Nickj

Hey B I love my 2004 R50! Although I have never driven or seen one driven, I don't know much about the earlier ones. Apart from only getting 31s under mine and only 2" of lift, with the front Lokka, it goes where I want it to go. This is much further than a lot of people expect it to go too. Looking rather stock except for the tyres, people expect it wont go far and be better suited on the bitumen. I lead a lot of trips down my way and usually with better equipped Patrols and Land Cruisers and have no problems keeping up with them. Sorry to hijack the thread. Nick

Pezzy Your lovely photo surround shows November 2009 not December 2009. Sorry to be anal. Same on the NPORA home page. Nick

Nice! Do your model Pathys have the pre-air box under the fender? Some of our OZ models do and although not perfect for air flow, they seem to do a great job in deepish water. The inlet is almost level with the top of under side of the fender and has good self drainage. I did this to mine for additional air flow, but like yours with the ability to block it for water crossings. http://Well, after a trip to LPGas1 for a tune up last year to find they drilled 2 x 25mm holes in the bottom of the air box to allow better air flow, i decided to follow Geoff57 and do a better job than they did. It cost less than $20! Before I used a black poly "riser pipe" and cap of about 60mm diam. The cap is used for water crossings to seal the new air intake up to stop water ingress. The end of the pipe protrudes through the hole into the inner guard. I held the pipe in and sealed up the gaps with Silasek which I bought from Mitre10. The parts. They are rural water pipe fittings available from your rural parts shop. about 60mm diam. Removed the airbox and mark the direction of the hole with some tape so that I knew which angle to drill it on. I used a 2 5/8 hole saw to cut the hole, it was a litttle bigger than the pipe but I wasn't going to buy the right size. the Silasek takes up the small gap. Finished item, please excuse the sun glare in the pic, the Silasek doesn't really make a mess, just looks that way. :roll: Nick

It's just a saying "to put the moz on you". To put a jinx or bad luck on you. Nick

Hopefully I might get an interview at my old place of work - NEC next week. A different position, one that I would have liked before I left there. I applied for it and I think I have a real good chance, but not counting my chickens yet. It would really help us out here. I could get my exhaust done on the Pathy, along with finishing the rear storage and making the sliders. I'm on strike duty with CFA tomorrow. It means if there is a big fire in or out of our region, I get to go for a ride in the truck. They have forecast 43C down here so hope I don't get a call! Nick

Does anyone have a manual for a 2004 Pathfinder for the Australian market?? The US one is quite different. Thanks Nick

Hey Taro Not wanting to put the moz on you but you should really get some new tyres if yours are bald. You don't want to hurt your Pathy, or it's occupants or someone else. It's great driving in snow. Nick

And we go out in winter looking for snow to play in!! And you found it in the parking lot? I guess in hindsight, you could have let some air out of your tires down to maybe 20PSI. This may have helped. Rocking backwards and forwards can often pack the snow down bit by bit. Anyway, alls well that ends well. Nick

In Melbourne, Australia we have had a few days of 35C+ (95F) We are expecting temps in the low 40Cs tomorrow (107F) It's bushfire season here. How is it in your part of the world?? Nick

Found my place ok Matt Added Nickj Got a bit dizzy spinning the world upside down to find my place! Nick Heath Hill, Victoria, Australia

Huh... I do that sometimes too. Due to the free wheel hubs being unlocked on the road, it's no different. Once you are on the track though, the hubs locked and in 4H or 4L, when accelerating even slightly, it really tries to pull the steering wheel straight. This is due to both front wheels trying to turn at the same time. It's something you get used to very quickly. Get a wheel off the ground and you can just crawl out of it! Nick

