Mr.510

^ This. Some people have removed the oil pan and pickup so they didn't have to drop the front diff but that's an even bigger PITA and getting it back together properly without ending up with a leaking oil pan gasket just isn't worth the risk. I see. You wouldn't normally have the trans out before the engine so that's not a 'normal' option. Dropping the trans is definitely much worse than dropping the front diff! You don't have to move the transmission to separate it from the engine, you just move the engine forward leaving the trans in place.

If it wasn't a wheeler my Pathy would have a Holley 350 on it right now! I like the fact that my truck can run on it's side, and I've idled it back onto it's wheels twice...

You don't need to drop the oil pan but you DO need to remove the front diff. The diff is the worst part of the whole swap.

Update time! The VG34i has about 5k miles on it right now. It has the headers I produce installed and they are Chromex polished ceramic coated inside and out. After the headers is a 2-1/2" mandrel bent Y-Pipe, Mid-Pipe and Test-Pipe replacing the cat. Next is a stainless Flowmaster 50 Delta with a 2-1/2" mandrel bent stainless tailpipe exiting straight through the bumper 'school bus' style. I've been having major difficulties with the engine management system in the Pathy since a few months before I swapped in the new engine. It's been getting about 9.5mpg around town and pulling about like the stock VG30 while sounding a bit 'off' and having major flat spots and stumbles. With the stock engine the truck was undriveable when it really acted up and didn't have enough power to maintain speed. The VG34, even running like total crap, easily keeps up with (and passes) traffic. I replaced the injectors, MAF, TPS, CHT and harness, and CAS with good used parts. Each made a difference and each tested bad. Even after all that it still did not run right and was throwing the CAS code again. I found an '88 auto ECU on eBay and bought it for $60 shipped with a 30 day warranty. After swapping that in the truck ran like a top. I also noticed that it downshifts much more quickly if I'm rolling along and punch it. I had not noticed the trans acting poorly, but it's definitely much better with the new ECU. I guess a messed up ECU can screw with the TCU as well. After having it finally run decent and not throw any codes even during a couple hard sessions beating on it on the street I decided it was finally time for a little tuning. I started by increasing the initial ignition timing. I had set it retarded to 5 degrees BTDC for break in and to be extra safe with 10.3:1 compression and 87 octane fuel since I had no idea how much advance I could run with that combination. There is no knock sensor in the TBI system. I set it to the stock 12 degrees and had to lower the idle by more than half a turn of the adjuster screw. I took the truck out for a few 0-60 runs against the stopwatch and it improved immensely with the increased timing. If some's good, more's better, right??? With the VG30 I'd run as much as 20 degrees advance and found that it pulled best around 17-18. I set the timing to 17.5 degrees BTDC and the motor woke the f__k up! This made me very happy indeed. At one point early on in the battle to fix the injection I made an inlet restrictor for the air cleaner housing. Some time before I had cut off the stock inlet neck and welded on a piece of 3" stainless tubing that connects to a fitting in the firewall with a flex hose so the engine draws it's air from the cowl. I changed the air filter in the truck because it was absolutely gross and it immediately ran like crap. Swapping the dirty filter in made it run much better. This got me to thinking that maybe the TBI MAF relied on the pressure drop across the stock inlet horn's cone in order to properly measure air flow? I already knew they ran like absolute garbage with the air cleaner top off so this sort of made sense to me. I pulled the stock inlet horn out of the scrap barrel and measured it's oval shape then drew it in CAD and analyzed it's area. I made an airflow restrictor out of .010 thick aluminum sheet with the same restriction size and attached it to the end of the inlet tube with electrical tape. The clamp for the flex hose held it securely in place. The truck ran much better this way so I didn't mess with it again. Next up I installed a vacuum line from a fitting in the intake to my center console. I ran it through a grommeted hole drilled in a cover plate on the firewall as a permanent addition for testing. I hooked up my vacuum testing gauge and drove it around with Dennis reading the gauge. I read some guidelines on the Barry Grant (Demon carburetors) website a while back on sizing carburetors. He said that if an all out racing engine's vacuum at WOT at redline exceeded 1 inch a larger carburetor should be fitted as it is a flow restriction and is costing horsepower. He also said that on a street/strip car or similar 2 inches was acceptable and going to a larger carburetor would gain very little while screwing up drive ability. I finally had a definitive benchmark to shoot for in reducing inlet restrictions on various motorized projects. I decided that since the truck was running great it was time to see what happened without the inlet restrictor so I took it out. I do not remember how much vacuum there was at WOT at 5500rpm when the trans shifts with the flow restrictor in place but the truck got quicker without it! So as it stands right now at WOT at 5500rpm I'm seeing exactly 2" of manifold vacuum. This is not so bad and much better than I thought it would be. I'm curious to see what stock MPFI Pathies have though that won't be a fair comparison as my engine should be drawing significantly more air. I did check the vacuum at WOT/redline in Dennis' S12 with a stock VG30E and it is zero. So right now the Pathy on 33x10.5 KOs with a full tank of gas, most of my wheeling gear, and 160 pounds of ballast (Dennis) in the passenger's seat does 0-60 in 12.5 seconds at 12 feet above sea level and 60 degrees ambient. The rear diff is locked and if I'm rolling along in D at 25mph on dry tarmac and punch it the trans instantly drops to 1st gear and breaks the tires loose for about half a second before hooking them back up just before upshifting to 2nd. Next up I need to go on a highway trip to somewhere so I can see what the cruise mileage is....

