1994 Nissan D21 Hardbody Review - Finally Getting My Hands On A Hardbody!

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DISCLAIMER!
The thoughts, feelings, and opinions expressed in this video are the sole thoughts of Zack and no one else. The thoughts expressed in this video do not reflect the owner, dealership, or organization that owns the vehicle featured. The purpose of this video is to provide entertainment with the hope that you will take what you see and formulate your own opinions. DO NOT make a financial decision based off of this video.
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Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
1:04 - Drivetrain
2:26 - Interior
3:54 - BFB Test
4:08 - Seats
4:28 - Jump Seats
6:08 - Bed / Cargo Space
7:10 - Exterior
7:30 - Final Thoughts
11:47 - Outro

[@ShootingCars]

Hands On A Hardbody: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4TJh4uvhNOdaKc

[@oopsitookyourballs05]

Watched the whole thing it was defiantly a experience

[@lyrooo326]

This was awesome! I really loved it thank you for sharing this.

[@hewasdeadwhenigotthere46]

This was absolutely a great documentary where all walks of life come together in a small town TX Nissan dealership. It touches on the intricate complicated and vastly different people who wanted a 1995 nissan truck. Deals with their emotional and physical struggles standing to hold on to a vehicle for 3 to 4 days no sleep. What a ride. Thank you

[@emacflores7914]

Do a nissan 720

[@Crispychicken4u]

Anything in the 80s and 90s by Nissan was pretty solid mechanically. Even before that with Datsun. The only problem with the trucks were they rusted out so bad

[@bldontmatter5319]

I like that you are a normal person reviewing cars the average person may be interested in. Having personally driven many "super cars" as a valet I find the more utilitarian trucks of this era to be my cup of tea. You seem normal and not egotistical. Remember your roots as you climb the KZbin scale.. good luck!

[@DOWNTOWN_AUDIO]

I love these old d21's! My boss had one for a backup work truck. On days when we had a small two man job he would put me in charge and the nissan was my work truck. Id take my buddy mike with me and we would go all over the okanagan valley using this truck to do concrete. We hauled tools and materials with it and it wasnt unusual for us to have a a small load of gravel, lumber, rebar, tools, a gas powered packer, a pressure washer, two cases of water, a radio and two guys! All in this truck at once! It was a 2wd 5 speed truck, and even under load, because it had upgraded rear suspension and low gearing it drove beautifully! We did half ton stuff in this little old d21 and it was such a great and practical truck. It was so easy to drive, easier as a manual i think, but parallel parking, driving in tight areas, then maneuvering through mud and offroad conditions getting into jobsites, even going up steep hills under load it was always a great truck! I miss driving it, and using it for half ton things especially! It had either half ton or 3/4 ton leafs in the back and a lower gear ratio in the rear diff either as a modification shortly after it was purchased or maybe from the factory. My boss told me it was technically a 3/4 ton and thats why he bought it.

[@Low760]

They are a 1tonne payload vehicle in Australia fwiw. American classifications for weights seem odd to me.

[@DOWNTOWN_AUDIO]

@Low760 maybe this was a 1ton special then, cause I'm in Canada. This thing didn't have the power to tow anything more then a scrap trailer, it had more bed capacity then anything. And it wasn't slowed down much by a heavy load either even with just that 90hp engine under the hood!

[@joels7605]

This exact truck was my very first vehicle when I got my license. Same year too. I miss the days when Nissan didn't suck.

[@OhPhuckYou]

That is one incredibly clean hard body. Every single one I see anymore is rusted out and hardly running.

[@jibcano1777]

Tons in Oregon like he said, I see them nonstop in all conditions

[@jhonatanjohnson7769]

Here in Dominican Republic you can see plenty of this, in all kind of conditions lol

[@Damnsun720]

In LA there are a few but mostly from the guys that work in Home Depot. It’s rare finding an actually clean one

[@blacksmithhaas]

That's my truck! Hope she's running well for Kegan!

[@HondaRider137]

She’s been nothing short of perfect. I’ve put over 6,000 miles on her so far.

