i gotta d21 terrano, but i want a 4wd ute. someone's selling a cab off a s/c navara for cheap (which will apparently bolt right onto my chassis), i can make a flat deck myself. what are the rules for doing this kinda swap? does it need a cert? and what about my plates/vin no longer matching the cab?
lookoutas,
Sep 5, 4:52am
Go and see a Low Volume cert guy. Then you do as they say.
Make sure that cheap cab is not cheap for rusty reasons.
I'm guessing you'll probably wanta put all your Terrano flash gears throughout the cab.
I thought about this same swap a couple of years ago, good to see it's possible. The bouncy rear could probably be helped by making the deck a bit heavier than the one in this link from Johnny's post. http://www.offroadexpress.kiwi/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=39075
a18a,
Sep 5, 6:31am
Yeah that's where I got the idea from haha
lookoutas,
Sep 5, 3:27pm
There's pro's & con's for any method. If you swap the cab, you will then need to change all the Terrano dash/door electrics/bit'n'pieces- etc, into the new cab. Don't worry about the VIN plate - once you take it off the old cab and fit it to the new one, they will match :-)
If your Terrano has rotted out across the back, and you find a Navara munted in the front, then the more expensive option is chop & weld, if you can't do it yourself it will cost at least 6K plus to pay one of those experts listed (especially one) One big plus is you can now have it individualised. And you don't have to touch anything forward of the front seats. I thought there was a photo in the web-site of a Surf with a half extra cab.
kazbanz,
Sep 5, 4:20pm
Im wondering if a steel tray from something else would be the answer.
lookoutas,
Sep 6, 4:39am
If you're thinking welldeck kaz, a flatdeck would probably be heavier. Unless you are considering a tray off a 5 tonner! OP's one hasn't got side-boards & tailgate, even that would help.
From memory, the Surf doors are shorter than the Ute doors, so a rear cab section can't be stitched to the B pillar as per a Ute, otherwise there's no room for the seats. Hence the extra cab bit.
If adding the whole rear cab including B pillar, the Ute doors need to be used - but then the flash trims and electric windows are lost, or require a lot of stuffing around to fit them.
That's why it would be a good idea to fit a Navara rear cab section to a cut off Terrano, then all that fancy stuff doesn't need touching.
franc123,
Sep 6, 4:12pm
I've seen one converted as per the above, ie simply a Datsun ute/Navara rear wall fitted up and painted to match, the whole point of doing this is that you get to keep all the more comfortable and much higher spec Terrano interior and electrics, the turbo diesel or V6 motor, auto trans if that applies and get the better riding coil rear suspension, if its done right it will be fine, when I first saw it the impression was it looked like Nissan had actually built it that way. Two other points to remember is that you will also need the crossmember and winch off a D21 truck to weld in to the back to hold the spare wheel and also the fuel tank as that has to be relocated up behind the cab in order to do the above. In most cases the existing Terrano towbar can be reused if it has one or else integrate one into the new deck. Good luck with it if you go ahead with it, it makes a real nice vehicle out of it.
lookoutas,
Jul 24, 8:04pm
That's the best point of doing one franc. If someone walked up to one I'd done and said they could see it was a cut-down, I'd need my arse self kicked.
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