Dowser

One Word...... BRILLIANCE!

Best of luck! If it's clean and rust free, and with the clutch, timing belt and all the maintenance records, and hasn't ever been driven offroad...... Man that's an amazing find right there. If you're smart about this, and treat your purchase like a new vehicle, think of the purchase price like a down payment, and put a little aside every month as a Car Payment, to buy all the things to keep it running like a top for the yeas to come. The best type of Maintenance is preventative. If you wait for things to break down usually it's a lot more expensive, and usually does more harm to other components that were previously doing just fine. Can't wait to see the Photo's. I'm sure you'll be getting hooked to this forum once you have it.

I was merely pointing him in the direction of a product available. Truth be told your way would be MUCH MUCH cheaper and easier if you are able to understand the principles, but I figured some people just want a product to buy instead of trying to figure stuff out.

If you want to go another route you can always install an Amsoil bypass Filter. It directs 10-20% of the oil through the filter leaving the rest unrestricted. The bypass filter is a fine filter and can filter out the whole oil supply in a short time. I don't have a link for you but search their website and do some homework.

Yep, Go with a newer one. They can take more abuse. They made some minor changes to the Tranny to compensate for the engines that had more HP.

Digging this back up simply because its amazing. I've followed this thread while you were doing it, and read it a few times since and I can't even fathom just how difficult this must of been. It truly is inspiring to see someone take on a project so daunting, and with so many people claiming it couldn't be done, and finally come out on top to show it's possible and be able to silence the critics as well. You're clearly a dedicated enthusiast to be willing to not only take it on, but to spend all the time and cash to get it to where it is now. If you had to actually calculate your hours working on it, and put a shop rate on that..... man...... I can't even begin to think what it would cost. Kudos to you for a great job and I'm so very envious of your skills and abilities. I'm not very good gambler, but I'd bet that you're probably the only guy to have ever done this swap in a Pathfinder, and I don't think there are going to be too many other to follow in your foot steps. Way to go! Anything you can update us on? Perhaps any new video's or insight on anything that has needed changing over the past few months?

Could be the bypass hose too. That little elbow is an annoying little bugger.

Know what I love about women.... They think they should do EVERYTHING in flip flops. Sorry man but pictures like these are what I collect for ammo when the critics say women are smarter than men.

And just to follow up on the rust issue and where to check, for the most part there are a few places that tend to rust out more then others. The absolute worst is the area by the rear wheels as was said, but since you're not familiar in where exactly to look, I'll pop a few pointers to help you give it a real thorough check here. At The rear wheel well, if you can either take the rear tire off, or slide under the vehicle, you're going to see a couple of holes in the side of the frame rail. what you want to do is get your finger in that hole and fell around. These frames are Notorious for rusting out from the inside. It might look mint on the outside, but trust me, you're going to want to know what its like on the inside. Also in that area is the mounts where the rear spring perches are welded to the frame. If the drain holes are plugged solid then I'd be interested in checking the frame rail along the bottom of the rocker area. Bring a hammer with you to tap around and listen as well. On the body, they tend to rust at the front fender top middle of wheel well, and at the rear door bottom back corners. That is a tough area to fix. Open the doors and inspect that. To check the rear floor of the rear seat, you can lift the rear seat bottom forward and peak under the insulation. That's a real bad spot for rust. And at the collector of the y pipe on the exhaust, which was mentioned, slide under the vehicle and feel above it. If its all bubbled, or rotten then count on that being something to deal with. Don't let the fear of rust discourage you from finding another pathfinder if this one turns out to be not up to par though. For the money it costs for a WD21 model Pathfinder,(1986-1995 in North America) I doubt you'll find such a capable 4x4 SUV with as much reliability. These things can take a serious beating and can get very high mileage on an engine if its properly maintained. Keep in mind that fuel consumption was much higher for all SUV type back in 95. Regardless, They are severely under rated in comparison to Toyota's 4 runner. If you find something nice and it has a little bit of rust, not brutal, Many MANY people here have plated, and worked on the Rust issue so there's LOTS of info on here about that. If it has no Rust, and it has a Manual Tranny that shifts smoothly, No whining, and had the Clutch done at some point that it wont be necessary soon, and finally the Timing belt replaced, then that's the bulk of the SERIOUS stuff right there. Everything else is just minor crap like exhaust studs and the like. Good luck and don't forget to poke your fingers in those holes!

