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My new build.....2001 4x4


illusionzrcer
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2 hours ago, Jansens98R50 said:

I cannot find the article of the "conduit mount method" roof cargo basket for the Pathfinder, does someone have a link to the install instructions / hardware needed?

For organization, don’t ask random questions in other people’s build threads. That being said, here’s what you’re looking for: 

 

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Worked on the pathfinder a little bit today. I found a killer deal on a used ARB bumper off Craigslist and I couldn’t pass it up. I was going to use the Coastal off-road bumper but I was able to get this bumper for the same price. It also saves me the time from having to weld and paint it myself. The bumper does have a couple scratches on it but I’ll be painting it with raptor lining eventually. Installation was pretty straight forward. Took my 8 year old and I about 45 minutes to put it together without any instructions. The guy who sold it to me is also offering an almost new smitty bilt 9500lb winch for 200. Does anyone have anything positive to say about smitty bilt or should I splurge for a warn? The only thing I don’t really like about the the ARB is that it does stick out quite a bit and does lose some approach angle. This build is more a overland vehicle so I guess it won’t matter too much. Oh the bumper also came with a set of vision x lights. I didn’t realize until I got home and did some research that the lights are $550 msrp so I scored on that.

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Looks good. $200 is definitely a fair price. The arguments of Smitybilt vs Warn are what you’d expect. I think Warn now has a built in China winch as well so even those arguments are cloudy. The Smitybilt X2O series has seen widespread adoption with almost no complaints - I’ve bought 2 - though neither is mounted yet. An advantage of the X2O in our climate is that it’s waterproof. All that said, $200 for any Warn is hard to beat. I’d seen that bumper on Craigslist, did the guy tell you why he was selling it - I think he said he’d just bought it a year ago? Also, consider the steel cable vs synthetic line debate. If you go synthetic, you really should change that fairlead to a Hawse.

 

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I talked to the seller for a little bit when i went to get the bumper. He said he sold the vehicle. He runs some sort of shop and there were lot of trucks outside. He was in the process of moving his shop so he wanted to clear out the place. The smitty Winch he has is practically brand new. I know the retail price isn’t too bad for them either around 300 I think. I also got around to installing the roof basket today. Truck looks so much better now. 5ddd69f6e8011ba9014c4ac784524ab0.jpg


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  • 3 weeks later...

Well did a few things the pass couple weeks since work has been shut down. I found an awesome deal for a new windshield last week so I had that installed. My original windshield had a huge crack on the passenger side. I also found a local junkyard that had the parts I needed to repair the damage from the accident. Nice thing about the place was that they did all the pulling of parts for you. I already had a used rear bumper I purchased a while back but it was an aftermarket bumper. Fitment wasn’t the best and it didn’t have the outlines for the rear tire carrier. The donor vehicle had the oem bumper, bumper support and the small brackets that hold the mud flaps. I paid 200 bucks to a backyard body shop mechanic to fix the rear quarter. I tried to pop out the dent myself but the metal was stretched so it would just pop right back in with minimal effort. He also fixed the small dent on my front fender. My rivnut tool and drill bit also came in the mail today so my next project is to tackle the rear tire carrier. I’ve probably read over the tire carrier post a million times but I’m still a little nervous to drill into the quarter panel. 2d4f990bbb32c56bab83ad447efc23ea.jpg81fa1320c6a7bf939f8beccd911ac5cd.jpgb494a12d13d09d623833047852ca59b6.jpg


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  • 3 weeks later...

Had a busy last couple weeks. I had some free time at home since my company shut down for the last month. Finally got around to installing my rear tire carrier. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the rear tire carrier thread. I basically followed what everyone did and it came out great. I still need to take it back off and paint it. The carrier came from a California vehicle so it has a lot of surface rust but solid underneath. My spare steel wheel came in this weekend so I need to take it discount tire to have another 31” tire installed. I also started to wrap my vehicle. Only got as far as the front end so far. It’s my first time wrapping a complete vehicle so it’s been a huge learning curve. Definately a lot harder than I expected. My fender flares and bumpers will get a few coats of black raptor liner if it ever shows up at my doorstep.

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Fantastic work man. I’m glad I’m not the only one pimping the pathfinder during the quarantine. I’ve been surprised by the lack on activity on the forum lately, considering the circumstances. 
 

