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My QX4 with the 3.5 always read a bit low too, in fact if it went up at all, even up to the middle, it would dump coolant out the radiator cap (which basically meant if it was over 70 degrees I couldn't use AC because the extra load was just too much...ah, the memories of burning the ever living %&^! out of my arm setting it on the windowsill to keep myself cool with all the windows open when it was 95 degrees out ) (And yes, I know I should have probably looked into this, but it was never a problem unless it was hot out and the AC was on. The temp gauge didn't even think of budging when offroading no matter how hot it was or how strenuous the trails were, never even budged in traffic.)

Well here she sits "done". I need to go back to trim & adjust some little things, paint the links and some brackets, double check everything is tight, etc... I broke the radiator while cutting the brackets for the steering box off the rail, so once I get a new rad in, it'll be hitting the backyard for a test drive!

Took some pics the other day. Trying to keep her somewhat stock, but the temptation is unbearable! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, that’s all confusing as Hell. I know my interior bulbs didn’t cause any problems but I use my cruise almost never these days-literally might have been years. Nevertheless, losing cruise for LEDs doesn’t seem like a good trade. Thanks for the heads up to check for it as I go about replacing the exterior lights.

Those White SEs with the charcoal accents & SE grill always looked great to me. I’ve always wanted to replicate it with a slightly darker charcoal on my silver truck.

I don’t know about the VQ but I did head gaskets on my VG and it sucked. If I could go back I’d have just put some blue devil in it and drove it till it died. They say the HG sealer products, especially blue devil, work very well with seeping HGs or HG failures that are not very bad yet.. If you’re not a dumba$$ like me and manage not to destroy you’re transmission then you might just have a great time, even a fun time, doing the HGs. The thing was, for me at least, when I got into the heads I found that my cams and heads themselves were badly worn causing me to have to find replacements. Luckily I had a spare engine that I destroyed the year prior, did I mention I’m a dumba$$? Another thing for me was that every valve needed to be lapped something fierce and it was all more than I bargained for. You can do it, for sure.. but if you can find a nice junk yard motor for cheap it’ll be WAY easier to just swap it in. However I will admit having put this much work into my motor makes me love my vehicle even more.. Last thing, you are right to do this sort of thing while you’re off work. I had a huge project going on during my HG job and I about lost my mind between the two..

It's generally accepted that the correct way to mount a shock is with the body down -- ergo, upside-down is with the body at the top. Only do this with monotubes.

Ok cool. I won’t thread highjack, but as I consider a suspension overhaul this summer (spacers to springs) maybe I’ll ask some questions in an existing diff drop thread

I made a diff drop that was 3-4". it isn't giving me any lift, but with my suspension it was necessary to keep the CV axles flat. It may fit also as a POSSIBLE replacement for the 6 subframe blocks in the SFD application. Not sure the consequences of having the CV axles and control arms at a different angle however. Maybe they'd hit the control arm? maybe not. Someone should try them and report back.

They will fit but again need to be mounted upside down. However, this is entirely doable. This is because firstly, unlike the KYB, the Bilstein is a monotube shock and will work inverted, instead of having no damping and eventually failing like the KYB will. Secondly, the Bilstein has no steel shaft cover, so will not fill with water/mud. I would still recommend using a rubber cover to avoid grit damaging the seals. Lastly, I actually recommend mounting them upside down on the pre-facelift anyway, as some longer shocks will hit the panhard rod and become damaged if installed with the body down. The altered mounts on the facelift solve this problem by moving the bottom of the shock further out.

Before you assume the play in the rear axle is ring and pinion backlash and regear, consider that it could be due to worn side or spider gears in the diff. Nevertheless it might be less of a hassle to just swap out the whole third member than replace the gears. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you've got stock tires and no complaints about the towing performance, then stick with the stock ratio. Check the axle code per XPLORX4's response. If the backlash is off and the gears are okay, you can adjust the backlash. The rear diff uses side adjusters to move the carrier to adjust backlash. Since you're 2wd, you have the OE options XPLORX4 mentioned, plus 4.90's from the Xterra. The rear diff drops out, and is replaceable with units from any 96-04 Pathfinder, 00-04 Xterra, and 01-04 Frontier; no set-up required but the donor should be inspected. I'd stick with the lower gears, but I've never driven the 3.3L to know how it pulls. Changing from 4.363 to 4.636 was noticeable, but I probably wouldn't recommend lower gears unless they were paired with larger tires.

What size tires are you running? The LE came with 4.363 gears from the factory. You can confirm this if you look on the VIN placard on the firewall near the windshield wiper motor. You'll see HG43 (or HG46 for 4.636 gears). If you're running up to 31" tires, you can regear to 4.636. Regear to 4.875 for 32" tires. Regearing to 5.13 is better suited to 35" tires or larger. Install a speedometer recalibrator (http://yellr.com) after re-gearing to restore speedometer accuracy.

Finished up another set of lowers

I saw this truck at our mall over the summer and I’m digging it, I haven’t seen it since. My truck is on the right.

Yup! Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk