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PathyDude's R50 Projects (03 SE 4x4)


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2 hours ago, onespiritbrain said:

I just saw your sub install. Nice!! I often miss my sub... How much power are you feeding them??

Hehe, those subs came with my first car, the RWD 4runner I had. They were professionally installed in that vehicle, so I just transferred them over to my R50 when the time came. I’ve never bothered to check the specs on what they’re pulling/running. They’re loud though, twin 12’s in a ported box. A single 10 would be plenty for my taste, but this is what I have. Maybe I’ll take a look into it sometime

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  • 2 months later...

ygWFe1a.jpg

 

 

So, with the first snow today, I got to see the performance of the lokka in snow. So far, in a couple of inches of fresh powder, I was pretty impressed with how the vehicle handles. Turning at low speeds wasn't too difficult, and the lokka would actually unlock and allow differential action at low speeds, maintaining a tight turn radius. I suspect that Ice will not be very fun with the lokka, but this setup is probably as good or better than typical 4WD in general snowy road conditions. The vehicle self centered super easily, was way less squirrely than in 2WD, and had lots of traction. See the video below for more. I wasn't super fond of how the LSD behaved, especially when in RWD only. Pretty squirrely driving, and not that great in the snow. Definitely enough traction to get around, but the rear end swings out pretty easily.  

 

 

 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, PathyGig12 said:

The rear end swing is my favorite feature lmao. Gotta love snow days and empty streets

Eh, I could do without it. I wasn’t enjoying trying to explain it to my non-gear head passengers. It makes the conditions look worse than they are, and I’ll be sticking to 4WD moving forward.

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2 hours ago, PathyDude17 said:

Eh, I could do without it. I wasn’t enjoying trying to explain it to my non-gear head passengers. It makes the conditions look worse than they are, and I’ll be sticking to 4WD moving forward.

Haha fair enough. Most of my driving on snow is done in AUTO but I’ll throw it in 2WD for kicks every now and then

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Haha fair enough. Most of my driving on snow is done in AUTO but I’ll throw it in 2WD for kicks every now and then

Yeah, that’s the beauty of the ATX14A - I use AWD almost all the time here in the PNW because it’s always slick with rain. In snow, sand, dirt & gravel it eliminates the understeer induced by locking the center diff in 4Hi & results in less “plowing” with the front end. It also eliminates the fishtailing I get with hard acceleration on slick turns in 2WD.
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  • 1 month later...

 

Hey guys, just thought I'd show you a little of the R50 related stuff that's going on right now. I've received plenty of parts orders over the holiday break, including two Xterra Third Members, a full 4.6 Swap, a transfer case skid plate, and a honeycomb grill. A few other odds and ends to round it out, but those are the goodies. I also had a really great find in a particular blue R50- the was contact info of the last owner was on some service records in the vehicle, and I was able to get in touch with him and ask him about the vehicle. It was in really good shape, and is next in line for any 4.6 Swap parts requests. It had a lift kit, among other upgrades, and that's where the manual hubs in this photo are from! I'm looking to restore those Warns and slap them on my own R50, it makes sense when the upgrade is essentially free.

xIxqtmr.jpg

 

 

The pathfinder's in decent shape. My subwoofer shelf is in disrepair after some rocky trails, and needs revisiting. An SES light that needs to be diagnosed, and then maybe paying some attention to finishing some lights and wiring organization projects. But first, gotta box up all these sweet parts and get them shipped! It should be really fun to see these parts get second life with some owners.

 

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1 hour ago, RainGoat said:

As the happy recipient of the full set, I know you’ve got more fun pictures than that one!

 

So many more fun pictures. The green Xterra comes to mind. Still not sure how dumb you have to be to suspend the rear of a vehicle by the nut on the leaf spring hanger. Here it is after I stacked 20 more tires/wheels under the frame. What a death trap, I loosened almost every nut and bolt at arms length with my head in the wheel well, and then finished it off with a crow bar.

 

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The aforementioned OSHA approved weight supporting wheel.

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And the beautiful blue lifted R50 whose hubs I pulled. Still has Bilsteins, rear lift springs, and what appeared to be poly rear links.

46Fl30U.png

 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, mjotrainbrain said:

Did you ever figure out if that's factory paint? I really dig the color.

