Bluewulf73

So, as I am a r-50 long-time owner and some-time lurker, and my lifestyle and needs have changed, I am starting to modify our 98 Pathfinder (Leah, as my wife calls her) So, thoughts on what I want to do and why are: I want to use this vehicle to explore a bit and camp with. My kids are now old enough to enjoy the outdoors, Leah is old enough and banged-up enough that a bit of trail driving won't take away much from its already great looks and most importantly, my wife wants to keep 'er. So, I want to improve: - stance - Set of AR39's had for a while now - ground clearance - A/C Lift Kit (more affordable here, I think than OME) I definitely need to replace the springs, shocks and struts Leah's got saggy butt syndrome. - self extricating device on it (manual or electrical winch) - for an electrical on I think I'll have to get a whole new bumper - auxiliary ighting for those dark winter and/or extended drives - (original fogs are dead and I cannot take them out as they are rusted to their supports and the bolts are stripped grrr) - Thule or Yakima cross bars to put on my CVT roof top tent - Snorkel - eventually So, today, I finally got the time to figure out if my AR39's will work with the A/C lift. Fortunately the will so, I test fitted one of the rims on the rear of the pathy. I found out that I will need either longer lugnuts or some kid of thinner walled socket in order to be able to tighten them onto the hub. Here are some photos of the wheel on the car. I also found out that the AR 39's have a 3.75" Offset/backspacing as opposed to the OEM snowflakes at 6.25". Huge difference. No wonder the car rubbed even with 30X9.5's on the original wheels AR39 OEM Wheel And I also found out that the bolt holding the bumpstop in place in the rear-right corner decided to flee, leving the bumpstop floating or rather boungind freely within the circumference of the spring, I cannot believe how short the rear spring is. Anyway, that is it for now. I will be replacing the front axles soon and when that happens, I'll get the bumpstop fixed and the wheels swapped over. I'll post photos once everything is done.

Thank you.

Hello Everyone, I am a some-time lurker and am very impressed by the knowledge, camardery and helpfulness shown and shared by the members of this forum. So, I finally decided to join up. My wife and I own a 1998 Forest Green Pathfinder LE. Pre-kids, we did some 4-wheelin', mostly on FSRs with other stock trucks. Since the kids were born, however, this poor girl's seen nutt'n but pavement and traffic signs. Here are some photos of it in its element - Weather beaten paths off Stave Lake near Mission BC after some traget practice. Now that our kids are a bit older, I want to get them to see the great outdoors and the possibilities that open up when one road-trips, camps, hikes, fishes, etc. To that end, I have been looking into modifying our Pathy so that I can feel at ease, knowing that as capable as she is right now, she could handle more. I am not thinking of doing anything gnarly, just more FSRs and perhaps, even a couple of relatively easy desert traverses down south. We recently got a Grand Caravan on which we've placed out RTT and use for longer Road Trips (last year we drove to The Redwoods) and I want to be able to swap the tent on to the Pathy for shorter, more out-of-the-way weekend trips. Ideas I have for the Pathy (Leah is what my wife calls 'er) are: -Replace the mesh-style wheels with a set of AR39's (not sure what the offset is but I know is better than stock) I have sitting in storage - 2 reasons for this. a) I don't like them and I cannot use a larger tire due to the pathetic offset on these wheels. DONE -Slightly taller tires with a bit more aggressive tread (BFG's?) -Get a set of A/C heavy duty coils and rancho shocks/struts for a 1/2" lift and stroger suspension or a 2" lift from A/C. Regardless of what I get, I need to replace the tired-out OEM shocks and springs currently in there. -Get a bull-bar and a hand-winch or a full front bumper and electric winch (we'll see what the wife says about this. Maybe if the price is right...) -Stroger roof rack cross bars to handle the weight of the RTT -Some auxiliary lights -Snorkel Basically, I want the Pathy to be strong, long-lasting and more capable to get me out of hairy situations (within reason) So, I might be asking some questions later on, seeking advise and knowledge from some of you who have already modded. I hope I too can contribute as I have already replaced a couple of things on 'er (gauge cluster and temperature control and solenoid) as well. PS - As you can see its body has seen some better days, courtesy of my wife's run-ins with other posts, other cars and walls.