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PathyGig12’s Build Thread


PathyGig12
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2 hours ago, R50JR said:

Great spot for switches, but interesting choice of switches.


Sent from my Pathfinder

Fair enough 

 

I think they’re a love it or hate it sort of thing. I was just tired of boring black rockers with “LED light bar” written on them 

 

There were also very few switch panels that were the correct width to fit the spot I chose, and I kind of like the plastic covers of these ones

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I can finally report that the power valve screws are done

 

turns out none of them were missing or loose, but I locktited them anyway to be safe. Even though the job seemed like a waste of 4 hours, at least now I have peace of mind. Going to be taking a long road trip soon, so I’m glad I know for sure that they won’t be falling out

 

when I had it running in the garage to confirm that I put everything back together properly, I noticed a faint squealing and it turned out to be an idler pulley not putting enough tension on one of the serpentine belts, so I tightened it up and the squeaking stopped. Very happy I caught it before it shredded a belt because that same thing happened a few months back on the other belt

Edited by PathyGig12
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Can anyone tell me why the intake tube wouldn’t come off of the throttle body? I loosened the metal band a LOT and took off all the hoses near by and lifted the airbox so that there was room to pull back on the tube but there was no way to wiggle it off. The confusing thing is that it spins freely on the throttle body so I know it’s not just baked on.
 

To do the job I had to undo the upper plenum and fold it back onto the intake tube side with it still attached but it made everything more difficult and I’d love to figure out what’s keeping it on the throttle body so that I can take it off in the future 

 

Am I missing a hard to see clamp or something? 

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I'm pretty sure the throttle body had a lip on it that sits in a relief in the intake boot. I completely released the clamp band before I realized what the problem was. That's not necessary but you should be able to stick a pinky under the band. The boot is hard rubber so I had to go beyond wiggling, to putting significant muscle into prying it back and forth to get it off the lip. I figured it would break the first time, but it didn't.

 

I did this maybe 3 times in my ~12 years of ownership. The last time the boot had deteriorated too much and was cracking. Nissan no longer supplies the boot, another company has taken over, and it was running about $250 for a new one on Parts Geek and it goes in and out of availability. So if yours cracks be ready to find a junker one in good condition, pay for a new one, rig something up on your own, or buy the K&N intake. I was lucky to find a used K&N intake on eBay for $180 when that happened.

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50 minutes ago, colinnwn said:

I'm pretty sure the throttle body had a lip on it that sits in a relief in the intake boot. I completely released the clamp band before I realized what the problem was. That's not necessary but you should be able to stick a pinky under the band. The boot is hard rubber so I had to go beyond wiggling, to putting significant muscle into prying it back and forth to get it off the lip. I figured it would break the first time, but it didn't.

 

I did this maybe 3 times in my ~12 years of ownership. The last time the boot had deteriorated too much and was cracking. Nissan no longer supplies the boot, another company has taken over, and it was running about $250 for a new one on Parts Geek and it goes in and out of availability. So if yours cracks be ready to find a junker one in good condition, pay for a new one, rig something up on your own, or buy the K&N intake. I was lucky to find a used K&N intake on eBay for $180 when that happened.

Thanks man, that’s exactly that I was thinking it had to be

 

I found that section of the tube on amazon  for 30 bucks. It’s just the part that goes on the throttle body, no resonator or anything else, but if I can chop the old one off then I can reuse the old resonator and stuff with the new one, so I might buy it

 

Here’s the link

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BFJHKKG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=A1S7U7MWBIEECH&psc=1

 

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Thanks man, that’s exactly that I was thinking it had to be
 
I found that section of the tube on amazon  for 30 bucks. It’s just the part that goes on the throttle body, no resonator or anything else, but if I can chop the old one off then I can reuse the old resonator and stuff with the new one, so I might buy it
 
Here’s the link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BFJHKKG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=A1S7U7MWBIEECH&psc=1
 

Try a junkyard? Or search Craigslist for parting out pathies?


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  • 2 weeks later...

oTKFOwd.jpgnTKoNbr.jpgs4DEyn0.jpg

 

The mudders got their first taste of mud in New Mexico visiting the SO’s family 

 

Wired up some fog lights to the front brush guard a couple days ago and I’m glad I did because we hit some mean fog in the way into ABQ

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Your rig looks great. How was the outdoor area you went to? Off road park or just federal land? 

I was just at the JY this week and saw a set of the same wheels with decent tires. Not in the market for any but your setup makes me think that if I had to do it over again I'd probably have stuck with the OEM wheels for my KO2 AT's and aftermarket 15's for my KM2 MT'S instead of getting the TRD wheels. 

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Technically neither, it’s tribal land because it was on a reservation. My girlfriend was raised there and most of their roads are unpaved so we came across lots of mud 

 

Haha I wish it was an off-road park though. I keep trying to get her to agree to a Moab detour on the way home but no luck so far. I really need to test the rigs capabilities, and waiting for Colorado to thaw is just awful

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  • 3 weeks later...

