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Weekend Drive

I'll be sure to test it out on the highway once I get everything installed. I pulled my junkyard Warn 29091 hubs out of the gallon of degreaser they've been soaking in for a couple days and started reassembling them. Looks like one of them has a pawl that's escaped the hub body. Some sort of ring, snap ring or spring is not where it supposed to be. Looks like I'm going to have to figure out how to tear into the other one to see how all the components stack and snap together in order to identify what's wrong with the other one. Hopefully it's something simple that I can fix. Otherwise I'm going to have to play a game of 21 questions when my wife intercepts a brand new set of hubs in the mail. I've got some time to work on them since Bilsteinlifts.com STILL hasn't shipped my OME HD coils yet.

Yeah, US -> CAN shipping is ridiculous, it's so expensive and tedious filling out pro forma documents and such. Seeing as AC is the brand of the retailer (4x4parts.com = Automotive Customizers = "AC"), the only other readily available option is OME. Ironman4x4 has finally established a NA site and they have springs, but the specs put them between the light-duty and medium-duty OME springs, well below the HD springs you have. The problem with inter-strut spacers is that they induce top-out, just like a taller spring does. You gain lift at the expense of extension travel either way. The convenience of a conventional spacer is that the spring and strut travel is unaltered, but then you alter the operating range of the CV. Inter-strut spacers have their own limitations, though. But let's face it: the limitation is not the lift method—it's the IFS.

Here is what the FSM says: That should give you a good basis to start. The refrigerant should be on a sticker under the hood. Mine was near the brake booster. FSM link: https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual?fsm=Pathfinder/1995/ha.pdf I just went through this on my Xterra and added the amounts it said to in there. Everything is working great so far. The only way to know if the system is perfectly adjusted would be to remove the compressor, drain it, flush out all the lines, etc. I didn't feel like doing that. I erred on the side of a little too much oil. It still cools to 38F though.

@PathyDude17 I want to see you hit the Magruder Corridor or down by Leslie Gulch & the Owyhee.

That area is likely meant to collapse in an accident - it is not a crossframe member like it would be in a body on frame truck. The best indicator of this I can recall is when [mention=40912]KiwiTerrano[/mention] (I think) crushed his just by trying to bridle using his two front recovery points. A real front receiver will require some kind of bumper bracket - I was trying to get@hawairish to incorporate one into his - though I think that project has been set aside.

It looks much nicer with the rear bumper cover on - I really like the metallic charcoal & red recovery hooks. The trim matches up nicely with the fenders & running boards. Personally, I’d leave those low profile running boards on as well - taking them off pushes it back towards that unfinished look. In a lifetime with the truck, mostly at stock height & in CO, AZ & UT, I never found them problematic. Curious why you’d run your ATX14a with the hubs front hubs unlocked except maybe for a long highway trip. I know people quote mileage but the effect is minimal. Being able to run in AWD is one of the distinct advantages of that TF case. If you are unlikely to get stuck, having the open center also eliminates the front end plowing & makes the truck much more sure footed in wet, sand & snow. I’m putting manual hubs on just to make an in field CV change easier but I expect I’ll keep them locked most of the time - admittedly I live where it’s slippery, even on roads, most if the time. BTW, I see you’ve got the CO bumper. I’d recommend drilling 1/4” holes in the front lateral winch mount plate- you can get to it from below. If you don’t, it tends to pool water there all the time. I’ve chatted with Brandon about it & there may be a design change there in future versions. Curious to see how you hood mounted your HiLift. I think you’re the only one to ever do that on a R50.

I looked at the FSM and the auto tcase main oil pump is sandwiched between the rear and center cases and is definitely driven by the main shaft which turns with the input shaft. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The listing for a new aftermarket MC should specify if it's for disks or drums. They're identical externally as near as I can tell. The part that's different between them (the proportioning valve) is internal.

the way i mounted my bush bumper was a piece of square tubing going under the support from the tie down brackets. that way its a full unbolt if i need it gone. each piece is about 4 inches long on each tie down, but those are also tapped with 2 bolt holes each with 5/8th grade 8 bolts and then that has another piece of square tubing going across. reason for this is to not block the radiator drain plug. then in the center i did a simple 2 inch or what ever the standard size is of square tubing for a hitch is, drilled a hitch pin hole and then thats my front mount. with having that full length of square tubing it misses the radiator and makes it easily removable from the front end if you ever wanted it fully off. i welded these together so if you dont have a welder then i would skip half of what i said and just tap holes for a long piece of square tubing going from tie down to tie down. it will just be a bit harder to unbolt. EDIT: never installed one of these on a car before i prefer the roof mount or rear mount but i use mine for a future winch basket that ill probably fab up at some point. or also good for recovery point. these are on the sub frame rails so not sure about bending them or not but other wise so far so good for me.

as far as I know and can tell, the auto mode t-case is oiled by the rear drive shaft. Here’s the info I’m working off of: Fleury’s gives context to this discovery in this thread: The actual origin of the info is provided by Morpheus in this thread (the pic has become broken in the last year or so, it used to show a parts diagram):

