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When you say "decent trail rig" do you intend to drive on trails in which a front tire may come off the ground? If so, there are no decent spacer kits that will gain you enough clearance for that type of terrain while ensuring that you don't break a front CV axle. Any spacer taller than 1" will result in allowing the front suspension to drop beyond the CV axle's designed maximum operating angle. If torque is applied to the CV axle while it's overextended, binding and breakage will occur. If you're looking to lift with coil springs (which are a more reliable solution than spacers for off-road use), you do not need new struts. If your current struts still have serviceable life left, you may reuse them. Due to the labor of installing new springs into the struts, I do recommend replacing the strut bearings (inexpensive parts, expensive labor). IMO, you are better off spending the extra money and getting new springs. Provided that you have wheels with the correct offset, 31" tires will easily fit with even a mild lift. When I first purchased my 97 LE, it had 28" tires on the factory 15x6.5" wheels. I promptly replaced the 235/70R15 Dueler HLs with 30x9.50R15 tires. When those tires wore out after about a year, I replaced them with 31x10.50R15 Yokohama Geolandars on with 15x8 wheels. (The stock 15x6.5" wheels were too narrow for 31's.) These wheels later also accommodated 32x11.50R15 BFG AT tires, which fit with a 2" coil spring lift that I had custom-made, since at the time, there were no lift kits available. (This was sometime around late 1999.) I ran 32" tires with my 2" lift for over 15 years with no issues, and my rig has been a more-than-decent trail rig and daily driver. It's got almost 210,000 miles on the odometer. I have never broken a CV joint. My point is this: if you want to keep your truck for a long time, and want to preserve its reliability while driving off-road, do not get spacers. Save up for the right modifications. Visit the link in my signature for more info.

I can’t speak to deer impacts - other than a steel bumper is likely better than an OEM bumper. I would also consider the full grill protection option on that bumper if I was thinking deer. The real Achille’s heel is side pull snatches - best avoided.

You should search & review the lift threads. I think virtually everyone would agree on Landrover Springs for the rear (2 heights & 2 spring rates). Most people use Bilstein shocks for the rear, either 5100s or 5160/65s. The front has essentially 2 options: AC or ARB OME. The AC give you a full 2” lift but at the cost of a harsh ride. The OME are a superb ride but don’t lift as much (you’ll likely want a 1” spacer) & cost more. For struts, the leaders are KYB & OME. Unfortunately, the OME cost 3x the KYB so it’s very reasonable to go with the KYB - no real complaints. For the strut bearing, use Nissan OME - too many problems with other brands. Make sure you read about & understand the top hat issues. I’d just reuse the OEM but if you go aftermarket, be sure you have the top hat spacer properly placed - history of many errors & failures there.

The interval is 105,000, so it would have had to been recently changed if the previous owner kept up on maintenance. Mine has 209K, so it'll be due for a change before the end of the year. The only way to be certain if the belt has been replaced would be to open up the timing belt cover and look. Or maybe a thoughtful mechanic applied a sticker somewhere on the underside of the hood or on the timing belt cover to indicate it had been recently replaced. If you intend to keep this rig for a long time, you'll have peace of mind if you just go ahead and replace the belt, tensioner, water pump, and camshaft seals. It's expensive, but at least you will know it should be good for another 100K.

You’ve got to be careful following@TowndawgR50 Especially when he lets the dogs drive!

Definitely get the rear bypass while you’re at it - far too many people have had to deal with leaks there & it’s nearly impossible to do (only @02_Pathy has been able to do it in place)

I have the Coastal Offroad bumper. I would agree you have identified its weak point. Frankly, it’s the weak point of all aftermarket bumpers on the R50.[mention=36148]hawairish[/mention] has been working on some brackets to bolster this attachment & ultimately I will switch to a bumper based on his &[mention=37543]TowndawgR50[/mention] bumper design for exactly these reasons. Personally, I also think the Coastal Offroad design is a little too focused on “high clearance “. Another 2cm of lip would have been useful for mounting forward lights on top. Also, it should have had Hi-Lift jack points cut into the design. All that said, I think it’s probably the best currently available bumper. If you get one, keep in touch as we can discuss mods to the design & how to work around some of its limitations. Also, as an FYI, you may decide you’ll want to rework your windshield washer fluid reservoir & air intake resonators as they show (common with most aftermarket bumpers). Look at my IG account & you’ll see. I plan to paint mine black for the interim but will ultimately rework.

I tore mine down and did the belt when I got it. Not too bad of a job. The old belt probably had another 10k in it, if it was done on time previously, but now it's one less thing to worry about. Do everything you can get to while you're in there. Seals, pump, bypass hose, thermostat, tensioner, belt, the works. I skipped one part on mine and the SOB started leaking as soon as I had it buttoned up, and I had to tear it apart again. Some form of rust protection is probably a good idea as well to keep it clean, especially in the strut towers.

Go with ac coils from 4x4parts.com in front and Land Rover nrc9447 coils from lrdirect.com in back. 300ish bucks shipped for both. You’ll thank me

It's been done and discussed, since the forum's built in search tool can be clunky I'd suggest putting "site:nissanpathfinders.net/forum EGR delete" into Google and going from there.

Essential for these rigs. Im on the same page and every time I service mine Im so glad I've done it. Back on topic, the bolts on the rear trailing arms, especially the lower units on the axle side, will almost always be rust welded to the sleeve in the bushing and require a lot of work to get out (like cutting the bolt and/or bushing off entirely. When putting everything back together I reccomend liberally coating not only the threads but the entire bolt shoulder. This is usually what causes problems and is the area that sees the most abuse and wear, which is what causes the rust.

I agree that $50 is too much, but you won't find anything to match OE easily. Believe me, I've looked. The OE bolts are flanged M14 x 1.5 x 80mm (not including those nubs at the end), and the nuts are PTLN flanges. You won't find flange bolts like that, unless you want to pay >$20/ea for some titanium ones. You can look for M14 x 2.0 and 9/16"-18 x 3.25" sizes, but you won't find them in comparable quality to OEM. Either the flange won't be available (not even sure it exists for 9/16"-18), it won't be zinc plated (plain or black-oxidized hardly offer much corrosion resistance), or the length (especially 3.25") will be tough to find. You can find hex bolt options no problem, if you're willing to change to flat washers. But look, forget all that. The FSM doesn't spec replacing the bolts...it only specs replacing the nuts. If anything, buy a couple or more of the short bolts (54368-0W02A) depending on how gnarly yours look and 8 of the PTLN nuts (08918-6441A). That way you follow spec, and have some bolts handy should you have to destroy them out (it happens when you round a nut) or the threads get boogered. Short bolts are $2/ea and nuts $1/ea from nissanpartsdeal.com or courtesyparts.com (these are actual Nissan dealerships; use "nis10" at Courtesy for a discount). The long bolts (55080-0W00B) are what drive the cost up, at $6/ea, and they have those stupid shear-offs that prevent fitment in some places...avoid them.

Ended up getting 8x nuts and bolts for $42.22 shipped from https://www.courtesyparts.com/

Try your local dealership. Or you can measure them and check with a local nut and bolt store.

Ended up ordering just the 4 rear arms to start. Those are now sitting here ready to be installed. Is there anywhere else to order the bolts from at a better price? 4x4parts is $66 shipped.

All you need to fix death wobble is the 4 trailing arms in the rear. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to replace those sway bar links too while you’re in there.