1990 Nissan 4x4 X-cab

SEAIRESCUE

Active Member
Joined
May 8, 2006
Location
SO Pines
Frankly, I hate Nissan, but, I have a chance to pick up an 1990 V-6, auto, 4x4 that is ratty but good body. Motor is probably OK.
Has anyone converted one of these to SAS and performed a 5-speed
conversion?
Opinions appreciated.

:beer:
 
4x4parts is a very good resource as well as nissan4wheelers.com for SAS info and other hardcore 4x4 information. I also own a pathfinder that is SAS'd, it is not a difficult feat to do it. Even calmini sells crossmembers, front spring hanger and shackles to help out if you cant make your own... 3 of the 4 nissans i have owned have been 5 speeds and it shouldnt be too difficult to complete the swap... let me know if i can be anymore help to you or can help you do some of the fabwork for the SAS....
 
The 5 speed conversion is straightforward and does not require an ECU swap. The autos are pretty durable if you keep them cool. V6 5 speeds from 1987-2004 will swap right in, but I recommend going with ones from the Hardbody era '87-'95 ('96 and '97 didn't have V6s) because they have lower ratio 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

I am going to swap my Frontier's transmission out for an old one for a lower crawl ratio and more getup and go on the street.

You can beat the living crap outta those trucks and they beg for more. Axles are bigger than yotas, easy to armor up, easy to mod. Aftermarket parts are getting easier to come by, the normal stuff (bumpers, sliders, lockers, etc) are readily available.

4x4parts rocks, you can also visit NOR www.nissanoffroad.net for additional info.

If you need any help finding parts let me know.
 
calimini has a sas kit for the trucks. The kit is set up for a d44 frount axle. I wanted to get it for my pathfinder but after I rolled it I had tranny problems and sold it for a toyota
 
the kit for the hardbodys and pathys is not on the market yet.... all they have is the front spring hanger, rear shackle kit to sleeve your frame with and some other crossmembers... nothing else... youd be better just fabbing it yourself..
 
People talk alot of shit about their 3.0s but I would way reather have a nissan 3.0 then a yota one. I ran the hell out of mine in the woods and off road with 200k on it and it did fine. The auto tranny slipped a few times and then I traded it for a yota truck. I wish that I would have kept the pathfinder.
 
I love my pathfinder and i loved my frontier... I also have pathfinder for my DD and had a 2 door pathy at one point in time.... THe 3.0 is a pretty solid engine and all of mine except for the DD have been 5 speeds, i prefer manual.....
 
sorry to bring back this dead thread....but a friend of mine wants to SAS his 86.5(?) hardbody and also do a SBC swap. his is a 4 cylinder/5 speed/4x4

what would be good axles to look for? and what would be the cheapest route...that would work consistently and be strong enough to really be WORTH the swap. He's basically wanting something that can be played with in the mud and probably mess around at the Lincolton rock garden...

thanks
 
The cheapest axle set to swap in would probably be a set of 44s out of a 80s waggoneer.. That 4cyl has the weaker rear end so it would be best to swap that out. As long as he is not running some huge tires on there he be fine with stock shafts but once he gets to about 35-37 its probably a good idea to at least get spares if he can't afford chromollys.
 
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