sonyslave

A while back some asshole broke into my car by going through the rear passenger door window (the up/down one) (to steal a $20 windbreaker! wth is goin on w/our society??!) . I went to the junkyard to get a replacement window for $50 and installed it myself (easy to do!), the insurance check of ~$250 more than covered it. While there I remembered that my Pathy's sunvisors were in need of replacement as the headliner material on them was disintegrating and looked like crap. I saw a QX and checked it out, found something nice, the QX has DUAL visors, one for side and one for front PLUS a built in garage door opener in the visor (this can be dangerous though because if someone steals your truck and knows where you live then they can pull into your garage and rip you off, plus no one will suspect anything because it'll look like you coming home, plus the people home in your house may not suspect anything until it's too late because it'll look/sound like you coming home...good reason to hide your vehicle registration in the car so thieves cannot easily figure out where you live. Anyway, the QX visors seem like a silly upgrade but on sunny days I'm really glad I have them. Interesting note, the headliner on my XE is designed with the preformed "second visor dent" to allow use of the dual visor, something I never noticed until doing the install. New single sunvisor from Nissan was like $60 EACH! Bastards. My jukyard's price: $10 for 2! One great thing about the R50 is that there are so many out there that getting used parts is usually easy and pretty cheap. If you use the garage door opener you'll need to get power over to the visor arm mounting point, shouldn't be too hard to to...I haven't done it. Side note: I sat in a new Acura MDX and it didn't have dual visors, so my XE is obviously superior.

Wow, thanks SC88Pathy! I need to expand my knowledge of the rest of the Pathfinder line.

This job is very straight forward. One note, the tool I used had 1/2" square drive. You may need a cheater to break it loose. Have some liquid thread lock on hand to do it right. You may want to replace the steering rack dust boot since you'll have everything apart. The tool Checker loaned out was almost exactly like this: http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Tools-Automotive-Inner-Removal/dp/B00170NVNA/ref=pd_sbs_auto_2 Having the right tools makes working on your car enjoyable, vs. busted knuckles and swearing. I used a Moog replacement part, it came with the retaining washer and nut. I recommend you mark the old tie-rod before you unthread it from the tie-rod end so you'll have and easy time setting your alignment. Once removed set the two (new and old) side by side and measure from the rack end and mark the new one. This should be sufficient until you can do a proper alignment.

shift220, I recommend leaving the tire on while viewing the inner tie-rod, hold the tire at 3 & 9 o'clock and shake. On mine the inner tie-rod ball joint had enough play the the ball was moving in and out in the socket and I could see this. I recommend leaving the tire on so you have enough leverage. I tired to grab the rotor (with wheel off) and shake but my feeble arms didn't have the strength to move the inner tie-rod ball joint in and out.

Thanks EmptyV, pics def. help. Trans filter is on my to-do list.

Oh yeah one other thing, the online site automatically applied to $70 off Michelin instant rebate that was being offered at the time. =$137.5/tire w/free shipping.

Thanks for the info Kingman! Just to clarify: Costco, at the time, did not have any in 265/70 15 available on hand or by order -I think Costco decided that the 15" (265/70) size is too small of total sales to bother with. They will let you order non-stock sizes, just sign a waiver. Also, you can order whatever size you want online but the shop may decide not mount them if they rub.

I'll try to make this brief and simple... I needed tires. Costco always seems to have the best prices, I like Michelin and Costco (and Sams) are by far the best price where I live (Hawaii). Costco didn't have the size I wanted in stock. I talked to the the tire guys at 2 Costcos to have some brought in both tried to order the size 265 70 15 in Michelin, both said "no can", Costco doesn't have that size. I asked about 31 10.5 15, again "no can do", there was no inventory available to ship in that size. I went to the online Costco website and was able to order Michelin LTX in 31 10.5 15 and get this... FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING TO HAWAII!!! The shipping alone would cost me over $200. AMAZING! Went to Costco 3 days later and there they were, freshly delivered sitting in the middle of the store front floor with the UPS 2 day label and my name on it. I was still in disbelief. The tire guy then explained to me that the tire warehouse that they order from is different than the one for the online customer website, meaning that you can order stuff that the Costco tire guys cannot bring in. Wish I knew that earlier. Another fyi, they may or may not mount the tires for you if they are different than stock, ask first. Last fyi. The week after I ordered the tires Costco changed it's tire section of the online website. I can no longer find a way to order by tire size, I can only order by vehicle type. This would make ordering 31 10.5 15 size hard as I don't know any vehicle that comes with that size.

I've been puttering on cars since I was a kid and was SHOCKED to learn that Checker and Autozone have FREE tool loan programs for most of the common jobs that require uncommon tools. Maybe the rest of you knew about this but I guess I don't read the billboards in the store when I shop. I recently borrowed a pickle fork kit and a inner tie-rod removal kit. What's nice is that the Checker tools (the one's I borrowed anyways) were well made and had adapters for various sizes, so they were well put together kits. I was amazed. Their deal is that you pay for the tool, if you keep it more than 3 days you've bought it. Seems fair enough to me! At Checker there is a big display right on the checkout counter of the ~25 specialty tools they loan out, great for diy!

New inner tie-rod installed! problem gone! Wish I had done this a year ago as the replacement was quick. If you do it yourself make sure you have the right tool to remove the inner tie-rod I tried to get by without it and couldn't. Steering still gets a little bit of "kick back" when hitting bump/ruts/potholes but not nearly as bad as before. The new bigger tires, 31 10.5 15, probably add to this as there is more mass further out to control. My oil soaked steering rack bushings also probably need replacement and are probably adding to this. Steering is much better now!

Whoa! I thought mine were a fluke or something, that's great to hear! Makes one wish our domestic stuff was as good.

That's crazy, but somehow I'm not surprised.

I double checked, the brand of the 144K bulb was Koito. Here's the actual bulb...felt bad about throwing it in the trash since it lasted so long and lit many dark roads.

I inspected the inner tie-rod today and it's bad. A couple of youtube videos demonstrate that the inner tie-rod balljoint should hold the tie-rod in place i.e. no droop once you let go of the tie-rod. My balljoint is so loose that the rod is not held in place, furthermore I can see the ball moving in and out a little when I shake the tire, a good joint has zero play. Hopefully this is the only problem. I'll be installing a new inner tie-rod Sat night or Sunday and will let ya know what happens.

Hey New4x4r Your problem sounds EXACTLY like my problem. Mine has been going on many months also and getting worse. With the addition of larger tires it's now more pronounced. Like your's my sound is front passenger side only. And it's a series or dull/dead thunks when I hit a small bump on the road. Maybe 3-5 thunks in rapid decay like the wheel is shaking. The steering feels tight at the steering wheel, no slop, and today I checked the wheel bearing and retorqued it to spec, that didn't help at all. I did that since it wouldn't require a trip to the store if happened to solve the problem. I suspect it is the tie-rod end or maybe where the tie tod connects to the rack. Because when I grab and shake the passenger tire at 9 & 3 o'clock there is significant play, indicating steering?? If I grab and shake on the Y axis (12 & 6) it's solid, no play. The driver's side is solid on both axes. Tomorrow I think I'll troubleshoot tie-rod end, may end up changing it out. Over the years I've whacked a couple curbs pretty hard with the right passenger side front wheel, so that may have been the cause.

I forget the brand, I changed it out about a month ago. When the 2nd bulb goes I'll note the brand. Even more amazing when you see so many new cars with on the road with burnt out headlamps and taillamps.

I've been amazed at longevity of all the systems and components (control arm bushing excluded!) on my 96 XE 4x4. I've owned this car since new. One of original headlight bulbs failed at 144k. Amazing! The brand on the bulb started with an "N" -I forgot the rest, an oem supplier in Japan. Unrelated... All the dash bulbs are original still work fine too. My friend's 2003 Pathy SE lost both lights for the A/C and Recir buttons. Seems Nissan started going cheap on the bulbs after a while.