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My understanding is the amount of lift is independent of light, medium, heavy rating....you can get light, medium, or heavy with half inch lift...you can alternatively get light, medium, heavy in 1 inch lift...etc....every load rating might not be available at every lift amount...but you get the idea...check out Rugged Rocks web site for more info. A given load rating does not in and of itself dictate lift amount...and vice versa.

Digging up this oldy to hone in on one point. I'm planning to replace my springs later this year...was planning on getting the HD (928s) from OME based on lots of other threads I'd read recommending them. I admittedly don't do much wheeling..but do get out there to the mountains a lot for camping, skiing, etc. I have a general gear preference to go with "beefier" stuff with the philosophy of rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. So I'm wondering if folks think I might regret going with HD...as opposed to MD up front(LD is out). I guess the only real concern might be too stiff a ride which was alluded to by some in this thread. But I HATE the floaty ride I have now. Currently my front end is totally stock..my bumper is rusting and I plan to replace and "would" go with an aftermarket beefier bumper but they don't seem to be out there for R50's so will likely replace with OEM. No need for a winch. My OEM splash guard is toast from 13 years of oil changes so will likely replace with a skid plate..prefer to get Fleurys' once those latest version are avail vs giving AC more business. Lastly, I might add a bull bar or some such giving there are SO many deer around where I live. Thanks for any opinions based on experiences out there...

Hey, I guess I haven't used the A/C and recirc buttons much over the years...the lights still work on those...for now. Thanks for sharing all the info.

Thank you very much. This is most helpful. So many of the dash switches have lost their back illumination that I can't remember which ones originally had it or did not....like the stalks and mirror control knob for instance...so thanks for that. Ones like the hazard and rear defrost are important to me...so the approach to attempt to repair them looks clear...and if I DO mess it up...worse case is I have to buy a new switch and put that in. Ditto for the seat heaters. As for the stereo...dont' care quite so much about those. It's interesting to me that so many switches lose their backlighting yet continue to perform their primary function. Regarding the A/C...I have the auto temp control...so don't think I have any bulbs there...unless you mean the recirculation and A/C buttons that are underneath the temp control dial??

Hunh...How much dirt are you shovelling into the cab? A seat belt should not fail to retract simply because of dust particles in the average ambient air. I would argue that IS a defect. I'd have to pull the owners manual to read the warranty..but I recall the warranty is pretty comprehensive...basically says it will ALWAYS work..with few if any exclusions. Though many dealers could very well try to weasel out of doing anything.

Hmm...I had thought it was much more simple...like all vehicles from a certain model year and later were covered...thought it was 1991. And it should be a fairly simple process to verify model year using the VIN. I dunno. Not sure exactly what they are telling you they need to look up. Your model year is either covered....or not. The seatbelt warranty..or lack thereof... is laid out in the owners manual. In my case I called the dealer...said my seat belt ain't retracting and I want it replaced under lifetime warranty. And they did. '97 SE. Good luck...I hope things work out ok for ya.

Hey, Yeah I'd say you are doing good with getting 130K and then 100K+ out of the clutches. Clutches are a wear and tear item...and as you allude to...their useful life is very much related to the type of driving. If one is doing nothing but long distance highway driving one might get a couple hundred thousand miles out of a clutch...or more....alternatively if it's constant stop and go traffic the clutch might wear out in 50K miles...or even less! As for my problem...today I did the "longer" distance drive to the local ski mountain that is often the precipitator of the problem each winter season....the clutch seemed to hold up fine and seems to have a much nicer feel with the new damper. I agree that it's a hydraulic issue...but would not rule out the possibility of a compound problem...i.e. two problems existing at the same time and contributing to create very unusual symptoms. In any event....I'm optimistic for the moment but given past experience over the past 3 winters...4 counting this one...I won't know with certainty if the root cause has been resolved for at least another 12 months.

If you have a 2001 per your profile ..and the dealer told you that....time to find a different dealer...I drive many miles past my closest local dealer to another for reasons such as this. Check your owners manual ...the warranty is clearly stated there...parts AND labor are covered.

I don't know what "the farthest back they could go in their system was 2002" means. Check your owners manual...warranty info is clearly stated there. Should be a very simple deal all around. But seeing you have a 1990...believe that's right about the year the lifetime warranty started..so you may or may not be covered.

