PlatinumRacing

I had the strut rot problem but I took care of it. Mine was so bad the strut tower was actually pushing the brake master cylinder into the hood. Usually I do all my own work, including welding, but this seemed a bit beyond my welding skills. I work at a machine shop where we have several TIG welders on staff. One of them has a body shop at his house, so I brought the truck to him. We tore apart the truck, chained the strut tower to the floor in his garage, raised the truck to close the gap in the tower, cut all the rot out, lined up the strut tower according to his collision repair books, replaced the missing steel, sandwiched the new steel with more steel inside and outside of the wheel well, welded all the seams, sprayed the entire area with undercoating, and reassembled the truck. I also had to rewire the ABS sensor and replace the sway bar link since they both broke as a result of the strut tower flexing. I've gone wheeling and had the suspension at full articulation countless times since the repair and there has been no flexing or cracking. When we went to align the truck there was nothing to do. The front end was still in perfect alignment. No tire wear and no more problems. The repair cost me about $400 and the worst part of the entire thing is trying to get Nissan USA to cover the cost of the repair. Don't throw these trucks away, guys, fix em'! They're well worth the small investment of time and money. Since this repair I've replaced... Front struts Front strut top-hats Rear shocks Rear sway bar bushings Rear lower trailing arms Tie rod ends CV shafts Front pads & rotors Front caliper Distributor cap & rotor Spark plugs & wires Sway bar links Alternator Radio Exhaust W/ dual in single out DynoMax muffler K&N short ram intake O2 sensors 31 X 10.5 X 15" tires on stock rims

Thanks! Now that I'm armed with this information I'll just replace the entire shaft. I would've thought that, being on the forefront of economical technology, one of the Japanese big three would've used some type of hub. It doesn't make too much sense to me to have all that extra rotating mass when you're not in 4WD. Oh well, at least I don't have to take apart any hubs. And is the R50 under-driven? Are the front and rear axle ratios the same in the R50? Just wondering. Thanks for all the help!

I discovered a torn drivers side CV boot today. I called NAPA, Advance Autoparts, and AutoZone and apparently they don't have any for the R50. The internet returned no results either. I've done CV shafts on cars before, and I've worked on old American trucks with manual locking hubs and stick axles. Despite this, the thought of tearing into a Japanese designed auto-locking hub still kinda scares me. If I have to tear into the truck to fix the boot I'm going to replace the entire CV shaft. Tearing apart and rebuilding a CV shaft is something I'm not willing to do again, since the last one I rebuilt wasn't worth the $50 I saved by doing it myself. Knowing that it won't be worth the trouble to rebuild the shaft, I've sourced one brand new for cheap should I fail to locate a slip-on boot. So, if anyone knows of any slip-on boot kits from other vehicles that will fit the R50 please let me know. Otherwise any info on what I'm going to be up against with the auto-hubs would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think so. I actually suggested this on the last page...

Its not a Nissan engine, but if you go for a Cummins 4BT you will be rewarded with stump pulling torque and unsurpassed reliability. Its a 3.9L OHV 2V/cylinder turbocharged direct injected 4 banger with 360 ft/lbs of torque before 2,000 RPM in stock form. If you tune the Bosch VE pump it will probably put down more like 450 ft lbs with no mods. All that is required for the mod is a screwdriver. I am not familiar with the 4BT directly, but I used to own its bigger brother, the Cummins 6BT which is essentially the same engine with 2 extra cylinders. Everything else is interchangeable between the two and the 6BT engine was a beast. They even share the same 4.02" x 4.72" bore and stroke. You will probably need to do more fabrication to get the motor and transmission to fit and match up with the driveline, but you won't have any electronics to work with. All you need to worry about is the wiring for the starter, the alternator, the external voltage regulator (Unless you swap the alternator for a later model Dodge unit with internal regulator) and a simple SPST or toggle switch for the intake heater. Other than that everything is mechanical, so you don't have any messy wiring harnesses to worry about. The 4BT is a popular swap for half-ton American trucks like Bronco's, but its also been used in Rangers, Wranglers and the like with great results. They were originally designed for large delivery vans, construction equipment, and farming equipment. Cummins recommends 400,000 miles between overhauls for best performance, even with its non-sleeved block. With a claim like that, you know they aren't messing around. Match the 4BT to a Getrag 5 speed transmission, pick an aftermarket clutch from just about any Dodge Ram diesel, bolt up a transfer case, fab some new driveshafts, fab the mounts, plumb all your lines, take the truck to an exhaust shop and call it a day. The downside is the 4BT engine alone weighs nearly 750 pounds, but its built like a brick crap-house. You might find that its too much torque for the driveline, but I've never heard anyone complain about having too much torque. The last downside I can think of is the redline. The engine will only rev to 2,800 RPM, but with a simple governor spring modification you can run 3,200 RPM with a brick on the gas pedal for weeks on end and the motor won't stop 'till it's out of gas. I think this engine is worth considering. They're reliable, powerful, and they sound great. I used to be a member of a Cummins diesel forum years ago when I owned that truck and there were people with upwards of 600,000 miles on 4BT and 6BT engines. The highest mileage I've ever seen that could be proven with documentation was 1.2 million miles. Mine had just over 300,000 and it started in half a crank, unless it was the middle of winter in which case it started in two full cranks. When I had my Dodge 1-ton truck with the Cummins 6BT and a Getrag I could brakestand my 33" BFG A/T tires from a dead stop starting off in third gear. I didn't even need to touch the throttle to get them spinning in second, just hold the brakes and let out the clutch. It was even funnier when you're idling along in third gear and decide to stomp on the brakes. The truck would just stop and the rear tires would wail for mercy, even without hitting the gas. That thing didn't even flinch on a truck with a GVWR of 8,700 pounds, so I can only imagine what a 4BT will do in a Pathy.