[@philipksick6810]

I wish they made trucks that look exactly like this today. So perfect.

[@Low760]

I'm glad they don't, death traps, puny brakes, no safety at all. No good in the world against f150s and many giant heavy SUVs and electric cars. The latest d23 Navaras can still come pretty basic.

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

​@@Low760Fear is the mind killer....if you must fear, fear the poisons allowed in your food and water, and worry less about how your car will do in a crash.

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

I wish they made trucks like they did in the 40s and 50$s.

[@dnacannotchange]

i have 5_speed

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

Back when Nissan still made good trucks.

[@Low760]

It's a ute and they still sell the Navara sized vehicle, it's just safer and nicer to drive.

[@xBeeGee]

New titan and frontier aren’t bad

[@vaccinatedanti-vaxxer]

Nissan was on par with Toyota reliability back in the 90s.

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

Back when Nissan made reliable vehicles....that changed when Renault got involved.

[@VQSeries]

The new Frontier is really nice, and the previous gen I've heard is really reliable too.

[@patricklinkous]

My mom bought a nearly identical spec '97 brand new and I learned to drive stick on it. I loved that truck. I regret selling it. Great review!

[@autochatter]

Wow...Thats a base King Cab. Doesn't even have a/c. I know it was mentioned a few times as feeling very 90s behind the wheel, but it's actually a 80s truck near the end of its run by 94.

[@gm12551]

End of the run was 97

[@autochatter]

@gabrielmejia6027 yes.. the one he was driving was a 94...Which was towards the end of the run in 97.

[@elcompachino6619]

I bought a 1994 nissan 2 years ago. The previous owner NEVER changed the trans fluid and it had 230,000 miles! The fuild came out greyish brown💀. Changed it and shes still runing strong

[@daroachdoggjr188]

Never a dull moment in this guys reviews. Keep killin it man.

[@beanie640]

I have one of these! It was my grandparents, but they have given it to me. 1994 D21, but not a king cab. I could never figure out it’s exact model, probably the base one. It’s a 2.4L Inline 4, and it’s the best. A little bit of a fixer upper, but I can’t wait to work on it! I just love this channel too! Such great commentary and comedy combined!

[@punbun_6178]

I am so excited to get this truck in about a week

[@c-dawg2145]

No way!!! been waiting so long for this :) My 1994 hardbody has been a great little truck!

[@randomuser3555]

I had a '95 Nissan hard-body Pick-Em-Up-Truck! My second car (first was a '77 El-Camino) it was such a great truck I bought a '23 Frontier Pro-4X to try and recapture some of that nostalgia. Great little trucks man!

[@Ej6daniel]

Awesome documentary recomendation, loved it! Thank you 🤙

[@jimmynewp558]

I had a 91 2 wheel drive in my 20s and still miss it. Was an awesome work truck. Fast forward 18 years, and its still running and passing smog in CA. I offered to buy it back at just under 600k miles and was refused LOL. So I just got a 92 4x4 and I still love these little trucks. Maintain them and they will never die, you just can't kill them. They don't make them like that anymore.

[@drjohnsonhungwell5115]

They're great little trucks I've got a 91 swb regular cab 2.4 KA24E automatic AC/ Power steering with 134,000 original miles that my father had .

[@Jon-ob2dc]

I had the exact same trim, the XE, only mine had the chrome trim and power mirrors. It was a ‘95 king cab with a tach! I LOVED that truck

[@sbcee2220]

That was a Matthew mcconaughey film my buddy turned me on to. It is a genius movie. The fact that it's one of your favorites let's me know I made the right choice as my goto auto review KZbinr! Love your work, keep it up!

[@bazilwreckerloughead]

My twin brother used to have one of these; a 1994 Nissan Hardbody, but his was a blue 4x4 king cab. Now he has a 2007 Nissan Frontier 4 door.

[@Jcore1231]

You should do the 1990 geo prizm hatchback I think its a unique version of the geo prizm that doesn't get much attention

[@3RAN7ON]

Hey I've got that same truck! Mine's a '92 with 4x4, custom intake/header, original Wheels and all super clean still 😊

[@kiraleaf]

Always nice to see a clean one, 99% of these were lowered and beat on until they fell apart!

