GoPathyGo

No worries. I just get all defensive about unibodies and R50s. The name fits the truck. But yeah, not very catchy for a person...

Xterra Shmexterra. Any Pathfinder built before MY 2005 will get you in and out of any mess you can reasonably throw at it. Unless you are planning competition Baja 1000 stuff, take advantage of the crummy market for used Pathy's and peoples' prejudices/biases about Pathys/unibody/frames/IFS/whatever and get one in excellent condition. As for aftermarket parts, yeah, sure there's more stuff overall for the Xterra. But anything you really need for wheeling - lifts, front & rear lockers, winches and the like - are all available for the Pathfinder. Sure, you can try to body lift the Xterra. Your frame and rear diff won't care - they're still gonna get smacked around BL or no BL. Any money you save by getting a Pathy can go towards mods. I agree with OldSlowReliable. Not sure I understand why your parents would trade in the Pathfinder and then give you the money... In effect, they are paying you $3500 to get rid of the Pathy. Do they think it's unsafe or something ? Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now. It's been a long day...

Conventional mineral oils are basically oils refined directly from crude. Synthetics fall into various categories. Group III synthetics are made from reprocessed petroleum products left after making things like diesel, gasoline etc. Group IV are oils made from simpler chemical compounds. The advantages of synthetics are their greater stability at high temps and their predictability. There's a looongg and ongoing debate on which brand of oil and how often and so on that will perhaps never be resolved. But basically a lot of folks around here use fully synthetic. E.g., Mobil1. Modern synthetics are quite popular and often used by the factory. E.g., all Porsches and Bentleys come from the factory with Mobil1. I don't know exactly why Nissan prefers mineral based oils. A quick google search didn't yield any convincing answers either. The closest was a post that supposedly contained a quote from Nissan NA saying they built and tested with mineral-based oils, but folks were free to use what they wanted. Perhaps the recommendation allows them to sell their own oil for high profits ? Perhaps it's a legal thing designed to protect them in case someone puts el-cheapo synthetic and the seals fail or something. Who knows. 5W-30 is a classification referring to the oil's viscosity and ability to flow across a temperature range. It is separate from the source of the oil (mineral or synthetic). From the API website: SAE Viscosity Grade The center of the Donut shows the oil's SAE viscosity grade. Viscosity is a measure of an oil's flow characteristics, or thickness, at certain temperatures. The low-temperature viscosity (the first number, 5W in a 5W-30 oil) indicates how quickly an engine will crank in winter and how well the oil will flow to lubricate critical engine parts at low temperatures. The lower the number the more easily the engine will start in cold weather. The high-temperature viscosity (the second number, 30 in a 5W-30 oil) provides thickness, or body, for good lubrication at operating temperatures. A multigrade oil (for example, SAE 5W-30) provides good flow capability for cold weather but still retains thickness for high-temperature lubrication. A single grade oil (a single number in the center of the donut) is recommended for use under a much narrower set of temperature conditions than multigrade oils. Operators should refer to their owner's manuals to select the proper viscosity oil for the ambient temperature and operating conditions at which the equipment will be used."

When I took my hitch off, I think there was a wiring harness built in behind the taillight. Passenger side. It was meant to allow you to hook up the 7-pin adapter. You may have to root about a bit to see if yours has one too. Try looking both directly and via the panels that pop off. All those trim pieces can be popped off carefully with a screwdriver. I'll see if I can find something in my service manual or owner's manual. BTW, if you don't have one and plan to work on your Pathfinder, a Service Manual is an invaluable tool. $20 online for a pdf.

For reference, here are the drain and fill plugs I found. With the skids and all the rubbish in the garage it was difficult to get good shots but you should get the general idea: Fill plug in top center of pic, rear of t-case facing the back of the truck. It's between the rusty clamp and the rusty cat pipe at the top of the pic. Drain plug at bottom of case, front of t-case facing the front of the truck. Has a little yellow mark underneath it.

Black, with trail-installed stripes. Will eventually have her repainted silver. Easier to maintain.