Thanks! Do you know about any kits or how-to's for adding an aftermarket ignition coil? So far I haven't found much on the topic but I know it must be possible. I just don't want to have to go cutting wires and hacking up the distributor cap all willy-nilly without knowing what I'm up against. Also, does the R50 have a tendency to wear through engine and/or transmission mounts? I am asking because I am getting a shudder through the entire truck whenever the torque converter locks or unlocks. Is there an aftermarket engine mount solution that will solve these issues? Is there a way to flash the transmission computer so that the torque converter doesn't lock as frequently? I don't like the way the torque converter locks and unlocks all the time. In my Subaru Legacy the torque converter only locks when in 4th gear above 45MPH with a warm transmission. The Pathfinder seems to lock at all the wrong times.

A little about me... My name is Justin, and I've been turning wrenches on cars, trucks, and anything with an engine since I was extremely young. I used to do serious off-roading for a bit back when I had my 1990 Dodge W350 4X4 with the 5.9l Cummins Diesel and a Getrag 5 speed, but I stopped when I got my truck beached in 3+ feet of clay and wound up having the truck burned by punks who found it before I could get it out. I had $4K+ in parts and modifications into that truck alone, so after that debacle I stopped the serious off-roading. I live in a home in Rowley MA with my awesome GF and my 5 week old son. I work full time at a local machine shop that makes helicopter engine parts for companies such as Rolls-Royce, GE, MTU, Pratt & Whitney and the like. I do pretty much everything at work, including deburring, rework, banging out dents in sheet metal, press-operating, and I am a certified Class B shot peen operator capable of completing complex setups, maintenance, and testing on our glass bead peen machine. I also use the Pathfinder to make runs to outside vendors for the company when our driver is busy (which nets me a decent chunk of change in expense reports). I don't take any of my vehicles to repair shops or stealerships for repair unless the damage is covered under warranty, as I prefer to wrench on my own vehicles at cost instead of paying some clown without even a GED $80 an hour to do the work for me. I have a couple dozen hobby grade R/C vehicles and used be part-owner of a web based aftermarket parts company called Team Platinum Racing. We made parts for R/C vehicles out of 6061T6 aluminum, and I still have a Taig 4 axis benchtop CNC mill in my basement complete with controller. I used to race off-road electric stadium trucks as well as on-road electric touring cars and converted stadium trucks. Now that I've fallen out of the racing scene I just enjoy building and restoring vintage Tamiya models like my 1984 Tamiya Bruiser, my Avante, and several other off-road Tamiya vehicles. I also enjoy building and upgrading high performance gaming PC's. Anything you can build, take apart, or improve fascinates me. A little about my Pathy... Its a 1997 SE automatic. Since I bought it last January I've done some work to it, and I still have more to go before I'm satisfied. So far the list of parts I've replaced are: Alternator, Spark Plugs, Spark Plug Wires, Rear Trailing Arms, FL Sway Bar Link, Rear Sway Bar Bushings, Rear Shocks, Front Brakes, O2 Sensors, and a K&N Short Ram Intake. Next up on my list of things to do include a bigger Transmission Cooler, U-Joints, Front Struts, Front Strut Top Hats, FR Sway Bar Link, Ball Joints, and Tie Rod Ends. I also just had a welder at work who has been doing auto body for several decades weld the front left strut tower back to the chassis with steel plates for support. The front left strut tower was torn away from the chassis and a huge crack opened up. The crack was rubbing the steering column and the strut tower was hitting the brake master cylinder by the time I noticed the damage. We tore the truck apart, chained the strut mount to his garage floor and jacked the truck up until the crack was closed. We then measured the distance between the strut towers and made sure all the dimensions fell into place before we sandwiched the damaged area between some steel plates. We then plug welded the two steel plates together and seam welded both plates to the chassis. Undercoating will prevent rust from damaging the strut tower or the repair ever again. Now I just have to get him to clean up a couple rust bubbles and give the truck a good buff. Bodywork is the only automotive chore that I avoid, because its far too tedious and time consuming. I just don't have the patience for body work. Questions... Is there anyway that I could put an MSD Blaster ignition coil on this truck? The coil is seemingly built into the distributor and I don't want to cut the cap to install the coil. If there is a kit or a coil that will work with this truck I'd love to hear about it. What are the largest tires that will fit on a stock height Pathy without rubbing? Are there any stock height rear springs with a stiffer spring rate for this truck? The rear suspension in this truck is just way too soft for my liking. The last two trucks I've owned have been a 1986 half-ton Ford and a 1990 one-ton Dodge, so needless to say I'm used to really firm rear suspension and the Pathfinder feels like its got springs out of an old Sentra rather than a truck or SUV. Plus, its kind of depressing to see the truck drop down to the bump stops when you put anything remotely heavy in the back. I think that with decent tires and rear springs the truck will be more competent under load.