker diffs. The Vg30e V6 is really just the father of our Xterra's engine the Vg33e. Super reliable.

If your looking to purchase one I would go 1990 or newer. I believe 1990 was the first year of the EFI engine. Not to say the TB injection was bad but the EFI's had more power. There were a couple years that Nissan used recycled metal for their frames which rusted horribly. So check your frame bring a hammer to tap around. They rust from the inside out so it might look fine till it eats through. I want to say it was maybe 93? that Nissan switched to the more modern curvy dash which used a electric not cable speedometer. The early ones came fitted with larger 31" size tires.

Manual transmission if you like it or auto. Autos last forever as do the manuals.

A local shop in des moines Iowa made my bumper for me.... the guy now owns Frontier4x4.com but its mostly toyota parts..... The only complaints I had were the steering..... I upgraded to the calmini HD steering kit then most of my problems were solved... Before that it was replacing tie rods every other month.... I also had 32x11.50 and a 4cylinder....seeing as Mine was a regular cab the 4 banger made enough power for me.... I did a few things like exhaust and electric fan and I would get around greaT... also got 24 mpgs!

I will make sure to bring a hammer. Recycled metal for a frame? Kudos to nissan for trying. Creepy, what kind of seats are those?

1st gen WRX, and they are super awesome! lol.

They are however a bitch to mount in a hardbody, lol. Lots or fabing, bending, & welding for the brackets to fit. I've done hundreds of seat swaps, and this was by far the worst ever, lol. Well worth the time and hassle though. They wouldn't have been quite as bad, if I wasn't so tweeky and had to have them mount into the OEM factory holes in the hardbody and look totally factory when you slide the seats forward, lol.