mws

Are you going for style or function? For function with 31's, I like 2" suspension. Enough to get more clearance, but doesn't put too much extra stress on CV's.

Very nice piece, and a fair price for a quality product. The gas can looks like a NATO style can with some kind of screw on cap... Can you confirm the carrier is compatible with true NATO cans and/or the old US jerry cans? Looks like they would be. In California, I can not legally purchase or use a new can that didn't have f-ed up lid, but I can continue to use my vintage NATO cans!

Fit on trail? Why are worried about that? At over 4.5 million pounds, it will CRUSH any trail!

Bwaaaahhh haaa haaaa! reckless vs wreckless.... Very similar yet significantly different, ehh?

Probably not. Usually heated seats are an option. But it is cheaper to manufacture all fuse boxes and wiring harnesses the same so it is common to have the wiring there without the option.

I think it is a pretty common tendency for most any "true" gear style transfer case. They use extremely simple (and tough) gears with no synchros or anything like that to ease engagement. If the gears are precise and tight, they can be a little persnickety to slide in and out of mesh. Some are smoother, some are notchier. Not a perceived problem for those of us who have had driven trucks or older manuals from the days before synchros. A good synthetic lube will help, as will more frequent use. They will wear in and get easier to use.

Hey Oliver! I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but I'm confident they will. BTW, your directions to the motorcycle dealer were spot on. It was a great visit and I got my buddy to reconsider the narrow focus sportbike and he ended up buying a Triumph Speed Triple. He is sooooo going to love that bike!

Very handy if you're in a very tough spot off roading and find it hard to get started without spinning or stalling. Put 'er in 4W Lo and 1st gear with the engine off, and then activate the starter (yes, with the clutch engaged). You will very slowly and smoothly start creeping forward, hopefully smooth enough to get enough momentum keep moving after the engine catches. Don't use for more than a couple/few seconds at a time, as the starter has to work extra hard and will heat up quickly. And is drawing a huge amount of current.

Enough already! If you're going to shoehorn, go big or go home! http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/

Methinks the old bushings were way shot and the rod was wearing metal on metal on the frame bracket. And a groove was worn into it, weakening it. Pure speculation based on the condition of the bushings in my '88 when I bought it! One of the metal tubes within the bushing was worn completely through and the compression rod itself was starting to make contact. This also allowed a lot of play, also greatly increasing stress on the rod. Fortunately, it was repaired before it failed.

Well, whatsa stoppin ya? Install them in your truck, and then make Simon pay you to install in his sly

Ahhh... remember the good ol' days, when replacing rings and lower end bearings, or pulling the head and lapping valves was considered routine maintenance? Sometimes done on the side of the road during a family vacation? Well, neither can I. But my father did! That was typical in the 20's when he was a child. Heck, with our early 60's Falcon, my dad always carried spare brake shoes, ball joints, and a spare lower control arm because they rarely lasted 20K miles. The moral: Cars require soooooo much less maintenance than they used to. Get over it. Sometimes I wished they still did, in order to encourage those that can to do it, and to keep those that can't off the streets....

Look one post higher and tell Simon to get to it... Tell him you'll pay for installation if he does it himself.

You can buy kits for $99 per seat.... For those of us with "sensitive" significant others, this is NOT an option! The kits include wires, switch, and two flex circuits (one for seat, one for back). You have to get access to the inside of the seat, so you may need to do some minor seat disassembly and reassembly.

PVC glue lets you attach doo-hahs and wikky-wikky dingles (aka bosses) made out of other pieces of ABS on the inside/back side of the PVC pod so you can use a mechanical fastener into the A-pillar plastic. And PVC accepts paint nicely. Even texture paints. Or it can be wrapped with vinyl. Or????

Yup. It would take longer than I have to explain, but it has to do with signal levels and amplification and variable ground voltage levels. There are (thick) books written on this topic. Basically, ground noise always exists to some level, and a well balanced signal transmission system tries to keep it at as a low a level as possible to be imperceptible. In a nutshell, your problem was that the output from the new head unit is not matched to the factory amps, so any noise was excessively amplified. The line converter helps, but is somewhat of a bandaid. Eliminating the factory amp will almost certainly help, and it seems everybody who has done so had good results. But if you still have issues, you may have an issue at the head unit. Then it gets a lot more complicated - I hope you don't have to go there, and I doubt you will.

