system_f

Make sure you do the oilpan gasket and rear seal while the engine is OUT or leave it completely alone. I am having to go back and and drop the subframe just to get the oil pan out. Not a huge deal, but a DOH! moment when you realize the engine was on a stand several months ago. USE THE FSM FOR THE OIL PAN GASKET!! FOLLOW IT TO THE LETTER!

4x4parts springs. Never should have sold that, hind sight is 20/20

95 % was the front CVS, manual hubs fixed it. I still have vibs above 70 that are minor. They feel like they are coming from the front end, but I am not sure. I just ordered front and rear arbs lockers with the bigger arb compressor as a backup air source for tires. When I do the front locker I will do CVS, if I don't find anything up front causing the vibs I will focus on the rear ( or mount some go pros and do some drive tests to see what I see). If it ends up being rear driveshaft I will order a Tom woods shaft with a double cardiam up front, have them build me a slip yoke eliminator and out adjustable upper links in to aim the pinion at the tcase. I did this on the caR50 and the rear end vibs completely disappeared.

Should be same tranny if it is a vg33e engine and tx10 tcase, wouldn't do it though. Usually only the solenoids fail on these transmissions. Drop the pan and replace them..not too hard. It seems the xterras and frontiers had more solenoid problems than r50. Simple rule I go by with these trannies or most electronic shifted autos if it shifts but slips, internal spinny part issue, if it won't shift, look to electronics (or won't shift when cold/hot). We had a girl with an 03 X have her solenoids fail in the trail in 14,. Replace them and problem solved. Hers wouldn't shift into 2nd, sometimes third. YMMV

275 75 16s fit on stock wheels with high-quality hub centered 1" wheel spacers with little issue. These tires are a tad bigger than 32" tires and only required a small inside front bumper trim and removing front mudflaps

Vibration problem fixed, Installed manual hubs and see that I have a CV that may be bad.

Time to add more useless information to cyber space. This is an interesting question and worth mentioning. Based on personal observation, which could be completely wrong, I think they did change the compressors for the later models. I know for a fact that the earlier models use a variable displacement compressor, which is cool as all get-out but very complicated. This compressor bases the displacement of the compressor on the heat load put on the system. Replacement rebuilt compressors could be had for about $180 at a local (to me) re-builder shop. The front seal on my 98 blew after 220k miles. My 2002 does not seem to have the variable displacement compressor. I have noticed the compressor cycles on and off like Xterras and Frontiers of the same vintage. More observation will be needed here.

And...she passed inspection, all of I monitors checked. I only had to put in a bank 1 sensor 2 o2 sensor. The only other major bug to work out is rear driveshaft vibration above 50mph. Once I figure that out I am calling the recovery portion done and will move on to building it for overland.

I was pleasantly surprised with the transmission, transfer case and front diff breathers. All three go to a metal hose assembly that is up behind the head, so not too low. The rear diff needs some help, though.

Can someone with a VQ engine please take a picture of the vacuum routing from the swirl valve (green vacuum valve in the front of the engine) and the swirl vacuum cut valve (drivers strut tower)?

She moved under her own power. Still more work to do, but a couple of quarts of tranny fluid, replace the diff fluid, and I may drive her to work.

IT RUNS ON all 6!!!! I installed the new injectors and it runs like it is supposed to....except for an exhaust leak on the "secondary cat" on the passenger side. I say that in quotes because they are not cats, but just baffles on my pathfinder. When I get back from a fun weekend on the lake it will be rear suspension and brakes time. My only hold up is the front wheel spacers which shipped yesterday.

Post plenty of pics. I am probably a year away from this.

And the wheel adapters do not fit on the front The flange won't clear the 4x4 hub. Maybe this is the excuse I finally need to buy a small lathe.

jjonez, it was probably oil starvation, the cam bearings are shot and eventually the right bank's exhaust cam snapped above #3. My engine came from a local yard. I wasn't worried about finding one from a manual so I got one from an automatic. The only difference on the engine is the upper intake and the lack of a power valve solenoid. The crankshaft is the same, you just have to remove the torque converter bushing and install a pilot bearing (same parts as the VG33e). car-parts.com is your friend. Well, she runs....kind of. She runs on 5 cylinders. #6 is not firing. At first I thought it was a bad coil so I swapped the coil with #2 and still had the missfire on #6. I pulled the#6 plug and it was dry as a bone, no combustion smell. This leads me to believe it is a fueling issue ie. the injector. This also leads me to question all of the injectors and the fuel system, so I ordered 6 injectors and plan on purging the fuel rail. I am getting a CEL for the swirl valve solenoid P1130. Based on information from the FSM this looks like a fairly easy problem to diagnosis. No CEL from the misfire because there is not any unburnt fuel in the exhaust stream for the O2 sensors to pickup. This further supports my theory that I have an injection issue with #6. I forgot how back-breaking suspension work can be. The lower a-arm bushings, ball joint, lift springs and strut are installed on the driver's side. I got to the lower a-arm bushings and ball joint on the passenger's side, but am too beat to continue. The rear suspension is going to be an absolute beast.

Today the title arrived in the mail. It's nice to know that after all this work it is legally mine. In Texas, at least major cities, we have to get vehicles inspected (even trailers over 4k GVWR which is a freaking pain in the a$$) before we can register them. When I was doing the title work I asked the clerk how I am supposed to drive my vehicle to get the OBDII monitors to a ready state so I can pass inspection when it is not road legal? She said I would have to get insurance on the vehicle and get a 30 day temp tag without registration. So tomorrow I start paying for insurance and I hope to get a temp tag so I can legally drive the thing if I am lucky enough to get it road worthy this weekend. Getting closer, but it is going to be a BUSY weekend. I had to pull the passenger cat after having the exhaust completed because I installed the manifold to cat gasket incorrectly. I wish junkyards could be more sneaky with the paint markings. All that's left under the hood is: -Intake manifold upper sections -computer harness from dash -belts -throttle and cruise cables -connect vacuum hoses -A/C idler -install battery -drain any existing oil and take a sample <- maybe I should have done this before installing the engine -cut open existing filter and examine <- maybe I should have done this before installing the engine -new oil and filter -pull plugs , vacuum cylinders, crank engine to build oil pressure -complete cooling system installation/radiator/fan -vacuum and charge A/C -fill all other fluids Installed new rack poly bushings. Shinny driveshafts new ujoints and balanced AND thanks my favorite junkyard for writing, in paint on the front face of the rims I purchased I have to figure out how to get that paint off without damaging the machined wheel surface. The bag of goodies...like I said, busy weekend. Oh, and I know all 8 of those rear link bolts are seized and are going to require cutting out with an angle grinder Not pictured: wheel spacers (shipped today), rear brake shoes and hardware kit, plugs...and OH I forgot an air filter

Okay, that's what I thought, I have a lot of experience with blowing CVs due to over extension with spacer lifts... SFD lifts can be very reliable, but I don't want to modify the vehicle that much and you have proven through the years that there is no need to with careful line choices and wheel placement.

Apologies for digging up such an old post, here are some pictures of the original kit I built in 2005 and the two prototypes that were sent to Colorado. The pictures should give someone an idea of how the parts are made for duplication. As was said before, the hardest part is the strut spacers which require precise angles to achieve original geometry. Drop lift pics from 2005. I do not recommend the steering spacer block! http://overlandtrucks.com/system-f/drop lift/ Here are pics of the two prototype lift kits I made and sent to Colorado (in 2009). http://overlandtrucks.com/system-f/lift_kit/ This one has a good picture of the Honda steer u-joint that should be used:

Engine, Transmission, T-case, driveshafts, exhaust are back in. Not many pictures this weekend as we were working over time. I went to the junk yard to get a spare rim and found an R50 with the rims I want for a good price. Unfortunately to run any stock rims with the tires i have is going to require spacers. I ended up purchasing 4 1" Bora spacers. There has to be something I am missing with the spacer lift. The first lift I built for myself was 2" strut spacers and I did the AZ run 4 with this lift. I went through 4 CVs in the first 4 days. When climbing an obstacle and the front became unloaded allowing the wheel droop, my spotter saw one of the CVs and said that it over extended, started to pop out but instead shattered. So my question is, what am I missing? What do these spacer kits offer to mitigate the CVs over extending? FancyR50, nice color. Create a new topic and someone will answer your questions.

The Budget won and it looks like I will be keeping the wheels I have for the time being. This allowed me to get the stereo I want as the long trips can be tiring without entertainment. It looks tight, but is actually a lot better than I imagined. The tire should tuck into the wheel well nicely. To continue my ramblings: The other day I noticed that these 265 75 R16 tires are E rated and good for 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks. These may ride like ass, but the extra sidewall strength will be nice offroad.

Holy crap TowndawgR50 , that picture looks awesome. I am leaning toward these rims and use some 1/4" spacers. Although I hate the idea of spacers, 1/4" spacers with slightly longer studs doesn't scare me too bad. At this width they are just big flat washers. Looks like the Summit warehouse has wheel studs that are 12mm longer in stock, too. There is something about the big spokes and factory-ness of the wheel that makes me O.C.D. not burn so badly.

Haven't tried Photoshop. I have it, but I do not have the Photoshop powers. I have put the stock silver wheels on and they look good. I also put a black Steelie on and it looks ok. First world problems....

Looks like I need some help. I cannot figure out what wheels to go with. I know this is a very subjective topic, but any input would be great. I will start off by saying I hate flashy wheels. I want functional clean looking wheels. If the offset was ZERO I would go with these wheels as they are my favorite: but, they don't come in the offset I want and wheel spacers are out. These are another option, but they may be too flashy and they are NOT cheap...though I want something that looks decent. Maybe I need a darker color. I don't want black but the grey is very tempting: Ideas, comments?

I will probably replace the discontinued hoses with generic hose. They are the incoming and outgoing coolant hoses from the throttle body and easy to get to with the engine installed. Once I get rims with less backspacing there will be at least 1/2" more clearance between the strut and tire. Those stock wheels are a worst case scenario.