Hmm... The front is up on jack stands, so maybe a bunch of the liquid got pushed back. I'll try it again when it's level or, better yet, when the rear's up a little higher and everything gets pushed towards the drain plug. Not like I'm short ATF - got 4 quarts of the stuff lying around.

Dunno. I don't really see the point. With these things, I feel like you aren't really driving a truck/car anymore. For me, the fun of wheeling, specially in IFS trucks, is conquering obstacles and exploring in what are (relatively speaking) lightly modified real-world vehicles that can go right back onto pavement. It's part of the reason I really don't care too much about Wranglers on 40" tires. Why bother with trucks at all ? Just get an old Soviet BMP or tracked recovery vehicle. Just my personal bias.

Aight, so I did what I HOPE was the right thing. After scraping off some crap and using a flashlight (apparently my eyes are the latest thing to be going), I found what I believe are the t-case drain and fill plugs. The drain plug was on the driver's side, facing the front of the truck. The refill plug was also driver's side but facing the rear of the truck. Both were basically right at the edge of the t-case. Far left if you were sitting in the driver's seat. Both opened up with a 1/4" drive. The stuff that came out of the drain plug was so dark brown as to be almost black. There also was far less than I expected. I refilled up to the level of the fill plug, per the service manual. But even that wasn't much. Maybe half a quart, including spillage etc. I had to use a freaking siphon pump to get the fluid in. Used Castrol ATF instead of Nissan Matic-D. After filling and closing everything, I started the truck and went through all the locations in all modes. P/R/N/D/2/1 in 4HI, 4LOW, 2HI etc. Nothing screamed at me from the instrument panel and nothing seemed to catch fire. Couldn't actually drive it since it's up on jack stands right now, waiting for a new brake line. Do the location of the plugs and the amount I used sound right ? Did I miss another set of plugs ? Did I just fill something completely different with ATF ?

Ha! Fortunately not. Turns out I never changed the t-case oil. Just the A/T oil. That was 'cause I never found the t-case drain and fill plugs. Today I finally found them - after scraping off crap and using a flashlight. Apparently my eyes are losing it... So there was definitely fluid in it when I smelled the burning. They do use the same fluid, just not the same drain and fill plugs. I was confused on the drain and fill thing.

After I smelled burning oil, decided to grab a transfer case temp gauge and a tranny temp gauge. I think the only diff between a "Transmission Temp Gauge" and a "Transfer Case Temp Gauge" is the labeling. I like the idea of getting a T-connecter version for the sending unit. Avoids drilling into the tranny. Could you use a drain plug, too ?

Also, check the area under the center console. My R50 has a gap and a 2-piece rubber trim piece that folds around the emergency brake. You'd be amazed how easily stuff drops in there - pennies, screws, pens (!), crumbs etc. You can pop up the hard plastic trim piece in front of the e-brake and also the trim piece around the gear shifter. (The large wood/plastic one, NOT the aluminum-colored shift gate itself.) A shop vac in there will do wonders. I developed the heat shield problem after installing the AC skids. The clamp after the driver's side cat was causing an audible hum when driving. Solved it by using a pair of heavy-duty scissors to trim the shield around the clamp bolt and a pair of pliers to twist a small section up and away from everything else. Solved the problem. Also, MJBBMANO, I highly recommend buying a Nissan shop manual. If nothing else, reading it will give you peace of mind. The more you know, the less you'll worry about things. You can get them online. Just google "Nissan Pathfinder service manual" and your year. Just make sure it's the original Nissan one and not a knockoff. I got a pdf version of mine for $20 online. It has paid for itself many many times over.

Ok, so a few updates based on my experience. 1. The stock power heated seats are HEAVY. No doubt about it. I removed the passenger seat yesterday and that thing's 40+ lbs 2. The Corbeau seat adapters sold by AC and others for the Xterra/Frontier do NOT fit my '03 R50. Too long and the R50 has a plastic bump/floor reinforcement (haven''t pulled up the carpet to see what's hiding underneath) those 2 apparently don't have - at least not in the same place. So I'm looking at 2 options right now: 1. Separate the stock frame rails from the rest of the stock seat, drill new holes and try to attach suspension seats to those. Separating the frame rails on mine will require essentially drilling through some flat clips and bolts holding the rails to the rest of the seat. 2. Forget the whole idea and just get lighter manual fabric seats from the JY Will keep you guys posted. (Bad pun, I know.)