That might be a good Plan B...Plan A would be have the dealer put in a brand new one for free.

Well...depends...Aren't the turn signal arm and wiper arm suppose to be illuiminated? If not then done. But if so, then ..wouldn't the lack of such illumination require replacement of the switch? if so..then that's why need to replace the switch. IF not so..then done. And thanks for the note on the defrost switch. I subsequently checked the FSM and realized that whole front trim piece around the hazard switch and rear defrost switch comes out with a few screws. ALL of my switches perform their intended function ....there is not a single one that does not....but MANY of them have lost their night time illuimination after 13+ years. It's costly to replace an entire switch just to get the backlighting feature returned...so hoping I can use the info in this thread to repair existing switches....I'm not that picky so that a few of them out doesn't bother me...but at the rate mine are going I'll have an entirely dark dash before long!!

Just had my drivers seat belt replaced and wanted to report back. Mine is a 97 SE and the dealer replaced the whole thing under lifetime warranty without question and didn't cost me anything. Let me just say that the new one is SAA-WEEET. I cannot believe how easily it is to buckle up now and how well it retracts right back afterward. It is all smooth as silk...don't know if it was that nice when new or maybe they've improved them due to issues...but either way it's great now. If you are having any issues at all with your front seat belts...and your model has the warranty I encourage you to get it done. It's the little things in life!!

Interesting...you know I have for a long time had a "noise" that I now believe is this "chatter" you guys are talking about. It's when I'm letting the clutch back out and hitting a bit of gas...and it goes away as soon as the clutch is fully engaged. I'll have to see in the next few weeks if this new damper has eliminated the "noise". ZombeeXXX, In my case...my clutch is just over three years old and has about 30K miles on it. Is chatter a typical symptom of a worn clutch?? ...which mine should obviously not be worn with that mileage/time...but I've not had good luck at all with clutches in this PAthy...Got 70K out of the orig...which I understand is fairly typical...and only about 50K out of my second one.

I just picked up my Pathy yesterday with the new damper installed. Unfortunately I won't know with certainty until at least a year from now if the root cause has been fixed...but I COULD know sooner if it hasn't!! Three years ago this problem began..shortly after putting in a new clutch in the summer of 2007...I lost clutch pressure a few months later...a new master and slave didn't fix it but a good strong followup bleeding got me through that winter. Two years ago lost pressure again...and a bleeding got me through that winter...until LAST year when I lost pressure again ...upon which yet another master and slave didn't fix it but replaced hose #30855 which got me through last winter...until earlier this month when I lost pressure yet again. Only components of the clutch hydraulics NOT previously replaced were the damper and the lines...so in went the damper. If that doesn't do it...I'm going to replace all the lines even though they all look pristine....and if that doesn't do it...I guess it's a new clutch...and if that doesn't do it...

Finally getting closer to tackling the many switches that have lost their backlights in the dash of my '97. These include: both seat heaters, hazard switch, rear defrost, wiper, directionals, mirror control, and many in the Bose stereo. This thread is likely to be a huge help. But what I'm a bit stuck on is how to get to some of the switches to either replace the bulb..or if that fails...replace the whole switch. First, How do I pop out the hazard and rear defrost switches? They are quite different than the seat heaters which appear more straightforward to get out. Second, the directional and wiper switches seem to be part of what's called a combination switch within the steering column. How hard is this to get at and how to do it?? Lastly, with the stereo ones...as best I can tell there isn't an option to replace anything but the whole unit and that is not happening. And of all the ones that have lost their backlighting...the stereo ones I care least about getting fixed. I have a FSM but can't quite get enough detail on how to accomplish the above. Lastly, Interestingly all of the switches noted above work in terms of performing their intended functions...it's just that they aren't backlit when driving at night...so that's not a HUGE deal..but it is annoying...and they are dropping like flies so at some point I'll have a totally dark dash!!! Is it typical for so many switches to continue functioning but simply lose their backlighting??