I've got 4.625 gears but would like 4.9s, sort of. Gotta think about that a minute now. 33s slow a Pathy down a seriously depressing amount on the street. But I've decided to go back to 31x10.5s for street use since I now have separate sets of street and trail rubber. Only one time have I ever wanted more power or lower gears off road with the Pathy: When pulling siverton's Pathy off a rock the size of a refrigerator. That was the hardest I've ever beaten any of my wheeling trucks and I'm kinda surprised I didn't break something, besides both motor mounts. With the automatic and a monster cooler it'll climb anything and I never use more than half throttle unless I'm pulling someone. Oh yeah! Sparking burnouts at night FTW!

With 235s I'll I'd have is tire smoke!

It didn't break loose, just surprised me that it downshifted to 2nd at that speed and revved so much higher than ever before. This seems to have been a one-time thing as it will not repeat it now. I'm already running a RE4R01A-HD trans from an '01 Xterra. Today I changed my oil and filter, ran a vacuum line into the truck to get some WOT vacuum readings, advanced the timing a whole bunch to 17.5 degrees BTDC, did mulitple 0-60 runs against the stopwatch with different tweaks, and removed the air cleaner housing inlet restrictor that I put in to duplicate the stock pressure drop across the housing when I was first having trouble with the injection. With no other changes going from the stock size opening to the 3" tube that connects to my cowl it dropped from 13.1 seconds to 12.5 seconds 0-60mph on 33" KOs with 160 pounds of ballast (Dennis) in the passenger's seat and a full tank of fuel. Now Dennis' S12 SE-V6 is quicker off the line (expected, much lighter!) but my Pathy pulls away slowly if we both get on it from 25mph or so. Also, if it's in 2nd or 3rd at 25mph and I punch it the trans instantly drops to 1st gear and both rear tires break loose but only enough that you can feel them hook back up half a second later. (The rear is currently fully locked.) It's going to be interesting to swap a set of my 31s onto this thing to see how quick it is and what sort of traction problems it has.

Today my new (used) ECU finally showed up so I swapped it in. No codes, no hesitation, and the the VG34i finally hauls azz again. I also noticed that the trans shifts differently now than with the original ECU. It would seem that the ECU has more to do with when the TCU wants to shift the trans than I was lead to believe. I punched it at 60mph this evening and it dropped to 2nd gear and spun to almost 6k rpm before upshifting back to 3rd. It had never revved past 5500rpm while in Drive the whole time I've owned the truck until tonight. I also swapped back to my 'street' 33s. Now I gotta figure out where I'm going to store $1k worth of Swampers when they aren't being held down by a Pathfinder....

6061-T6 Well, technically it hasn't come out yet as the first production run is in the works now...

