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About Telkwa

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    Advanced Member

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  • Location
    Seattle's north, Portland's south
  • Cars
    1986 720-D Nissan

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  1. That's a good point. As far as I can tell from googling around, and the original documents that came with the truck, the gross weight ratings aren't that much different than a standard Nissan truck of the same vintage. The leaf springs are heavier than a standard 720. I'm guessing the dually axle helps stability and road-worthiness with a load on, but the axle itself does not convert a standard 720 into a 1-ton 720. You've still got the stock clutch, brakes, etc. What's going on here is I've lost interest in restoring this truck and I'm wondering what it's worth as-is. I've got spare body parts, door latches, hinges, etc. from the wrecking yards and a small heap of brand-new stuff. Wayno, bring your flatbed trailer and let's make a deal!
  2. The truck is an '85. I'm just wondering if the axle might be worth more than the truck.... Thanks
  3. I measured across the tires. Inside edge to inside edge. 44". This measurement would give you an idea of whether the tires would clear wheel wells and or frame parts. The tires are standard issue 14". Measured to the outside edges of the spring perches. By "spring perches" I mean the flat plates welded to the axle housings that the springs bolt to. I pulled a tape all the way across from outside edge to outside edge. 40.5" across the spring perch thingies. Measured to the inside edges of the axle at the point where the axle housing bolts to the back of the hubs. 45.5" If anyone wants more numbers let me know...
  4. I hadn't thought about antilock. Can antilock be disabled by pulling a fuse or some other similar work-around?
  5. Has anyone tried bolting a genuine Datsun 720 dually rear axle to a D21? D21 is the name for the next generation after the 720's, I think. I have an '81 Heavy Duty truck, originally sold as Cab & Chassis. I don't have the time/expertise/desire to fix up the 720 cab so was wondering if moving the axle to a next gen truck might be a better option. Or even the next-next gen truck if that were possible. The Frontier came after the Hard Body, correct? Driveshafts can be cut and modified. I'm mostly wondering about spring hangers, brake lines, and other "devil in the details" booby traps.
  6. Take a look thru my Photobucket thread. It's a bit unwieldy, because I was learning as the thread progressed. Once you've started a Photobucket account, try jumping to Post #44 and read the rest of the thread more carefully. I tried to distill everything so that there was maximum info and the least amount of writing. The Ratsun Forum doesn't let you insert an image file directly into your posts. But you can insert a hyperlink which will retrieve your image from a third-party image hosting website like Photobucket or Flicker or etc. If you set it up correctly, someone who looks at your post will see your pictures even though they aren't really in the post. The pictures are actually stored at the image-host, and only appear in your post because of the hyperlink that retrieves them.
  7. Telkwa