[@Blacksunshine636]

This is the truck I learned to drive on. also a great on-ramp drifter. Very easy to hold a drift.

[@chrisroz4949]

Awesome truck and Great review, subscribed!!

[@ItalianCJM8232]

Always loved these trucks as a kid!

[@danielhamby9448]

I inherited an ‘88 from my dad that he bought brand new. It was the 4 cylinder but was 5 speed manual and 4x4 and original engine and transmission. It went to over 475k miles on it when the transmission went out. Hauling 4 wheelers and dirt bikes up and down the mountains weekly is what I think wore out the transmission. A couple of vatos bought it and put in another transmission but lowered it. It’s still driving around today.

[@robertdiehl9003]

Great and super reliable trucks back in the 1990's. These Nissan trucks definitely more preferred over toyota Tacoma around NY/NJ back in those days.

[@jeffcmo1957]

I had a 97 extended cab 2x4 5 speed. Loved that truck. No frills just a great machine.

[@reidbennett3586]

Perfect timing, I'm a bigger dude looking for a hardbody and curious to see if I might fit in in. Looking forward to the review!

[@jonjorussel5979]

im 6’5” and fit perfectly. Not sure how id fit in the single cab with the bench seat though.

[@jaym9879]

Appreciate this vid.

[@TheGeorgiaMediaGroup]

Zac. One of your best

[@richgallagher725]

I preferred the previous iteration (720) of this compact Nissan pick up, I remember it had two plugs/cylinder and was actually a challenge to not chirp the wheels in 2nd gear during moderate acceleration with the 5spd and an empty bed. 👍

[@brandoncomer6492]

I got a 97 4x4 5 speed kingcab. Was kept in a garage most of her life so she's only got surface rust. Mechanic offered to buy her off me when I had him put in a new clutch. She's pretty gutless, but she's indestructible and has exactly what I need from a small work truck and absolutely nothing more, which is perfect. It's a real shame you can't find trucks like that any more in the US.

[@jaredwilliams2357]

Never let it go they’ll never make more

[@ModelA]

I had the shortbed version of that truck for a couple years. Loved it! Never heard of that movie. Will peep it out, just so we have something to smirk about later.

[@arxg1934]

I’ve got a d21 Nissan navara (one of these from nz with 4 doors and a 2.7 diesel) thing is slow asf but I love it dearly

[@SaskatchewanBadAss]

I believe they called it a king cab was because when they were first doing desert racing, one of there drivers with the last name king was asking for a lil more space as a bigger guy so they gave him exactly that an called it a king cab. Once it sold to public they added jump seats so they could market it to families with young kids. I road in the back of one many times as an 8-12 year old

[@Brooklyn_Powers]

I just bought a '97 King Cab with 105K original miles. It is a one owner truck and is very clean. The interior is immaculate. I love driving it!

[@cfc1001001cfc]

This might be one of the finest trucks you've reviewed so far...bare-bones, roll-up windows, manual transmission...but it has fuel injection and an extended cab. A perfect light-use pickup truck that can commute just fine. It would be amazing to see a 2023 light pickup with similar dimensions but modern tech and safety standards. This '94 Hardbody is just enough to get the job done, but no more...form follows function flawlessly.

[@Andyface79]

My friend had a single cab like that. Basic basic basic but a great little truck. White with black bumpers, I don’t think it had chrome anywhere.

[@generalporkchop1817]

those switch covers on the left side of the steering wheel are for the electric rear view mirror adjustment controls

[@daves4017]

I had an 88 D21. It had the Z24 engine. TBI and 2 spark plugs per cylinder. Bought it for $100 running/driving, but rusty. It was a 4x4, but someone had lowered it. I raised it back up and put a set of 31s on it. It had 280k miles on it and I drove it for 5 years and put another 100k on it. Unfortunately a heater hose blew and by the time it had signs of overheating it blew the head gasket and locked up the engine.