Feels like my build has been on hold for a while. I hate slowing down because if I don’t keep on it, I’ll end up settling and the truck isn’t getting any younger
 

Been super preoccupied with fixing the 4runner up because it’s an old bastard that refuses to work properly. Turns out having 340K miles brings out the @!*%tiest and hardest to solve problems....who knew? lmao


Apparently it’s having a fuel issue where it’s dumping too much into bank 1 and causing a super rich condition, but it’s also having an issue with the O2 sensor circuit so the fuel trim data is not updating fast enough during cold starts, which means the ecu is plugging in the -40 % stored fuel trim value at stop lights when you try to get on the gas, and it’s bogging because of too much air while cutting fuel. So it’s a sort of serious problem in and of itself, but its only causing drivability issues because of how it’s being handled by the rest of the air/fuel system. So now I’ve got to trace the wiring harness through the engine to see where it’s messed up and hopefully get it working properly before I can tackle the actual fuel issue, which is most likely the fuel pressure regulator. I’ve got brand new injectors in the truck, so I doubt they are leaking, but who knows? I’ve changed more sensors than I care to think about, including the the O2 sensor itself, so I’ve narrowed it down to basically those two possibilities. 
 

Dammit, I’m Toyota ranting again. My bad.

 

Anyway, once I sort out the 4runner, I’m going to have more time and money to put towards my truck but I’m trying to prioritize the next mods carefully. My list is long and the price tag comes out to around 3K if I were to do everything I want, so I’ll have to pace myself and knock out the more important stuff first. I think the next logical step will be a rear tire carrier, but I’m going to go the custom route on this one because I can’t seem to find any WD21 carriers online or in the junkyards. There was one on eBay about a month ago going for less than 200, and I’m kicking myself for not snagging it because it disappeared super quickly. Oh well. 
 

My current plan is to weld/bolt steel tubing  sections to the sides of the OEM hitch so that they stick out maybe 5 inches from the bumper cover and the weld a 5 foot piece of tubing across the top of them plus the flat top of the hitch itself, and then install one of the generic swing gates they sell for jeeps on top of the tubing. This way I can keep the hitch accessible for towing and recovery, and also don’t have to mess around with the drilling into the pillar to fit the WD21 carrier. I figure all told it’ll be less than 500 bucks in steel and labor, which is reasonable. After the install I’m tempted to also upgrade to the nrc9446 springs because I heard they offer an additional 1/2 inch of lift over the 9447s that I have right now, which would make sure I don’t get a bunch of take under the weight of all the steel. And while I’m in there, I want to put on the 26inch bilsteins as well. 

 

In the mean time, I’d like to get the front end sorted out in terms of new CVs, new ball joints, end links, tie rods, and control arms. Everything can be/needs to be done at the same time so I can tighten up the steering and handling and make sure the CVs are ready for the trails because one of them has a busted boot and I don’t trust it anymore. If the price is reasonable, then I’ll have a shop do it for me to save me some headache, but otherwise I can also try it myself. Just nervous when it comes to things like ball joints and CVs because of all the horror stories involving rusted bolts,  hammers, pickle forks, and clearance issues lol


So yeah, more updates soon hopefully

 

 

 

Edited by PathyGig12
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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone know what a decent price would be to have a shop fabricate a rear swing gate tire carrier?

 

I would supply all the tubing, just need them to weld it together into a basic gate and then weld it to a hinge pin.

 

Thus is my rough idea. jzQj75J.png

 

The blue is the long piece of 2x4 steel tubing, the red represents the tubing that will be attached to the sides of the OEM hitch assembly either by using longer bolts  to replace the standard or by welding it on, or both. The tubing will stick out a few inches to support the long piece that runs parallel to the bumper cover. The green is the hinge pin assembly (ordered one through Comp4x4), and the yellow is the gate with tire and jerry can

 

not sure what the final shape will be for the gate but probably closer to a triangle

 

Only question is whether the price of welding the gate together will be reasonable or if I should just rent a welding rig and teach myself. I’ll call the shop to ask but I’d first like to get an idea of what’s fair

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I am by no means a fabricating expert, but from seeing other rear bumpers in person, and consulting about it with the professional who welded my sliders, why would you not take off the rear bumper cover and hitch, and weld or bolt the rear bumper onto the plate where the hitch is currently bolted in? This would save weight and departure angle on your bumper design, and then the weight of the bumper wouldn’t be leveraging onto the end of the tow hitch, but would be directly mounted to the body.

Edited by PathyDude17
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48 minutes ago, PathyDude17 said:

I am by no means a fabricating expert, but from seeing other rear bumpers in person, and consulting about it with the professional who welded my sliders, why would you not take off the rear bumper cover and hitch, and weld or bolt the rear bumper onto the plate where the hitch is currently bolted in? This would save weight and departure angle on your bumper design, and then the weight of the bumper wouldn’t be leveraging onto the end of the tow hitch, but would be directly mounted to the body.

