Need advice on buying a hardbody...

Hey guys, I seem to have found an afordable way back in to a mini truck. I am going tomorrow or monday to look at one for sale that I think I can get. I have never owned a hard body or a nissan of any kind before. is there any pointers you guys can give me of things to look for that that might clue me in to other deeper problems? after I get it, then I will probably have aobut another 1000 dollars that I can spend on repairs and regular maintenance stuff. What should I prepare to do first? its got 100k miles on it. Not sure of the maintenenace history yet so I emagine a timeing belt will be in there some where needing to be done. is that something that could be done easily in my driveway on this truck? Only done one chain before. Anyways. If you guys even have a link to a buyers guide then that would be awesome too. Thanks again for all the help guys always provide!

100k is nothing man. just look for rust in the rear wheel wells. oil smoke from the exhust. mine has double that. so you should be fine

listen for timing chain noise. 89-97 have a crappy single eoller chain it goes out after about 60,000. Remove the oil cap (710 cap for the idiots) and look inside to see if there is any sludge or oil build up. People tent to forget to change the oil in these trucks for some reason. Run it through the gears the 5 speeds in the 90-97 trucks are not as strong as the 5 speeds in the 86.5-89 they lose second gear all too often. Hope this helps They are great trucks and can treat you well. good luck

Yea timing chain noise. Mine has it. It was the tensioner tho not the chain. There actually was a recall on em for that.

Originally posted by dragrocker



100k is nothing man. just look for rust in the rear wheel wells.

I second that. Thats the one problem i see on most hardbody's. Other than that the little engines are strong so you shouldnt have any problems, if its been previously well maintaned. Good luck.

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like now I am going to go look at it and i know a few things to look for. Anything else you guys can think of to look for? I am getting it from a buddy who's grandad died and left him this truck. its a one owner non work truck with 100k so it should have been taken very well care of. Apparently the body is in great shape with just some rust on the front bumper easy enough to replace that though. aslong as there isn't any under the rest of the truck. Its a chrome bumper though so rust doesn't surprise me at all. Thanks for all your help guys.

i just got a 97 hardbody, with 96,xxx miles on it and it a 5 speed. love it runs great!

i got a 86.5 hardbody with 167xxx mls on it.if you change all the parts that are super old it will run forever

its not my bagged one

You are looking at a now soon to be prowd owner of a 95 Nissan Hard body! I am finaly back in a truck again. got one for $500 bucks with 125k miles on it! Yahoo. it was a budy of mines grandads truck from the day it was new and was well maintained. Sadly it was the aquasition(sp?) of his after his grand dad past away and he just doesn't have space for it. so I got it at a steal. So my next order is to just get the title form him in exchange for the 5 bills and then sell my cavalier so I can get the bags for the truck and start shav'n. woot woot. anyways, thought I would give you guys the final heads up.

the motor was making a kinda loud ticken when I first cranked it but after about 2 minutes idleing it settled out almost completely. I think most of this was cuz it hadn't been cranked in like 3 months. but I am pretty sure still that it needs a timing chain. so I am gonna do that too once I sell my cavy.

If you guys know anyone in the NC area looking for a dependable custom compact let me know. I will get updated pics of the cavy and add the truck pics maybe tomorrow. have a great day guy!