GoPathyGo

I don't have the b*lls to get under a 2.5 ton truck held up by an orange beach ball... NFW... That name is funny, though - it sounds like a porno title. Not that I have much experience with those or anything. Just so I've heard. *cough* I'll stick with one of these old-school cheap things... http://www.amazon.com/Torin-Support-Jack-1...974&sr=8-26

Actually, a 10-ton support jack (jack and stand integrated into one) weighs less than a Hi-Lift alone, excluding the Hi-Lift accessories. Cheaper than a Hi-Lift too. Alternatively, aluminum jack stands can be fairly lightweight.

I remember this. Way back in the 90sI typed in nissan.com a few times instead of nissanusa.com The guy used to have a polite link to nissanusa.com If his story is true, I think it's ludicrous that they litigated this much. If they'd asked politely, maybe he'd have sold them the domain for a tenth their attorney's fees. A lot of corporations forked over a few bucks to get rid of cybersquatters. No one really cared in the early- and mid-90s about "suchandsuchbrand.com". Only when the internet took off in the late 90s did the big corporations take notice and start making a push. They brought in cybersquatting laws/regulations/whatever as a result. I like Nissan but, in their shoes, I'd fire the dimwit who didn't jump on Nissan.com, fire the dimwit who insisted on litigating all the way and then offer him some money to settle. Well, maybe it's a good thing I'm not in their shoes.

Try the seats. Stock seats - even fabric ones - weight a lot. Mine were over 100 lbs. Replacing em with lightweight off-road seats. Now that's expensive, but my local JY didn't have any wrecked ricer cars and I was impatient. Weight counts. The greater the weight, the faster/greater the wear on brakes, drivetrain and so on. Also, getting stuck in the mud is no fun unless you're a pig. Which is interesting given we're discussing weight. Oh, I don't have a rear seat anymore and I don't carry a spare around town. Throw the spare in the back when going wheeling.

This would have been good to know BEFORE I tried using it this afternoon, thank you very much! So now I have matching dents. The local JY is gonna love me. Jokes aside, my sliders are tucked in pretty close so I think they're gonna be useless. Perhaps I'll just get a light scissors jack to get it off the ground and carry a pair of jack stands with me.

Ah, clever mod on the air intake. The standard cold air kits force you to put the intake down in the wheel well. This is an interesting alternative approach.

Oh very nice. You planning to amp her up a bit ? Do I hear 400 horses ? 500 ? Eh, I wouldn't seriously mock you. You're too good-natured. Just assume I'm joking. I usually am anyway.

I know. I was just razzing ya on the whole JDM/import from Japan thing. What's the new toy ?

Thanks! Can't go wrong with those cars. Even after all these years, there's tons of aftermarket support (partly since so many BMWs share components) and they have features that were waayyy ahead of their time. Check out www.e38.org People have modded almost everything on em. That's a nice car, but it's expensive! I paid less for my '99 w/80k miles once you factor in the repairs I made the dealership implement as part of the deal... Of course, that was pure luck but you can occasionally get a deal on 'em here in the US. If you decide to get one, check out the US. (And no you can't import them from Japan!!! )

I have a 2003. It isn't supercharged, just modified for wheeling. By "no one sees it coming" I meant that the Pathfinder, which most folks don't expect to be able to do much of anything, can keep up with or beat most trucks on most trails. (Not counting the purpose-built trail-only rigs though I have kept up with some of those, too.) While it is now externally apparent it's been modified (rear bumper and sliders), folks don't see or know about the F&R lockers, the complete skids, the very high departure angle thanks to Bilsteins+Bumper and so on. I expect the 7 to catch people by surprise since, even after the mods, it will look completely stock. If you click on folks' usernames, you can see their profiles. Typically, folks have listed info on their Pathfinders in their profiles. You may also want to check out members' rides since a lot of folks (self included) chronicle thir mods and post pics.

Cool, good to know. I also saw the wheel strap thing on the Hi-Lift site. . Perhaps that will help for the front, where I don't really have a convenient jack point. Will put the sliders to the test tomorrow.