I was wondering this same thing ages ago as well. Since the R50's share the same auto trans, wouldn't it be as easy as swapping the shifter and the console over? I don't know enough about these things but it seemed to me like it would be doable since its the same tranny. I can understand how if it was a completely different tranny it would be a tremendous amount of work to try and make a shifter work with the nissan tranny, but this sounds doable and I was always wondering if it could work. Looking forward to watching this progress.

Ahhhhh Found it. The Trailmaster Kit is a completely different kit that lifts the vehicle a different way. Technically you could use both lift kits to achieve 7" of Suspension Lift, But not without a lot of messing around fixing things like Parking brake issues, Rear Drive shaft rubbing on crossmembers, Panhard Bar leveling, brake lines, I'm thinking there may be other issues with Drive shaft angles in the front but I can't be certain. I'm sure there is much more that would need attention then I've posted here. What most people do is Crank the torsion bars so that it lifts the front end. What limits you in going higher is a number of factors, Balljoint and CV angles get maxed, and Actual Clearance with UCA's hitting bumpstops, which if you have them resting on bumps stops gives you no down travel and makes the ride incredibly harsh and jarring. The Trailmaster kit Lowers the whole front system and the rear Torsion Bar Anchor system so that you can keep the suspension at reasonable operating angles, but with the downside being your Torsion Bar Anchors at the belly of your rig sit 4"s lower then the frame rails and the T-bars and anchor become a place that can really get damaged. They are no longer tucked up and under the vehicle out of harms way. In that picture above they have some sort of crazy ass system that lowers the front end, but keeps the torsion bars and anchors at the same factory spots and just the Upper and lower control arms along with the Diff support are lowered. Pretty ingenious but I've no idea how well it would actually function in a harsh offroad scenario. Great Idea though if you want to keep IFS suspension I think.

I'll be posting up photo's of the mock up they provide me with when they send it out for test fitting. And if you're interested in a purchase of one, perhaps it would be a good idea to at least skim the whole thread to get an idea of how this is evolving. Yes, the whole whopping 4 pages that would take a lifetime to get thru. They told me they should be 4x4 samples. I don't know why or how much of an issue something else would be.

Hey everyone. There's progress being made. Basically, Alabama and Have been talking behind the scenes and we were gathering color samples for interior pieces to be shipped. Photo's of the pillar still inside the vehicle have been sent and once they get the actual pillar they will get back to me after a week or so with a more detailed price and quantity estimate.

Idler Arm Brace, Bracing on Idler Arm and Pitman Arm, Grassroots Centerlnk, And 1 Ton Chevy Tie Rods that fit the Centerlink Taper and are WAY stronger considering they are the same Tie rods chevy uses on its 3500 series trucks. Still plenty strong.

Dude.... I've been to Banff a few times and I can tell you one a few things. 1. You'd be absolutely crazy to not go and take that opportunity. 2. You're coming from North Carolina.... Banff is a Ski Village Party fest. It's almost like living in Whistler. Again, you'd be crazy to not take that opportunity. 3. You are literally 4 Hours 5 Minutes from Jasper, another Village Ski Resort, and to get there you take the Ice field Parkway which is probably the Most amazing 289km in all of Canada. Link 4. You are 50 Minutes from Lake Louise. Link And Ever see the Movie the Shining with jack Nicholas? The mansion is there. At any rate. Did I mention you'd be Nuts to not take that opportunity?

No the bang for broke was for this one he's doing now. Things changed when he had to get stuff out of storage and had an axle dumped in his garage. Originally it was going to be rocking the stock suspension with identical size lower and upper arms. The suspension on the rear of the Red Pathy was a completely different build with different expectations then this one. The rear was built up using the lower arms as Uppers, and new lowers that were twice the size for maximum droop. The Rear had a 3" Body lift and he had a new coil and shock mount bar that was welded in 3"s higher off the frame to accommodate much longer shocks, springs for much more articulation. Obviously a new crossmember was created to allow the modified drive shaft to not touch as well. That build was probably the sickest Articulation on a 4 Door Pathy with such a low COG anywhere in the world in my opinion. Was very cool. I was so sad to hear of its inevitable demise.