Good question. The design is by no means finalized and I’m open to a rethink, but this is what I came up with as a good was of maintaining the original aesthetics and the OEM hitch assembly. I like the look of the rear bumper cover and don’t really like how the truck looks with it removed/replaced. I’ve yet to see a perfectly seamless aftermarket attempt, although hawairish’s comes very close
 

Im also thinking about the amount of steel that would have to go into it if I did it any other way. This option allows me to use a piece that is relatively thin for the cross beam, whereas going under the bumper cover to weld directly to the body would mean more steel to get it out far enough to  clear the back hatch of the truck.
 

I’ve done some measurements and the way I’m doing it won’t compromise the departure angle a single bit because the cross piece will be riding along the flat top of the hitch “step” which will be level with the tops of the support arms. So the departure angle will be no worse than it currently is with the hitch. 
 

As for leveraging against the hitch, I agree it would be nice to have a more solid mounting option, but the truth is this is exactly the type of force the hitch is designed to take from trailers and what not. Its tongue weight is rated for 500lbs, where as this whole carrier plus tire would be applying around 200 max, so it should be safe. To back it up I could always look for reinforcement options as well, I have a few ideas already. 
 

also worth mentioning that I don’t tow much at all, I just want the hitch so that I can use the recovery shackle and so that I have the option to pull a motorcycle trailer or small Uhaul if necessary (moving, etc)

Edited by PathyGig12
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You might be on to something actually...

 

I went and took another look behind the bumper cover and I’m thinking it might be interesting to try and go THROUGH it, with the support arms mounted to the body like you said. That way I still keep the stock looks mostly intact, but have a sturdier mounting point. Hmmmmm

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I went and took another look behind the bumper cover and I’m thinking it might be interesting to try and go THROUGH it, with the support arms mounted to the body like you said. That way I still keep the stock looks mostly intact, but have a sturdier mounting point. Hmmm

I think that’s the right answer.
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On 1/23/2020 at 9:59 AM, joshrichard said:

I really liked Micahs bumper. he integrated the hitch into his custom bumper. It helps if you ever drop onto the rear as well.


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I actually like his as well, but I think I would leave the stock bumper cover on and just mount a steel bumper behind it to mount the tire carrier gate onto. I was looking online and found a very similar looking tubing bumper, but made for Jeeps. It has the exact dimensions I would need, just has to be modified to fit to the body mounting points that the pathfinder has to offer. I would have to get a shop to weld some tubing onto it that could pass through the bumper cover and then attach to the body behind it. 
 

this is the one I’m looking at currently. It’s interesting because the cut out would even fit stylistically with the OEM nissan hitch if the bumper was mounted upside down

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Smittybilt-3-Inch-Rear-Double-Tube-Bumper-without-Hitch-Black-JB44-R/174136885099?pageci=2a8e8d33-6819-4f22-bf32-e345392387fb&epid=75039509

 

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Haha found some old pics from a year or two ago when we were hitting a neighborhood park at night that has rails and boxes set up and pathy saved the day when the stadium lighting was cut 

 

fDFizvx.jpgwhx34CD.jpg

 

i7vreX5.jpg

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Does anyone know where to get CVs? 
 

I placed an order with MAC auto parts a couple months ago for these ones, but a few days later I received a refund and nothing ever shipped out. They also never emailed me with any sort of explanation, even after I asked them about it. I heard on this forum that these were the best most reliable option, but they don’t seem to be interested in doing business.....

 

https://www.macautoparts.net/cv-axle-shafts-left-right-master-pro-select-ni-8185-fits-for-97-04-pathfinder

 

Any ideas on alternatives? My CV boot has been torn for a while now and I need to swap out 

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12 minutes ago, PathyGig12 said:

Does anyone know where to get CVs? 
 

I placed an order with MAC auto parts a couple months ago for these ones, but a few days later I received a refund and nothing ever shipped out. They also never emailed me with any sort of explanation, even after I asked them about it. I heard on this forum that these were the best most reliable option, but they don’t seem to be interested in doing business.....

 

https://www.macautoparts.net/cv-axle-shafts-left-right-master-pro-select-ni-8185-fits-for-97-04-pathfinder

 

Any ideas on alternatives? My CV boot has been torn for a while now and I need to swap out 

I got mine off rockauto

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2 hours ago, TroyButler said:

I got mine off rockauto

Do you remember the brand?

 

Ive heard some people have issues with the Cardone ones so I’d like to avoid those. The other option is SurTrack, they seem ok but I haven’t heard much about their longevity or suitability for off-roading. Cardone at least uses thermoplastic boots whereas the Surtracks use neoprene 

 

 

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