01Pathmaker

Looking good even with all those Canadian speed holes! I'm jealous of that tire carrier/rear gate find, just hope you also grabbed the latch mechanism that bolts to the bumper. I so regret selling my 96, I should've at least removed the carrier first since I can't find one for the life of me now...

Welcome! Out of the vehicles you listed above, I'd either go for the '04 low mileage bare bones or wait to see what else comes along. I wouldn't be against the '04 just because it's bare bones, unless there are specific options that you must have. My theory has always been, the fewer "bells and whistles", the less to go wrong and cause problems later on. For the record, I bought my well optioned SE new in '01, have kept up on all maintenance, just a few actual repairs have been required, and with the exception of rust starting to blow up all over the place and the Bose cd changer, she's still runs beautifully and drives good. I'm slowly creeping up on the 200k mark, but this has by far been the most reliable and moderately capable vehicle I've ever owned. For the past few years she's by a 3rd vehicle, primarily used for fishing the outer ocean beaches, hunting, dog hauling, home improvement store trips, towing and foul weather commuting.

NIce work & great to follow along! These are fun little animals...

Been offline for a bit, just catching up, but looks like that hitch setup will work for your needs. Several years ago, I grabbed an old rear hitch off a friends Expedition he was getting ready to junk, cut oi down to size and welded it to those same tow hook/tie down brackets, reinforced with some beefy angle iron. I use mine year round, Snowsport utility plow for my driveway in winter and cargo/cooler/fishing pole rack in the summer and its held up great! Nice use of ingenuity! Nice bikes too!

The products look amazing, as does the nose job on the gambler! Really got me looking for a clapped out silver pre-facelift R50, with a tire carrier! Love the thought of the rugged look with the power of the vq35...

You'd probably have an aneurysm if you saw mine right now! I did just clean the inside of the windshield though, cause I couldn't see anything on my way to work, in the morning sun! LMAO

Welcome! Nice addition, now you've got small, medium & large!

Has anybody determined what size tires can be run with the 2.5" kit? I'm strongly considering the purchase of a R51 and would like to go with 285's. I also happen to be eyeballing a 2014 Xterra Pro4x, which I know I can do what I want with, but I'd rather have the 3rd row option since the kids continue to grow...

What year R50? If your pre-facelift your options are open to a small size light in the stock location (I replaced my broken oem's with led cubes on my 96). If your post-facelift just pickup a set of oem replacement off eBay, pop them in & your good to go

After modding my Titan with an intake, JWT cams, long tube headers, Cajun catless b-pipes, uprev tuning and such, I used ported o2 spacers from Big Daddy's Garage. Like @nunyasaid, no inspection station I ever brought it to ever did a visual, as long as the obd2 said it was good, it got a sticker. Results may vary in other states though. P.s. I do really miss how much fun that truck was, but don't miss that gas bill!!

Am I safe to assume, since you mentioned the portability of the patches, that they are Velcro backed? Cause that would be awesome!

I'll be interested to see how this works out. Always appreciate "thinking outside the box"!

Clean work and subtle, but subtle is good! IIRC, there's a pinch weld behind the plastic liner in the rear of the well where you described your persistent rub. That can be remedied by pulling the liner out of the way, flattening the raised area, replace the liner, put some heat to the liner and massage it a bit.

I'm patiently waiting to see the new available products and how much of my money you guys are gonna end up with!

Really well thought out and executed build! Also really love that it's not a mall crawler, that it actually gets used regularly for it intended purpose. Really like the more utilitarian looks of the 1st gen R50's, makes me regret selling my 96, should've kept it to use as the beach cruiser/woods bomber. And I'm jealous of all the "playgrounds" you have around you, we've got nothing like that here, closest orv park is 6-7hrs away...