You’re right, the primary pump is run by the front shaft movement, but I don’t know how it works inside the Tcase when you’re in 2WD mode. Do you think it still needs fluid circulation even if it’s just making a direct connection to the rear and no transferring going on? Good point about the secondary pump because it’s supposed to fill in the gaps when you’re in reverse or going slowly. But I don’t know if that’s kicking in when the hubs are unlocked or not. It would make sense that it could kick in if the front shaft WASNT moving at all (it would detect a slow speed and engage the secondary pump), but if it still has some intermittent movement in the front shaft then I’m not sure it would kick in. Either way, I don’t know if it would be tripping the 4WD light based on heat. I think it has more to do with the confused readings from the wheel speed and slippage detection sensors. I think over a certain speed the system just gives up and admits that it can’t reconcile the rear wheels doing 80 while the front shaft is supposedly not moving at all. If it was a heat problem I’d probably not have made it very far if the case was overheating for the thousands of miles on my recent road trips

Some updates on a project that’s been a while in the undertaking. First, big thanks to the behind-the-scenes guys who had done this before and could point me in the right direction. Donors: Front: 96 R50 HG46 Front diff. All R50 diffs will work, nothing else will fit. Rear: 00-Xterra HG46 LSD- all 00-02’s have factory break way torque of 140-180 ft lbs if equipped with LSD. This is the highest breakaway direct swap OEM LSD setup available to us. I’ve yet to see an HG43 LSD and cannot confirm or deny their existence. Lokka: it set up just about perfectly on the first try. Symmetrical around the cross shaft, and acceptable inter cam clearance. Upon jack stand test and test drive, everything seems to lock/unlock fine. I have loads of footage to sort through in what I hope will be a thorough and well done install guide. I ordered diff adjusting shims from China, they’ve yet to show and will be available for cheap if they ever show up. They are NLA from Nissan. Hoisting the respective diffs: it can be done solo, but bring lots of jacks and patience. Everything you see is direct bolt-on swap. If both diffs are in good working condition, they’ll work just as good in your vehicle as they did in the vehicle they were pulled from. The lokka is designed specifically to be set up by DIY mechanics not unlike myself. An in spec diff will still be in spec after installing the lokka, as long as you put back everything the way you found it. lots of punch marks, labeled bags, etc required. Special tools will be required such as roll pin punches and feeler gauges as well as an angle-torque gauge (please please please use an FSM while doing this stuff. Find them by googling them and clicking on the nicoclub link) The 4.6’s seem to pull good, I’ve only logged a short 4 mile jaunt on them so far. Better gas pedal response as you start from a stop and continue to accelerate. It seems like the engine isn’t screaming for power at 3k quite the way it used to. No Offroad testing yet.

Awesome, glad to hear. We're nearly there! I think you're talking about the 1.75" strut spacers, right? If so, we're holding off on that for now. A redesign to the strut spacer required us to change some part dimensions, making 1.75" impractical and ultimately turning it into a 2" spacer. Also, these parts will fit both 4wd and 2wd parts all the same.

I don't think you'll find any reasonably priced valve covers online. If you do, please let us know your source. If you don't find any replacements, 2001 R50's have aluminum valve covers. Something to consider if you don't mind foolin' around in a junk yard. Another option is to try using RTV silicone around the spark plug seals. It's not a guarantee but it might just work.

I had a look to see how much shipping the AC Coils to NZ would be, the total cost was 500+ USD... I don't think I'll ever be able to justify that purchase. I'm sure if they had a reseller here they would be selling a few, quite a few R50s on our roads still.

Umm no. AC coils are definitely not the same as OME HD, it’s a different brand entirely. People using the ACs have gotten noticeably higher lifts in the front vs the OME and they have been producing them for a long time. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe they were the original way of lifting the R50, before any other options existed They are expensive, I’ll give you that. I paid $180 for the front two coils. But that’s what happens when you sell the only guaranteed 2” spring lift for the front. If others made similar options, you’d see the prices come down. Unfortunately the dozens of us who lift these rigs don’t make for a very large market

This sounds like shady business to me. I'm not a fan of it. They should support other industry companies instead of taking a profit off their products.

AC has an in house brand, and then also sells OME springs, but they don’t call them OME springs- they mask the brand. But the coils referred to as AC coils are different than OME and will lift a bit higher.

Also these computers aren't very perceptive. The only time I've gotten a code out of mine was when there was a literal rat's nest stuffed into the MAF sensor. I've chased idle issues, stumbles, and misfires that the computer never noticed. I had no idea the earlier ones didn't come with a CEL. Maybe it wasn't a federal requirement yet? If it functions normally when you add a bulb to it, I'll bet you could letter the square yourself, have it display "danger to manifold" or something.

Thanks man! And no wheel spacers, just 4.5in back spacing method wheels. I took the front mud flaps off and I did some trimming on the inner fender well plastic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk