BernieMac

Ya, I loved that color combo... The way the accident happened is that we were driving up towards an onramp to the I-5 at about 20 miles an hour when we saw this Pontiac Bonneville come flying the wrong way down the onramp we were heading to. He swerved through the traffic in the two lanes heading towards the onramp narrowly missing a bunch of cars. Problem was he started loosing control. He was heading right at me and I swerved as much to the right as I could, but there was a bunch of poles (lamp post, traffic light post, etc...) so I couldn't get too far over. I thought I had swerved enough but as he was nearing me he suddenly turned into me and t-boned / side swiped the drivers side of the truck. The force of the t-bone pushed us backwards about 8 feet (according to the skip marks) and slammed the back-right of the truck into one of the poles I had been trying to avoid. The attending cop said that the speedo on the drunks car was stuck at about 40 miles an hour, which seems a little low when I remember him flying down that onramp the wrong way. At any rate, we were extremely fortunate to not be hurt, and I am very impressed with how well the truck protect all of us. We will have to see how the insurance works out before I find out what I will buy to replace to poor Pathfinder.

Well, thank God we are all OK, but the community just lost another R50--my 2001 SE... Drunk driver totalled it.

No worries... I understand how busy life can get at times.

I run 10w-30 in my truck (which is a VQ35 powered R50) in every season but the winter to avoid oil consumption. In the winter I switch back to 5w-30. p.s. - I understand the viscocity difference between any w-30 oil is relatively close, but it has seemed to make a definite difference for my vehicle. I was going to a w40 oil if the vehicle continued consuming oil.

Well, the truck is rated at 5000 pounds for the total weight of the trailer and I believe 500 pounds of tongue weight (ie weight on the ball). Do not tow 5000 pounds with a trailer that does not have brakes. However, most u-Haul type trailers (the dual axle kind) have surge brakes if you don't have a brake controller in your truck. I have towed a u-Haul trailer with surge brakes with my 2001 (which has the strong 3.5 liter engine) that was loaded and scaled at 5300 pounds and the vehicle towed fine for the 300 mile trip. I also tow my boat that weighs about 2500 pounds on trips (100+ miles) on very windy and hilly roads. The boat trailer does not have trailer brakes and the truck's brakes handled it without getting too hot (although I will not pretend that they didn't get hot...) or fading. Thats my input...

Below is a pretty objective post copied from another board with regards to the spacer on a VQ35 powered 04.5 G35 AT sedan: Initially it looked like the spacer produced very good gains... the baseline pulls averaged roughly 254 hp and 250 trq... the first series of pulls after spacer install where 265-267 on avg... but when we continued doing pulls it dropped back to 254-257 consistently... The theory was that when we installed the spacer, the negative terminal on the battery was disconnected (this is to prevent throttle position errors and erratic idle, it has happened to me before)... so in addition to preventing the idle/throttle issues, disconnecting the battery also reset the ECU. The ECU on these cars is very temperamental specifically in the sedan and especially the AT sedan (which is what I have)... Infiniti/Nissan has some "granny" modes set into the ECU that keep it from staying in it's "aggressive" mode... so when the ECU was reset the performance mode was showing great results... but after a few pulls the ECU reverted to it's conservative function. This was tested with and without the TB spacer. When we took the spacer out (having disconnected the battery and everything else the exact same way we installed) the first several pulls were also in the 264-267 range. And just like with the spacer on, the ECU eventually reverted to it's conservative mod and started pulling 255 avg. So the bottom line was we really didn't see any gains from the spacer, but there weren't any loses either. I called Shawn Church to ask about how he installed and if his gains could have possibly been the ECU as well... Shawn did not disconnect the battery during his install so his gains were entirely different. He saw increases in specific areas of the RMP range whereas we saw the entire band shift up. This is consistent with the ECU creating changes on my car, but in Shawn's case it leans more towards the spacer helping. Shawn is an MT coupe. There has been a great deal of discussion regarding differences between coupe, sedan, 350Z as well as MT vs AT... it is hypothesized that the ECU stays in an aggressive/performance mode for the coupes and Z much more so than the sedan... theory is because the sedan is more "luxury" and coupe and Z are more "sporty". So for a coupe or Z, specifically MT - based on Shawn's testing the spacer seems to show good gains... for the sedan (at least my AT sedan) we weren't able to see the same thing.

Thanks for the info...

Where are you in Canada? I haven't been able to find that price in BC...

I have been looking at those rims and the cheapest place I found was at Summit Racing. Let me know if you found a cheaper place....

Protecting the drain plug is not a bad idea...

1. Nobody ever said the kits were ready to purchase. I asked a few times and all I got was "after the liability issues are figured out" and "after we figure out a tube to connect the blocks." I am not on the boards every day (or every month for that matter) and I stopped asking. 2. The kit started out as front and rear blocks with a steering extension and maybe some other parts for $500 and ended up as an $800 kit for sale in one forum that only came with the front blocks and may or may not have been used. I am not judging what is a fair price or not (I have seen 4" drop kits with shocks and everything for $800 on sale and I have seen super complex kits for the full sizes that are like 5" and many thousands), but $800 for half the kit is not $500 for everything but the springs and shocks. I said from the start (which was like 2 years ago now I think) I will buy the kit and I have the money. However, no kit has ever been offered... My thoughts...