Hey all This install is for Australian vehicles, OS models maybe slightly different. Finally Santa bought me something useful - an LR86 Lokka from 4WD Systems! Due to a late order and Christmas, it did arrive a little late - on 9/01, it was ordered before Christmas. So, I went to work on the installation, thanks to GEOFF57 and JOHN from PCOA forum for much assistance during the process. Didn't think you would be asleep at 2:30pm though Geoff, sorry. Check list: Check to make sure your kit included 2 x side gears, 2 x cam gears, 4 springs, 4 small pins, 2 spacers, a replacement cross shaft (the one that used to hold in the spider gears). The names I have used above are how they are described in the documentation you receive from 4wd Systems. You will also need a good socket set, torque wrench, feeler guages, a long bar used to keep the assembly still while you loosen bolts, about 1m of fencing wire or a wire coat hanger, a pot of grease, some locktite, a permanent marker, a long thin pin punch, a copy of the required torque settings, a large vice to hold the carrier firmly in and a big trolley jack. Most of all, read and understand the instructions provided, along with the ones that Geoff57 provided. So, where do I start? I drove my car on to car ramps and laid some canvas on the ground as I don't have the luxury of a concrete space to work on. Chock the rear wheels so it doesn't slip backwards, vehicle in PARK with the handbrake firmly applied. Car on ramps Before you undo any bolts, mark the following with a permanent marker: Front coupling of Tailshaft Both left and right hand CV joint couplings You can start undoing bolts now to remove the front diff assembly. This order would be best one to follow, if you don't follow it, you will possibly have to put some bolts back in to undo others :oops: . 4 x 14mm tailshaft nuts/bolts, these were the tightest bolts I have ever had to undo! If you have Free Wheel Hubs, you will need to lock them up now to keep the front tailshaft still. If you undo 2 nuts, then unlock the hubs, rotate the tailshaft 180deg to expose the 2nd 2 nuts, then lock the hubs again. If you don't have FWH, you may need to lift one side wheel to enable you to rotate the tailshaft. DO THIS CAREFULLY! Once you have all 4 nuts/bolts removed, push the tailshaft yoke upwards and support it with some wire from somewhere in the engine bay so it doesn't hang down and get in the way. The CV joint couplings, there are 6 x 12mm bolts in each one, you will need to lock/unlock FWH as per above to rotate the CV joint to expose all 6 bolts. The clearance will only allow you to do 2 at a time. Do 2 on one side, then 2 on the other side, then rotate them to expose another 2 on each side. Once all bolts removed, you can just push the CV joints back towards the wheel for some clearance. There's 4 x 17mm bolts each side of the chassis that attach the assembly to the front of the car. Japanese must have some great spanners, or maybe they did this before mounting the front end in the vehicle! :? Leave one lower bolt each side loose but not removed, the front end will hurt when it lands on your chest or legs! The top bolts are a little hard to get to, thats why I suggested leaving a lower bolt still attached. Take the weight off the 2 remaining bolts with the trolley jack and some big bits of wood. Looks dangerous, but with 2 of you its ok, the right hand side of the assembly is heavier so concentrate your friend in suppoirting this end, while the jack will support the centre and the short end. With the assembly supported, you should be able to remove the last 2 bolts carefully. Lower it a little to expose the front breather, as you still have to disconnect it from the front cover. It will allow you to drop the housing about 6-8 inches (sorry 150 - 200mm) before you remove it. Now with your friend carefully supporting the right hand side of the housing, lower the trolley jack till it is on the ground. Relocate the whole assembly to the workbench. Drain the oil (nearly 2 litres) into a clean container, clean and remove the cover to expose the good stuff! There's a 14mm bolt holding he short side shaft in, and 4 x 12mm bolts holding the long one in. Once removed, check the condition of the bearing on the long side shaft, mine looked ordinary as there must have been some moisture in there sometime... :wink: I replaced my bearing and grease seal before I reassembled it. Before disassembly, mark the crown wheel/carrier and both bearing caps so you can put them back in the same place, the same way around. You can now undo the 2 x 2 x 17mm bolts holding in the bearing caps, out will come the carrier with bearings attached, 2 bearing cups and 1 shim on each side. Keep these parts in order so you can replace the same way around. Then, with the carrier assembly standing vertical on the bearing with the crown wheel at the top, undo all the 17mm bolts around the crown wheel. Carful when you do the last one as the crown wheel will drop down onto the bench. :o Inspect the bearing on the longer side shaft as mine looked a bit ordinary. here must have been some moisture inside and the bearing didn't look right to go back in. For the sake of $30, just do it. Remove the roll pin from the carrier and remove