Correct. The adapter fits on the VG33 crank just like the stock harmonic balancer did. One of the biggest reasons I decided to make the prototype for myself was so that I could retain the vastly superior VG33 oil pump. These pumps are the only gearotor-type pumps used on sohc VGs. The rest are "gear inside ring-gear" for lack of an actual term for this type of pump. When run hard at high RPM the VG30 pumps are known for cracking the ring gear and losing oil pressure. Being able to keep the VG33 crank with it's much larger snout is a good thing too, though it was only the very early VGs that were known for the crank snout snapping off. In theory removing the balancer could increase wear. In practice many people have run lightweight aluminum "power pulleys" on Z31Ts for hundreds of thousands of miles with no known increase in wear to any engine components. A VG has a very short, stout, yet light weight fully counterweighted crankshaft. If there's any crank that should live a long and happy life with nearly no mass bolted to it's ends it's the VG crank. Would I delete the balancer on a straight six or an American V8? No! This is the prototype that's on my VG34. Production parts will be anodized for corrosion resistance. The spot drilled dimple at the top of the pic is TDC. Nissan should have put a mark here on the stock balancers so you could easily tell how to index the crank pulleys! Here it is installed on the crank: And with the VG30 pulleys bolted on: The pulleys are in the exact location they would be with a VG30 crank and balancer.

I've read of a couple cases where people did this and the balancer cracked because there wasn't enough meat left around the keyway. This cost them each a crankshaft when the balancer worked loose. I was going to offer re-machined new harmonic balancers to adapt VG30 accessories to VG33 cranks until I read about these problems and looked at how little material is left when you bore out a VG30 balancer. The adapter hub I'm producing replaces the harmonic balancer and accepts the VG30's six bolt steel crank pulleys. It's a fully CNC machined anodized aluminum unit for $75.

I'm with James on this one: Don't do it. The pivot point where the compression rod meets the chassis is directly in line with the bushing in the LCA. Note that when viewed from the side it's also very close to parallel with the torsion bar as well. If you put the compression rod on top the LCA will no longer be parallel to the T-bar and I'm guessing the splines that connect the T-bar to the LCA will die a quick, ugly death as a result of this misalignment. I do recommend flipping the compression rod bolts over, so the heads are down if this hasn't already been done.

I ran three E-brake levers in my Baja'd '71 Datsun 1200 sedan before welding the rear diff. Braking one wheel sorta works, but not as well as you'd think and is a major PITA to use effectively. I welded the diff in that car less than a month after building the triple brake lever setup. If you have an LSD you can effectively tighten it by putting the stock E-brake on pretty hard. By increasing the drag at the wheels you are effectively "winding up" the LSD and increasing the load against the clutch plates. This actually works pretty well and is probably the reason the E-brake shoes are worn out on most Pathies that have been wheeled. Just pulling up on the E-brake on an open diff can help some, but no where near as much as with an LSD. At the moment I'm running a shimmed stock LSD in my Pathy but it's too tight and is effectively locked on dry pavement, making it a spool. To say it's sketchy in the rain with a spool out back and no sway bars would be a serious understatement. A Lock Right is $300 and I'll be getting one very soon. I suggest you do the same.

I've got a cordless Sawzall! Seriously though, I've run 33x10.5R15 KOs on Lego wheels on my stock height '88 for almost five years. Obviously NOT just a street truck. I had to lose the flares and when I started taking off things like sway bars I had to roll my fender lips. With very long travel rear shocks my tires cram into the rear of the rear fenderwell openings pretty hard at full stuff. That part is getting sawed off to save my new 33x10.5R15 Swampers from being chunked. With KOs it never damaged the tires as they hit in the middle of the tread.