FYI, I spoke with a friendly neighborhood dealer parts desk. (Shockingly, such things do exist.) 1. "Mobil 1 should be fine" 2. "Dude, save your money on the so-called Nissan Coolant. It's just green stuff." 3. "It makes NO SENSE to buy AT Fluid here. Get Dexron III anywhere and you're fine."

They went from radiator to A/C to rack and pinion ? Surprised to hear the entire Rack & Pinion is going. Did they say specific parts needed to be replaced or the whole thing ? Given a bill that size, I'd get a second opinion from another shop, at least... Cheapest parts will be a local junk/salvage yard. Typically, the "you pull it off the car, you pay for it" places are cheapest, then junk/salvage yards where they pull the parts. Also check eBay. But would definitely suggest getting a 2nd opinion. Good luck.

Good to know. D'you have a closeup shot or a description of how you pushed the rear plastic in ? I have a bit of rubbing on the rear with the 265s but reluctant to do major surgery there since there are more important things in that footwell area. Thanks.

So, what color's the brand-spanking-new one he's buying you gonna be ?

"Which lift" is a bit like the "which beer" question. Everyone has an opinion and an experience but ultimately it comes down to what you'd like out of a lift. OME makes nice products but the OME lift doesn't give you quite as much lift as the AC lift. Some would say the 0.5"-1" difference is negligible. Others would say it makes all the difference in the world. The KYBs are an excellent strut. Bilsteins are great, but if you want adjustable shocks, Rancho seems to be the way to go given the sheer number of people who have them. Guess it'd help to understand your goals/budget/priorities etc.

Cool. Do the 275 width tires fit without rubbing ?

Looks good. If you're going desert running, those silver-colored rocker panels are gonna come in handy.

Used it in the gas tank a couple of days ago based on comments here and elsewhere. Full pint added with a full tank of gas. (Labeling said 1 pint treated 8 to 25 gallons and my tank's 16 gallons.) I wasn't expecting much, but I figured for $6 (sale at Advance), why not ? Actually, it's made a material difference. Idle is smoother and even a bit lower (now below 750 rpm, where it used to be above 800 rpm), acceleration and cruising are smoother, engine doesn't scream as much. Very nice. Thanks for the tip, guys.

I would suggest rear locker too. In most situations, you're going in nose-first. (Unless you like wheeling in reverse...) Even if the front wheels lose traction, they can still steer. So you can still power out of the mess/situation by locking the rear, which can take a tremendous amount of strain, and letting the axle push the truck onward. Of course, if you're caught in such heavy mud that you can't steer, your only option may be to back right out or take 94extreme's approach and get a front-mounted winch. A front locker is much more limited unless you have a solid front too. Your range of steering drops materially when locked since the sheer amount of torque flowing through the front can easily overwhelm the CVs and they can snap. Also, you will get some binding since the outside wheel can no longer turn more than the inside wheel. That happens with the rear too, but if you think the rear outside wheel is grumpy about not being able to turn fast enough, wait till the front voices its opinions on the issue. Front lockers are awesome in low traction, straight ahead kind of situations. They can take a bit of turning and swiveling but I leave the ballet-dancing out. I now also carry spare CVs. LSDs are neat. I'm not familiar with the ones mentioned here, but it may be worth investigating the strength and durability of the various options available. Some are much weaker than others and are really not meant for wheeling. Others could seemingly move APCs through mud. :02:

I still haven't installed my Hitachi alternator. Even with 2 batteries and all my accessories running like normal, the alternator's doing fine. Both YellowTops are fully charged. I reduced power consumption by switching various bulbs to LEDs (the various incandescents, from dome lights to license plate lights to turn signal lights, can burn 5-20 watts apiece with no problems) but that's been offset by a double-DIN head with a screen, a new amp and various other stuff. Guess if it ain't broke, I don't need to fix it. I'll keep the Hitachi in case the stock unit fails.

Try aftermarket. That way, you can get an auto-dimming mirror too.