1988 Nissan Pickup 4X4 Custom Cab (after market m review from North America

Vehicle is a Custom Cab where the truck was cut in half between the cab and box and a fiberglass section added to allow for the seating of three more passengers. Built in roll bar in new section and very roomy in the back seat.

Replaced brake pads at purchase. $35 Did myself.

Replaced some of the brake parts in rear wheels. Rusted solid. Wrecker parts and my labor. $35.

Replaced tie rod ends and ball joint at purchase, $500 plus.

Had to have the drive-shaft steady bearing cross member moved as Custom Cab did not do this correctly. This involved rerouting the fuel, brake and wiring lines. $150.

Had to re-phase and balance the extended drive-shaft to get rid of bad vibration. Again the people at Custom Cab had not done this. $350.

Had to get added cab repaired and certified for insurance company. This was an American sold vehicle brought to Canada in 91. The insurance company took the previous owners premiums for the years until I bought it, but for some unknown reason failed to tell him that the coverage was not valid until the vehicle had been inspected and certified by a government approved company. Go figure. $ 450.

Replaced timing belt when purchased. 260,000 miles. $70, my labor.

Basic tune-up. Plugs, wires etc. About $150. Air filter very expensive in this unit for some reason. About $20.

Replaced fuel pump at 265,000 miles. It had internal short and failed intermittently. Unit was over $700 dollars plus labor of another 700 to find the cause and replace. Ouch.

Replaced front hub locks with Warn hubs as one of factory was broken. $200 used, my labor.

Replaced carpet as worn out. $35, my labor.

Replaced exhaust at 270,000 miles. $240.

Replaced distributor last week at 280,000 miles. $125 used. Was getting Crank position code, shaft was loose. Was an easy change.

Recurved rear leaf springs and added one when purchased at 260,000 miles. $125, my labor. Was easy work, about one hour.

Lacks power. Looking into reason why. Compression is 168 to 170 even with the high miles.

I traded my previous vehicle for this. This turned into a costly trade. I have had to replace too many things and repair too many things to make the trade even close to fair. Live and learn. I was looking to trade my minivan for any sort of pick up truck and this came along. It was sold originally in the U.S. and was brought into Canada in 1991. I am the third Canadian owner, but no idea how many U.S. owners there were. A U.S. company did a body modification before it was imported to Canada. The truck was cut in half behind the cab and extended to add a back bench seat. The back is a fiberglass body and seats three large adults very comfortably. With the added seating and the box out back this makes this an excellent hunting or camping vehicle.

I have enjoyed owning and driving this truck. It is unique in purpose and appearance. It seats five and is in effect a two door crew-cab.

The big downsides of this vehicle are the cost of parts, and poor high fuel consumption. While I am getting 19to 20 MPG I have friends with full size American make trucks that get from 19 all the way to the mid twenties.

Another trouble is I have had a hard time finding anyone that is either capable or willing to work on this vehicle. There is not a Nissan dealer for several hundred miles from here.

There are very little after market items to be had in the way of performance enhancing parts. And factory parts are extremely costly. For example the tie rods on my Chev minivan ran in at just under $40 while the ones for this were $112.

If the body mods had been done right and the previous owner had taken better care perhaps my costs would have not been so bad.

At this point in time I am getting ready to take the truck to a mechanic who has Nissan experience to get a determination of the lack of power trouble that has plagued me as well as estimate of the cost to repair what it turns out to be. From there I will decide if I want to fix and do the paint or just scrap the truck altogether.

To try and sum up my overall view of this truck I would have to say that I have had mixed feelings. This is the first vehicle that has caught my interest as something more than basic transportation since the days of my big block Fords and Chevys. It is fun to drive, it has just enough room in front for my 6'2" frame'. It will drive just about anywhere in 4 wheel winter or summer and will actually idle up very steep dirt hills in four-lo without touching the gas pedal. It handles well on snowy highways in four-hi and Blizzac tires. It gets a lot of attention on the road or in a parking lot even though the body is in bad need of paint.

As stated it lacks power and uses too much fuel. If this problem can be overcome without too much more money I will paint and keep it. Otherwise