Pre-economic crash that was at least a $15k cab & chassis, probably more. It is possible, however, that some European utility had a whole bunch of these trucks that were surplused and they are more readily available now. The market fluctuates a lot depending on who is surplusing what at any given time. I don't know what a 404.0 gets for mileage. Since they have double the power they should certainly be capable of burning a lot more fuel, especially on hills. That said, with a stock 404.1 you can bet your life on 10mpg with radials and can get 12mpg at 60mph on a level freeway run if it's tuned right and you're running a flatbed with no bows, canvas, or tail gate. A stock, unloaded 404.1 pretty much goes fully loaded semi truck speed on all major freeway hills. Loaded up with camping/wheeling gear Snoqualmie Pass is a 25mph pull at a little over half throttle in 4th gear. Thankfully all Unimogs have cruise control... the hand throttle on the dash! Scott at Expedition Imports in Vallejo is a really good guy that can be trusted absolutely to never rip anyone off. I've done business with him many times and will continue to in the future. If you're seriously interested in that 404.0 give him a call as he probably knows the truck well and can tell you of any known problems. (707) 643-6757

That sounds like either a bad rocker arm or a lifter that has fully collapsed and holds zero oil pressure to maintain valve lash. This is true of the DOHC VG30s, the VG30DE, DET, & DETT. They use shims under the buckets to adjust valve lash. The bores the cam followers (buckets) slide in wear out turning the heads to garbage. The DOHC VGs are no where near as durable as the SOHC engines. They have many problems, though they're still better than 75% of the competition. Use Chevron oil, it's the most detergent commonly available oil. Or run half a quart of Dexron ATF in place of half a quart of oil all the time. VG heads run really hot, and this causes sludge buildup. The heat also makes gunk build up inside the lifters causing them to stick and/or wear prematurely. Why don't you use the bottom end from the 'old' engine and the heads off the 'new' engine? That would make the most sense, it'd only cost you a gasket set. VGs have very tight bearing clearances. The tightest of any production engine that I'm aware of. You can't go swapping bearings around between them and expect them to live more than a few minutes. These engines are known for their amazing longevity even when run hard and/or abused. They live so long because they were produced with extreme precision. Their only real weakness is oil starvation. They cannot tolerate it at all. If your oil pressure light ever blinks under braking or cornering loads stop and add oil IMMEDIATELY or you will kill your VG.

Wow, that's a 404.0 in the CL ad. That's a rare Unimog indeed! It has the larger 2.8 liter gasoline six with dual downdraft two barrel carbs stock. Seems like they're rated for 160hp or something like that. Basically double the 404.1's 82hp. A 404.0 has a 'regular' 404.1 chassis with the exception of the bigger dual carb motor and power steering... but has the 406 series cab. I've seen many hundreds of Unimogs up close and personal but have only seen one 404.0 in person. That's cheap for a 404.0 in good shape with low miles. As for campers, if you're going to use an existing truck camper on a Unimog there's no substitute for an Alaskan. They're the best campers ever made .

Your post doesn't make sense to me. Nobody else seems to have understood it either. Looks like maybe it was run through a translator? If so just post in your native language and somebody will probably figure out what you're asking and help you out.

