Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi guys.

So I thought I would document a bit of my journey.
I only got her a few weeks back, so getting to know her too is important.

Charles

So the Safari is old, 1992. I would think she will require a bit of care, I do not know her history.

The drivers window stopped working. So i decided to take a look.
And heaven forbid, this old car has those old style door door cards of soft "wood" with a "rivet" plastic which holds onto the door frame.
After a few VW's owned, once you remove the door card; it never goes back snuggly. And sure enough, the soft wood broke where the rivet holds.
Will need to get a few more rivets and create some kind of fastener to the wood area.
Anyway, i tested the switch panel. The switch was registering voltage when operated up & down.
So this left the motor. Stripped it off and connect a 12V supply to it. Nothing. My first thought was the relay. After tussling with it, i managed to open and test the relay. All good too.
My fear was the motor itself. But just by chance, i noticed a loose wire out of a round plastic white shield. I'm not sure what the purpose of it was. So i wacked out the 12V again, added power and connected the loose wire. Presto, it worked.
Lesson learnt here, old cars have old brittle wires; it should have been my first inspection.
Re-solder the wire and re-installed.

I took my wife for a drive, very proud and stuff. Going around a bend, the steering started to shake. I ride a motorcycle as well, although that has never happened to me on my bike; the rule i remember is never death grip the steering if it shakes violently as it will only exacerbate it. So loosely held on, foot of the gas and with being a diesel; the speed slowed down significantly and the shaking stopped.
I played it cool with the wife, like it was not much; but i would not want to experience that again.
So, when i got home; i googled the issues. The common fault pointed out was balancing, wheel bearing loose, panhard bushes worn and kingpin bearing shim.

I was eager to sort it out, as wanted to use it to Hazyview last weekend. I thought if i could quick fix it; we would be good. After a few Youtube videos and great writeup from this forum; i decided to give it a try.
Jacked up, tyre removed.
The top kingpin bearing was easy to remove and replace & took out the shim.
The bottom was also easy to get off (lots write ups suggest the brake dust cover getting in the way of bolts) as well.
But i could not get the bearing back into its housing. I huffed and puffed and maybe too much; i damage the rubber seal around the bearing.
So, i was stuffed. I decided to close it up and sort out next weekend.
I cut off the rubber seal as I did not want shards of it going into the housing and knew it would go in much easier with it off.

Pic of the bearing with rubber seal damaged.

I do not have any experience with this kind of stuff. So its very much learning as I do. With that said, for a few days after, I gave it a bit of thought; what i did wrong or should have noticed.
A few things stuck out to me.
First, the grease was not grease. It was slimy liquid like oil.
Second, I should have packed grease on the bearing/seal and receiver.
Third, I had to jiggly the swivel to align the inside and outer swivel.

I was impatience and wanted to go on holiday with it. Whereas i should have paid more attention. The slimy liquid is probably a sign of oil mixing from the diff.
If i has applied grease to bearing; i would not have damaged the seal.

So, with all of this; it has made me realize; I should actually be stripping the swivel hub and replacing the seals, bearings etc.

Any of you guys have experience with getting parts for this in SA?
Or better to import a kit like:

https://www.onlineautoparts.com.au/prod ... -01842..__

https://patrolapart.com.au/product/niss ... q-maverick

https://www.alliedautoonline.com.au/swi ... -patrol-gq

Charles, just get hold of Terrain Tamer in Cape Town. They have nice complete kits for this.

Also, I hope you had a good loock at the panhard rod bushes and tie rod ends (all 4) before you stripped the swivel hub bearings. In my opinion, they are more often the problem.

Nice write-up Kyzah,

Yeah patience is a virtue.... i say nothing , cause we've all been there ...haha

Peter Connan wrote: ↑24 Jun 2021 14:25 Charles, just get hold of Terrain Tamer in Cape Town. They have nice complete kits for this.

Also, I hope you had a good loock at the panhard rod bushes and tie rod ends (all 4) before you stripped the swivel hub bearings. In my opinion, they are more often the problem.

Thanks for this, i must check out the tie rods.
I called Terrain Tamer, and there kits looks pretty detailed. Just checking other sources as well.

Agree with what pete has said, and lastly , to add, just make sure your tyres are PERFECTLY balanced, even if you thnk they are, get them checked, and if they holding too much lead, optimize the tyre/rim, by getting them to clock it 90' on the rim, until it uses as little weight as possible.

This, for me, has always made the biggest difference, in addition to the other proven measures mentioned.

kyzah wrote: ↑24 Jun 2021 14:17 Any of you guys have experience with getting parts for this in SA?
Or better to import a kit like:

https://www.onlineautoparts.com.au/prod ... -01842..__

I buy from onlineautoparts. Painless, cheap, and quick. Waaaay cheaper and less hassle than buying locally

Just a few things I learned with them:
1. The first time you buy they will want to verify that you aren't a scammer. They reverse a few bucks on your purchase and you must get back to them to tell them how much was reversed. I wasn't expecting that and lost a day of delivery time because I didn't check my email. I contacted the guy to say our forex system is a bit antiquated and it will take forever to see a reversal, and sent him a screen shot of my payment which he accepted. Subsequent purchases were no problem. So just be aware of possible hitches first time round
2. Select DHL for courier. They sort all the import red tape efficiently. Within 24 hours they will contact you to arrange payment of import duties already (which is just VAT)
3. Just buy enough stuff to warrant the courier cost.