I had one person message me and claimed it was a factory color. Either way, a very nice color. Such a pleasant blue. 

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19 hours ago, PathyDude17 said:

I had one person message me and claimed it was a factory color. Either way, a very nice color. Such a pleasant blue. 

It’s funny i just saw a facelift Qx4 with a similar blue last week. Never seen that color before. Such a good looking dark metallic blue color. Might be Infiniti color code BW9.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, more R50 fun this break! I took a family trip to the phoenix area, and of course had to hit up a few of the locals.....

 

It was great having @hawairish and @R50JR show me some Arizona trails

 

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Views from the top

 

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Patrick was very kind to let me take his beast up some of the obstacles. His special "All mode" locker switch is awesome, and this thing absolutely walks anything you point it at. R50JR had no trouble keeping up (minus a few high clearance obstacles :) ) with his Lokka / super LSD combo either.

 

We got some video as well, so we'll see how that turns out!

 

Edited by PathyDude17
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15 minutes ago, PathyGig12 said:

“All mode” locker switch? Do tell....

 

Also, Patrick’s rear bumper is still one of the sickest things I’ve seen on a pathfinder. 

I know he has pics on here somewhere. 
 

he has the part time manual shift t case, so he rigged an all mode switch on his center column (near / exactly where it would go on yours). When turned to “AWD” it initiates the compressor so that the lockers are ready to go, then 4H turns on the rear locker, and 4L turns on the front locker (while keeping the rear locker on). Forgive me if I’m butchering the description @hawairish

Edited by PathyDude17
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3 hours ago, PathyDude17 said:

I know he has pics on here somewhere. 
 

he has the part time manual shift t case, so he rigged an all mode switch on his center column (near / exactly where it would go on yours). When turned to “AWD” it initiates the compressor so that the lockers are ready to go, then 4H turns on the rear locker, and 4L turns on the front locker (while keeping the rear locker on). Forgive me if I’m butchering the description @hawairish

Sounds dope. Every mention of lockers makes me want them more. COVID sucks

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1 hour ago, PathyDude17 said:

I know he has pics on here somewhere. 
 

he has the part time manual shift t case, so he rigged an all mode switch on his center column (near / exactly where it would go on yours). When turned to “AWD” it initiates the compressor so that the lockers are ready to go, then 4H turns on the rear locker, and 4L turns on the front locker (while keeping the rear locker on). Forgive me if I’m butchering the description @hawairish

 

Pretty close!  The all-mode switch is in the OE spot.  "2WD" controls my tire inflation/deflation setup, "AUTO" charges the system (for locker or quick-connect use), "4H" engages the rear locker, and "4LO" engages both lockers.  I just put the full details on my TJM thread to not clutter your thread.

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I am glad we made this work and it was great meeting you (in person). It was definitely a fun, overdue trip. Hopefully some of the mediocre videos I recorded can make it on here. Hawairish's truck is an absolute beast. Those rocks down in the wash were some real crawling terrain. I am very pleased with how my locker/lsd set up performed. I kept up with you guys and never felt like I couldn't go over/up something. 

 

so...when are you getting lockers?

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On 12/20/2020 at 4:19 PM, PathyDude17 said:

I had one person message me and claimed it was a factory color. Either way, a very nice color. Such a pleasant blue. 

Is that blue similar to mine?
YgGzuFS.png 

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2 hours ago, gloer said:

Is that blue similar to mine?

I’m gonna say no, unless the lighting is somehow massively changing how your blue shows up in photo. This blue was pretty flat toned unlike a lot of the “sparkly” colors offered on R50’s.

Edited by PathyDude17
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3 hours ago, R50JR said:

I am glad we made this work and it was great meeting you (in person). It was definitely a fun, overdue trip. Hopefully some of the mediocre videos I recorded can make it on here. Hawairish's truck is an absolute beast. Those rocks down in the wash were some real crawling terrain. I am very pleased with how my locker/lsd set up performed. I kept up with you guys and never felt like I couldn't go over/up something. 

 

so...when are you getting lockers?

Likewise!

 

ya, after driving a double locked pathy, it definitely had me jealous of the extra height and the rear locker... that would be super nice!

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