XPLORx4

Yep, I'm still kickin' though my Pathy spends most of its life in the garage in between adventures.

The links are adjustable, right? How much longer than stock will they extend?

The line you're referring to is the parking brake cable. But as others have stated, unless your fuel tank is damaged, you don't need to remove it to replace the fuel sender and fuel pump, which are easy to access under the rear passenger bench without dropping the tank. So, reinstall the fuel tank skid plate, and get the truck off the lift.

No, the exhaust clears the axle even without a swaybar installed. The AC lift does not alter the stock up-travel. In fact, it won't alter the downtravel either, unless you install longer rear shocks. It turns out that even with longer rear shocks, the swaybar can limit downtravel as well.

I've never punctured the tank. You'd have to drive fast over something very very sharp (like a piece of rebar poking out of the ground) to do that. I have, however, dented both the skid plate and gas tank when my rear tire slipped off its line and the undercarriage (i.e. gas tank) fell onto a beachball-sized rock. I removed the skid plate and hammered it back into shape, but the gas tank had to be replaced.

I ran power along the roof rack channel back to the rear hatch. See pics here: https://xplorx4.shutterfly.com/309

I have a 30" light bar on my roof rack: https://xplorx4.shutterfly.com/309

100kph = 62mph, so 80kph = ~50mph, still quite fast off-road.

I'm not sure if this is figurative or literal, but I highly recommend wearing your seat belt so you don't get thrown out of the driver's seat. You could lose control and crash. Belted in or not, it sounds like your suspension (probably stock) is too soft and wasn't intended to be used for high speed off-roading. In this case, I don't think that stock springs plus spacers will help your suspension problems. You need new coil springs with a higher spring rate that will not only provide lift, but also stiffen the ride. Lastly, if high-speed Baja500-style off-roading is your thing, I don't think that the Pathfinder is the best choice for that kind of driving due to the chassis design (unibody) and front suspension configuration (MacPherson struts). There aren't any aftermarket struts that provide the durability and damping power for extreme conditions like that. You'll be replacing front suspension parts often. A vehicle with a suspension design that can accommodate Fox or King performance shocks is better suited for that purpose.

till44- where in NorCal are you? You can check out some semi-disorganized photos of various mods I have made to my '97 LE over at xplorx4.shutterfly.com. Although it is a very capable rock-crawler, it is still a good overland expedition vehicle. Most of the crew I go wheeling/camping with also have mildly built SUVs, and we use them in similar ways as you've described. How'd you manage to squeeze 5 kids into it?

If you don't get an answer to your question, you can pull off the A-pillar trim to run new wire to the tweeters from where ever you mount the crossover.

Almost any aftermarket HU will drive 4ohm speakers. Check the power ratings of the HU you're interested in during your research.

I'm not sure how the Bose system is connected in the '02 model, but in my '97, the rear speakers are driven by an amp mounted inside the body cavity behind the left rear cargo plastic panel (in front of the tail light). I believe the front speakers are driven by the HU, but have a crossover built-in to each front speaker in the door in order to split the signal between the A-pillar tweeter and the door speaker. There is no subwoofer or subwoofer amp. When I replaced my audio system a while ago, I ditched the HU, factory speakers and amps and installed a Pioneer AVIC NAV unit. The rear speaker outputs on the HU drive the rear speakers at the HU's rated power output. The front speakers and a JLAudio Stealthbox 10" subwoofer are driven by an Alpine MRP-F450 4-channel amp, with the front channels driving the front speakers, and the amp rear channels bridged to power the sub. The amp is wedged into the space previously occupied by the factory Bose rear-speaker amp. All 4 of the door speakers are 2-way 6" drivers (I forget who makes them; it's been a while). It wasn't cheap, but the sound is soooo much better than the factory system was.