With the regular cab standard wheelbase as ours, it routes differently then ours yes, but the adjuster ends up lining up where the adjust is on our set up. There shouldn't be any modification to the cable or anything like that. You'll notice in the FSM page BR-30(according to a 1992FSM) that the 2WD handbrakes cable is obviously longer then ours due to its location, but at the adjuster,the cables going to the rear axle are almost Identical to ours. The 4WD version is WAY different setup. I suppose the extra foot of cable length isn't extremely important but you would have to secure it somehow.

Sorry but that representation for measurement is not going to be accurate in the least. I prefer to get my information straight from a Factory Service Manual. The difference in Wheelbase of a Reg cab vs King cab is actually basically 12". Pathfinder Wheelbase - 2650mm or 104.3in Reg Cab Standard Wheelbase - 2650mm or 104.3 Reg Cab Long Wheelbase - 2950mm or 116.1in King Cab and Heavy duty model Wheelbases are all 2950mm or 116.1in The longer cable wouldn't be necessary in our application.

Hey Adam, Do you know if its a regular cab or king cab? Looking into this further I have also noticed that the wheelbases of the hardbody's are a lot different due to the king cab option, and the long bed options. The correct donor for us would be a 2WD Regular cab with a regular box. It share Identical wheelbases as us. I put up a request on the infamous nissan board since they are all 2wd guys there and got 2 people willing to sell, but one wants $100.00 bucks + shipping and that sounds a bit steep for a 14-26 year old truck. I wonder what the Wreckers near you would charge for it.

I remember a few years ago there was a Olive Green Pathy that was chopped into a buggy on HUGE tires. The Grill was shortened and the fenders were tapered, it had rear steer i think too. I can't find pictures of it now though. Someone posted it up here years ago. Anyone else remember that one? The back half was chopped off I think even. Looked tough is all I remember.

It's all good. Since you seem to have a Hardbody past you're probably not familiar with the Pathfinder 5 link rear. Here's a link of when Ryan was making the bracket and all of its version before the retail version. On post #24 I have a couple of links that should answer all your inqueries but if you still need some answers after that feel free to post them up. BLAMO. <---- Magical link of answers

Probably best to shoot him a PM. That way he'll get notified via e-mail. He's prompt with replies so my guess he never saw your question. He's a pretty busy guy and I'll put my money on that he doesn't comb thru all the threads all the time when posting here.

OK... A little more information on this subject. Upon further research, there was a total of 3 Parking brake styles in a hardbody. 2 Lever Style and also a hand brake style. The one that you posted up 1994SE was the lever style in a 4WD vehicle and that one is not the one we are interested in. The hand brake style shares the same cable system and was offered in 4WD's as well. The one that we would be after is from a 2WD Hardbody. Now even the Lever itself is different then the 4WD version so nothing from the 4WD version would be any benefit really. Just as AK said, This variation is the 2WD version. The parts we need consist of a total of 11 bolts and 1 connector. 4 Bolts and the connector at the lever, 2 bolts at the plate that runs it thru the floor, another 1 bolt a little farther back along the cable, and finally 4 more to the assembly that attaches it to the Joint axle wire like we have on our Pathy's This seems pretty straight forward and simple. The biggest pain in the ass is going to be finding a 2WD Hardbody for me. there's not a wrecker anywhere near me that has one. If anyone has a wrecker near them with one there or one sitting in there back 40 let me know. Mystery Solved... Thanks all who contributed.

UGH! This is going to be fun. I'll inform those at Infamous of these results to see if we can get a sample of the K colors that weren't available to Pathfinders. Boy that's going to be a freaking nightmare for ordering. Call up gauge company - "Ya high I'd like to order a gauge for a 1996 Nissan Hardbody please." (Company) - "Sure, what color?" - "Color code K please." (Company) - "Which of the 4 options for K would you Like?" - "Huh? There's 4 options for K? alright..... well its the Grey one." (Company) - "Alright, that eliminated black, which variation of Grey would you like. Light Grey, Dark Grey, or brownish grey." - "Hmmm it looks sort of light grey, but then again I don't know how dark the dark grey is... Hmmmmm I'll have to call you back." I'm pretty sure the company was hoping to get actual color names so its easier to identify. I see what else I can come up with on the actual color name. this should be fun.....