Slartibartfast

Very few companies make Pathy bits, so I doubt it. I'd stick with the trans the VQ came with if possible, it should be a lot beefier.

I'd like to see a 3.5l WD. But the VG33 R50s are OBDII, right? Isn't the engine (minus the intake) basically the same?

Looks like there's a strap (bike lock?) around the handle in the first two pics. Edit: didn't see OP's reply until I'd posted, and 'delete' is no longer a thing.

Good to hear it wasn't the timing belt!

Boy, that escalated quickly.

If you're worried about people stealing it, just put a cheap can back there as a decoy, and fill it with horse piss. The lulz of somebody actually stealing it would outweigh the obvious downsides of carrying a jug of piss everywhere you go. Then again, maybe not. Nice work on with the carrier.

So it's hard to start, doesn't run well, then clears up? Sounds like moisture somewhere, burning off once the truck's warmed up. If this was a VG engine I'd say dizzy, but I don't think the VQ actually has one.

WDs never came with airbags that I know of. Good to hear your wife/gf is okay though! These things are built like tanks. And yeah, my dad always gives me crap about putting in more than it's worth. Resale value only matters if you're building it to sell!

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/32546-how-to-replace-strut-rod-bushings/

For the tension/compression/strut (so many names!) rods, you'll likely need to replace the cups that hold the bushings in place. I had my uncle weld a set of L6811 bearing cups to mine, as the stock cups were busted and rusted out and holding on pretty much out of habit. Check out the thread (I think it's Tungsten's 'does this qualify as good strut rod repair' thread) before diving into yours.

I drop it out of OD as soon as it feels like it's bogging, partially from impatience, partly because the longer it does that, the more heat it makes and the more it slows down. I drive the same route four days a week, so it's mostly habit at this point. At 65 you should be fine to drop it down. I routinely drive 60+ with the OD off, and it stays at around 3.5k. I've never felt heat coming off my transmission hump, so I dunno what to say there. I've heard that it's common. My commute is pretty short. Taking it out of OD should help keep the trans cooler, though.

Go home, Pathfinder. You're drunk. Also, I see you're not the only one who likes olive drab.

Did soldering yours change anything? I did pretty much every connection on mine, and it still spazzes out sometimes.

I had a local alignment/tire place do what they said my front end needed. Upper and lower ball joints, centerlink, TREs, idler, alignment (my uncle and I did the strut rod bushings later). I don't remember the exact figure but it wasn't cheap (more than the Calmini kit IIRC). But the ball joints were cracked and oozing grease, and it wandered pretty badly. I didn't get the chance to check over the parts they pulled and see which of them were really the problem. They probably weren't all hammered, but my dad paid the bill (said he didn't want me wrenching on stuff that could kill me/others if I buggered it) so I didn't ask a lot of questions. I think it's better than it was before, but it's not dead tight yet. The shop suggested that the rear link bushings might be wearing out, which is consistent with what I've read on here. Maybe this spring I'll tear into those. If you notice the looseness mostly on bumps, this might be something to check out on yours. The centerlink should have a little tab on it where the stabilizer mounts. Should be in the FSM. I hear stabilizers make it ride better, but don't just throw one on and ignore the other issues! The stock system is a little sketchy if you plan to lift the truck or wheel it hard. If not, it's probably adequate. The Calmini kit looks like a much better design. This might be relevant:

Is this with the engine running or not? If it sparks to the body it's clearly not ground.

Works fine for me in Firefox. Another forum I use (vBulliten based) has an annoying habit of thinking I've logged in again halfway through a post, and so when I hit 'submit' it deletes the message... that site's a PITA. No problems on here though.

Nice work. If your steering box is shot, chances are your strut rods need attention as well. They're something to get around to sooner rather than later. But yeah, those doughnuts had to go!

I leave mine off up to 45, and even then I only click it on once I'm up to speed. My (likely flawed) understanding is that OD/off locks up the converter and disables fourth gear, which keeps the heat down and the engine speed up so you don't have to floor it to gain speed. OD's nice when you're cruising on flat terrain at a steady speed and you don't need to be pushing 3k rpm, but the rest of the time it makes the truck sluggish and makes a lot of heat the transmission doesn't need in the process. A new tranny cooler could eliminate the heat concern, but the truck would likely still drive like a heifer.

I've got a set of no-name belts (from Carquest probably) on mine, and apart from a little squeal when they were new (didn't have the tension set right) I've had no trouble with them. We had a little trouble getting belts the right size, because I guess the guys at the parts place had the wrong info for what sizes of belts it needed. Might be best to bring in your old belts or copy the numbers off of them to avoid cursing at too large/small of a belt.

It's a minivan--though probably a very nice minivan--for people who don't want to be seen driving a minivan. We might not be the right people to ask about it.

Try putting a piece of duct tape over the air grilles just to rule it in or out?

Mine hasn't exploded yet. It'll put a little extra wear on CVs and things (because they wouldn't be turning otherwise) but I figure it's better for the car than the alternative. Like you say it's basically just setting it up like an R50. Should be fine.

You might want to botch some kind of temporary boot unless you've already got a new one. I drove mine without the boot once (in winter, even) and the heat coming through that hole nearly took the hair off my leg.

When I'm going out into snow i usually start off in 4x4 just to get the hubs engaged. Then I put it in 2x until I need more traction. The hubs aren't supposed to unlock unless you drive backwards some distance in 2x, so this means that when I do shift to 4x, the front diff/driveshaft/CVs are already up to speed. So you can totally shift on the fly, if you've engaged the hubs first. Also mine tends to understeer a bit if I try to cut really sharp turns in 4x4 in snow. Not a huge issue but something to be aware of.

That one looks seriously butchered. You may have to replace the rods as well as the bushings and cups.