    85 rear bumper

    I like your door panels. Carpet instead of sun-bleached vinyl. And the pouch on the driver's side doesn't look stock. Are these OEM?
  8. I think the location is the same for all the trucks, but apparently there are a few different kinds of sending units. Perhaps your truck has an oil psi gauge as well as an idiot light? Our 2WD truck sending unit has just one wire. It was leaking badly for years. I thought I had a rear engine seal going out. Now I'm hoping it was just the sending unit.
  9. Yeah, it'd probably be a good idea to figure out what exactly is wrong. It'd be a drag to have a cabin fire.
  10. Do you have a picture of this? After reading your post I looked at Carb #2 some more. The fast idle screw (this screw is upside-down and must be a real mother to work on when the carb's on the engine) is the one that pushes against the white nylon fast idle cam. Right? Is that the screw you're talking about? I can see how setting this screw inward too far would cause the engine to race when on the choke but I don't see how it could stop the choke from closing. ANOTHER NOTE: It's funny how - OK, it's not that funny - a person can think they understand something but there's almost always more to it. The bimetallic spring reacts to temperature. I was working on it yesterday afternoon when ambient temp was in the high 60's F. This morning, with ambient in the 50's, I could tell a difference. If you've decided to grind off the pin so you can adjust how hard the choke heater spring pushes the choke plate closed, take temperature into account. If it's 90 degrees I'll bet you could set it so that the choke plate barely closed and you'd be fine.
  11. I'm new to this forum, but I know datzenmike has specifically mentioned that these trucks have several grounds, and they all need to be solid. I believe he mentioned that each sub-system has its own grounds. I'd noticed ground wires all over the place on mine. I used to think that if half of them rotted away there'd still be too many. I don't think that any more. Do you have any reason to believe mice have had their way with the truck? I had a weird electrical drain that is now fixed. I think so anyway. I put a voltmeter in between the positive battery terminal and the cable. I've got some long test leads, so was able to bring the voltmeter inside the cab. I put fuses back in one at a time, waiting to see which circuit was pulling power. At first I left each fuse in as I went along, but I got better results by inserting the fuse, checking the multimeter, then taking that fuse back out and going on to the next one. That process may or may not help you out. If you have a short, it may help point you in the right direction. If it's a broken wire probably not. I'm curious to hear how giving the truck some much-needed attention initiated some weird electrical glitch. :confused:
  12. I googled "how to adjust hitachi choke spring" and the first few hits were Ratsun. Looked to me like some folks have reinstalled their choke heaters wrong so I thought "What the hey" I'm already this far into it. I hosed all the little springs and gizmos with some LPS 2. This is what I got. With the choke heater off, the tiny springs that exist here and there on just about every shaft should pull the choke wide open. There's not much force involved; just enough to open the choke if nothing's gummed up. Notice that little brass-colored tab in the foreground. The one inside the casting that accepts the choke heater. In this picture the choke is wide open. If you look closely you'll see that the tab is right up against a small stop cast into the carb body. When the choke is closed this tab swings counter-clockwise to about 10:00 or so. During installation of the choke heater, you have to catch that tab with the bimetallic spring inside the choke heater. If you miss it the choke will not close when cold. There's a little plate that goes between the carb body and the choke heater. The plate is off in the first shot. It's installed in this shot. I'm using a pick to hold the choke mechanism closed. See how that tab inside the choke heater casting is rotated roughly 90 degrees to the left of the first picture? When installing the choke heater, make sure the bimetallic spring catches that tab, then twist the choke heater counterclockwise until it meets the pin. Check to make sure the choke is closing and button it up. In my case, 'buttoning it up' will entail a trip to the hardware store for two small machine screws, washers, and nuts to replace the rivets. UPDATE: I decided to grind off the small pin that locks the choke heater at a certain rotation. A few minutes with a carbide bit and it was gone. Twisting the choke heater another 15 degrees or so made the choke plate snap all the way shut. I rotated the choke heater clockwise until the choke plate wouldn't shut all the way, then rotated it counter-clockwise until it snapped shut more vigorously than I thought necessary, then I picked a spot in between. WARNING: It's been said that the wires coming off the back of the carb tend to break because they're too short. Removing the pin and twisting the choke heater exacerbates the short wire problem. Depending on how much you twist the heater, it might be a good idea to add a couple of inches to the choke heater wire.
  13. My drug-addled brain has failed me again. The plastic choke heater housing is pinned in place. Why the housing has the words "Rich" and "Lean" printed on the outside when you can't adjust it either way is beyond my reckoning. Troubleshooting takes on a whole new dimension when you have a second device! I'm going to call the original truck's carburetor Carb #1. The one I bought from a forum member is Carb #2. Carb #1's choke heater snaps its choke closed with conviction. So I removed Carb #1's choke heater and placed it on Carb #2. Carb #2 with #1's choke heater; strong like bull. Carb #2 with its own heater; limp-wristed. The little tiny springs on the various shafts all seem to work roughly the same. The bimetallic springs inside the two choke heater housings both seem to push back against applied force with the same vigor. The only difference I'm seeing is this: Notice the resting position of the springs. The spring in Carb #2 choke heater (on the left) stops pushing back "sooner" than Carb #1. That seems to make all the difference. I thought maybe I could pop the spring out of the brass hub and move it 90 degrees, but it resisted that idea and I stopped before breaking something. I think all I need is to get roughly 20 degrees or so more push from Carb #2's spring.
  14. Good morning! I bought a Hitachi feedback carb from a Ratsun member. For the late-model 720's. It appears to be in much better condition than my original carb. However, the choke plate doesn't quite close. And the ring-shaped bracket that holds the choke heater in position is attached with two rivets and a screw instead of three screws. A very light touch with a screwdriver on that little tab closes the choke plate. So the choke mechanism doesn't resist closing, but it gently drifts back to that slightly open position shown in the first photo. If I recall correctly the simplest way to get the choke plate to close (if everything else is functioning) was to loosen the choke heater and give it a little twist? If that's correct, I'm thinking that the first thing to do is drill out those rivets. Then try to tap the original holes, or drill out to the next size that can be tapped, or if that doesn't work replace with some small machine screws and nuts. I want to get rid of the rivets either way. But I'm not sure that twisting the heater is the first, or the correct, course of action.
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