New World Datsuns...

I'll just post this worthless info here as it may be found by someone as weird as me! LOL!!! Who in their right mind would buy a truck that's 54 years old and only 250 of them imported to the USA?

Tip one. Never leave the parking brake applied for prolonged periods! It rust the wheel cylinders fool! But if you did? Hone them out and grind off an 1/8" of the plungers from the outside and reassemble with new rubbers to stop leaks!

Can't find Kingpins for that rare Nissan straight axle? Man! This suck's big time! I searched for two months and finely found out that Pins from a 72-76 620 will fit in the hole! You'll need to buy two sets as only 2 bushings will fit from the set. You'll also need to cut 1/4" off the top of the pin and 1/8" off of the bottom. I used an air cutoff tool and submersed the pin in water to cut the case hardened drop forged pins. I also reused the old oilite bronze bearings from the axle and put in a shim or two in the bottom of the bearing casing. You may have to re groove them to help keep them greased. Or special order them from a bronze bearing factory.

When I got to the steering box I was really afraid but then I remembered seeing adjustment shims on ebay! So. I opened her up!

For this you'll need to jack up the truck. Remove the inner fender well. Drain the oil from the box. Pull off the pitman arm. then the cover that holds the shaft in place. Once you get the cover off you'll want to inspect the insides of the box, there is a bronze bushing between the cover and the shaft. Mine was only about half worn out so I reused it. Now There is a stack of shims between the cover and the box. The tightness in the steering wheel will be adjusted by removing shims. Before you start though you might want to loosen the nut and set screw on the other side of the box till it can no longer make contact with the shaft. Go ahead and back it out a few turns. Now just for the heck of it put all the shims and the shaft and cover back together and snug the bolts up. Push in and pull out on the shaft to check your play. I would say you only want around a 1/16" inch of play. If you have more. Disassemble it again and take out a shim or two then reassemble it and check the play. When you get close to that 1/16" you'll want to re tighten the set screw and nut good and snug. Don't over tighten it. Then check the play in your steering wheel. I got my play down from 2 1/2" to 1/2"!

Need Shocks? Try anything off the back end of a 1967 ford Mustang They will fit all around on your Datsun PLG 222! Good luck!

This post is for those with prior knowledge of suspensions. You will need a reamer and a press to do the KINGPIN REPAIR!

In the diagram below I have put the pin dimensions in inches as most dealers spec them this way. Inch spec bushings won't fit so I have included the size in case you need them made. At $54.00 a piece I found it is cheaper just to buy the two pin kits as sugjested.



King Pins, Absorbers, Datsun, Nissan, Repair

[img]socalmusicexchange.com/bt.jpg[/img]

Wow man! On the ford trucks I know they make aftermarket beams so you can drop them the right way.

Good info!

I wish it was as easy as a ford but it took me 9 hours of searching just to find pins to fit the holes! By the way. This is a completely stock setup repaired to stock except for the front gas shocks and rear spring assisted overloads to keep it off the huge tires. Hopefully it will last at least another 5 years. All my friends are like man! just throw that thing on a newer 4x4 rolling chassis! I almost started to get an axle made but I just kept searching. Funny thing is every time I pull into a shop they tell me (Sorry we can't work on that!) Not even an oil change! So I'm stuck doing it all! Thankfully I have the hard stuff done! New brakes, clutch, kingpins steering box, welding and most of the body work! I have a line on all the rubber except the wing windows. She's coming along nicely.

bajasdogs wrote:Thankfully I have the hard stuff done! New brakes, clutch, kingpins steering box, welding and most of the body work! I have a line on all the rubber except the wing windows. She's coming along nicely.

Nice write up - and that's a bitch'n little truck you've got!

Thanks! I had let it sit in the yard a couple of years and it had been parked for 5 before that. First thing I did was go over the brakes and did most of the welding which was very little compared to the other 222's I have seen. Seems there built to collect mud in the rockers and the back end of the fenders and door jams. She had her last few years of shoty maintenance I guess. The timing was out 15 degrees but she fired right up. The carb kinda sucks but I have it working as good as it can without replacing it. She had all kinds of noises going on and it took months to isolate them all. Now the worst one is the muffler hits the drive shaft every once in a while while it running cold. Everything works on the truck but as I stated in another thread I can use any parts that pop up. I love my Jap truck and would like to take it up to the Japanese car show at the Queen Mary someday. To bad they sell out spaces so fast! Maybe next year.