VQ for the win!!! I love my VQ, 100,000 miles and no issues yet (other than one sensor). More power, tons of torque, the same gas mileage--I love it.

165,000 KMs on my 2001 Pathfinder SE with the VQ35. So far the only thing that has gone wrong is that the oil pressure sensor leaks a tiny little bit. I will just change it out the next time I change my oil. So a $10 part in the first 100,000 miles doesn't bother me one bit. I just hope then next 100,000 miles are as easy...lol

One other question... Didn't you say in another thread that you had just ordered some block hugging 350z headers? Did you cancel that order? Or still going through with it?

Well, one would expect that this is from a company that makes headers for the other VQ35 vehicles (Altima, Maxima, 350z, etc...) so they are probably not just "welding the pipes" together. All they have to do is modify the position of the outlet on an already proven (and probably copied) design and everything is good to go. As for the price, there are plenty of 350z headers for around 200 bones (not that I am vouching for the quality of those) so the price is reasonable. The thing I would be most concerned about is ensuring that you don't lose any low end power, 'cause that is where I like my torque. I rarely take my Pathfinder above 4000rpm and that is where most of the gains come on the 350z with the headers available. That said, if you can get enough people together and you can say which ebay seller is involved, you can put me on the list. Bern

http://www.digimoto.com/ If any of you guys are interested here is what I use. It is about the same price as the scangauge but allows for you to display the information on the screen of your laptop in higher resolution glory. - Allows you to do quarter mile times, 0-60 times etc.... - Lets you check the error codes - Has realtime gauges - Allows you to chart the sensors over time - Allows for saving the data recorded to an external file - Lets you do dyno runs (not really accurate numbers, but the numbers are consistent so at least you can test your performance mods) A laptop is obviously bulkier than the scangauge, but if you happen to have an indash LCD touchscreen already hooked up to a laptop underneath your seat, this tool is pretty slick to watch. Another big bonus is that the company is actively developing the software so new features are released every once and a while. While they can't create new data for the ODBII to send, they can figure out new ways to use the information.

I am not quite sure I feel as positive about the aftermarket for our trucks. There are currently 2 lifts available (yes, I know the 4.5" is coming, and I am going to buy it), but (that I know of) there is 1 lift available for the Honda CRV, 2 available for the Toyota RAV4, and 1 for the Kia Sportage. And don't even get me started about the lack of bumpers... Do you see what company we are keeping in the aftermarket? lol * I will stop ranting now, I just want Tyler (Mr. Prado Lifts) to hurry up....

Well I feel a bit stupid for not realizing that... Oh well, so much better then! Yay for a real 4wd truck! Just incase anyone is wondering. I did not buy my Pathfinder because it was a 4x4, I bought it because it could tow my boat, pull my boat out lakes without launch ramps, haul groceries, and my wife liked it (that and it had 240HP). Only after getting the Pathfinder did I start to become interested in driving a truck on the local trails. Somebody tell me, if this truck is a real 4x4, then why is there so little aftermarket for it?

Chirping? On gravel or mud or snow or sand? 1) I don't driving around in 4wd on pavement... 2) It chirps on the pavement, the tires do not chirp in the snow Given your response I think what I am confused about is the function of the transfer case on my Pathfinder. I was under the (mistaken) impression that because the transfer case had AUTO mode, which (which when engaged) I thought functioned just like a car with full-time 4wd, that if I switched into 4wd drive that the vehicle would still allow for different rpm on the front and rear axles. So, on my 2001 SE when I switch to 4wd with that silly knob I am actually in honest-to-goodness part-time 4wd mode? Just like in a normal 4x4 with an actual shifter for the transfer case? That would obviously explain the chirping on pavement...

Alright, so I do most of the maintenance on my Pathfinder and would considerable myself to have a fairly decent understanding of how my truck works. But I am puzzled by the behaviour exhibited by the rear limited slip diff on my truck and I am hoping someone can explain the behaviour. Here is the deal: If I am driving my truck in 4wd HI or 4wd LO and I turn corners (in forward or reverse) I get "chirping" from my rears tires as if I was driving with a locker. However, this behaviour goes away when the truck is in 2wd or AUTO mode. What am I missing? I am assuming the locker type behaviour is because of the limited slip, but why only when in 4wd? Also, my understanding of the limited slip is that it 1) wouldn't normally chirp the tires when turning, and 2) it functions all the time (whether in 2wd or 4wd). Am I missing something here? Any explanations? Thanks guys and gals....

#1 Just how reliable is this "all mode 4wd system". I have the "All Mode" on my 2001 SE and although I was a bit wary of it in the beginning I have gotten used to it. I have not had any issues as of yet... One thing to remember, like XPLORx4 posted, is that the vehicle will lurch forward if you shut the vehicle off with the switch set to "Auto." The noise and the movement is very startling if you are not expecting it. But I have been reassured (by the dealer and others) that the behaviour is normal.

Eagerly awaiting pictures...