Great work on the tire carrier, love the clean look but I was always too nervous to do any drilling. The wrap job also looks very clean, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

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Thanks man. I had a total of almost five weeks off. I had a bunch of home projects to work on in the beginning. I dedicated the last 2 weeks for the pathfinder. I start work again tomorrow so the vinyl work will be slowing down a bit. I hear what you’re saying about the forum though. I wish there was a little more activity. I’m also on the Facebook groups for the r50 but I prefer to post my updates here. I feel like everyone on here is more professional and not as opinionated.

 

 

Your rig is coming along nicely as well btw.

 

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Wow, is that a green wrap? You will definitely stick out if I see you around town - I’m part of the infinite silver Pathfinder brigade. I’ve just wanted to wrap the center of my hood - but look at you! Impressive. Nice job on the spare tire carrier too!

 

If you haven’t used the U-Pol 2K Raptor liner before, definitely start on the area you care about the least, it has a learning curve. Note that it sends out a vertical fan. I found it difficult to get complete coverage & maintain regularity in its texture. I started with it on my 4Runner sliders but ended up stopping after the steps & then coating it all with a textured Rustoleum.

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I’ve been surprised by the lack on activity on the forum lately, considering the circumstances l.

The handful of Pathy owners I know up here in the PNW were all deemed essential so we’ve not only been working but have all the kiddos at home plus the wife making ToDo lists as she’s stuck at home.
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I’ll be interested to see how your windshield holds up. Mine is intact but notably pitted - undoubtedly from all it’s days in the SW. I’d like to replace it but I’ve always figured a replacement could only be less water-tight and this truck has a decade or more of sitting outside in the PNW rain ahead of it. Did you get one with a diversity antenna like the OEM? Keep me in mind because if yours is doing well a year from now, I’ll likely use the same people you did. Thanks!

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7 hours ago, RainGoat said:


The handful of Pathy owners I know up here in the PNW were all deemed essential so we’ve not only been working but have all the kiddos at home plus the wife making ToDo lists as she’s stuck at home.

Ah gotcha. Makes sense.

My office got shut down for the virus so I’ve had lots of free time fortunately. 

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Wow, is that a green wrap? You will definitely stick out if I see you around town - I’m part of the infinite silver Pathfinder brigade. I’ve just wanted to wrap the center of my hood - but look at you! Impressive. Nice job on the spare tire carrier too!
 
If you haven’t used the U-Pol 2K Raptor liner before, definitely start on the area you care about the least, it has a learning curve. Note that it sends out a vertical fan. I found it difficult to get complete coverage & maintain regularity in its texture. I started with it on my 4Runner sliders but ended up stopping after the steps & then coating it all with a textured Rustoleum.

Yes it’s vvivid vinyl “army green matte metallic”. It shows up lighter in the sun which I like. The quality of the vinyl is great though. Doesn’t stick permanent until it’s heated for a while and easy to repair if you accidentally get a small crease. Only thing is that paint chips and specs of dirt are magnified after applying vinyl.

I did notice that the raptor liner gun looks like it might be a pain to work with. I plan to thin it out a little more and shoot it with a Harbor Freight hvlp gun. It will give less texture and hopefully better coverage. If it doesn’t work out then I might follow your lead with the rustoleum.


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I’ll be interested to see how your windshield holds up. Mine is intact but notably pitted - undoubtedly from all it’s days in the SW. I’d like to replace it but I’ve always figured a replacement could only be less water-tight and this truck has a decade or more of sitting outside in the PNW rain ahead of it. Did you get one with a diversity antenna like the OEM? Keep me in mind because if yours is doing well a year from now, I’ll likely use the same people you did. Thanks!

Yep I did get the windshield with the antennae. He also threw in a new top seal for free. I park my pathfinder outside and haven’t had any problems so far with leaks/moisture and we have been getting a lot of rain the last few days. Only time will tell though. So far I don’t see any quality issues with the glass.


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Yep I did get the windshield with the antennae. He also threw in a new top seal for free. I park my pathfinder outside and haven’t had any problems so far with leaks/moisture and we have been getting a lot of rain the last few days. Only time will tell though. So far I don’t see any quality issues with the glass.

Yeah, I’m just a couple miles South of you. I’m not in a hurry so I’ll wait it out a bit. Would you mind posting or PMing me the contact info & what you paid?
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vvivid vinyl “army green matte metallic”.  Doesn’t stick permanent until it’s heated for a while and easy to repair if you accidentally get a small crease.....paint chips and specs of dirt are magnified

 

I did notice that the raptor liner gun looks like it might be a pain to work with. I plan to thin it out a little more and shoot it with a Harbor Freight hvlp gun. It will give less texture and hopefully better coverage. If it doesn’t work out then I might follow your lead with the rustoleum.

 

 

 

It’ll be a fun game to see if I spot it as R50s always catch my eye & yours is truly unique. I might just look into the vinyl - happy to take any pointers on YouTubes, articles you found useful & where you bought it (you should have my contact info in your PM). I’d like to do my central hood. If that goes well I might do my G’s diffuser & even roof. I also have thought about the fenders in a charcoal. Part of my worry was the creases so I’m glad to hear that’s fixable.

 

Your Raptor application plan sounds good & should avoid the pitfalls I encountered. I like the 2K in theory & wanted it on the sliders. I’m planning on trying a different brand of 2K primer & paint I’m going to try on my SFD parts. I tried the spray paint U-Pol as I thought it would be easier - but it wasn’t. I have an hvlp gun but my only experience with it has been cleaning up the disaster my wife made with it while painting some shelving units.

 

The 4Runner in my IG feed is a friend on Redmond Ridge. I helped him out his sliders on & was really impressed with how his Rustoleum textured turned out - and I spent over an hour with my face only inches from it. He’s since banged it up & spot repaired it - those touch ups are essentially impossible to identify. I changed over & used it on the T4R sliders & a temporary winter coat to protect my bumper. It’s also nice that you can get it at Home Depot for $6 instead of the ~$25 I think I paid for the Raptor. I still have 3 cans staring at me which makes me a little angry at the wasted $ until I figure a project for it.

 

My main unhappiness was that it was laying down the texture but not filling the spaces between. I had started with just the steps & realized the fan applicator was going to be even worse on tubes & was going to require more than the 4 cans I allotted for the project which meant more time & money. To their credit, I contacted U-Pol & they confirmed the Rustoleum would apply fine over the 2K - obviously, just not as hard. You can see the texture differences in these photos - unfortunately I don’t have one of just the U-Pol on the detached steps with the grey primer underneath (I was too angry to document).

 

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  • 10 months later...

How is your new windshield holding up? I think you noted yours sits outside like mine. If it’s doing well, where did you have it done? Did you have to pay for it or did you have it covered under comprehensive on your insurance- they’ll usually cover it as a safety item. If not, what did it cost you. That’s an issue I wouldn’t mind addressing this winter. Thanks!!

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  • 1 year later...
On 12/31/2019 at 1:20 AM, illusionzrcer said:

 

I think it’s about time I introduce myself. My name is John and I’ve been a lurker in this Forum for a while. I’ve owned many civics in my days as well as a Infiniti g35 and lowered e39 wagon. I never thought I would own a lifted suv in my life but sometimes things just happen. My father passed away in January and left behind this vehicle. It’s a 2001 LE 4x4 automatic with factory LSD and 135k “babied” miles. We were originally going to sell the vehicle but decided against it. The car is in great shape mechanically and inside with some battle damage outside from the brush guard. My father loved this car and this was prob his most prized thing he owned. He worked hard and spoiled my sister and I growing up but never gave himself anything nice except this car. I know he would be upset if we got rid of it especially since it’s not worth much. Needless to say this car has sedimental value to me. I want to thank everyone on this forum for sharing great ideas and awesome photos. I look forward to seeing more of your builds and being able to spend time wrenching on my own vehicle with my 8 year old son. I plan an taking the car on the Washington discover trail with my family this summer and other adventures. My mods so far include:

 

OME front hd springs

OME rear md springs

New front struts and rear shocks

15” steel wheels with 31” duratracs

All new fluids in the transfer case, transmission, diffs.

New belts and pulleys

Full tune up

Power valve screws fixed

Removed the brush guard

Retrofit headlights

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I’m in the process of replacing the idle control valve oring so my ecu doesn’t fry. I also scored a complete rear tire carrier mount that will be installed once it’s a little warmer. There’s also a Rola roof basket sitting inside the car. I’ll be using the conduit mount method I learned from this forum. Future plans include:

 

Arb front bumber

Fluerys 1” spacers front and back

Full size matching spare

Full vinyl wrap

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If My father would have inherited me a needle, I could never think to sell it. You made a wise move by keeping it. God Bless You

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