the cross shaft, this will enable you to remove the spider gears and associated shims. You may need to rotate the carrier whilst removing the spider gears. Keep the shims that were under the spider gears that the side shafts go into as these will be required later. Time to put the new bits in. The side gears, spacers and the shims can go in now, apply a liberal amount of grease to them to hold them together and in the carrier during asembly. Now insert the cross shaft and measure between the spacer and the cross shaft on each side. This should be between 0.006" and 0.020", if not, shims will be required to get this within tollerance. Now, locate the small pack of 4 pins and 4 springs that came with your Lokka. With some grease, place each of the 4 pins into the slot in the cam gear with the nipple facing the cam that the pin is in. Remove the cross shaft and put the crown wheel side cam gear with pins greased in into the carrier aligning the teeth with the corresponding side gear. Locate the short side shaft lock nut and with this loosely inside the other side cam gear, insert it into the carrier and align teeth with the side gear. The cam gears have flat sides to enable assembly. With the 2 cam gears in, it's time to inser those springs into the cam gears. With a small screw driver, slide the small pins into the opposite side cam gear, make sure the nipple on the pin is visible. Place the spring into the slot, compress it with the small screw driver and make sure it is located both around the pin nipple and into the cam gear. Do this for all 4 springs. Now you cam measure the assembly for clearance between the 2 cam gears. This should be between 0.125" and 0.165", this is critical for correct Lokka operation. If not correct, shims will need to be removed or applied, these should be available from a gearbox rebuilder. Grab the short side shaft and insert it into the correct side and align the spines with the side gear. Insert the retaining bolt and pick up the loose lock nut inside the assembly and tighten it up a little, ensuring the lock nut is aligned inside the side gear splines. Just tighten it enough to secure it during assembly, then remove the bolt. Fit the crown wheel back onto the carrier and torque the bolts up to 98-112 ft/lb, use some Locktite on the threads. Refit the whole carrier assembly into the housing along with the bearing cups and shims in the correct order. You may need to rotate the carrier to ensure it meshes correctly with the pinion gear. Put the bearing caps on and secure the caps with the bolts making sure of correct alignment. Torque the bolts to 65-72 ft/lb, use some Locktite on the threads. Refit both side shafts and secure to the correct torque, greasing both seal surfaces. When doing the long side, apply some silicone to the flange to ensure a good moisture seal. Torque all bolts up to correct spec. Short side - 23-31 ft/lb, long side flange - 25-36 ft/lb. Refit the cover and torque bolts down to 33-40 ft/lb. Put the asembly on its end with the oil filler plug at the top, remove the plug and refill the oil. Get your friend's finger to plug the breather hole before you fill it! Now to put back in the vehicle, a reverse of the removal process. Make sure you refit the breather, if you were planning on extending it, now is the time. Don't forget to correctly align the CV joint and tailshaft couplings to their original location. Tighten all bolts to the correct spec. Spare parts? If you have more than this left over, you are in trouble! **NOTE** Once assembled, there is some backlash when turning the tailshaft either way. It seems excessive, but this is necessary for correct Lokka operation. Also, while turning sharply on bitumen with the hubs locked, there is a clunk clunk clunk sound from the front. This is normal too, but 4WD Systems do not recommend hubs to be locked on bitumen. I don't usually have them locked anyway, but worth a mention. Pre drive testing. Lock the hubs and select 4H, raise one wheel and try to rotate it in a forward direction. This is to test the unlock function of the Lokka. I needed some extra leverage so I used a long extension bar and wheel nut socket. Do this on both sides of the car. If it does not unlock, do not proceed. Remove and check all components and tollerances. Mine was good. Time for a drive test. There's a gravel dump near our house. Approaching at the right angle got a rear and opposite front wheel off the ground and in 2WD, this is as far as I got. Now lock the hubs and into 4L, the car kept climbing till I was uncomfortable 1.2m off the round on top of a pile of gravel!!! We reversed back down to safety. We then approched a 40cm high embankment on the side of the road and went up on angle, it just climbed up onto the embankment! What will this car not do now? (travel in deep ruts! ) Anyway, it did take a little longer due to the cross shaft not being sent with mine, but Tom at 4WD Systems was good to send Express Post and it arrived the next day. http://members.dcsi.net.au/hilltops/Lokka.pdf http://members.dcsi.net.au/hilltops/R50_Lokka.doc I have also attached Geoff's notes above and an exploded view of the diff assembly from the Pathfinder manual. $600 well spent I say, screw the snorkel...... Nick