Ok, so I see the advantages of the hi-lift and its strength. But I can't figure out how/where to actually deploy it. It won't fit under the factory jack points. It also won't reach the frame rails from the front or side. The front "bumper" is just a plastic cover over a crumple zone. The rear bumper on mine is custom and very high off the ground but should be fine. For folks without custom bumpers, the rear "bumper" is also just a plastic cover over a crumple zone. I have rock sliders so conceivably could lift off those but not sure if that's recommended. SOOO, how do you use your Hi-Lift ? What jack points do you use ? Any pics ?

Hey thanks! I'm going stealth with this one too, like with the Pathy. She's getting a supercharger and a free-flow exhaust in a few weeks. 400+hp. Like the Pathy, no one will see her coming.

Aight, finally got some pics of my other project. 1999 740il. 80k miles. Bought for a song. Just put new rims and headlights on her. Handwashed and waxed several times, as you can probably tell from the pics. I always thought these were the most beautiful cars BMW ever built, but could never justify the cost. Thanks to the recession, a somewhat desperate dealer and some good fortune, thank God, I was able to snag this beauty. She looked dusty and dirty when I bought her, but she cleaned up well. Only mods so far are the lights and wheels+tires. (eBay Xenons, TireRack house brand $130 18x8 alloy wheels and Eagle F1 tires. ) Took pics of the old wheels and lights alongside the car for eBay. Here are cropped versions of the eBay pics. (Cropped em to get rid of the old wheels etc.) I didn't realize I left something on the hood when taking the pics. Oh well. The next mods (hopefully next week) are a new suspension - BMW springs front & rear and Bilstein Heavy Duty struts front & rear. Oh - and I have to get a replacement kidney grille. The clips on the passenger side one are gone. It's held to the body by zip ties right now. There's also a small crack in the front bumper cover, but that will have to wait till I can find a junkyard replacement.

I'm actually toying with the idea of going with either 10W-40 or BMW motor oil (which has a wider temperature band than standard 5W-30) at the next change. Weather isn't cold enough here to worry about the low temps and I like the idea/theory that the heavier oil with the higher breakdown temp would help the engine. Castrol makes the BMW motor oil and the Edge stuff is supposed to be quite good. But ultimately who knows how much of a difference all of this makes.

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...

You guys have Cadillac Escalades there, too ? I thought that was strictly a US disease. GG, that's exactly what I thought when a local Nissan mod shop said snootily they only worked on GT-Rs and 350Zs and so on. But they were very chuffed up about themselves so I decided not to puncture the balloon.

Between the economy and the deficit, we won't even have the hat left... They'll create a new picture. "USA. Canada's bean bag." Happy Canada day, hopefully soon-to-be fellow Canadians.

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."

No. I just sidestepped it because I didn't want to sound like a schmuck.

Oh yeah. Nothing against your car. I was just taking an easy potshot at the German obsession with overengineering and the ridiculous cost of repairs.

Thank you. Unfortunately, I think I'm the exception when it comes to BMW owners. Most are arrogant schmucks whose self-esteem is totally tied up in their cars. I don't even bother following the BMW boards since pretty much every thread turns into "Mine is faster/smarter/bigger/more expensive NYA NYA NYA!" I visit 'em only via links from other sites to specific pieces of info. I know that's a sweeping generalization, but I just don't have the time to find the normal ones out there. So flame away at the BMW owners, basically. "Electropneumatic" is a German auto manufacturer classification. Translated into english it means "Ridiculously over-complicated, highly fragile and probably completely unnecessary equipment destined to fail at great cost to the owner and designed solely to prove German engineering is superior and too sophisticated for your feeble mind. Handle at your own risk and watch us laugh as we void your warranty and empty your childrens and grandchildrens college funds to pay for the repairs, stupid Anglo-Saxon."

MBUSA.com. Go to the CPO section and the "Model Overview" subsection. They have specs for every model going back several years. Give 'em a call. They're helpful folk and, as the radio ads here constantly remind me, there is no waiting in line for the all-new, spectacular, extraordinary, remarkable, groundbreaking new Mercedes-Benz models. Basically, they've got time on their hands...