Earth1

Right on! You're going to love those tires.

I was thinking of using some thick foam from a craft store. Should be easy to cut, and comes in different thicknesses. It could be attached with double sided tape. That stuff would compress a little for a snug fit behind the panel. That's just the door though. But, I probably won't do it anytime soon... I have too many other projects I want to do first.

Hey JJ, Why acura seats? Did you just bolt the rails down? I bet those things are pretty comfy. Gorilla Man, Those light switches are awesome.

I was thinking about pulling the carpet and herculining the floor, and wanted to see what kind of creative interiors some of you have come up with. There's not too many pics of this stuff around here. Judging by the spot of paint on one of my seats, it seems possible to cover all the fabric with something that would stay somewhat flexible and soft. A sponge cleanable interior? Let's see your buttons, speaker boxes, lights, storage solutions, gauges, brackets, homemade gadgets and stuff.

I'm in Denver. I'm not set up for DH, so I like the foothill singletracks around the front range. I learned to ride on the nice fast, packed dirt singletracks in the midwest. I used to do a lot of "urban" riding. Never really got into full suspension. I found a trials bike that I'm thinking about getting soon. Gunnison would be a sweet place.

Add a Colorado rider to the list.

The first time I took mine off for on the trail, I decided to leave it off for the drive home. My truck was all over the place at highway speed, like dangerously all over the place. I did have some other issues that might have contributed, but needless to say, I haven't been on the hwy without it since. Take it for a spin at a higher speed and see how it feels, try weaving and stuff, but BE CAREFUL, I couldn't get to the next pull-off fast enough to hook mine back up. It only takes me a few minutes to unbolt on the trail, so I guess a quick disconnect hasn't been a priority for me. That's good to know about the AC's though. Every time I hear something about their stuff it's bad. I wish somebody would put those chumps out of business. I think a bungee cord sounds like a fine idea, even less ghetto than my duct tape.

Here's another link: http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/W_bwackr.htm

Yeah, snosnk some more pics... I'd like to see how you mounted that jack. I'm sick of my jack taking up cargo space. Does your window still open? Have you notice any sag on the arm from the extra weight? Looks good.

I'm jealous of all the shiny paint jobs I see here. Mine is faded all over the top and hood. I like those 33's.

For you guys that have done new headers I have 3 questions. What kind of time would this project take for the novice mechanic? Any kind of unusual/unexpected problems? How much interference, what had to come off to get in there?

With a 3-4 inch lift, I think 32x11.5 will still rub even with simple manuvers like parallel parking.

I've lifted mine about 5.5" and my 32's still rub at full turn and when the front is flexing (mostly touching plastic). As for after effects, when I started rolling with 32's I lost almost 40 miles to the tank, and I'll never win another drag race again.

I'm from the do it yourself camp. I went to a couple of well known 4X shops in Denver, and they wanted $700-$1000, and wouldn't use the kit I already had. The high quote was from a guy that had done a couple of Pathfinders before. I was really intimidated about getting into it myself, but it wasn't hard at all. I had a buddy helping, and it took us most of a day to do it. The toughest part for me was fudging with the front bumper, but I was hooking it back up alone. Believe me, if I can do it, just about anyone can. Definately get a second person, it will go much faster and smoother.

Yeah, the bolt just spins with a little bit of torque, the heads still there. I can't pull it out with a pair of vice grips. I'd include a pic, but there is no visual damage, just looks normal. Thanks for the MSC link Bernard. That will be handy. BTW, what's MIL Spec.?

Good suggestions guys. I've never used a tap or helicoil. I know you can get those tap sets just about anywhere, but what about the helicoil? Would that be something I could rent, or what's one of those cost? Thanks for the info. This place is great. Before I started working on my Pathy, I'd hardly done any work on cars. With the help of all the cats here and all the archived posts, I've become a lot more confident with working on my rig myself, and I've been saving a lot of dough.

I just installed my new centerlink and idler arm brace, and new tie rods. (pics coming soon) That new centerlink is awesome, I had no idea how wild my steering was. I still have some wobble issues, but that will have to wait for the new UCA's. While I was checking all the bolts I discovered the front UCA spindle bolt that goes into the frame is either broken or stripped. I assume it's stripped because it hasn't fallen out. I'm going to try to get an easy-out to pick it out with, but does anyone have any other ideas? I haven't actually taken the UCA off yet, cause I'm gonna get new ones soon. Once I get the bolt out I have a feeling the hole will be stripped. Is it possible to re-thread the frame hole? I was also considering drilling through the frame (backside of the box), and using a long bolt and nut from the back, but I wasn't sure if that extra hole would weaken the frame or not. Any thoughts? E1

I think I'm ruining my Up-ball joints since I've cranked my tbars and the front is pretty much on the bumpstops. When I have to replace those balljoints, I'm going to upgrade the UCAs while I'm there. But, I'm not exactly sure how they correct any angles to accomodate a lift. Maybe they set the BJ's out farther? My question is, are the Calmini UCAs designed to give some more space between the bumpstops? If not, is there any other solution to get some of my suspension travel back, without lowering? Also, how much front-end lift is too much for the CV axles? I've cranked about 1.5-2", Am I at risk of binding them with too much angle? I'm quickly starting to see the shortcommings of IFS. E1

I can't remove the pitman arm. I wanted to take it to somewhere with a drill press along with my idler arm to have the holes drilled out larger. The design of this particular centerlink uses 5/8 bolts, and the holes have to be bigger. I've tried pickle forks and a 2lb framing hammer, and it hasn't budged. I picked up a seperator tool, and I can't get it to fit between the top of the arm and bracket/assembly. I'm not too crazy about drilling through that thing while it's mounted with a hand drill. I'm not sure how straight it would be, and I don't particularly want to have a grip on the drill when it starts to bite. Does anyone who has installed this centerlink have any advice? Maybe I'm just worrying too much, and should just put the drill up there and hang on tight?

Yeah, a BJ is a BJ, why pay more if you don't have to. Then again, when you can find a BJ, you might just want to pay for it if it's convinient...

My front driver's side wheel had some nasty play in it. So I took my hub apart, and discovered the bearing was loose, and I found some shavings in the area. I noticed once I had everything off that the driveshaft seems loose, like when I wiggle it, the CV boot moves too. Is this just normal because there's nothing holding it tight, or should I look for a secondary problem with the CV? This is my first time working on this stuff, so sorry if this description is confusing.

Right on. That's kinda what I was thinking. I found some at a local auto parts store for $15 & $18, and they have a liffetime warranty. I'll just grab some of those.

Are there any replacement tie rods that are better than the original stock parts? Anything particular to look for? I've seen some on ebay, but I don't really know what to look for. I want some beefier stuff to accompany my new centerlink.

I just did mine last weekend. Everything went pretty much as expected. I did bust one of the body mount nuts loose from it's weld up inside. I guess I'll have to try to reach it by drilling an access hole through the floor in the cab. Total process took 2 days. I had help the first day. Couldn't find a longer high pressure hose for the power steering, so I just moved the whole thing down. Believe me guys, If I can do this, anybody can. I haven't had a chance to take pics yet, but I'll post them in a few days.

I have a center console that has 2 cupholders under the lid. It sits the same height as the door armrest. Really comfy. It screws right over the lower console. Don't know how common it is, but they are out there. Or, were you wanting to go higher than that?