Looks great! Awesome in fact! Though I like the look of most off-road trucks, I do like the stockish but functional look. Wish I change my mind about taking to mine with a hammer to make 33s clear..... My 31's just scrape on full articulation and full steering lock. They only scrub on the front mud flaps but I like the std look so don't want to remove them. I would like to see pics after the 17th of the damage (mods) you did to fit them in. Nick

FSM? Do you mean Field Service Manual? I would think you would need one to suit your same year and country. I know the US ones aren't 100% for the Australian market. Nick

If you do a search on ebay for LED lights, there's some cool ones from Aisa that are LED replacements for interior lights. They have the same on-off-door switch on them. They are quite bright. I put one on the deck of the bed in my off-road camper. It shines up towards the roof, but quite bright enough for the camper. Like these. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/White-Light-Car-Interior-Roof-Wired-Lamp-w-36-LEDs_W0QQitemZ270512177608QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item3efbc841c8 Here's a different typoe I just found. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/White-SMD-48-LED-Light-Panel-for-Festoon-Bayonet-Wedge_W0QQitemZ200422968422QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2eaa23cc66 Nick

I was thinking an antenna too. Our OZ models have one in the left rear window. Nick

Its really difficult getting a reply back from a job application, let alone getting an interview! Nick

Hmmm, my bonus this year will be getting a full time job!

Hey Cyril What's your EOS? Mine is a Powershot S5Is. Great little camera, does almost everything, except for multiple shots per second. I can't really justify a DSLR and 2 or 3 lenses. One of the guys that came away had a Canon 3D with about 4 different Canon lenses - Awesome!! Nick

Congratulations Cyril Yipeee!! Nick

Here's what we have been doing. We went up to Licola at the south side of the Victorian High Country over the New Year. Where do you post trip reports round here? Also, how many images can you have on a post? Heading out on Dingo Hill Tk The scenery is typical of the High Country Some of the tracks were quite over grown as they have been closed since the 2006/2007 fires, mudslides and floods that devastated the area. Justin crossing one of many river crossings along the way Yours truly Caledonia River Tk - overgrown. Craig under a high obstacle across the track. After about 10mm of rain overnight, we all headed out for an easy drive to take in some bush huts in the area. It certainly helped to keep the dust on the tracks down, but also turned the river very muddy and cooler which stayed that way until we left on Sunday. McMichaels Hut. Quite a large area with a nice river closeby. Howitt Hut - we stopped here for lunch. Many other cars did the same while we were there. It was eiry driving back through the low clouds. Hope your New Years Eve was as nice as ours. Thanks to our friends who helped with the great time. Nick

I have a Lokka for the front of my 2004 Pathy and at AU$ 600.00 delivered, its the BEST money I have spent on my truck. I did install it myself which was a great experience. Where previously, you had to keep up momentum to get up some inclines, now you can just crawl up there. I actually take the hard line now to try to upset it and get a wheel off the ground, but it still keeps on crawling!! I have free Wheel hubs ao on the road I would normally have them in Free mode. On the tracks with the hubs locked and in 4WD 4H or 4L , the steering wheel does tend to try to straighten itself as the wheels are always trying to turn at the same speed. When turning, you hear the clicking noise from the diff which is the diff 'unlocking' to allow the outside wheel to turn faster. I would rate it as awesome! Here's a link to the Australian Lokka website http://www.4wdsystems.com.au/index.php?id=29 And a link to my R50 front Lokka DIY fitting guide http://www.pcoa.org.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3623&p=33162 Nick

Hey Mike I had the same with my 2004 TI. I sat in the car upside down with the kick panels removed and got my daughter to let loose with the hise across the front of the screen. Hey! Water ingress..... It appears that when the good guys replaced my windscreen, they missed a section about 50mm (2in) wide across the top of the screen. When they pulled the screen out to fix it, it was dusty where there was no adhesive. The drains for the sunroof go down the A pillar and bahind the kick panel. (Panel beater left them out after replacing the sill. 2nd wet carpet episode!) Also, there is a drain for the Aircon in the centre of the transmission tunnel that could be loose or not seating correctly. Good luck! Nick

Yeah pretty much Cyril. The slider bars and steps were always going to be the easy part. It was the bracketing that really caught my interest. It's given me heaps of ideas for mine - thanks for sharing with us. Will you be adding any brackets that bolt up through the pinch weld? The Rocky Road ones have them, not sure if it is warranted though. Once I get a job I will get moving on them. Along with many other things that have cropped up since we had money. We had a great weekend away. I will do a report and post up in Trips section. Nick

Very nice Cyril Nick