JamesRich

The problem with ignoring the pilot bushing is 1 when it's buzzing it is turning the input shaft slowly and makes it harder to shift. 2 If left long enough it will scare up the input shaft. I just changed mine and it wasn't really worn out but dry. That's why I always pull a vacuum on the new bushing before putting them in. James

Awesome! And so it begins! I found out about the A/C bracket too, that's why I bought a whole truck for the parts. I easily removed all the air pipes on the exhaust manifolds when I put my headers on. Sawzall!

My guess would be the pilot bearing. The throw out bearing turns all the time but only has load on it when you push the clutch but pumping it would not make the noise go away. The pilot bearing will usually make a brrrrrrrrrrrr noise as soon as you start to let up on the clutch. Then when it gets worse it will make the noise the whole time you hold the clutch in. James

Looks good! But, I think you should have left more gap between the body and bumper so you have a little flex space. You never know when you might go over a cliff backwards and end up bouncing off of a big rock, don't want it to flex and hit the body! On a serious note, you might want to make a shield for the back side of the receiver so mud doesn't get in there. If you leave the receiver in after a mudding trip it will get stuck in there. James

Check your convertor for a restriction. If the exhaust leak keeps getting worse and the power keeps going down it could be plugging up more and more. To check for a restriction I use an old vacuum/fuel pressure gauge in the O2 sensor hole. I'm not sure how much pressure is allowable but I would guess nothing over a pound when revving. You can also just unbolt the pipe from the convertor and take it for a spin. Check this ASAP. If it’s plugged that bad your holding a lot of heat on the motor that can burn exhaust valves. James

You were driving it around with open headers? I don't think I would get very far like that around here. I'd have to take the front drive shaft off too, it's blowing right on it. Now I'm waiting for my Y pipe from David so I can take it down the road. James

Finished putting the headers on, put a 90 amp maxima alternator back on instead of the factory 60 amp, put some royal purple in the transfer case and fired it up with open headers! James

With the air soft pellets watch what you buy. There are biodegradable pellets now. A little moisture in your tire and you will end up with a sticky blob. James

I run dyna beads in my motorcycle tires and I love them. I never feel a vibration from when the tire is new to worn out. I have been wanting to try air soft pellets in my pathfinder’s tires. That way when I get mud sitting on the inside the rim I don't have to shake all the way home. The only problem I see would be with plugging a leak. I would think the beads would stick to the plug and make it majorly off balance. I guess I could just go home and add more beads. James

So you don't floor it on a day to day basis? I run the hell out of mine often keeps it loose. Lol! If the exhaust just started leaking the higher noise level could make you think you are pushing it harder than you used to and it doesn't seem to accelerate at the same rate that it did when it was quiet. I experienced this when I put a aftermarket intake on my titan. I drove it easier because it sounded like I was running it a lot harder than before with the increased noise under normal driving. Just a theory though from my experiences. James

Good observations! I was in a hurry when I took mine off because it was a cash for clunkers vehicle and they were slowly crushing them. So it just bolted through the roof to give the threaded holes more support or did it also connect to a cross member to help support the weight of the rack? Would make since as I'm sure the middle feet get most of the weight. Now to see if you can make it fit in the pathfinder. James

The headliner isn't hard to remove but you have to pull all the plastic from the side walls and try not to break the clips that hold them on. What year X did you get that rack off of? I don't remember any bolts sticking up through the roof, the 2000 X I pulled my rack from had rivet nuts for all the mounting bolts. James

Yea I know but sometimes you just got to get a woman what she wants or you'll never hear the end of it! I convinced her to get an xterra in 1999 when they first came out. All we could find that had the options we wanted had a 5 speed. For a year and a half I heard bitchin about that transmission so I stayed out of it when she wanted to trade it in 2001. A smart married man knows when to keep his mouth shut! It's been a very good vehicle so far so I can't complain. James

Running without the A/C is not an option down here for my old ass! 98 degrees with 100% humidity sucks without A/C! I do like cruising with the window down but not in the middle of the summer. James

Now you can drill them out to a larger size that won't snap off so easy. I'm going to do that to mine just because they are rusty. Yea my rear end gets noisy some time too, depends on what I eat! James

The quest definitely has the rear crossover. I had to change mine because the flexible section started leaking. That was about as much fun as getting kicked in the gonads by a mule! James

For the A/C I'm hoping the lines off the frontier will just hook right up to the pathfinder lines! Yea right not with my luck! If they don't I can cut the ends off and get a local shop to crimp them on the lines from a WD21. I should have grabbed the A/C lines too, I'll have to go back. From my research all the VG blocks are the same so the WD21 motor mounts will bolt right up. Use the exhaust manifolds from your VG30. Also use the VG30 intake and everything else from on top of your VG30. You may need to use the thermostat housing from the frontier motor because it meets a short steel pipe that bolts to a bracket above the P/S pump idler. The VG30 thermostat housing might not have the right angle to meet this pipe. I plan to use everything on the front of the frontier motor from the timing belt covers out but all the fuel injection from the VG30. James

While I had my headliner out I put some sound deadening material under the roof and then put insulation under that before putting the headliner back. It makes it a little quieter and cooler inside. James

Sounds like a good deal as long as he does quality work. Have you seen any trucks he has converted? James

Just make sure who ever you get to do it has a good reputation. I've been trying to install a set of Experimental Engineering headers and keep running into problems. These are some awesome looking headers by the way! Thick flanges, beautiful welds, should last the life of the truck. My main problem is time, but the biggest problem I hit so far is that some ass clown previously changed one of the studs on my truck. He drilled it out of place so the header flange wouldn’t fit. Then when I backed the stud out I realized he drilled into the water jacket and coolant started leaking out! So basically the head is screwed! It looked like he put JB weld to keep it from leaking so I will try that with a plug and not run a bolt in that spot. James

I got the rivet tool at harbor freight for $14 with a few different size rivets with it. It is a duel purpose gun that does threaded rivets and regular pop rivets. I also got a box of threaded rivets for around $8. The factory used rivet nuts but they used a hex shaped nut. Hex would work better because it wouldn't turn if it got a little loose but those were really expensive online. I just missed a short rack from a 02 frontier at our local pick a part. Maybe someone could have used it. James

I'm gonna have to find myself a rack and do this too! I have a sunroof so it was more of a pain in the . I used threaded rivets instead of jacknuts but what ever works! James

The frontier accessories are on the same side as the older WDs. Look what I got. This should have everything I need to fit a VG33 into my pathfinder with the VG33 crank and the oil filter in the front. All the accessories will have the Vrib belts, but not sure what I will do with the A/C compressor. The compressor mounts different on this motor and the lines are probably different than the lines on the pathfinder. I think the oil pan would fit too they look the same but I'll just use my oil pan with the oil pickup from this motor. James

Aren’t the frontier accessories on the same side as the WD pathfinders? There is a 02 frontier in the local pick a part I'll have to go check out. James

My wife's 01 quest van just started this too. It has the integrated video system so I don't want to just put an aftermarket radio. I could just tear into it, if I had the time, but hopefully someone has a link! James