Local Apparent Friday

Pic dump thread for "out there" as we start traveling. Van had some sort of electrical gremlin going south, I re-secured the battery terminals and removed the DRL relay fuse and we didn't have any issues coming back. Aired down the tires and took it for a spin on outer banks. It was a bouncy ride from the rutting, but we made it without issues to the point and back for a couple pics. She seemed pretty sure footed, although the traction control was pulling power in a couple spots. Hope you all had a great Independence Day.

Per the diagram here, 5 of them are related to the lock assembly and the secondary switch. The last two are likely for the door ajar switch located on the latch itself.

I haven't been to AK yet and google couldn't tell me what a gravel break is...I can only assume you mean like a runaway ramp? I think the Co camper pop top I linked is probably the same one you're describing, as the advert was on expo portal. We'll only do the pop top if we end up needing an extra bunk. I think I can get room for at least 3 and maybe 4 in the van as it sits. -laf

"**Summer Sale – 7% off – $72,333.33** Also accepting offers" ?

@Wilde78

Just going to start tossing up pics, it's a work in progress. We still have some bugs to work out on the van as denoted in the other thread, but onward we press. The van is meant to serve as our "inlaw" suite and/or bugout vehicle for when we're making smaller trips and/or don't want to roll out in the full sized bus. Right now, it's just the two of us, but we anticipate that our family will eventually grow and, in the meantime, we may be also entertaining friends and family. Backstory; van purchased from a contractor with a wicked engine knock. They had parked the van and started pulling parts off of it to service the rest of their fleet before we purchased it and did an engine swap, which brings us up to date. We stripped out the atlas shelves and floor mat, then set to work replacing the things they pilfered and sorting out any existing rust issues. The black paint is POR15...we're hitting anything that looks even remotely rusty, save for the back "sill." I've done the area around the catch, but I'll need to do some welding in one spot before I rust bust and paint it. The underside is super clean, everything is just inside from where either the door seals leaked or they scratched the paint with equipment. Also not pictured is a full cab sound deadening treatment that we've already performed but I didn't take pictures of, I will the next time I have it apart. The plan is to take it as far as we can in it's current configuration and see where it gets us. We're currently at the beach on a ~500 mile test run, we've got a 3000 mile month long trip coming up in a couple weeks and we'll hopefully have a temporary situation set up so that we can live in it while we make design decisions and refinements. On with the pics! First is where we started, minus the other two shelves that I had already removed before I remembered to take a pic. Other mods include SDT 2" front spacers and BFG 285/75/17s. -laf

Sorry for the pic dump, I'm currently experiencing difficulties getting photos from my phone to the computer for editing. What I am showing here is the latch and the switch mechanisms...there is a lobe that comes around when the latch is closed that triggers the microswitch. In my particular instance, one of my latches was seized and was therefor not triggering, and the other, the tabs on the switch that hold it in place were broken, as pictured, so the switch would lift up instead of triggering. The switches are branded Cherry, which was bought out in 2008 and, after a rebranding in 2016, is now manufactured under the ZF brand. I cannot easily find a replacement microswitch, nor am I particularly inclined to, as I had to replace everything anyway, but it is worth noting that these switches are normally closed microswitches. You could achieve the same end result (and/or determine which of your switches needs to be replaced) by simply unplugging the harness at the latch. This would break the circuit and turn off the door ajar light, although then it would not show you when the door is actually ajar. Your choice. -laf

https://nissannvforum.com/topic/1760-door-open-light-stuck-on-2012-nissan-nv2500-hightop/?tab=comments#comment-16099

So...had this same issue with all the same troubleshooting everyone here did, except I solved the problem. In regards to the back barn doors, the white switch at the top of the passenger side door does nothing except control the courtesy lights, and it seems that this might be the case with all the latches. The actual door ajar switches are built into the latches themselves, and you need to replace the entire latches in order to rectify the issue. I had some rust issues so I replaced the striker plates and the hardware at the same time...if you can reuse your stock hardware and strikers, then you only need the two latches. Now my door light works flawlessly as it should. NAA is running a 15% off sale through the 5th, and Hart Nissan in VA seems to have the best price that I have found. If you sign up for the VIP program, you get an additional discount as well, but that's for any Nissan dealership, so check your locals to save on shipping. Total cost is about $100, takes about 30 mins on the cargo van...on the normal one you'll have trim pieces to contend with. If this warrants a description/video, then lmk and I'll post more. Additionally, you might be able to take electronics cleaner and some dielectric and clean up what you have...I didn't try because of rust, but I am normally a repair over replace kinda guy, so this may be a zero cost solution for those that can just clean up their existing latches and get the switches working again. Parts List: Left Latch Right Latch 6 of bolts to mount latches 4 of bolts to mount striker plates 2 lower striker plates - laf

Sort of. We drove it the 3.5 hours to the beach yesterday as a break in/test run. Oddest thing...put truck in neutral and all the warning lights come on, tpms errors, cluster flashing and beeping, tach flatlining... like it's possessed. Also won't connect via OBD2 when this is occurring. Put it in drive and it acts perfectly normal except for hard shifting and the cruise control automatically canceling. Seems to be related to the headlights....drove perfectly fine until the sun went down and I had to turn the lights on. I let it sit overnight with the battery disconnected and it seems to be acting fine rn, but we've been working on it all day so I haven't taken it for a cruise or tried the headlights again. I DID go ahead and pluck the DRL fuse out as we have LED bulbs waiting for us back at the house. I'll post conversion pics here in a bit.

I just found my service and maintenance guide tonight. The way i read it, Nissan recommends inspecting the propeller shaft, which includes these bearings and bushings, every 5k miles. Seems excessive. No defined service interval listed, just inspection. My original point was to roll under your truck and look at the bushing and try wiggling the shaft around, it may need replacing. I didn't find any reference to it via search, so I thought I'd bring it up.

i think we may be mixing terminology. In the first video, the boot is fine and reusable. What he describes at 50 seconds as a "Mount...that tends to rip and crack" is what I am referring to as the rubber bushing, and then there is the bearing that is what is pressed onto the driveshaft itself. In the second video, the boot, bushing, and bearing were all trash. I hope that helps.

I'm sure there is a recommended service interval but, in my case, I just climbed under there and looked at it. The rubber bushing that supports the bearing in mine is visibly torn, although not nearly as bad at the one in the video, and I can wiggle my shaft around by hand. No clunk for me yet though, but I'm also driving it pretty easy right now.

Do you guys mind posting some pics from up underneath? I'm curious to see what they're using and how it's put together. Alternatively if anybody is on the eastern seaboard and down to meet up, that'd be cool too. Thanks

NNA is running another 15% off parts sale, so it's a great time to stock up between now and the 5th. This is a link to Hart in Virginia, they seem to be the best priced that I have found, and where I have been buying. If you sign up for the free VIP program you get an additional discount but I don't remember what it is offhand. edit: I just went back and checked my email...sign up for the free VIP club and you get 25 off of one purchase of $100 or more, and $15 off $100+ thereafter. - laf

I was laying under my van the other day looking for more things to fix and it's about time to replace my carrier bearing, so here's a friendly reminder to check your own. No point in me replicating what these two guys did really well...titan videos but it's the same. The first one is the cliff notes version, second is 3 times more in depth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl6HllAwZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7DELdn6Nls - laf

Pulled the can when I got home, there is already a thin layer of oil covering the bottom of the can as pictured. It has been 215 miles since install. I will continue to monitor the can via dipstick only, and I'll post pics at my "break-in" oil change of 1000 miles. After that, I'm planning on running a 5k interval on full synthetic for the first full cycle. I'll Post at the time of that oil change, and at 10,000 miles I'm going to pull the intake manifold back off and see what it looks like inside. Based on this though, I think everybody should have one. That's all being dumped into your engine and gumming things up. Also, based on the anticipated small metal shavings, I'll be switching to stainless dish scrubbers the next time I happen by a dollar general, and recommend anyone else do the same. -laf

No worries, send me the model of your existing fridge too. Ty

Here's a direct link to the 200's Rad references for pics, as well as a full size conversion they have for $45k - laf

There is at least one high roof NV cruising around with a pop top from CO Camper vans. Haven't ruled that out when/if our family gets bigger. Post the dims of your fridge space and I'll see if I can help find something larger. Dometic has a pretty wide range of offerings. - laf

Quick update....I have driven exactly 53 miles and am already seeing oil residue in the can. Headed out on a 150+ mile adventure tomorrow in search of an airbag recall, I'll pull the can after and post some pics.

Okay cool, I'll look for something out that way next year on the way out west. I'm hoping to attract more ppl to the forums, and to connect with more overlanders.