Looks pretty steep indeed. 4WD low-range would have made that climb a cakewalk. The extra torque in 4LO is what really helps. By the way, when you traverse terrain like that, you will get loads more traction if you reduce your tire pressure to around 18psi. Naturally, you will need a way to re-inflate your tires before hitting the highway again. I recommend the very inexpensive, but well-made MV50 air compressor. I have one of these hard-mounted in the Pathfinder engine compartment for airing up tires after a trail run: Pathfinder on-board air Where did you go kayaking?

Did you buy the Pathfinder with the spacers installed already or did you have them put in after you bought it? If you put the spacers in later, why did you install them? Was the truck not sitting level? Has the suspension changed since the first day you put them in?

When you say "to sits with a noticeable rake" I assume you mean that the front is lower than the rear. To see how much increase in front height you need, measure the distance from the top of the tire to the wheel arch. Then, place a floor jack under the front crossmember and lift until the body appears level. Re-measure the distance from the top of the tire to the wheel arch. Regarding locking up your CV axles, you have 1.5" spacers on front now, right? If so, raise the floor jack so that both front wheels are off the ground and spin your wheels by hand. If you notice binding while spinning the wheels, then it doesn't matter whether you install the new springs or not, because the length of the strut determines how much total suspension travel is permitted, not the spring or the spacers. If you have binding, your CV axles are at risk of breaking if you drive off-road. This is due to the spacers being too thick and causing the front suspension to drop lower than it was designed. If you do NOT notice binding while rotating the wheels, then installing the new springs will have no effect on the reliability of your CV axles, other than increasing the CV boot wear. You will probably need to experiment with the combination of spacers and springs that levels your suspension. I suspect that 2" springs plus 1.5" spacers will result in the front being too high.

I would check the imported vehicle registration, safety and emissions laws in WA state before buying a vehicle to operate there, whether gas or diesel powered. There could be complications with certain emissions or safety components that would make an imported Pathfinder or Terrano unable to be registered. https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/425/~/registering-a-foreign-registered-vehicle,-car-or-motorcycle-in-the-u.s.-with

You can also get light bar tube-mounts to mount to the Rola Vortex. https://www.google.com/search?q=led+ligh+bar+tube+mount&gws_rd=ssl I had to do this to mount a Rigid SR30 light bar to a Bajarack.

"CV axle" means "constant-velocity axle". A CV joint is a special type of universal joint that is most commonly used in drive axles that use independent suspension. On the Pathfinder, the CV axle connects the front differential with each front wheel. It looks like this: To replace ball joints, you need to partially slide the CV axle out of the front hub in order to allow clearance for the ball joint to be removed.

Stock low-range ratio for the TX10 part-time transfer case is 2.02:1

Unlike shocks, struts are almost always vehicle-specific. It is possible, though unlikely, that you'll be able to find struts with longer travel that will fit in the R50.

U-bolts won't really work, because they'll get caught on whatever the arm drags over and will get pulled off. (Landing on or dragging over something is why trailing arms get bent.) Also, the increased strength comes from attaching [welding] the angle-iron along the entire length of the arm, not only at two ends.

I bought a pair of OEM arms and had pieces of angle-iron welded to them. They have held up to some pretty extensive abuse ever since. https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1fqm38dparmofh/lca1.jpg?dl=0

If you really want the external reservoir Bilstein 5165's, click here: http://www.eshocks.com/bil_ORsb.asp?Series_Index=7Q1&Manf=All&SubChar=Q They are significantly more expensive ($173 each) than the 5125's and may be overkill for your R50. You will want 25-187717 (11.3" travel, 255/70 valving) if you choose to buy them. The diff breather line is just longer piece of vacuum tube that you can get at any auto parts store. You'll just want to route it up to someplace where it's less likely to get water in it if you cross a deep stream.

The right shock length for 2" of lift is about 16" compressed and 26" extended. The Bilstein 5125 shock that has the correct valving and length is part number 33-185552. I have Bilstein 5150's that match that specification, but Bilstein no longer makes the 5150. http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/bilstein_5125.cfm Note that after you install longer shocks, your differential breather tube and rear brake line may need to be extended to avoid stretching them.