I have little 1994 D21 "Hardbody". It is one of the rare Heavy Duty (3/4-ton suspension) truck that has been in my family from Day 1.
My dad used it for 15 years in the oil field where it took quite a beating, then retired it to ranching work where it was attacked by a tornado and a tree was flung through the windshield.
I took over this truck in January of this year (2011), with it in very rough shape.
It appeared the truck was in basically good shape except for a few things here and there.
So, I sold the 2006 Scion xB that I was driving for $7500, and used the proceeds from that sale to start fixing this old truck.
I kept a
[[ LIST ]] of repairs so I would not over spend the allowance the Scion afforded me (but I went over a tad).
I changed the plugs & wires, replaced all of the lights, tires, starter, alternator, brake & clutch cylinders, tie rods, center link, plugs and wires, fuel door, instrument cluster, door handles, center driveshaft bearing, fuel tank sending unit, left & right front fenders, the hood, control arm bushings, and new shocks.
It did not come with a radio, but I added an AM/FM CD player from a 2003 Nissan Frontier, got an owners manual for it, and installed a sliding rear window (it does not have A/C, so a sliding back glass helps a lot in the summer).
After all of the important stuff was done, I sent it out for paint:
Today, she sits in pretty good shape with only a few things still needed.
- Something still grinds pretty hard when I go across big dips. I am guessing a ball joint is worn somewhere, but it's getting too cold to work on those.
- Idle is rough when it starts. The MAF sensor or EGR valve is probably going out.
- The interior lights and park lights do not always turn on unless I remove the cover on the fuse panel and ...press around until the lights turn on. There's a lose wire somewhere.
- My AM/FM/CD radio from the 2003 Frontier can't seem to play CDs (it kicks them back out after trying to play them for a while) and the lights on the buttons do not turn on (could these two problems be related and easy to fix?)
- The doors are hard to open and shut. The door latches seem to take 2 or 3 pulls before they release, and they both sound like empty cans when the doors close and require a pretty good smack to get shut.
- The passenger door rattles pretty bad going down the road.
Otherwise, she's in pretty good shape! (Is that good shape?)
That is how she stays parked most of the time.
I use the truck to take my son to Chick-fil-A, McDonnald's or to the park to play or to go visit my folks about 45 miles away every other weekend.
Most of the time, I can be seen riding on my customized Harley-Davidson Sportster (even on brisk 30°F mornings like today)
The little D21 is my emergency ride to work during rain, sleet and snow or when I need to transport a packages to the post office for shipping (I try to sell as much as I buy on eBay).
I'd like to get a set of headers for it. The closest I've found are Pace Setter headers. They make a set for 4x4 V6 5-speed Hardbody trucks, but when I asked they told me those headers would NOT fit a 2x4.
Maybe when I get some money to spare, I'll finish the TO DO list on the truck, then try out some headers to see what they need.