I'm kinda torn between Evans and Elbe. I love Evans, it's my favorite place to wheel and I've camped there many times and like it very much. At Evans you cannot run every major trail in a day unless you're in a small group and know every obstacle like Dennis and I do. And then it's a looong day. There's more miles of trails suitable for stock to mild Pathies at Evans than anywhere else this side of the Cascades. It's also closer to Pugetropolis so more people might show up. We can't reserve a spot at the campground here, it's first-come first-served. If we hold it at Evans and some people camp we could also run the Surprise Lake Trail which is the prettiest spot I've ever driven a truck to. This trail only requires 4wd in a couple of spots but it's a fun place to go and a pic of your Pathy on the beach right next to the mirror-smooth water with Mt.Rainier's reflection is pretty damned cool. You have to have a NW Forest Pass for Evans, and a Discover Pass for Surprise Lake. Elbe has super easy access to/from all the trails since they are loops. This is great if something breaks or if there's an obstacle someone just can't get past without massive damage. It also has the Busywild and Swamp trails that we don't normally attempt as they are really nasty... but my truck's mods are creeping it ever closer to running those trails, or at least trying them. You can fairly easily run all the trails we normally do here in a day, even with a large group so we'd probably be re-running them if people stay multiple days. I don't mind this, it's all wheeling and it's all fun! Running them reversed at night pretty much makes them different trails. The fact that the campground here has to be reserved is a good thing IMHO, as you cannot reserve spaces at Evans so I went down a couple days early to save us the best spot for MrJim2. There was no guarantee we'd have a spot there at all. You need a Discover Pass for Elbe. I think Evans or Elbe are the best two choices as the highest concentration of wheeling members are centered around the Seattle area, and stretching to the South. At Manastash last year there were only three trucks. I can see the same thing happening with Walker and everywhere else, that's why I ruled them out. Wherever we go I'm going to camp and I don't mind getting there a day or even two early if I need to for the benefit of the group. I hope lots of people go, and this is the biggest factor to be considered in where we hold the run, IMHO. I'm going to suggest that if we have a dozen trucks or more like we did for MrJim2 that we split into two or three groups and run different trails simultaneously. More than six trucks on a singe trail can really suck as you spend lots of time sitting in line waiting to attempt an obstacle and you don't really get to see much. There never seems to be enough room for all the trucks after an obstacle so the guys in the back end up just 'wheeling through' to keep up and don't really get to see most of the action. In groups of four to six trucks you're pretty much always right in the middle of the action and this is a lot more fun. If we all take our cameras and shoot lots of video nobody is really going to 'miss' anything. I will volunteer to lead a group or whatever, I know all these trails very well. At the moment I'm leaning toward Elbe primarily because we can reserve the campground. I also think it will be easy to get people to come since a group of us were just there and there's tons of great pics and some really good video that's going to be posted soon.

With 31x10.5 all terrains I ran the factory recommended 26psi and always got flat, even wear. With 33x10.5 KOs I dropped to 25psi and get the same. Generally speaking the bigger and more 'balloon like' a tire is the less pressure it takes to form a proper contact patch. This is due to the larger internal surface area of a bigger tire. That said, with really aggressive mud tires it's often necessary to run much higher pressure to keep them from scalloping and/or rounding off the outer tread lugs on the street. This is a compromise that reduces traction on the street and wears the center of the tire more than the edges. The upside is the outer tread blocks (which have the most effect on off-road performance) last longer and remain sharper to better do their job on the trail.

I have not accurately weighed a four door Pathy. I have accurately weighed my '88 SE-V6 automatic. For reference, the truck was on 33x10.5 KOs on Lego wheels with a 60" Hi-Lift jack on the tire carrier with matching spare, full tank of gas, and the two milk crates of recover gear that are always directly behind the front seats. I estimate these crates weigh 60 pounds total. This was with the stock VG30i and no other mods that significantly alter the weight. Here's what I got at a certified truck scale: Front: 2138# / 49% Rear: 2240# / 51% Total: 4378# / 100% I would *guess* a four door is a couple hundred pounds more than a two door as they have more sheetmetal, electronic doo-dads, and the intake is significantly bigger/heavier.

My commute is approximately 125 feet and takes about 30 seconds each way... 15 if it's raining and I don't have a coat on!

What would you guys think about making ToTM/ToTY voting 'blind' so other members cannot see who voted for whom? It's not a big deal, but once in a while somebody gets butt hurt that you didn't vote for them in a close race that they lost. Just an idea, and not a big deal to me either way. It might encourage more people to vote, since their buddies or whoever wouldn't know they voted for somebody else, the "wrong series" of Pathfinder, or whatever. Thoughts?

Why not be able to vote for yourself? I think you should be able to vote for anybody you want, including yourself. If you think your pic is the best vote for it! If I recall correctly you can no longer see who voted for whom, if it's not that way and can be changed I think that would be an improvement. It can be 'touchy' when two of your wheeling friends are in a close race for ToTM and you can only vote for one... if they can see who you voted for, or that you voted at all, that is. I just checked. I can see who voted for whom in this month's poll but not last month's. And yes, I do vote for myself sometimes... but my vote for someone else also 'cost me' a ToTM once as well. Her pic was better than mine so I voted for her instead of me.

I replaced my radiator, bolted on Lego set number 2 with new Swamper Radials, and took it to Elbe to 'paint' these parts and the new exhaust to match: