Broke My D40

[NIKREELFISH]

So i went out for a bit of a play,
things didn't go so well, due to the stupid bash plate,
The way it slips on at the back, is just out right stupid,

let me explain what happened, driving along a track stuck in some rutts, come across another bloke in his bitsamissin stuck, so hook up the snatch strap skull drag him out in reverse, get him out easy as, unhook strap, reverse up some more to try and get out of the rutts, bash plate came off at the back and folded up and smashed the lugs on the radiator tearing 2 holes in it,
thank god i had some rap-it putty in the glove box, patched it up filled it up with water, left the radiator cap on to the first turn (not fully done up) then slowly legged it home

Nissan want $744 for a new one all up around $1020 to replace, does not include a new bash plate,

this is all handy when i got made redundant 2months ago, i'm almost out of savings, live 70km from the next town over where all the employment places are, i know this is what you get 4wding but every thing i did that day i broke it in 4inch deep rutts in reverse,

Its a stupid design flaw and ill be welding washers onto the next bash plate to avoid this for happening again, once i get another job ill upgrade the bash plate to 4-5mm alloy,
If anyone has a spare d40 bash plate in lives in the midwest WA AUS,
let me know cheers NIk

 

[NIKREELFISH]

 

[NIKREELFISH]

anyone know what the stupid lugs on the radiator actually do ?

 

[jonney]

sorry to hear about this plate mishap but remember there not designed for off road use just like pajeros have a bloody plastic one fitted . fir an aftermarket plate and buy a d-22 as you get more ground clearance with these babies as opposed to the on road d-40 utes. sorry but its true.

 

[NIKREELFISH]

if i didn't lose my job it would be lifted with 32inch rubber, and have a HD bash plate,
the D40 did everything my mates 80 series cruiser did
i wrote this as more of a warning to other d40 owners about the bash plate coming out and doing damage, so they have the option of welding some washers on the back so it wont happen to them, and maybe save them $1000,

 

[Aidos]

Aww, The poor nav. ):

 

[jonney]

sorry, didn,t mean to critisise your words but as mentioned the so called 4 x 4 off road vehicles of this day and age in standard form are not set up for the more extreme 4 wheel off roading. look at other makes like BMW for eg; the rear tyres on the x7 look like something you would have on your worked gt or monaro certainly not for a 4 x 4 vehicle going in the mud also many sump plates are only plastic not metal so the risk of hitting something abit harder than normal is not good. so the key to all is; do your preps before hitting the hard land.

 

[Old.Tony]

I thought it was a great field repair, good work. Rap-it Putty? B nice to see a pic of that product, it'll go straight on my shopping list.

Alloy plate won't hold up the car. Real bash plates are 4mm steel (steel is 3x stronger than aluminium) so rather than use 12mm aluminium, trying to score some good ones from a wreck (it's possible) might be better.

Don't worry about getting the radiator from Nissan. Get an all-alloy one from eBay.

Those lugs are there to make absolutely sure that the radiator is damaged if you drive too fast over a speed hump, or hit a small dog, koala or possum.

 

[NIKREELFISH]

car only has 8900km on it bought it in Jan this year, nissan wont cover it under warranty
because i was off road, if i stick an after market one in no doubt nissan will void my warranty
cheers for the heads up on the bash plate old tony, ill go steel,

 

[NIKREELFISH]

i used to work in the mining game, we used to use rapp-it bandages and most of the time we only used the bandages, and we had shit loads of putty left over, had a few in my tool bag when i demobilized, its a 2 part compound all in one you just kneed it to mix it, dry out the hole and jam it in the hole, leave it for 20mins to set, and your all good, i only had to stop the water from pissing out to drive out of the track then 10mins home, took it easy but got the job done, it's just metal putty, dear as but if used right can get you out of some bad situation

 

[4 naving]

Check your sump also. I saw one at Fraser island, snatched out in reverse ripped the plate off and the pressure moved the sump deforming the mating surfaces.
Also, its always a good idea to not snatch in reverse if possible as the gears in reverse are always weaker... a tip I have learned the hard way myself in other vehicles..

 

[big zetor]

someone else on here did there radiator like that and recomended that we cut those lugs off with a grinder so i cut mine off after reading his dramas.

 

[nismo4x4]

Mate if ya short on $$ i used card board n made template up n had it made up at a sheetmetal place for $100 4mm galv steel n has copped a beatting

 

[big zetor]

that's what i did too just use the old as a template so you get the holes and angle's right once you straighten it back out, don't pay hundreds of dollar's for a piece of glorified steel.