Just curious how you would prioritize those four items in terms of having the MOST impact on improved brake performance. My thoughts would be...stainless braided lines, quality pads, synthetic brake fluid, drilled/slotted rotors...in order of greatest to lowest impact. I engaged in a lot of dialogue on here and elsewhere earlier this year about the drilled/slotted rotor question (as opposed to standard OEM blanks) as well as talked to a lot of people directly. There was no consensus per se but the most common opinion was just stick with OEM blanks..with varying reasons to not bother with drilled/slotted. Don't mean to open a can of worms but just thought I'd throw that out there... FWIW...I'm planning to re-do my brakes next summer...planning on OEM rotors and pads, stainless braided lines from AC...but didn't know about the syn brake fluid so thanks for that tip!

Was this last balancing that cured the problem a road force balance on a Hunter machine? or no?

One add'l factor in whether you get rubbing or not is the true size of the tire. Not all 31 x 10.5 tires measure a true 31.000 inches and 10.500 inches. With the diameter there can be roughly one inch difference..ie. 30.50 to 31.50 inches in true measurement variance across different brand/model tires. Similar variances with width. I ran Mich LTX M/S 31x10.5 on my 97 SE ...they only rubbed slightly at full wheel lock..but did this from day one til I took them off 9 years and 100K miles later. Replaced with Revo 2 31x10.5 and they don't rub at all ...wheel lock or not. Check mfr sites etc as they often have true tire measurements on there.

Curious as to what exactly is advisable replacement duration for wires, cap, and rotor? There is absolutely no mention of them in the Nissan maint schedule anywhere. I've found a local garage I really like and I had my Pathy in there for a variety of things...it's a 97 SE 150K miles with original wires, cap, and rotor...I told them to check the wires and any other tune items they thought warranted so they did cap and rotor too. If wires, cap, and rotor are truly regular service items why does Nissan not advise as such??

Hunh. Glad everything worked out ok and sounds like yorus needed some attention. I am original owner of my 97 SE and still have original shoes on and they are at 5mm...only down slightly from new which are 6.1mm after 13 years and 150K miles. Did you measure your old shoe thickness? Further...it's my understanding that the rear drums and possibly the shoes as well ....will last the lifetime of the vehicle...or darn close to that ...at least as far as wear goes. Failure or other problems would be a different matter. So I would not universally recommend everyone doing them after 100K miles.

I understand what you are saying...I have a degree in Chemical Engineering...for what that is worth. But I still do not understand what you are suggesting the "problem" is? Are you saying that the problem is a defective or leaking master cylinder cap? What you propose above is not a result of normal operations of the system. Edit to add: and as I think about it further...even if you were to leave the master cylinder cap off entirely....no matter how humid the air...the density of the hydraulic fluid is such that the water vapor would not be able to transfer from the air and condense into liquid water directly into the hydraulic fluid as water molecules.. Secondly, even if it did.... which it wouldn't...it would remain on the surface of the fluid in the reservoir as it is lighter than the hydraulic fluid and therefore would not be introduced into the closed hydraulic system tubing as a result of operating the master cylinder.

Interesting...but seems kind of incomplete....but it might be the essence of the issue..or at least one part of it. How did the water...or humid air get into the system without any eveidence of fluid getting out? And irrespective of that...it somewhat correlates with XSrcing's symptoms...but it doesn't correlate with mine at all. Clutch works fine getting to the highway...and after an hour of highway driving clutch fails when attempting to downshift getting off the highway.

Interesting. That is kind of consistent with my situation...but my issue is that this has happened EVERY year for the last four years!! Sometimes a good strong bleeding got me through the balance of the winter...including numerous of the long trips that triggered the problem...only to have the problem recur the next winter upon the first or second long trip. Point being...each of the past four years ..when the problem started again...my fluid was a year old at most. So at least for my situation it goes against the theory you propose. Further...some of the years...I'd get on the highway just fine...then after an hour at 70mph or so with ZERO shifting...I'd go to downshift to get off the highway...only to find no clutch pressure...so no water in the line freezing there.

HankG, Resurrecting this to see if you have any further information. Did you keep the bypass of your damper? Where did you eventually end up with all this to resolve your problem??? I've been having the EXACT same symptoms you had...for four years now. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=28863&st=0&gopid=549792entry549792 Do you have any supporting info around your statement that the clutch damper is a common fail point??

Just did some searching and found this short thread...which describes my problem exactly. I'm curious about the statement that dampers are common problem point. Anyone else have any knowledge or experience that corroborates this? My new damper is going in today. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=25329&st=0&p=465392&hl=clutch&fromsearch=1entry465392