Nissan King Cab Body Mounts

[Vector]

Hi all, its Vector again. My question to you guys at energy suspension concerns the body

mounts on 90's model king cab Nissan Truck with 4WD. I have come a long way since my last

post with my bushing replacement project.  I noticed that Nissan D21 pickups have almost all

the bushings available for it with the exception of body mount bushings. I do not know the

reason for this, I also doubt that you would produce bushings for trucks that are this old. I

just want to know what kit I can buy for some other vehicle that I can use for my king cab

truck. The application would be for the whole vehicle. The cab and the bed.  Thanks for your

help in advance.   -Vector

[EnergyGeek]

Vector,

Good to hear from ya bud.  As far as bed mounts go we have never made any mounts for factory truck beds with the knowledge that the majority of the factory mounts are made from aluminum but with that in mind we also don't manufacture any body mounts for that year of truck either, it doesn't mean that we don't want to we just haven't a huge surge in demand for that component. 

What other chassis' does your truck cross with?

Energy

[Vector]

 Energy,
 I did a good bit of research and the only other vehicle that Nissan used the Hardbody frame with is the Pathfinder. From what I read, the frame for the Pathfinder is shared with the standard cab model of the D21. The pathfinder I believe is referred to as the WD21. I have a King cab. I couldn't find any other vehicles Nissan produced that share the extended cab frame, information is hard to get on these.
   So factory mounts for the beds are made of aluminum on most pickups? Can you list a few trucks that have aluminum body bushings or mounts from the factory please? I would like to look into that. I looked at the Toyotas and that doesn't seem to be the case. I wish I could use your body bushing kit for the Toyota pickup line for my Nissan, but I am not sure that will work. If I remember correctly.. my '96 Chevy K2500 doesn't use aluminum bushings or mounts for the bed. Maybe you are referring to the mount assemblies. Most body mounting brackets that I have looked at are made of steel, they have a steel bolt, and the bolts use thick washers and rubber bushings. I found that aluminum is something that a lot of people put on aftermarket for spacers when doing body lifts. Aluminum has a tendency to have an unwanted reaction to other metals if they contact one another. I tip an aftermarket body lift company recommended for their aluminum body spacers, was to make plastic washers out of 2 liter bottles to keep the aluminum from coming in contact with the frame.  I didn't want to have to do it but I guess I will have to take the cab up and measure the mounts and count them, so I can get new bushings. I have the bed off the truck and I will be measuring those bushings as well. The bed of my Nissan is attached to the frame with 6 steel mounts that are welded to the frame. Each has a long bolt with 2 rubber bushings, a washer, and a lock nut. The middle of the bed is not attached but has 2 spacer brackets on each wheel well, they use flat rubber rectangular pads to keep the truck bed mounts from making metal to metal contact with the frame supports. 

[EnergyGeek]

Vector,

Thanks for your reply.  I actually stand corrected as far as aluminum spacing goes.  I have gone out to my parking lot here in San Clemente, CA and took a couple shots of trucks parked here.  It seems that the factory offers no isolation for the beds, considering when hauling a heavy load bed flex isn't desired.  It seems metal to metal contact is the going trend.  Again it doesn't mean we can't nor won't manufacture poly components for those vehicles that are applicable but at this time it's just not a desirable component from the masses.



Energy

[Vector]

Energy,

 Your fast response is appreciated. You had my hopes up, lol. I thought that maybe newer trucks have spacers I could rob at the junk yard. In my case with my little pickup. There is a rubber patty in my metal sandwich. I really don't expect energy suspension to manufacture a kit for this vehicle. I noticed that everyone makes stuff for the Toyota, but almost every after market manufacturer has decided that these pickups are not worth making replacement parts, hop up parts, performance enhancements, or accessories for. I was surprised energy suspension made any bushings for it at all honestly. I am busy tearing the vehicle down right now, in between working, and putting up with rainy weather.  I will have pics of the bushings and measurements for them as soon as I can. I am really dreading the cab, lol. Fortunately the trucks were made simply and I can make my own replacement parts by tailoring parts for other vehicles to fit this one. A good example of a part that you CANNOT buy for this truck is.. tailgate cables. The truck comes with bi-fold metal supports for the tailgate. I wanted to replace the old rusty ones and I couldn't find a new replacement.  No aftermarket company makes the cables for this vehicle. The Toyota, dodge, and Chevy small pickups are all supported, and cables for the tailgate can be bought at any Autozone, Napa, or Advance auto parts.  Oh, by the way. Are those pickups in your pictures small, mid-size, or full size ? Also what brands are the two pictured? Thanks in advance.
-Vector

[EnergyGeek]

Vector,

No problem at all.  It sounds like your project is still enjoyable and hasn't caused to much stress I hope.  We would love to continue to see updates and pictures of your build as you put things together.  It's so easy any more with iphones etc.  If you need anything else or have any other questions feel free to ask, thanks again!

