JamesRich Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I just got an 87 for a hunting truck and would like to dress it out for the woods. Has anyone put custom bumpers or a roof rack on a first generation pathfinder? I would like to see pictures and suggestion on how to mount a roof rack and different style bumpers. I have been welding for years and should be able to fabricate all of these parts. I want a winch bumper for the front and a rear bumper with a receiver hitch incorporated into it. Possibly even air tanks in the bumpers. So anyone have pics of their ride? James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 you could weld shut some 3x6 .25wall rectangle stock and put a reciever in the middle. that would make a great tank. A few people here have a design like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packie88 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 mine is 2x6 not welded for tanks but i guess i couldve. ill find pictures. front rear the rear has since been sealed and painted and i put a hitch in the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) Yours looks like a pretty simple design, I'm not set on them being air tanks it was just a thought while I'm building. Are you climbing a tree stump in that second picture? Thats wild! Your truck looks awesome but I don't want to go that radical with this one i won't even lift it. I will be squeezing through some tight spots where I go hunting so I will have to do some trimming and I don't want to have to trim too high. We don't have any deep mud holes to go through but that is why I want the winch. If I do get high centered I can drag it out. How did you mount your roof rack? I'm guessing drill through the roof and a support member from the inside and bolt it down? James Edited January 11, 2010 by JamesRich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Has anyone put custom bumpers or a roof rack on a first generation pathfinder? Can't help you with custom bumpers, but the roof racks, yes. First off, what Packie88 has is really a basket, not a rack. The stock racks have a weight rating of 80lbs IIRC and they are mounted directly to the sheet metal. You can retrofit one fairly easily using jack nuts or riveting in threaded inserts. Thule and Yakima make after market mounts that clamp to the door gaps and rain gutters IIRC and have considerable more payload but are a bit taller and more exposed. I believe that, or something like it is what Packie is using. Also, when you say you won't do a lift, I recommend you do a moderate 'poor mans lift' and run 31" tires. This will help with off road situations significantly and is almost free. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18&st=140 http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17038 A locker or simply a LSD rear would help a lot also. Happy hunting Bud!! I have a smoker if you have the game... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I clamped my basket to my stock rack: If don't have the stocker, you can just bolt straight to the roof above the B pillar and above the D pillar (crossmembers under those areas, no need for a backing plate). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 If I could just add about the air bumpers....if you aren't going to have a nice air compressor to keep the bumpers up to pressure...I'd suggest heading over to walmart. They have 7 gallon portable air tanks for 29.99. I got one for the dunes and it aired up all 4 tires from 10psi to 20-25psi or so for the drive to camp....getting another sooner or later too.. I just wanted to give you the option, cause I personally don't see any benefit in such a small air tank...only possible accidents happening.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Also, when you say you won't do a lift, I recommend you do a moderate 'poor mans lift' and run 31" tires. This will help with off road situations significantly and is almost free. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18&st=140 http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17038 A locker or simply a LSD rear would help a lot also. Happy hunting Bud!! I have a smoker if you have the game... B Thanks for the links, I had heard of using springs from a jeep but didn't know the details. My only concern is won't it ride like crap with springs from a heavier truck. I am a machinist, if I lift it I will probably just make a set of aluminum spacers with a pocket for the spring. But I won't go more then an 1" or 1 1/2". There are guys in our lease with the little Japanese trucks that do ok and one suzuki samurai. I have all of them beat with ground clearance already. A locking rear differential will help, any poor man fixes for that? (other than a welding machine) My freezer is full of deer and the wife is bitching so if your house was closer I would be knocking on your door! I clamped my basket to my stock rack: If don't have the stocker, you can just bolt straight to the roof above the B pillar and above the D pillar (crossmembers under those areas, no need for a backing plate). I wasn't sure if they had stock racks, I think your idea is the most destructive. I will have to find a set of stock racks to put on mine and go your route. If I want to take the basket off it won't look like its missing something. If I could just add about the air bumpers....if you aren't going to have a nice air compressor to keep the bumpers up to pressure...I'd suggest heading over to walmart. They have 7 gallon portable air tanks for 29.99. I got one for the dunes and it aired up all 4 tires from 10psi to 20-25psi or so for the drive to camp....getting another sooner or later too.. I just wanted to give you the option, cause I personally don't see any benefit in such a small air tank...only possible accidents happening.. I already have an air tank I made from a large aluminum forklift propane tank that I could use if I needed it, but if I add tanks to the bumpers I will install an electric air compressor somewhere. I have already made air tanks out of 4" exhaust pipe for a low rider and don't understand what kind of accidents you could be talking about. James I have been searching for a pathfinder forum with good guys that have lots of knowledge and aren't afraid to answer a question, and I think I found it. You guys seem like a great bunch! A little info on myself; I worked as an auto and diesel mechanic for 16 years until I screwed up my knee. After two surgeries and it not getting better The doctor suggested a career with less heavy lifting. So I went to school for machining. So now at 40 years old with my mechanical experience and ability to cut iron and fabricate I'm ready to cut loose on this pathfinder as much as my check book (and wife) will allow. I'm also a Nissan man to the core been owning Nissan's since 89. My regular ride is a 06 Titan, wife drives an 01 Quest, and now the pathfinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Thanks for the links, I had heard of using springs from a jeep but didn't know the details. My only concern is won't it ride like crap with springs from a heavier truck. I am a machinist, if I lift it I will probably just make a set of aluminum spacers with a pocket for the spring. But I won't go more then an 1" or 1 1/2". There are guys in our lease with the little Japanese trucks that do ok and one suzuki samurai. I have all of them beat with ground clearance already.A locking rear differential will help, any poor man fixes for that? (other than a welding machine)My freezer is full of deer and the wife is bitching so if your house was closer I would be knocking on your door! In my opinion, the ride doesn't suffer much at all. Actually, I think the over all handling and feel is better with a slightly more agressive suspension. As for lockers, there are air and mechanical lockers available running $400-$1000+, but you need an open differential for the install. Have you checked to see if you have LSD?? You can always grab a LSD rear from a wrecker. I wasn't sure if they had stock racks, I think your idea is the most destructive. I will have to find a set of stock racks to put on mine and go your route. If I want to take the basket off it won't look like its missing something. I have 2 stock racks in the garage. If you were closer, I'd be trading you for deer meat... Again, a wrecker is your friend. Someone here installed a newer style aluminum rack off of a Frontier. It looked pretty good. I'm not sure if an Xterra rack would fit. Grab a tape measure and start looking... I have been searching for a pathfinder forum with good guys that have lots of knowledge and aren't afraid to answer a question, and I think I found it. You guys seem like a great bunch! Some more than others, but yeah... Thanks BTW!! A little info on myself; I worked as an auto and diesel mechanic for 16 years until I screwed up my knee. After two surgeries and it not getting better The doctor suggested a career with less heavy lifting. So I went to school for machining. So now at 40 years old with my mechanical experience and ability to cut iron and fabricate I'm ready to cut loose on this pathfinder as much as my check book (and wife) will allow.I'm also a Nissan man to the core been owning Nissan's since 89. My regular ride is a 06 Titan, wife drives an 01 Quest, and now the pathfinder. Ahh, better and better. I'm your age and a machinist as well. Never was a mechanic, but I can't remember the last time any of my vehicles were in a shop... Welcome aboard James! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I wasn't sure if they had stock racks, I think your idea is the most destructive. I will have to find a set of stock racks to put on mine and go your route. If I want to take the basket off it won't look like its missing something. As you can see in the pic I posted, the stock rack bolts in at the locations I suggested. All they used were the "nutserts" in the sheetmetal to hold the stock racks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavefromOZ Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Thule and Yakima make after market mounts that clamp to the door gaps and rain gutters IIRC and have considerable more payload but are a bit taller and more exposed. I believe that, or something like it is what Packie is using. B I have Thule racks, rated to 75-80kg if I remember correctly, but B is correct, they do sit extremely tall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 The problem with the Thule and Yakima racks on 2drs is that, unless you want the rack to sit over just the front of the cab, you need extra bars/clips to "float" the rear towers over the back area of the cab. http://www.thule.com/en/US/sitecore/content/Primary%20Product%20Hierarchy/Thule%20Products/ProductCategory_5010/ProductFamily_178712/477000.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Thanks for all the reply and welcomes guys. Y'all have set me up with some ideas now I just need to raid some scrap yards. We have a local pick a part and I think there is a big one in Baton Rouge, I'll have to make some rounds. I already tested to see if I had a LSD while I was testing the clutch. Only smoked one tire. (No I haven't grown up yet) As you can see in the pic I posted, the stock rack bolts in at the locations I suggested. All they used were the "nutserts" in the sheetmetal to hold the stock racks. On my last post I meant your idea was the least destructive not most. Lol! You had to put nutserts in to bolt the racks down? I had hoped that there would be a nut tack welded to the body supports where the rack would bolt up if it had one. A guy on clubtitan put armada racks on his Titan. When he pulled the headliner down it already had nuts welded to the roof supports, so he just drilled through where the nuts were. A Titan never came with roof racks but apparently the roof supports are the same for the titan and armada. Oh well it didn't hurt to hope. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I didn't put them in, it was on there stock. Neither the 2dr nor the 4dr had preset nuts for their racks. You can install a later model stock rack the same way though. The later models were the more common slide rails with adjustable bars. The sit lower than the older racks too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 I didn't put them in, it was on there stock. Neither the 2dr nor the 4dr had preset nuts for their racks. You can install a later model stock rack the same way though. The later models were the more common slide rails with adjustable bars. The sit lower than the older racks too. I'm going to hit some scrape yards this weekend and see what I can find. Yesterday a hit a local one in Lafayette. They had two pathfinders, an 87 and a 96. They were picked pretty clean but the 87 had a roof rack but it is a little ruff. I know where its at if I cant find better. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Remember that you do not have to limit yourself to Pathfinder racks Look around the yard at all the SUV's you might find something that you like and can that be modified to fit. The rack on my truck is from an S10 Blazer, I shortened and narrowed it a little (which was simple) then attached it pretty much the way GrimGreg described Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3DN1CK Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 packie and others with the roofrack mounted lights, how is the visability. Where I live we have deserts and usually run prerunner style front light bars off the bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Remember that you do not have to limit yourself to Pathfinder racks Look around the yard at all the SUV's you might find something that you like and can that be modified to fit. The rack on my truck is from an S10 Blazer, I shortened and narrowed it a little (which was simple) then attached it pretty much the way GrimGreg described I nabbed an xterra rack for $20 to put on my pathy. It was missing the basket and wind deflector but I will keep looking for that. I will have to shorten it for sure (didn't think xterra was that much longer than a pathfinder) and maybe narrow it some. It was mounted the way GrimGreg mounted his with just the pop rivet style nuts. Once I removed the rack I could push the threaded holes up and down so I know there was no cross member under them. This will be a future project for after I get the front end squared away. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 (edited) Just in case you want to know what it looks like before you mount it here's a couple pics so you can tell if your going to like it or not. Not my vehicle so I have no idea how they mounted it. Edited January 22, 2010 by Dowser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packie88 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 The visability isnt bad, but i dont like the height very much becasue it makes my rig tall... ima move em down eventually when i go to cage the thing and psosiblly get rid of the rack altogether. Theyre bright and get the job done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Just in case you want to know what it looks like before you mount it here's a couple pics so you can tell if your going to like it or not. Not my vehicle so I have no idea how they mounted it. That does look good, I guess I won't be the first to put an xterra rack on a pathfinder. Do you know anyway to contact this guy? Where did you get the pictures? It would help to talk to him and maybe get some close up pictures before I start cutting. I know I will have to shorten the legs in the front because the pathfinder doesn't have as much step in the roof. Possibly after doing that it would not be too long. Right now it's definitely too long. I guess I'll have to move this project up from the back burner. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 That was an image a member on here posted a few years ago. I can't remember who they were or what there Username was. I just tend to bookmark topics that I find informative and put them into Folders appropriate to the topic and save photos that I think are cool because you can't count on them being on the server for long periods of time. Like those photo's. My bet is that they are not on this forum any longer. All I can say, is it obviously can be done. I just really don't know the Specifics about anything. I wanted to do this myself years ago as well, but have since decided I don't want too. Good luck and if you do actually do a mount up, Take lots of Photo's often and Do a write up for us on here since its never been done. We'll be able to Sticky it or something if its good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 The pictures definitely will help. I thought the over all length was too long and I knew the front legs (part that turns down) would be to long. From the look of his pics as far as I can tell he didn't shorten the over all length. Possibly once I get the front legs to length the over all length will be just right. I stripped a bunch of front end parts out of the scrap yard yesterday and this morning I realized I'm not as young as I used to be! I got my truck jacked up yesterday evening and got a good look at the suspension. On the passenger side, the compression rod bushing is screwed up on the nut side of the rod. This let the lower a arm front bushing in the frame move forward until the a arm is rubbing on the frame. I could see this letting the tow pull in as far as it did. Now I just need to order some bushings then rebuild the whole front end so I can get this front end issue out the way, then on to the xterra rack! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 That was an image a member on here posted a few years ago. I can't remember who they were or what there Username was. I just tend to bookmark topics that I find informative and put them into Folders appropriate to the topic and save photos that I think are cool because you can't count on them being on the server for long periods of time. Like those photo's. My bet is that they are not on this forum any longer. All I can say, is it obviously can be done. I just really don't know the Specifics about anything. I wanted to do this myself years ago as well, but have since decided I don't want too. Good luck and if you do actually do a mount up, Take lots of Photo's often and Do a write up for us on here since its never been done. We'll be able to Sticky it or something if its good. Search Parameters "+xterra +rack" quickly led me to here: X-Terra Roof Rack? The truck belongs (belonged?) to a member here by the name of "Miller" Here are three more pics of the truck w/rack And here is the pic that was attached to post#38 in the above link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Allow me to introduce the new search function here at NPORA, known as "Red". Simply PM RedPath88 with what you are looking for, ie what sise tires can I put on in plathfinger I wat a roc krawlerz it is green.. yo :=)and your answer (with search parameters) will be posted within 6 hours, 24-7/365!!! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now