jj big shoe

That's one of the best DIY winch bumpers I've seen, great job. I'll be stealing the design if I ever get around to doing one. The flip-up license plate is a nice touch.

See? Told you it wasn't so bad. Congrats on your success! The ticking could be a leak in the exhaust manifold which is pretty common on these trucks and will sound a lot like a lifter. Two ways I know of to find the leak are: 1. Pour a bit of trans fluid into your intake while the engine is running. It'll smoke like hell and little puffs of smoke should blow out of any gap or crack. You could maybe use Seafoam instead and clean your engine at the same time but if the engine is already clean, the Seafoam won't smoke that much. 2. Hook a shop vac to your tailpipe and set it to blow, not suck, then check for leaks. If you can't feel a leak, use a feather or bit of tissue paper or whatever all around the manifold to find it. I ported and polished my heads and installed reground cams when I did my engine swap and I still have a tick. It's not an exhaust leak and I've been through three sets of lifters (installed the new set, then tried the originals, then another used set). I never heard the "new" engine run before so it could be something else. I decided to live with it.

Engine swap should be pretty straight forward. Get a manual, mark and bag everything you remove. You'll likely have to drop the front axle as well. I did. To check for LSD, get both rear tires in the air and spin one. If the other spins the same direction its a LSD. If not, its an open diff. You may want to keep the open diff carrier if you want to install a mechanical locker later on. They don't work with LSD rears. Good luck.

If you don't want to go the body lift route, check around for a Hardbody suspension lift. It uses the same upper A-arms as the Pathfinder. If it comes with shocks, you can use the fronts, not sure if the rears will bolt up and you'll be tossing the rear lift blocks from the kit away since they're for leaf springs. A torsion bar crank using stock A-arms will put your ball joints at a bad angle and they'll wear out quicker. Replacing the A-arms corrects that. There's always 4x4parts.com which specializes in Nissan trucks. Check there and Calmini.com (then see where you can get it cheaper). I have Superlift upper A-arms from a Hardbody kit and front springs from a V8 Cherokee to lift the rear of my truck, works great.

All I can think of is check the basics again. Make sure the rotor is pointing to #1 contact when at TDC, double check all your vacuum lines, etc. I had a similar issue with my swap, also an e to i. IIRC it ended up being a vac leak which fouled the plugs. Found the leak, cleaned the plugs and set the timing, all good from there. Good luck.

Take a hammer to the body and fill the driver's seat with poo. Nah, the ignition interrupt switch is prolly a better idea. You could use a momentary contact type switch and mount it under the carpet. Just put it in an unlikely place like near the seat rail and set your foot on it while you turn the key. The baddies will still smash your window and nab your 8-track player, but your truck will likely stay where it was parked.

Well I'm no genius either, but some would disagree. You mentioned " I of course found out about 3 times trying to get it out of the dirt and we had to dig it out". Did you slap the trans back and forth from D to R trying to rock out of the dirt or otherwise hammer on the trans? Could the bands be slipping? Could the torque converter be trashed? If you don't find an external reason for your shift/whine issues, maybe change the fluid and add some Lucas Oil Transmission Fix or a similar product. Good luck with it.

I'm down in Sarasota.

Just my opinion, but I prefer a suspension lift over a body lift if you're only going to do one. The BL is an easier option since it is just swapping out the body mount pucks, but it is a bit stressy when you lift one side of your truck body off the frame to install it. Always a has a certain pucker factor for me. Your center of gravity will be a bit higher, but your suspension geometry will be unchanged, so that's a plus.The toughest part is lengthening your steering shaft which is likely rusted together. Repositioning the bumpers is not a big deal. The biggest downside to me is the gap in the wheel wells. Also, think about spray painting the frame when you're done. You'll see a lot of it. A suspension lift is a bit more involved if done correctly. Many folks have done the torsion bar crank and that's ok, but I would opt for replacement upper A-arms. They will put your ball joints at a more suitable angle for them to work/last better (plus they're tubes, cool!). If you can find them cheaper, the Hardbody A-arms are the same as the Pathfinder ones. You still achieve the lift by cranking the T-bars, though. You won't gain anymore articulation or "flex", it will just start at a different point. And the Grand Cherokee springs work really well especially if you have an external tire carrier hanging off the back. Once you finish the lift you will need an alignment. Good luck with that. I took mine to three places and none could get it right so I did my own. Hopefully you have an easier time. Your rear axle will also be a few inches off center unless you buy/fab a panhard bar drop bracket. Not a big deal but it bugged me with mine until I corrected it. Good luck with whichever you plan to do. There's gobs of very good info here. I couldn't have tackled any of the things I've done without this NPORA crew, whether for straight how-to or inspiration. I wanted to fit 33" tires, so I have a 3" BL and a SL on mine, somewhere around 5" or 6" total.