Energy

[Vector]

Energy,
     I have been snooping around people's trucks and dealerships looking at various trucks and how the beds are mounted to the vehicle on pickup trucks. Dodge, Chevy, and Ford like to use a metal spacer in between the bed and the frame, the metal spacer looks like a regular rectangular piece of metal about the same thickness as a common fender washer. Very thin. A lot of the newer S10's and Colorado's they use either a metal spacer or some sort of plastic or nylon spacer to keep the bed from direct contact with the frame. Toyota's that were manufactured in the 90's, similar year to my Nissan use fiber reinforced rubber spacers and bushings for the truck bed.  I noticed that while full size pickups lack, or use very little material to prevent the bed from contacting the frame at the mount points; small pickups usually have very noticeable spacers, this applies to both new and old pickups.

Well enough trivia. I need 2 bushings that are 2/8 " thick, 2" outer diameter, and have a 1/2 inner diameter. I need 4 bushings that are 3/16" thick, 2" outer diameter, with a 1/2 inner diameter. Finally.. I need a total of 6 bushings that are 3/8" thick, 1 and 1/2" outer diameter, and has 1/2 inner diameter.  The inner diameter is not important, but the outer diameter and thickness seem like they are important to get the truck bed to properly line up with the cab once it is mounted to the frame again.

My other question, I ran into a little problem. I took the ball joints off the truck to service the steering and replace bent, broken, and worn out parts. I tried to be careful, but I tore both the new and old dust boots on the ball joints. I tried to find a dust boot in your catalog but all I could find was your tie rod dust boot covers, I already have all of the tie rod dust covers that I need. Can you tell me if you have red dust boots for the upper and lower ball joints for this vehicle. Should be the same size on both the pathfinder and d21 if that helps. Thanks in advance.
-Vector

[EnergyGeek]

You will soon be quite the connoisseur of bed mounting techniques

Here is the page to measure your boot size http://energysuspension.com/pages/tie_r.html

and here is the page to measure the bushing size that you desire.  http://energysuspension.com/pages/univ1.html

Let me know if this steered you in the right direction.

Thanks

Energy

[Vector]

Energy,
I ordered the Universal Set 9.4102R.  I was surprised that the set of 2 universal body mounts costs $30.00. I think I can cut these to work for me.  I am a little disappointed that you don't offer actual ball joint boots.. The tie rod boot that I ordered fits but it doesn't have enough material to really allow the boot to maintain a good seal and let the ball joint flex.  I will have to install it and see what happens I guess.. 

I have jacked up the cab now and removed the mounts. From left to right... the left mount is the rear cab mount. The middle mount pictured is for the middle of the cab. The mount on the right is for the front. The two rubber mounts pictured are upside down. When they are installed they get flipped over.

Disassembled the mounts look like this.

 Your Universal mount selection is extremely limited and I don't see a way to make it work for the middle or front mounts of my vehicle due to its design.

The rear cab mount comes in 3 pieces and it bolts down to the frame from the top. It is 3 5/8" tall assembled and its 3 1/2" in diameter.  It would be nice if you offered to be able to take the old metal hardware and rebuild it with poly urethane if I sent you the old mount. I doubt energy would do that. I think I will have to reuse it.

The middle mounts consist of two surprisingly soft rubber bushings. I need a bushing that is 2 7/8" in diameter, 1 3/8" thick, with a 3/4" diameter hole.  The other bushing is 2 7/8" dia. 1 1/2" thick. 3/4" hole.

The front mounts are 2 1/8" dia, 1 1/2" thick, and has 3/4" hole for one bushing. The other is 2 3/4" dia, 3/4" hole, and 1 7/16" thick. 

   I know no one at energy really cares if I get mounts for my vehicle from this company. All I want to know is if you make mounts for another vehicle in a similar diameter and thickness. It can be taller or a larger diameter, but I don't really want to buy Universal Body Mount kits and slice and stack them to get the desired ride height. I want to keep the stock cab height and do a suspension lift. So getting cab mounts that are a little too big that I might have to shave to fit is fine with me.

If anyone at energy could get me mounts that you manufacture for some other cab that might be of use for my situation I would be interested in buying the mounts directly for my unique situation.

Thanks...