Leaderboard

and I finished the whole thing off with a lovely whiskey sour. I’ll put everything back together tomorrow

I've seen teardowns of that kind of junk on Youtube. All they do is flash some lights to look busy.

After years of chatting about our own Pathfinder projects—and often, grumblings about having to make our own parts or hack together something—it’s become clear that Jacob (@TowndawgR50) and I (Patrick) have a common passion for our trucks. We’re always bouncing ideas around and sanity-checking each other’s work, ultimately realizing we have highly complementary skill sets that extend beyond working on trucks. We’ve also grown tired of a serious lack of aftermarket support for our trucks, especially when there’s an obvious demand to keep them on the road and make them more capable than they already are. To counter that, we’re teaming up to fill that void. That’s right: it’s time to turn a hobby into a business! In the weeks to come, we will be making more announcements regarding the status of the company (still working on the name!) and our product offerings. We’re still in the early stages of the company formation, and have some challenges ahead of us (most notably the 1,400 miles that separate us!), but we’re ready and stoked to get the word out there. If any of our individual projects have piqued your interest, then our collaborative efforts won’t disappoint. Our initial focus will be on subframe drop (SFD) kits, as this is the most important component required to move beyond 2” of front suspension lift. Unlike prior versions of kits that have existed, we intend to offer complete kits and à la carte components in multiple heights—including strut spacers—to support various lift configurations. Our particular focus is to provide high-quality finished products that simplify installation for the average DIYer (hint: strut disassembly not required), and without having to replace aftermarket components you’ve already purchased. While we won’t go into detail about all the products (and services) we’ve been discussing, we will tease that trailing arms and panhard bars (both in static lengths with poly bushings, and adjustable lengths with rebuildable joints), skid plates, missing link, and bumper brackets are on the product roadmap. That said, we’re looking forward to a productive 2019, so stay tuned!

I don't remember my parents 00 having one either. But then again its been like 7 years. I would only use bosch or oem waterpumps from now on. I also had a gates one fail prematurely.

I guess if I’d read the title better I’d have realized you were already in 4wd with the hubs locked! Like I said, if that’s the case then it shouldn’t have anything to do with the manual hubs. I agree with starting with a fluid change because that’s a good maintenance step regardless.

power valves all loctite’d and ready to go

Yeah you're gonna need the hand pump to fill up the t case, that's what I used Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Ya I’d say that’s not normal. Have you looked in an FSM for any diagnostic information?

It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to rub your hands and arms all over that fiberglass on the firewall. It’s just the worst. I mean you’re stretched out with something poking you at all times while reaching into a very small space which you can barely see into and if you drop anything you have to slink down and crawl around under the truck in all the leaking fluids until you find it before you climb back to your awkward hurtful position to continue embedding fiberglass into your skin. I will say that it wouldn’t be quite as bad if you use the constant tension clamps that are on there originally... perhaps I shouldn’t have put worn gear clamps on there.

Yeah, I remember those heater hoses being all kinds of fun on mine.

It seems to be working fine, havent checked up on it much. If you have the same shocks, the lower shock eyelet bushing will only fit over the stud if there is no metal sleeve inside. For the upper eyelet, the sleeve that comes with the shock is a good fit for the bolt that's already on the truck, so I didn't buy any additional sleeves.

That’s awesome dude, that’s really the point in mods like that anyway. If it makes you happy, feels better for you, and prolongs the life of the vehicle down the road, the work pays off! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What RainGoat said. They can be had for pretty cheap, but replicating would be a pretty tall task anyway. However, if we get around to producing some bumpers, we'll definitely be exploring carrier options.

Had a fun quick snow trip up in the mountains with my buddies. Aired down to 15psi and finally was able to test the new coils by flexing on a mound. They worked great, with the additional lift in the rear I dont hit my rear fender flares anymore so that's a plus. Downside is that I'll need longer shocks as I did pick up the wheel off the ground but was expected. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Ya, those midsize trucks get pretty small. I’m taller than my brothers 98 ranger (which is immaculate btw-used to be jealous when I still had the 4runner). Sometimes I’ll be driving around town and feel about as tall as some of the unleveled or 2WD full size trucks running around. It’s a good feeling

Pacesetter Long tube headers coated and wrapped with high temperature black fiberglass wrap (Moose Racing). 50 ft was just enough to do both sides. I was hoping to have enough left over to do the Y-pipe. Probably end up just getting destroyed. I still have to get a spray can of high temp silicone to protect from fraying and debris. The wrap will void the warranty on the headers but you only live once! With the 3 coats Por-20 I'm confident the pipes won't disintegrate from reaching higher temperatures than intended. If they do, let my mistakes be your knowledge! My question is I know the one bung on the drivers side header is for the Exhaust gas re-circulation tube, however there is a second bung just down the pipe from it. It is welded on but does not open up into the header its blocked by the pipe its welded onto. I'm guessing this is to install a temperature sensor. Is this a correct assumption?

Sweet! I absolutely LOVE the front end in the ‘98 Pathy. It’s old-school, but clean looking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not to thread jack but wanted to chime in on my rig too since your post actually inspired me to do the same set up. Obviously as you stated it’s not difficult to do and relatively self explanatory. I still need to clean up the line route and add some heat sink to tighten up the wire ends. However, with the install done for the night I thought I’d just show some night pics and give a brief review on those led light strips I went with the 24 inch, as you did, perfect fit imo Again I’ll need to clean up the route and add some tie downs and heat sink tomorrow morning when there’s light out. As for the strip. Great quality and good bang for the buck. They’re definitely silicone coated as stated and connections between the wire and the strip are of good quality as well. I’ll have the truck up in utah soon and I’ll be comfortable with these lasting. Thanks for the post and link for the led strip, definitely the visual pictures and write up you posted inspired me to do the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This sounds great. Those SFD strut spacers have been the major deterrent for me.

My dearest friends, I would like to proudly announce to you that this incredibly annoying issue has finally come to a close. In combination with the very worn differential bushings, the tire size differences in wear made all the difference in the end. Those bushings definitely needed replaced, and drastically reduced the front end vibrations, but the main cause of the issue actually boiled down to the tires themselves. Since I got these tires before winter, I never needed to use 4WD on paved roads, and when I used it, it was at low speeds on the trails. I never would have guessed that the issue actually resided in the ratios in which all of the drivetrain must maintain. Without a nearly 1:1 front to rear rotation ratio for the tires and driveshafts, the transfer case struggles to output the same speeds with the tires under load and rotating different distances. This, in turn, likely caused the front differential to behave strangely, with the driveshaft and axle shafts not exactly cooperating at the same speeds, causing harmonics to shove the differential back and forth on the bushing mounts, wearing them faster and causing the terrifying vibrations. With the tires properly rotated, as to maintain a proper ratio as close as possible between the front and rear differentials, the issue vanished. The spider gears in the differentials put up with the fractional differences in rotations between both sides of the front and rear, allowing the power to be distributed properly and everything to rotate evenly. This, in turn, also fixed the transfer case shifting issue. With the front tires matching the rear tires in speed, the transmission-like setup of the transfer case can sync up the speeds and properly engage and disengage on the fly, without damaging anything. HUGE thanks to everyone that cracked down on this issue with me. As stupid simple as the conclusion was for this, I think it teaches me a lot about how important tire wear is, and possibly teaches us all how far the limits go for our vehicles and their gear tolerances. I'm just thankful that I limped it around in 2WD all winter instead of gritting my teeth and hauling it around while it was shaking, as something was likely to break. I hope this thread sticks around, this should be very helpful for anyone out there with the same issues!