mws

I installed a set of set of late 90's Maxima seats. ($75 for the pair!) Both sides required some fabricaton and modifying, but came out extremely well. The comfort difference is unbelievable. Adjustable lumbar, tilt, height, ahhh..... The driver's side was particularly difficult as the multi-adjustability of that seat resulted in a design that prevented the sliding rails from being swapped. I had to modify the stock Maxima sliding rails to fit the pathy. Welding, bending, cutting was required. On the passenger side, I just had to make a couple metal adapter plates to mount the Maxima seat to the Pathy rails. Keep in mind that the forces on a seat in a front or rear collision are huge and mounts must be very secure. It is highly unlikely for another seat to bolt right in, but it is doable with enough creativity!

I would rate the difficulty of this job as 2 wrenches (out of 5). Not as difficult as you might think. If you find changing your oil to be easy, you can handle this. It is just a matter of removing a number of bolts in a sequential manner and then putting them all back.

Very optional and apparently quite rare. I need to make one...

Since it occaisionally hits 110+ out here, I'm not too hip on sacrificying my A/C! I just carry a 10 lb compressor instead.

Summit Racing. I have the in-channel version as well. Same review as others. I like them, but they do have a couple minor negatives. They are excellent on warm/hot days when rain is possible. Can leave windows cracked while parked with no water problems. Unfortunatelly, they did not do much to reduce wind noise or turbulence with the windows cracked. The WD-21 is just a blustery ride!

No Rotella? Wow... What do you have?

That'd be the supercharger, Bob.

Dunes? Dat's what the Raptor 700 (quad) is for! But seriously... You do have a good point. How you use your truck and what you want it to do is what should drive decisions. Not what everybody else is doing. I just like to point out that sometimes stock is better than aftermarket. We use our pathy mostly for exploring at reasonable speeds. If not jumping, stock spring rates work extremely well.

There have been several tire carriers exchange hands around here. Something to keep in mind is that they are large and weigh around 60 pounds, so shipping becomes a big deal. For example, it cost about $70 to ship one from Houston TX to NoCal.

Good point. I do have a 31" spare on the carrier, but I still have close to 2" of rear lift. It has been noticed that there are many, many different springs used on Cherokees. I think I have one of the stiffest (thicker wire diameter) I-6 sets. Probably off a fully loaded version. Something else to consider is air-lift bags in the rear coils. I use them to level the rig out when hauling heavy loads - like my KTM on the receiver mount rack.

Where's the option for stock? I like having a more compliant suspension - it lets the wheels follow the terrain better, which is good for traction.

Maybe there is some uselful info in here: http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/StdPage.asp?Bo...eck/default.htm

Pulling the hub apart and removing entire axle is easier than you may be thinking.

For details on the lift, do search around. Quick answer: I like about 2" suspension lift as a nice compromise between clearance, CV joint stress, and ride quality. - 6 cylinder Cherokee springs in rear - crank stock T-Bars about 2" If you need more than that, add body lift. You can cut the spacers to give any amount you want.

NO NO NO! Absolutely NOT. Critical fasteners MUST be tightened the correct amount. Over-tightening will overstress the fastener, leading to eventual failure. Under-tightening will result in the fastener coming loose. If you do not understand or believe in the importance of proper torque on fasteners, please cease working on any vehicles driven on public streets. Someone is going to get hurt by your mistakes.

I'm good!

I like electric trailer brakes. Having the trailer stop itself reduces stopping distances considerably, and comes in handy if you get into a sway situation. Just jab the trailer brake to straighten everything back out. Get a Tekonsha Prodigy controller. They work light years better than others as they have an accelerometer on board and vary the trailer braking based on how hard you are stopping. Cheap controllers just ramp the trailer brakes to max regardless of how hard you step on the pedal. Anything but smooth! Prodigy's can be found for around $100, and are simple to wire. 12V in, brake voltage out, ground, and a wire to the brake lights. That's it. Excellent instructions as well.

Chiming in with more info for you.... In Cali, there are three levels of smog test: 1) On the rollers, true driving simulation. 2) No rollers, car just at idle and at 2000 rpm 3) No smog test at all. These vary based on the pollution levels of the county. Where slick lives, they have lots of problems so they have the most stringent. In Butte County where I live, we have only minor pollution issues, so we get the middle level. In some of the really rural areas with very few people and no pollution issues, they do not have to do any smog checks. If you have a '95 engine in an '87 chassis, you will need to pass the test based on the '95 criteria. And will need to take it to a referee station the first time around. What are the criteria? Two separate parts to the inspection. 1) Functional. Sniffer must find the HC, CO, and NOx levels to be below the levels required for that year of vehicle. 2) Visual. This is the part that sucks. ALL of the equipment installed from the factory must be there and functional as originally designed. Period. Must be the exact factory part or a part with a CARB exemption (like the Thorley headers). Take my van. Emissions were 1/100 of factory passed the first part), but since I had replaced the carburetor with a fuel injection system, it failed part two. No registration possible.

First, double check your brake fluid level. The system uses the same indicator light to indicate low fluid. The e-brake switch is on the lever assembly under the center console.

Same here. I suspect the bolt had been loosened somewhere along the line and not properly re-torqued. Which brings up a good point - that is a critical bolt and must be properly torqued to the factory spec when you install the new one!

You can tighten the belt, but use care as the tighter you go, the higher the stress on the bearings. There is a simple to use adjustor bolt on the alternator. Take a look at it and you should be able to figure it out. Check the belt itself. If it is "glazed" of if you haven't replaced it in a couple years or more, replace. Once it gets that shiny glaze it just slips way too easy. Belt conditioner is a another approach. I prefer using it rather than overtightening on belts that are over a year old and not glazed

I'm with you on this... I put even odds on timing belt failure. I hope I'm wrong, but afraid I may not be. Then again, if you didn't hear any scary noises as it shut down, maybe a relatively painless failure?

Dealer or junkyard. No sense in changing the others unless they have been overtorqued or removed several times.

How about mounting the second can to the left of the tire? Might have to space it out or modify the rack release mechanism, but should be easier than moving the spare mount. And I am impressed with the cotter key safety catch! I use lots of safety wire for the same reasons....

Yep. Suggested maintenance intervals are based on MTBF and risk analysis. There is probably something like a .01% chance of failure at 60K then .05% at 100k and 10% at 200k Those are made up numbers to illustrate a point, but reality is that a belt will not spontaneously combust at 61K miles. It is just that the risk of failure is continuously increasing from day 1, and the Nissan engineers and marketers have determined that the failure rate at 60K miles is about as much as the average consumer will tolerate. So sure, you can push it quite a bit - but be aware of the risk and don't blame anyone but yourself if you're one of the unlucky few.