Hear the same song twice in one sitting? Dammm dude, you're sitting in one place wayyyyy too long! But seriously... I've been with XM about 3 or 4 years now. I absolutely love it and find their playlists at least 4X of any standard radio stations. And there are many more stations so I have not been frustrated with any lack of variety yet. At the same time, those with Sirius seem to love it just as much. I classify it is a Pepsi/Coke thing. I chose XM because at that time, Sirius was hemorrhaging cash at a horrific rate, while XM was only at a scary rate - so I figured if either was to survive, it would be XM. And if I was to invest in hardware (it used to be a LOT more expensive), I wanted it to be usable as long as possible. And XM was being embraced by many more head unit manufacturers. 3 years later, they are both surviving. XM is still much more financially solvent than Sirius, but the hardware is so cheap it is not so big a deal anymore. The theory behind Sirius' 3 satellite system vs XM's 2 satellite system should, in theory, provide fewer drop outs in reception. So if I were buying today, I would probably go with Sirius, with a 52/48 split on preference... It would probably come down to a hardware cost thing.

How to properly care for bearings? When properly designed, manufactured, and lubricated, ball/roller bearings have a near infinite life. What kills them is water (corrosion), dirt (abrasion), and mechanical failure or fatigue (poorly manufactured or loads in excess of designed parameters). The key is to repack whenever the grease gets contaminated (dirt or water) or the grease begins to break down or separate. So the answer on how often to repack is truly: IT DEPENDS! (sorry) If you're using a premium synthetic grease in quality bearings in a pathy used exclusively on road and never has the hubs submerged in water, servicing every 100K miles would be plenty. Even 200K may be fine. If you use el cheapo generic wheel bearing grease in generic chinese bearings from discount auto parts and do a lot of off road driving and routinely drive in 18" or deeper water, you may need to do it as often as every 5K miles to prevent excessive wear and detect material failures. As a side note, many road cars today come with factory sealed and un-serviceable cartridge bearings. These come packed with premium grease and are sealed extremely well - so these can go 500K miles (or more) in a typical road car environment.

Aaron buying something spendy? Do that and you'll be disbanded from the "creative hackers doing it ourselves" club! I bet you could find some PVC pipes or fittings of about the right outer diameter. Some creative shaping of the inside and the back end would result in them looking pretty clean. I've made tweeter pods this way, and they look very factory - or expensive.

Most euro spec light assemblies are illegal in the US as they do not focus enough light up. That's right, the DOT requires some percentage of the beam NOT be focused down on the road but to shine upwards to light up street signs. The fact that it also means light shines up into oncoming drivers' eyes is but an unfortunate side effect the DOT requires.... This is also why putting HID's in stock headlights is such a bad idea. A halogen element shining in your eyes is not as blinding as an HID element. Personally, I do not know of anyone who has been cited for using euro spec lights in the US. I have, errr, I know of several people who have been using them for years (but not for pathys). But they are a "grey market" thing to import so they can be tricky to find.

How long do you want them to last? The engineers want them serviced regularly. The marketers want to claim they never need service. The "business managers" just want them to last until the warranty expires. Properly cared for, they could easily last a million miles.

Hee-hee, I have a set of those! (Thanks, Aaron!)

Did you bypass the factory amplifiers, or are they still in the loop?

It can be welded, but the results are unpredictable. If done by a VERY experienced welder, it may be OK. But us amateurs will likely overheat the metal, leading to a very brittle zone around the weld and it will crack again right next to the old crack. If you pull the manifold yourself and have the time to do so, it may be worth it to try. But if you have to pay someone else to do the wrenching, I would advise a new manifold so you only have to pay labor once. And have them change the studs while in there. Many of us have used problems like this as rationalization to get our headers! The stock manifolds are one of the few weak points of the Pathy.

Hmmmm... if that hose is dry rotted, you should consider replacing ALL of the original hoses under the hood. Perchance has your pathy spent some time parked in a garage in which there is a refrigerator or freezer? Refrigeration compressors generate ozone which accelerates the degradation of rubber.