The_Oregonian

Wilco Hitchgate spare tire carrier finally arrived. I went with the high clearance model. It isn’t cheap but it’s well designed and built like a tank. The spare tire relocation bracket and Rotopax mount bracket (which mounts between the tire and rear hatch) is still backordered but I’ll post pics when those arrive.

Sound advice RainGoat I appreciate it. Just to be sure I do have a full size matching spare that’s currently residing in the cargo area. I probably will go with the Hitchgate despite the price, and do plan on doing a rotopax fuel tank, and license plate bracket to go with it. I’ve looked into the Rigd as well and actually prefer that design but refuse to pay more than 1/5th of what I spent on the entire vehicle.. I’ve been looking for a used Hitchgate almost daily on FB marketplace & craigslist for a month or two but they don’t seem to come up at all... I’ll make a decision and probably pull the trigger in the next week or so once the sting of the tire expenditure wears off lol...

Sigh... Very true. I was looking for a more quick fix kind of solution that was still clean which was why I was considering the Hitchgate. I can turn a wrench but I don’t have the fab skills or space to tackle a project like that (you’re looking at my lovely street parking in the pics) so I would need to find a fabricator to outsource the project. I’m hoping to have the spare out of my trunk ASAP. OEM mount is definitely an option I considered but drilling into the car makes me nervous ? And that’s if there are good ones left in the Portland area yards... Also - Just wanted to thank you Tyler for all the help getting me this far!

Wheels painted, and tires mounted. I’m pretty happy with the results! Went with General Grabber ATX’s in 31x10.5. They are quieter than I expected for as aggressive as they are but they do rub quite a bit more than I was expecting in reverse so I need to figure that out... Next is figuring out what to do with the spare. Wilco seems to think a Hitchgate high clearance will work with the Curt Hitch, I just need to decide if I want to spend $700 on that, or mount it in a roof basket...

Yeah my Curt hitch isn’t boxed in the back, and I think I have enough clearance (4.5”) from there to the pin hole, but they say you need 3 1/2 inches from the hitch pin hole to the “back of the support arm”. I think they mean to the receiver end but I’m not clear on that... The Curt hitch is about 2” here but I’m not fully understanding how that is a factor..

Quick update since I’m not breaking any new ground here... Finally got the Warn manual hubs installed last week. Pretty easy install. I was going to re-use the factory studs but ended up over-torquing one ?. Ended up using the double nut method to install the Warn supplied studs. Steering does seem lighter and more direct with the CV’s disengaged on the street. The Bilstein 33-185552’s finally arrived as well, and I was able to install them last night. The install was delayed a bit because I didn’t have a 22mm socket on hand for the lower nut so had to buy one.. Post #38 in Dbot’s build thread helped a ton with the exact modification needed on the top mount in order to mount these on a post-facelift. Again pretty easy install other than having some difficulty having enough room to drill out the top mount on the drivers side (there’s a plastic piece in the way that covers some lines). Turns out the factory shocks were shot so this was a huge improvement with ride/handling, and as everyone knows will provide some additional articulation in the rear suspension. Got my wheels in as well Working on prepping them for paint with the goal of both minimizing the visual effect of the fake beadlocks, and providing some additional color to stand out a bit. Looking forward to seeing the results of the vision! Tires should be mounted by this time next week! The last step of the first phase of the build will be deciding on a mounting solution for the full size spare. I’m trying to avoid getting a pre-facelift tire mount as I’m not 100% thrilled about drilling the car.. Looking at either mounting on the roof in a Rola Vortex basket and using a Yakima basket spare tire mount -https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0012SAB30#Ask- (the Yakima mount is lockable which I’ll need because I live in the city and my house doesn’t have a garage) or maybe ponying up for a Wilco Hitchgate. I’m not totally clear if the Hitchgate will work with my Curt hitch and may need to reach out to Wilco to confirm measurements. Any advice here is welcome!

I’m very interested in this setup for the SE racks as I’m currently looking for options to store a spare tire up on the roof. I was probably going to go with the Rola with a Yakima basket spare tire mount. The Yakima mount is lockable which i need because I have to street park in the city but requires some modification to work with the Rola. Looking forward to more info on this because you’re right the Rola looks a little goofy on the SE racks....

Nice! I’ve spent some time hiking and camping around the Snoqualmie pass. If there is ever a PNW meetup be sure to keep me in the loop! And I guess I missed that in the link. Good catch.

Hey RainGoat, There may be some 16” options with 3.75” BS but I couldn’t find them. Most of what I was seeing was 0”, 4” etc. I did some searching for spring rate and wasn’t able to find the specific specifications. Here it is out of the catalog (note that the part # available on Dobinson’s USA site is C45-168) The 170 part number would have been enticing but isn’t available in the US... I’ll see if I can dig up the spring rate somewhere. I’m in Portland. Lots of awesome places to explore for sure! I’m on a PDX Overlanding FB group and will check out that recommendation thanks! Are you in the PNW as well??

Also, If anyone is curious I purchased the Dobinsons front springs here - https://www.dobinsonsdirect.com/products/dobinsons-pair-of-front-coils-for-nissan-pathfinder-r50-1995-2005c45-168?rq=mk_nissan~md_pathfinder-r50~yr_1995-2005

True, I was mainly looking for 3.75” BS/-19mm offset based on Tyler’s recommendations here - There doesn’t seem to be any 16’s with those options so I went with the 15’s as a tried and true option with minimal rubbing/trimming..

After getting to know the car in stock form through this summer, doing a couple of minor mods (Curt hitch, interior LED’s etc), sorting out some overheating issues I ran into, and doing a ton of research here, Tyler’s YouTube channel, and some of the FB groups I started ordering parts for phase 1 of the modifications a few weeks ago. Phase 1 - Step 1 - Spring Lift: For the rear I decided on the tried and true 9447 springs. For the fronts after some deliberation I decided I didn’t want to do business with 4x4parts.com given the shipping cost gouging, and general lack of transparency in parts sourcing. After some additional research, and some feedback from fellow owners I decided on an off-the-beaten-path solution with Dobinsons front lift springs. The Dobinsons seem to have similar specs to the OME springs, but others had reported about 2” of lift. Either way I pulled the trigger, and everything was installed today. As you can see there is a little rake, however I figure once I get bigger tires with a full size spare out back, and load up with camping gear it should more or less even out. It’ll be interesting to see how it looks once everything settled a bit. I only have about 2 miles on the springs so far but initial impressions are that it feels almost stock just higher. No joke - I was expecting it to be way stiffer than it is. Up next are: -Install Warn manual hubs -Bilstein 33-185552 (backordered but should ship out this week) -Pro Comp 15” steelies (also backordered) with a fun little paint project I have for them... -31x10.5 Tires will be ordered once wheels are on the way. I’m leaning toward General Grabber ATX’s (with a $100 mail in rebate these will be cheap but open to suggestions) More to come soon...

Hey all, I’ve been lurking and learning for months now, and have officially started my long-term build and figured I’d take the opportunity to document the progress here! I bought the ‘02 earlier this summer. It’s my first 4x4 I’ve owned so this is all brand new to me, but I decided I needed a second vehicle that could get me places here in Oregon that my daily (2012 Volvo S60) wouldn’t take me. Enter a 1 owner bone-stock Pathy with 108k miles and service records dating all the way back to new. Here she is the day I bought her. I’m open to suggestions on a project name that plays on the old lady gold color combo I’ve landed on lol. Current working titles are: Project Gold Digger Project Goldschläger Project Goldeneye Project Goldilocks Anyway onto the mods in the next post...

Tyler to the rescue again. That post is what I needed thank you. P.S. I’m the guy that was communicating with you in the YouTube comments a couple of weeks ago about the Dobinsons front springs. I pulled the trigger and they shipped out today... If anyone else did it a little differently I’m open to further suggestions as well....

Thanks RainGoat!!

Weekend camping trip to the Ochoco National Forest.

Alright guys, This is probably a complete noob question here but here goes. Currently planning a lift and I’m considering getting the bilstein 33-185552 rear shocks to go with the 9447’s that are on the way. Based on Tyler’s rear shock video my post-facelift (2002) should have 12mm upper mounts, and 16mm lower mounts, and the 5552’s have 16mm top and bottom. Question is does anyone have a good how-to on adapting the 16mm upper mounts to my pathy’s 12mm upper mounts? Pics would help as I’m having a difficult time visualizing what needs to happen. What else do I need (hardware etc) to make this work? BTW I’ve already searched around the forum and haven’t found anything definitive but if there is a good post-facelift specific thread on this feel free to direct me to it. Thanks in advance. My lurking here has been extremely helpful so far...