60Patrol

I couldn't believe it....this is a reply from the letters I sent to Japan only a few weeks ago, man I am impressed. Not only did they get back to me but they e-mailed me fairly fast and since my letter(s) were in english they had to have someone translate it. This is good news in my book!! We/I could be on to something here, oh ya the work is paying off, sorry I am a bit excited. Suppose I can write a decent letter, Woohoo this made my day/week/month!! This proves that they do give a rats butt about the Patrol and it being sold once a long time ago here in the USA. Here it is fellow Patrol owners.....   Dear Mr. Ian Westmoreland,My name is Junko Matsumoto, and I am writing on behalf of my manager, Mr.Matsui, who takes care of the North American Market in the Parts Division ofNissan Japan.First of all, thank you very much for purchasing our vehicle, Nissan Patrol,and contacting us about its service parts. As you aware, it may be unavailable to get service parts you need because 60series is an old type and the parts may be terminated production.  However,we will try to investigate this matter and would like to confirm thefollowing points:1) Where did you buy the vehicle in the U.S.A. ?2) Please let us know the chassis no. (VIN no.).3) Which parts do you need?* Unfortunately, we cannot sell you directly from Japan even if the parts isavailable. Therefore, in this case, we will contact Nissan North America,Inc., and they will contact you.Best regards,Junko Matsumoto> Junko Matsumoto> Global Aftersales Planning Department (GAP)> Global Aftersales Division > Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

WOW!   FUD WAY TO GO! This is great news!! Nice Work... I take back just about everything I ever said about you!  You have a great door open here, only thing I can recomend is keep that whole *tone* thing we talked about in check, it sounds like they are willing to work with us on this!   Oh and send them a link to our web sight here, I think that will help them in the whole *neat* process! You might even think of presenting a sort of pitch... you know like Chevy did a few years back in thier adds.. Something like 25% of all PATROLS sold in AMERICAN are still on the road after 30+ years! Who knows, that is the kind of angles (ie tone) they might eat up!   Grant  

PS. funny, they are interested in the VIN numbers... when you send them a link to our sight, make sure it includeds this link:   http://groups.msn.com/NissanPatrolClubA ... istry.msnw   The link to our memebers registery. And, dont ask for too much in one pop, build a back and forth dialog where each time you ask for something, dont want to inindate them with a list of a 10000+ parts, it might overwelm them!   One thing I would ask for is *THIER* list of VIN numbers! of the US sales... THAT would come in real handy, would could use it to bump our list aginst to give some real neat info!   Grant  

Heh....thanks for your comments Grant, all I have is good intentions.   I sent them a reply this morning, had the link to this site in it but at the last minute I decided to pull the link from the email. Not sure why, it just didn't feel right, wouldn't want to scare them away if they saw I posted their letter here right off the bat. If they reply, I think they will, then I will give them the link in next email or so.....   I hope I didn't screw it up, don't think I did. I only included about 30-35 parts with part numbers. Stuff that is needed and important like POINTS! The Patrol registry here is a good idea but....I think it is a bit small compared to how many people here own Patrols and it is a bit incomplete. I for one only have a single Patrol listed there out of the 4 I own. In my reply to them I describe the situation for us with parts and how it has gotten worse in the last ten years. I mention NissanAutoParts.com also. I ask about NOS body parts, couldn't help it. My response is to the point with a fair amount of "A" kissin. I supplied them info on my 4 Patrols like they asked for, I think they ask for this to make sure I/we are looking for parts for real USA Patrols not imported ones. One of the reasons I withheld the link was that I don't want them to see all the places we can get parts outside the USA, Nissan may not dig this and may try to put a stop to it. If this doesn't turn up anything them seeing this site could possibly be a bad thing, I am just being cautious. Things like you and I argueing a while back Grant could be bad for them to see....heck for all I know Nissan already has seen this website, I don't know just don't want to screw this up before it happens. We will see what this turns up....I have my fingers crossed and I am hopeful.   Ian

On a seperate note....I think we should hold off on a petition untill we see where this leads.

>>I hope I didn't screw it up, don't think I did. I only included about >>30-35 parts with part numbers   Nah, that dont sound bad at all, just about right! Any more, might have overloaded them, any less and they might think it is not worth it at all. Good work!   >>last minute I decided to pull the link   Emmm, good call! Might as well get a feel for the waters... save it as icing on the cake. Let see if we get a cake to put icing on first, again, good call, good work!   >>On a seperate note....I think we should hold off on a petition untill >>we see where this leads   Agreed, the reason for the petition was to get thier attention, looks like you got that and thier ear, so, for now no need!   All in all great work FUD! U D MAN!   Grant PS you have 4 now? I know of your 1st, and the blue 64, and the new red plow one... what is the 4th? Hey, buy the way, did you see that Bill is selling his LWB! That baby is C L E A N!! And it has the heavy duty rear end! It would have to be one of the few in the states!    

Hey  everybody , I just got my rear wheel clys. from  a contact overseas, they out of stocked me here in the USA, and they got them straight from Nissan in Japan. Fud is on to something, but not just any Nissan dealership can or will order them. Sorry  Grant but the only ones available from AU. are for G series (heavy rear end ) not L models. At the price they quoted me I wasn't going to take the chance that they were compatible. The ones from Japan were original part #s. I posted a message on 10-07-02 under the General catagory. It took about 20 days to receive them and it was the same price as here in the states freight wasn't bad.

Yea like I said I am trying Grant. I know someone meeting with Mr.K in Japan in about a month so, maybe that will turn up something too...hopefully Nissan of Japan gets back to me, have to wait and see what they say.   I don't think that is correct Mike about only the G (mid wheel base model) rear wheel cylinders in Australia. I had a guy down there locate me some using the correct Nissan part number. Front cylinders are universial. Most things will interchange with the G model cept wheel cylinders (as noted), rear tub, rear seats and rear suspension....the heavy duty model is "H" and I believe what made it diffrent was leaf springs and HD clutch. I don't know of a HD rear end. Once again H model stuff will go on your Patrol except rear leafs if it is a G60H. Longer wheel base equals longer springs. If Nissan opens up the parts to us I think we will find a lot of what is out there in not for the "L" model but technically they are interchangable for the most part and will work fine.   Yea Grant 4 now....4th is a 69. Looks like a 5th coming my way this winter too, a 65, can't help it the bug is in me! Bills LG60 is very nice but it is an import and a bit spendy for me. Anyone of us can import an LG60 for under $5K but be hard to find one as clean as Bill's. Personally I am after an LG60H or WLG60, see what turns up next summer. Nice Patrol though, I am sure he will find a good home for it.   BTW, care to share some of those "oversea's" contacts Mike!?   Ian

; the only difference ; between the G60 and the K or L 60  is the size of the rear diff. the G ; 60  rear diff is the H260 type [260mm DIA.] ; ; the K  or L 60 ; has the C216  [216mm DIA.]  differential.; the rear springs on ; both are the same size length and width just different amount of leaves and ; thickness.; the ; rear ; brake cylinders are the same on all models; john;  ; smile & go 4 wheel ; driving

You are right John, I looked in my service manual, same one as Grant has here. Take a look at page 17-26. That pretty much clears it up. My parts manual lists diffrent numbers for the rear cylinders but I think they will work. Parts manual doesn't list diffrent diffs though so was a little confused. Anyways I think G60 parts are a go for us USA Patrol owners. Thanks John for the info!   Ian