Zraver

Welcome

Me, I am the only modded R50 in the area I know of. I get some love from some of the other rare Nissan wheelers, but mostly strange lookers from the Jeepers and Yotalerders. For the Ozarks the R50 is ideally sized and its only draw back is the damnable unibody that blocks real lift. If you are on the FB page I am Jason Belcourt send me a fr and I'll link you in to the Natural State Overland page. We do 2 big events a year in the Ozarks.

^ notice the mud. The spacers on the front means I throw a lot of mud and it can come in the window. If you plan on actually wheeling then lift, trim 33 is a very good thing to do. Bigger tires are the only way to lift the diff. Don't go up in wheel size, just go up in tire size. A deflated 15" has more foot print than a deflated 16" which has more than a 17". Also because we can't really lift our trucks armor is a good idea. Full skid plate including diff cover set with rock/super sliders. At least it is in the Ozarks where I wheel.

I had to trim/roll my fenders and cut away the flares near the door to make 285/75/16's fit without severe rubbing. I also had to use 2" wheel spacers in the front. In the rear its not so bad, no need to trim or space but I will occasionally bottom out going over obstacles and it a gap is starting to appear between the body and fender flares in the rear.

welcome

Jack Frost

Welcome, once you've done the power valve screws, and the first time you really load it up you'll see that the suspension is junk and will want to upgrade your springs. Old Man Emu makes and out the door set, and several people here have gotten even better results using land rover springs. Either way, the difference over stock is night and day.

WAM Bumpers makes a rear bumper with swing arm. They claim they bought out TAG/Kennesaw Mountain and are not just another version of them. So far the reviews have been solid. I plan on getting one in the spring when my tax money gets here. https://www.facebook.com/WAMBumpers/

I've seen one R50 with a rear tire carrier. The part numbers you listed are for the underbody carrier though not the uber rare swing arm.

Christmas display on dash is alternator until ruled out. Hook your pathy up with another vehicle running right via jumper cables. see if the delivery of good voltage fixes the problem if it does, or at least makes it better there is the first thing to fix.

I put mine on to stop the downward travel of the control arms past the point where my cv axles bound up. Since no one sells sfd's any more and I am neither rich nor a fabber it was a work around. Trade some traction for a mechanical safety margin. I was able to wheel it pretty hard this past weekend and not having that fear of a lifted wheel made the experience a whole lot more enjoyable.

and their on...

I used your post to order mine, prices are a bit different now but not much and the straps are 4ply now not 2. Looking forward to getting them welded on so I can stop sweating so much on the trail.

I've noticed the rear end float on the OME meds, but I am poor so I have to Shek it, "that'll do donkey, that'll do". Totally jelly at the SFD and being albe to do all those mods in one sitting. Congrats btw.

Thank God for 2 things right now. One the search feature finding this post, two you providing all the part numbers and detailed pics. Saved me a bunch of trial and error. Thank you.

The Z31 community adds injectors from a 1975 Mercedes. http://redz31.suomiz.net/pages/fuel/fuel.injectors.html. So I don't know the ins and outs of the VG33's fuel delivery system so you might already have a bigger injector set up or better fuel flow. In my 88 turbo 300zx I did the mercedes injector install and resricted the fuel pressure regulator mod to increase injector out put. I also installed a Walpro pump.

I have strobing white LED's in the same spot as your amber, zip strips last 3-4 months and then break, but haven't found a better way to mount them either.

Flexisteel tape

The turbo intake manifold should be a direct bolt up. The VG33 is a VG30E bored out 30 over. The only difference is the top of the motor/ intake manifold

Start researching VG33 mods. Some people bore out to 3.4l and stay NA, others add the turbo. You can also get adjustable cam gears and a bunch of other stuff if you know where to look.

If you have a VG33 there is. Get a turbo manifold off an old Z31 turbo and put a turbo on it. The engine also responds well to being intercooled, bigger injectors, bigger fuel delivery... I had a 88 z31 with a VG30ET that was 400hp at the wheels.

The fact the R50 is actually a car/cross over not an SUV/truck. I am a Nissan Z guy so when I decided to replace my suburban I was naturally drawn to Nissan. I got my pathy with an engine I was already familiar with for way less than an Xterras with similar miles. It was only later that I discovered that the reason the price point was so good is because its not actually a SUV/truck but a car. If the R50 was made today it would be called a cross over; unibody construction, soft car style suspension and suspension tuning, open diff, almost no room to put bigger tires on.... its a car. I've turned mine into a respectable 4wd rig, but a lot of money went to things a real 4wd would have handled from the factory.

whoa!

Duct taped my intake air hose.... it broke on the trail and tape got me home.

On most vehicles I'd say ability to self recover is mod #1. Not on a R50. The single most important and cost effective mod you can do is your springs. I went with OME but there are several options. For lift visit that link I posted, Fluery's will take care of you. He also offers armor, as do some other vendors.