Slartibartfast

I had my rear flares off for a while (didn't get around to putting them back on after doing the fuel tank) and didn't notice much difference. A friend of mine drove behind me on a wet day and said my rear tires were throwing all kinds of crap at his windshield, though. I bolted them back on. There's probably a better solution for the flaps but I haven't busted one off yet.

Timing belt tensioner, and it's not a bad idea to change the cam seals while you're in there.

If they needed oil pressure to open the valves at all, they'd be awfully hard to start!

And the third obvious thing is to replace/clean out your headlight switch, if the bulbs aren't the problem.

I'm not sure if the axles are the same length, but looking at the measurements on Wikipedia it appears that the R50 is considerably wider overall than the WD21.

Got it back from the mechanic. He couldn't find anything wrong with it, and it drives fine in 4x or 2x. Maybe it was just a hub issue.

So neither set of bulbs makes them come on, and both connectors look alright? The brake/tail/signal lights work? If they were all out I'd suspect a bad ground, but seeing as how it's just the reverse lights, I'll bet it's the switch. Which trans do you have? The manual transmissions have a switch that mounts to the side and kicks on when you put it in reverse. I'm not seeing where the switch is for the auto trans... I thought it might be built into the park/neutral position switch but it looks like it's not. I'll bet it's under the trim around the shifter, but that's just a guess. That's where I'd start, anyway.

I did it on my grandma's Subaru a while back, wasn't hard at all. The cans have instructions on them. Make sure you get the nozzle attachment with the can, they sell separately (or they did at Malwart, anyway) and you need both. There's a pressure gauge in the nozzle attachment that tells you when to stop. Read through the instructions a few times first and make sure you hook into the correct line.

I did tear into the driver's side hub a week or so ago (came half engaged while driving, scared the hell out of me), and cleaned it out/stuck it back on. The brake rings were worn past tolerance so I didn't bother with the other side and just planned to order manuals. It's entirely likely that they're screwed (and I haven't heard of R200A failures either), I'm just trying to figure out what they'd be binding on. Could be the CVs (they've had a tough couple of weeks), but I'd expect it to pull pretty bad to one side of one of them bound up somehow. Your guess is as good as mine though, the mechanic hasn't found anything yet. No time for Pathy work today anyway... my friend's Astro munched a head gasket, so we tore into that. Of course none of us had taken an engine apart before. What better engine to start with than a 4.3l covered with spring clamps, proprietary hose clips, and little easter eggs from the PO, that you have to work on through a hole in the floor?

I think I found my binding issue. I checked the brakes first, and they seemed alright. Rear diff seems alright, transfer's full (both could stand a change, though). I couldn't get to the plug on the front diff (couldn't find the 1/2" extender) but I took it out of 4x and disengaged the hubs and it drove like normal again! The CVs seem alright, I figure it has to be either the front driveshaft or the diff that's binding up, and I can't imagine that much binding coming from a couple of U-joints. Maybe that slow leak all over the front end wasn't coming from the valve covers after all... It's at the shop right now, so hopefully I'll get a call tomorrow and find out what the damage is. (b1ndm4n, make sure that gear oil is GL-4!)

Might help if it's what the computer expects?

WD21 disk swaps aren't difficult because there are original disk brake axles out there to swap in. But as far as I can tell, the R50 only ever had rear drum brakes, so the swap would have to be from a different vehicle.

I think most of us have heard "it's not worth fixing" at some point. It doesn't mean "it's unfixable," it means the person you're talking to would give up. If it's worth it to you, take it as a challenge and keep wrenching. (To be fair, though, if you were having a shop do all this, you'd probably end up putting gobs of cash into it.) Sounds like you know what needs doing. I imagine it'll track a lot better once you get the wheel bearings and the knackered tires sorted out.

Drove to town for snow tires, wondered what was wrong with the truck all the way there, got the tires, wondered the same thing all the way back. Something metal smells hot when I park it and it drives like it's torque binding... oh joy. On the plus side, the tires seem to grip pretty well.

I don't know diesels but I'll hazard a guess that you have a bad connection in the glow plug circuit. Check the connections going to the relay, if you can find them. I would imagine that they're grounded through the motor, like spark plugs. Look for loose grounds on the engine or from the engine to the body, look for corrosion at the electrical plugs, and maybe check for voltage drop across the relay. Found this talking about it on VWs:

I did that a few years ago, except I didn't order a new one. It's still working!

Lucky bastard! I'm planning to hit a yard later this week to look for a set of those. What did you pay for yours?

Gotta hate rust. Unless the inspections people pull the hatch off, I don't think they'll know anything about it. Definitely something to fix properly when you can, though.

The strut rod bushings (aka compression rod bushings, aka tension rod bushings, no idea why we have three names for the same part) are a good thing to keep an eye on anyway, especially if they've never been changed. In some cases the rods wear against the frame bracket badly enough to get a thin spot and snap. I suspect you'd know something was horribly awry if one or both of the rods had snapped, but still, have a look. There's a thread on replacing strut rod bushings that's got some good tips. I noticed no difference in handling after replacing mine, but the stock ones were still somewhat intact. I have heard of trashed bushings screwing with the steering, but IIRC it was more along the lines of the truck wandering all over the road than the steering wheel wiggling. That said, it sounds like yours is more of a feedback issue than a handling issue. One or both of the front wheels might be out of balance (missing weight or a big cake of mud on the rim), but I dunno if this would be enough to cause the shake at low speeds. Broken belt in a tire maybe? You might try swapping the front wheels/tires with your other rig to see if the wiggle goes away. And don't worry about asking questions, it's what this place is for.

So long as you drop the panhard to match, the 5" rear lift would probably work, but you'd never get the IFS to match it. It might work if you want to solid axle swap it though. If you want a big lift without completely redesigning the suspension, consider a 3" suspension lift and a 3" body lift. A few guys on here have that and it seems to work out alright for them. Also the LSD label is a sticker... a ridiculously durable sticker.

+1 on the screws. I haven't had it happen on mine but I've read a few threads where tightening the screws got the tach working again. Wouldn't hurt to clean the screw connections while you've got it apart.

I thought the OP meant the frame had holes in it. Floor rust isn't as bad (but should be a red flag to look for more rot elsewhere). I drove around for few months with a kerosene can and some sheet metal screws covering a hole under the rear seat.

Remind me not to drive behind you when you tow something!

I just looked through the Pathfinder trans rebuild on Beer Garage, and yeah, looks like the FS5R30A is what came with the V6.

It's always sad to scrap a car, but yeah, you don't want to pull a trailer with something that's got fist-sized rust holes in it. Its parts will live on in another! Speaking of which, make a part-out thread when you do take it apart. There's always somebody looking for an arm rest or a mirror or something.