[@lyrooo326]

Nice! Here in Mexico the modern iterations of this truck are still being sold we call it NP 300 the Frontier is the "luxury" version.

[@bldontmatter5319]

I've actually had the pleasure of driving these in the USA. Mexican standards for safety / emissions are lower but this is still late 90s safety and they are adequate for my usage. I believe they sold that VW bus until recently too... In it's original glory

[@RobertSmith-le8wp]

My first truck was a 1988 Nissan regular cab short bed 5 speed. I paid $500 for it in 1995 with 110,000 and drove it to about 220,000 miles before selling it to a family member for maybe a couple hundred bucks. I know he drove it to well over 300,000. What happened to vehicles actually depreciating

[@bldontmatter5319]

They don't depreciate anymore because people are buying older cars since they can't afford new ones, and Obama / cash for clunkers destroyed a huge amount of affordable and reliable cars in favor of massive debt for a slightly newer car

[@losingmyfavoritegame8752]

Zack, you are so cool!

[@Darjan_Spasojevic]

I got a 96 5 speed. Reg cab with 1 whole seat that fitsv2 adults and a child. Love my truck. Paid 500 for it 3 years ago.

[@michaelalwande]

We had this truck/bakkie a Nissan custom later became hadbody with l18 engine that engine loves to overheat nd overflow on the curb until we had to swap the engine to a 4y Toyota with a cresida gear box that's the only way we could keep the bakkie running.. watching from South Africa 🇿🇦

[@CoolStuffInWeirdCars]

I once had myself & four normal sized adult passengers in my extended cab '98 Ford Ranger back in the day, that was the most cramped ride I've ever had in a vehicle probably LOL plus it being a stick shift with a center front passenger was a bit awkward

[@davinp]

A similar competition has been done at the Washington Auto Show in Washington, DC. The last person to have their hands on the car wins the car

[@michaelcoffey7362]

Cool, my friend had a 1991 model 🥰

[@jamelldavis432]

I’ve been seeing a lot of these exact ones on the road around where I live

[@phantomleafblowing2741]

Just bought one just like it in Oregon from the original owner i can't wait to sell it

[@thndr_5468]

I'm a sucker for the front end design

[@ejstreasurehunting6627]

Rust is the true weakness of these old Hardbodies. They were everywhere when I visited California back in 2017 or so, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one here in Illinois.

[@bldontmatter5319]

Salt will kill anything. I've personally been in Asia and even though they don't salt the roads, Japanese cars that are 20-39 years old are rusting BADLY. That tells you the truth right there.

[@jollypoggers6133]

Love that sound 5:10 😫

[@BLKSTONE4WD]

Review the V6 king cab 4wd if you can find a decent one. (5-speed preferably) Whole different driving experience.

[@dave11686]

Cool truck!

[@nickyblueyes83]

I just bought one bro 🎉

[@Ramcharger85]

Learned to drive stick in a 90 hardbody my dad owned.

[@Daniel-79]

I have a 93 model the dash and interior is about 50% the same but there was definitely some updates between the model years

[@TyCronan-rl6uo]

The king cab windows curve up so you can avoid helicopters!!

[@LifeAfterLosing]

Same radio I have in the Metro! 😂

[@stoneylonesome4062]

Very good trucks, however, they have the same Achilles’ heel of all Pre-Renault Nissans - Rust, which is why you don’t see many of them driving around these days other than the occasional rusty pickup.

[@richardnottelmann58]

This sounds like torturous Nissan eye 🍬. I would be drooling like crazy.

[@krysryjuly]

Please do a Nissan/ Datsun 720 review❤

[@JoeBarnes-r7t]

I have a 1997 Nissan hard body pickup with 271000 miles on it and it looks good and don't use oil very dependable truck

[@TIJoe-te9qu]

If they revived this exact truck, it would be a hit again. Not everybody needs a 50k 4x4 crewcab computer on big wheels with a monitor pasted on the dashboard. My 1987 king cab hardbody was under 10k when new. It's the 80s version of an American six cylinder truck from the 1960s. Simple, slow, and does its job for years. If only it had a 6th granny gear...

[@jkingjdm8470]

I wonder where the guy bought the radio I like it

[@someonecalledeulogio2280]

Those were very popular in mexico

[@galil_6863]

Back when trucks didn't cost 80K

[@brewcewillis8328]

I can't recommend enough anybody watching to put an after-market tachometer on yours if it doesn't have one. The gears are very long and the engine noise is loud even at low RPM. They are not fast trucks, but they can be quicker than you realize.

[@seanmcgivney7631]

Great trucks, the first time I drove one just like this one. I was struck by the great visibility. Oh, and that is one spuged on driver's seat. I'm just saying

[@john-yg1pw]

I got one. 96 red with a shell on the bed. Its been my DD for years now. And its way cleaner than this one. If i could add a pic i would

[@fernan6349]

Yeaaaaaa

[@weekendhomeprojects]

I have a '95 if you want to up your Hardbody game by a year.

[@5A1A2AR]

Mexico got a crew cab version of these

[@carllinden533]

You gotta review my 1976 Sachsenring Trabant 601

[@ShootingCars]

I’d love to! You can submit it at Zackpradel.com/submit

[@carllinden533]

@@ShootingCars Ok I think I did it.

[@labowskidude]

I have an 86.5 D21 2wd Kingcab LHD and an 88 2-door WD21 Pathfinder SE both were make in Kyushu japan likely by the same people. while I work on one I drive the other. They are not for everyone but my hardbody has a Z24i and forklift parts are real cheap. I have a vin video up on shorts to prove it.

[@labowskidude]

I am looking at another one next week its a 94 D21 and I have been saving up in case its decent.

[@marvinaquino4120]

Well it's frontier also known as Navara d21

[@jakertheelaborater2573]

How did you know oregon doesnt use salt? Did you know they use sand which is reused every year?

[@hardbody_Santiago96]

You want to test my 400hp nissan hardbody stock internal 💪

[@cesarconh895]

I have three of these 😂

[@emacflores7914]

In my opinion, you should’ve bought the Nissan 720 picked up

[@mistamontiel00]

What's a softbody? Good for standard tranny I forgot how to ride no wimpomatic

[@angusmcpherson]

Needs a few hub caps, no A/C!

[@dnacannotchange]

1994 5 speed no mods at all😂😂 will trade for 2002 frontr nissan truck

[@desmondjohnson2843]

Lol I hate the Salt

[@ItsTheCostanza]

The back seats are made for Japanese people. They are small and it’s a Japanese truck.

[@damilolaakanni]

No, it was meant for very young children (4 years and under), because I don't see any Japanese people fitting in that jumpseat...unless they're children.

[@samstegman3257]

Well not necessarily, the Chevy s10 had them and old ford rangers had them

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

​@@damilolaakanniIt's meant for Japanese of all ages and American children.

[@bethalpha]

1994 Nissan 5 speed truck I will trade for a station wagon

[@adamheazlett1179]

No Es in NISSAN

[@nicostrophy1380]

disliked and unsubscribed due to no video of you driving the truck. a review should include that at bare minimum. - fellow d21 owner

[@anthonyrivera4735]

Trucks with manual transmissions😖☹️🤮

[@damilolaakanni]

Manual cars without tachometers🤔. Especially if you're a first time driver.

[@autochatter]

​@damilolaakanni the fancier models had a tachometer.This one is a base truck.

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

We get it, you can't drive.

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

​@@damilolaakanniMy 1998 Nissan Sentra I bought a couple of months ago is manual and has no tachometer.

[@NoobMaster-fi2ho]

I have an identical one in a 97. Same color and cab size. Mine has over 300 k miles. And the speedo only works half the time. So it likely.has over 400k. But runs great with regular oil changes. Has dents and dings and missing rear chrome bumper. But i absolutely love my truck so much. It drives like a go cart. And cheap on gas as well

[@drjohnsonhungwell5115]

They're great little trucks I've got a 91 swb regular cab 2.4 KA24E automatic AC/ Power steering with 134,000 original miles that my father had .