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Hey all, I’ve been lurking and learning for months now, and have officially started my long-term build and figured I’d take the opportunity to document the progress here! I bought the ‘02 earlier this summer. It’s my first 4x4 I’ve owned so this is all brand new to me, but I decided I needed a second vehicle that could get me places here in Oregon that my daily (2012 Volvo S60) wouldn’t take me. Enter a 1 owner bone-stock Pathy with 108k miles and service records dating all the way back to new. Here she is the day I bought her. I’m open to suggestions on a project name that plays on the old lady gold color combo I’ve landed on lol. Current working titles are: Project Gold Digger Project Goldschläger Project Goldeneye Project Goldilocks Anyway onto the mods in the next post...

Hey RainGoat, There may be some 16” options with 3.75” BS but I couldn’t find them. Most of what I was seeing was 0”, 4” etc. I did some searching for spring rate and wasn’t able to find the specific specifications. Here it is out of the catalog (note that the part # available on Dobinson’s USA site is C45-168) The 170 part number would have been enticing but isn’t available in the US... I’ll see if I can dig up the spring rate somewhere. I’m in Portland. Lots of awesome places to explore for sure! I’m on a PDX Overlanding FB group and will check out that recommendation thanks! Are you in the PNW as well??

After getting to know the car in stock form through this summer, doing a couple of minor mods (Curt hitch, interior LED’s etc), sorting out some overheating issues I ran into, and doing a ton of research here, Tyler’s YouTube channel, and some of the FB groups I started ordering parts for phase 1 of the modifications a few weeks ago. Phase 1 - Step 1 - Spring Lift: For the rear I decided on the tried and true 9447 springs. For the fronts after some deliberation I decided I didn’t want to do business with 4x4parts.com given the shipping cost gouging, and general lack of transparency in parts sourcing. After some additional research, and some feedback from fellow owners I decided on an off-the-beaten-path solution with Dobinsons front lift springs. The Dobinsons seem to have similar specs to the OME springs, but others had reported about 2” of lift. Either way I pulled the trigger, and everything was installed today. As you can see there is a little rake, however I figure once I get bigger tires with a full size spare out back, and load up with camping gear it should more or less even out. It’ll be interesting to see how it looks once everything settled a bit. I only have about 2 miles on the springs so far but initial impressions are that it feels almost stock just higher. No joke - I was expecting it to be way stiffer than it is. Up next are: -Install Warn manual hubs -Bilstein 33-185552 (backordered but should ship out this week) -Pro Comp 15” steelies (also backordered) with a fun little paint project I have for them... -31x10.5 Tires will be ordered once wheels are on the way. I’m leaning toward General Grabber ATX’s (with a $100 mail in rebate these will be cheap but open to suggestions) More to come soon...

True, I was mainly looking for 3.75” BS/-19mm offset based on Tyler’s recommendations here - There doesn’t seem to be any 16’s with those options so I went with the 15’s as a tried and true option with minimal rubbing/trimming..

Went out again last weekend, club training day up the Ashley River. Good fun all round.

Just wondering, why the 15" wheels? If I could afford it, I would be changing to 16 on mine. Better selection in tires and better prices these days. A 265 75 16 is the same to just slightly larger than 31x10.50.

Desertkyle , looking forward to see your results !! Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Update: Getting close to a production model:

Took a while but I finally got the lift on. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

And by comparison, the Goal Zero Nomad 10 and Flip 12. Kinda the same concept. A Solar Panel charging a Power Bank in your vehicle, ready to grab and go. But it's loose on the dash.