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R50JR’s build thread


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Nice work! I like your locking solution for the recovery boards. Are they difficult to get at with the key?

Thanks! It's not hard at all to unlock them. If I do need a little more room, the pin slides outward a bit more and allows more clearance for the key.

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Although this car isn’t my daily and I don’t ever plan on mall crawling with it I wanted to secure the traction boards. I thought of a few different ways to lock it but settled on using a 1/2” receiver lock.

 

Ditto. Great idea with the receiver lock. Once I get my rack on I’d like to fashion something similar. I have the same boards & asked around about them at ExpoWest with encouraging reviews. Can’t beat them for the price.

 

BTW, relieved you addressed the power valve screws-most disappointing car day of my life.

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Ditto. Great idea with the receiver lock. Once I get my rack on I’d like to fashion something similar. I have the same boards & asked around about them at ExpoWest with encouraging reviews. Can’t beat them for the price.

 

BTW, relieved you addressed the power valve screws-most disappointing car day of my life.

The boards were definitely the perfect price point. I paid around $71 with a 20% off on ebay. Obviously I haven’t used them...yet, but they look well made. You will have to show off your rack when it’s ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I got my missing link in the mail yesterday. Thanks Steve for the fast shipping!

 

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Today, I installed it so I could start mounting the skids.

 

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I basically did all of my measurements for cuts with a speed square, including the holes for the bolts. It was a bit more tedious but it worked perfectly.

 

The one thing I don’t like about the rear plate is how it i just hanging with no support at the rear. I’ll see if I can make some thing to mount at the bracket for the gas tank.

 

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My next project will be the front skid. I haven’t had luck finding anyone with a cnc with a reasonable price to cut it. I may just have to take the jigsaw to it and get it done!

 

 

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I didn’t mount the rear skid securely yesterday because I was waiting on delivery of the brackets for the transmission cross member. I got them earlier today and they fit perfectly. They are door handles for a barn style door.

 

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I made the the front skid a few days ago and tried to get folds in it locally but no shop would do it stating 6061 is too rigid and would break. I can understand that, so I put it in the vice and took a propane torch to it to soften it a bit. It sorta worked... Long story short, My end result is @!*%. Luckily I still have a large piece of aluminum so I’ll try again without the side folds.

 

If anyone can weld aluminum you are free to have this.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey guys! I’ve been putting in a bit of work on my pathy. After I failed with the first attempt at the front skid, I cut a new one and had it sitting for a few weeks. Well today I finally went to a fab shop to get some bends put in. Came out great. Not perfect but really good. The kid messed up on one of the folds and had to re-flatten the piece. Ended up getting work free. So now my full skids are complete.

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I have also been hard at work installing a rear view camera and a front view along with led pods all around the roof basket. Oh and I upgraded my headunit for one with apple carplay.

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I got some more parts in yesterday. These will have to wait along with the brakes until this weekend. One of the timken seals had a national brand seal inside. Can you guess which one? I feel the Timken seal is more robust and easier to install.

 

Speaking of brakes, I know a couple of you on here have installed this powerstop kit. I don’t really have any place to do the break in procedure here and San Diego and the wife refuses to go back to Arizona in the summer (roads are wide open), how did you actually get them ready?

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

ive used electrical conduit clamps on mine. i have rola vortex and they fit right in. same width with factory roof mount too. how thick are those aluminum skids you made?

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ive used electrical conduit clamps on mine. i have rola vortex and they fit right in. same width with factory roof mount too. how thick are those aluminum skids you made?

3/16 6061 t6


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  • 1 month later...
I’ve been busy these past few days trying to get this thing put together and fit correctly. Thankfully, I think I’ve finally done it. The rack is a generic basket from ebay. Definitely not heavy duty steel, but it is solid how I mounted it. I still need to finish up some details like paint but the test fit is excellent.

 

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I made the brackets out of scrap aluminum I had from cutting the skid plates.

 

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Originally I used 1” tubing but that didn’t work very well due to the off camber of the roof rails. The rack wouldn’t reach the tubing. I went back to the metal supply and got 2”.

RainGoat told me a couple of other forum members used electrical clamps to mount their racks but I couldn’t really get an idea of how their baskets sit. From the beginning my main concern was the rack interfering with the sunroof which is why I went with the 1” aluminum for a spacer. It gives almost 2” clearance between the glass and lower tube.

Update, while conduit clamps directly to the rails work, on closer inspection of a rack mounted that way I found you couldn’t slip a cam strap hook over the bottom rail (clearance was too slim

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  • 3 weeks later...
7 hours ago, Chillkoot said:

Awesome build!

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, AlabamaDan said:

For the skid plates, how strong do you think that the aluminum is vs steel?  I'm sure you considered both, but I'm wondering why you chose aluminum over steel.  Was it cost or strength?

No comparison in strength vs steel. Aluminum is soft and will bend and gouge very easily. I chose it for the weight, cost (offerup), and ease of working with it. For my type of offroading, the aluminum works.

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1/4” Aluminum & 3/8” Steel are two common materials. We’re doing our T4R with aluminum because it’s lighter, non-corrosive, requires virtually no maintenance (including painting) & that truck is largely an Overlander/Grand Tourer

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  • 4 months later...

Been a while since I updated this.

I had a fun snow day today. I hadn’t seen this much snow in local mountains since 2009. The pathfinder is a beast in 4Lo. The skids help a bunch also.
54036c493d416c9346bf9260f1e1b2d8.jpg

I also have the new-style carrier waiting to be installed. I can’t wait!
7815da41df3abd736a2be196908828ef.jpg


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Been a while since I updated this.

I had a fun snow day today. I hadn’t seen this much snow in local mountains since 2009. The pathfinder is a beast in 4Lo. The skids help a bunch also.
54036c493d416c9346bf9260f1e1b2d8.jpg

I also have the new-style carrier waiting to be installed. I can’t wait!
7815da41df3abd736a2be196908828ef.jpg


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Awesome... great build
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Have been following your thread. What is the make and model of the roof rack? I like the idea of the traction board and mount. I would manufacture the mount for the shovel, traction board and spare fuel can. BTW, my spare fuel can for my 2000 Xterra is a 6 gallon marine fuel can that fits great. I will mod up same for my 2000 SE. This Pathfinder spends its’ time in SW New Mexico where we have a place. Will not go to Montana. Lots of off reading here in NM. MTG

Edited by MTGunner
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  • 1 month later...

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