Longer bolts? Sounds like maybe that's the issue. I'm guessing they're longer to fit more shims for more lift. You may want to lower the front a bit and take some shims out.

I was looking for more info on door lock timers and found the link below. I didn't stop to think that they would be found in other Nissans (D'oh!). The one in his repair pics looks like the one I grabbed from a 94 Pathy. This gives us a few more models other than the Pathfinder to look in when scouring the yards. http://www.q45.org/timers.html

Does it have a factory alarm? If yours has the alarm it may be set to passive (if the alarm has that function to begin with). Good luck.

Headers, reground cams and exhaust is about it for power adders. I've got all three with 33" tires and it will almost get out of its own way now. I also have an Eaton M90 supercharger in the garage that needs a rebuild and someone with more time/money/knowledge/guts than I me to install it on their truck. I looked into it a bit and decided it would be easier to swap in a V8 which is too much work for me as well.

That video does make me long for a bit of the ol' hooliganism, but I vaporized my CBR at 120mph years ago plus I don't think I'd heal quite as good anymore. I'll leave the triple-digit antics to the young and the foolish.

Yeah probably, but after taking mine to three different shops and having each one screw it up I do my own in the driveway now. I was thinking I could adjust the tie rods and get it straightened out but that job ended up low on the list.

Mine was the typical PITA too but the biggest issue is I never could get the steering wheel to line up perfectly true. Its still off a bit no matter what spline I stick it on.

Banned for mentioning Wayne Gretzky on a 4x4 forum.

Glad to see you've got a handle on it now. Looks like just a few more $$$ in the right parts and you'll be set. Too bad the "experts" ran you down the wrong path and spent your cash where it wasn't needed.

I just figured if there was a suspicion about the hubs it would be much easier to check than tearing into the diff. Strange that a shop couldn't find the issue, though. They would likely love to charge for repairing a diff or axle.

As the others suggested, I'd take a look at the hubs. I can't remember if auto hubs are swappable between axles but if they are, swap them and see if the problem moves. I wouldn't think you could test auto hubs by spinning the wheels while the front is in the air since they would require a load on them. If you think the hubs are the problem, I may still have my old auto hubs floating around somewhere you are welcome to have gratis, just pay shipping from FL. They are from my 87. Double check spline counts, I think mine is 27. I'll try to remember to check this thread regularly, let me know. Good luck.

You are definately going to want to upgrade that centerlink before you go on any trails. It is a weak point in the Nissan IFS and won't last long if you plan on anything more than dirt roads. The design twists under load and will quickly egg out the idler arm and tie rod mounting holes creating lotsa slop in the steering. My last stock one lasted about 100 yards. I now have a modified centerlink from a company that no longer exists, but i believe you can get one from a guy known as "Hooha" or from Calmini or 4x4parts.com.

Make sure the spray angle will work with your vehicle though like from another truck model. I picked up some aftermarket nozzles for mine after paint and they shot the streams way too low. I guess they were for a car with more of a raked back windshield. I ended up buying stock replacements.

Vacuum leak? Fusible links? Cracked distributor cap?

I just finished modifying the carrier to fit the offset if my rims last Saturday. It always bothered me how far the aftermarket rim stuck out from the tube frame of the carrier. I ended up chopping 2.75" off the back of the mount part then welding and drilling two plates back on to remount it. Now the tire is tucked up nearly flush with the carrier like it would have been from the factory.

When you can lift the rear seat up and pour your beer out before the cop gets to your window.