01Pathmaker

Glad you got that off your chest. $70 to ship 4 shocks?! That's ubsurd! I only ordered from them once (4 MD springs for the 01) and that had to be close to 10yrs ago, I remember the shipping was a bit high, but damn, that'd be a deal breaker for sure. Maybe I'll get lucky and find somebody selling a set of 2" front springs...

Warns are a great investment, but you could save some extra cash by going with either Milemarker or Rugged Ridge, they typically hold up just fine unless you're into frequent hard core rock crawling. As far as what you'll need with the lift, depends on which route you take. If you go with one of the "kits" from AC, I'd recommend the KYB struts and Bilstien shocks which is a little more expensive but well worth the money. In addition I'd get new strut mounts and bearings, as well as a pair of camber bolts. You can piece your own kit together quite a bit cheaper than what AC gets by just getting the springs from them, and everything else from other sources (AC is not shy on there shipping prices either).

Welcome! Clean looking ride there. To best answer your question a bit more info is needed. The spacers from 4x4design.com are very good, easy to install and, as you noted, quite affordable. The drawback some have found, is with the taller (2" or 2.5") front spacers, they may cause your cv's to bind at full droop. It has been noted that with 2" springs this doesn't seem to be much of an issue. Another thing to consider would be the condition of your current springs, if they're soft or saggy, you'd be better served replacing them anyway. I'm currently running his 1.5" spacers front and rear (with my sagging stock springs) with no issues, but since I'm looking for some more height, better cargo handling and I use mine on trails as frequently as possible, I'm going to be swapping the front out with 2" AC springs and in the back I'll be combining OME medium duty springs with the 1.5" spacers, which should level things out nicely. So basically, if your Pathfinder is more of a street queen then you shouldn't have an issue with the spacer lift, but if you're looking for off-pavement adventures, you'd probably be happier with a spring lift in the front. Don't get me wrong, Steve (4x4design.com) is a great guy, offers great products, stands behind everything he makes and is a great asset to our niche community. I've dealt with him several times and have nothing but good things to say, so if you want to keep it smaller scale and budget, I'd certainly recommend either 1" or 1.5" spacers (you'd also save the expense of having to buy longer rear shocks).

Before you try any cutting (usually should be the last option) find a socket that almost fits the rusty nubs that used to be nuts, then apply liberal heat to the nuts (if you have access to a hot enough torch, get them glowing) smash the socket on there and give it a whirl. You'd be very surprised how often that works. As long as that works, after everything is apart, heat up the flange around where the stud threads in, then use vice grips to remove them. This would be the best way to go about it. New studs, nuts, gaskets and everything will go back together all nicey nice.

Nice! Looks like you found yourself a little mud hole? Lol

That looks much cleaner I think. I have yet to find time to sketch out what's rolling around in my head, but I'm thinking of incorporating the center skidplate down to meet up with the one I have from Steve, and adding tapered "wings" from the bottom of the bumper to a location yet to be determined. It should have a cleaner look, offer a little additional protection and hide the washer bottle.

Have you tried flipping the mounting brackets? What I mean is flip the brackets on the ends of the bar so they look like this |_ _| instead of _| |_ ? That'd probably make up the difference. You'd have to mount the brackets to the roof rails then the bar to the brackets, but it might be just what you need.

Found it: 24-185509 This is the part number for Bilstien 5100 series rear shocks that work nicely on a 99.5-04 R50 with a 2" lift. IIRC you just need to swap the upper and lower bushings for them to fit the bolts respectively.

I remember the price from them was a little higher but still reasonable, but once you add shipping it was a deal breaker, I'll see if I can dig up the part#, they are available cheaper and with free shipping on amazon and a few other places.

How has utilizing the factory mount plates held up after almost 2yrs? I'm thinking this might work fine for me because I plan to use a non-winch mount XJ bumper. I'm thinking of fabbing up a 2" front receiver, utilizing a combination of where the bumper mounts and the tow hooks, and have it sit just below the center of the bumper (may also try to incorporate a skidplate of sorts from the bottom of the bumper to the lower rad support). I like the versatility of a cradle mounted winch, for front or rear use.

Cdns4 has the part# for the rear bilstien for a 99.5-04 R50 with a 2" lift somewhere in his build thread.

Very similar to what Steve Fluerys (very respected and valuable member here) makes/sells. Here's his site: 4x4design.com

Man, I can't thank you enough for pointing me in that direction! Upon further research and diagnosis I ordered up a new harmonic balancer. I replaced it today and not a moment too soon! The outer pulley where the 2 serpentine belts ride had begun to separate from the balancer itself and can be spun by hand while holding the inner section. Looks like I was on borrowed time, it could have let loose at any moment. Just more proof of how valuable this forum is! It's not just ideas for cool mods, or just a place to share your common interests, but also a very valuable source of information, and it's also a collective wealth of knowledge and experience that can make you think or look in a direction you haven't thought of. I LOVE NPORA!!!

Ok, so it sounds like there is no real true 2wd selection? If you just have a selector for auto/lock and a separate selector for high/neutral/low, then it sounds like it's an awd system. I am not terribly familiar with the available systems on the qx4, but if this in fact the case then locking hubs are not a good idea. Basically with the hubs unlocked in auto or lock, the driveshaft and cv's will be turning. Since I don't know much about your particular system I can't say whether or not any damage would be caused, but I think your mpg increase would be minimal and obviously you won't see any benefit of less wear on front drivetrain parts.

If you're looking to clear that specific tire size you should do the 1.75" OME or the 2" AC lift, these will also drastically improve your carrying capability over stock but allow you to clear that size tire. I have the medium duty springs (nobody makes HD rear springs for the R50) front and rear on my 01 with 255/70/16's and needed to reshape the corners of the inner fender liners, it would slightly rub while turning in reverse.

Like others have said, if you're into high speed offroading then you will not be happy with the R50. If you're looking for a Pathfinder that can be made more capable for that style, you would be better served building either a WD21 or R51, and between the two the R51 would be a better candidate (imo) as it's already setup for coilovers in front, with decent aftermarket support as well. No matter what vehicle, Nissan or otherwise, be sure to invest in a cage and other appropriate safety gear, as high speeds off road can and have injured and even killed plenty. We have a term for people that like to go fast without appropriate equipment or training, we call them "suicide jockeys". Don't take any of this the wrong way, just trying to help. PS - just realized that you said you're in Canada, so I'm not sure of how fast 80kph is compared to 80mph, but it still sounds too fast even for maintained gravel or dirt roads.

I'm pretty sure that the chrome steel wheels you have are only 6" or 6.5" wide. Technically you'll be able to mount the 31x10.50's, but they may wear more quickly in the center of the tread as the rims are more narrow than the tires are designed for. Ideally you'd want a 7" or 8" rim.

Although some have custom fabbed a large subframe drop, really your only option to get to the 6" mark with somewhat readily available kits is to combine a 4" sfd with 2" front springs. I believe with that combo and a little trimming, some are running 35's. The main limiting factor is the front suspension (struts) on the R50. Could always go full bore and SAS that thing, but you'd probably need good fab skills or know someone who does.

Actually yesterday but, found my chatter, it's coming from the crank pulley, but only when the ac belt is on it. It's not the idler and not coming from the compressor, definitely from the crank pulley. So since I was short on time (and it's October) I'm leaving the belt off for now. I'll dig deeper into it when time allows.

Oh, and of course unless you are positive it has all been done recently, go through it and change all your fluids and filters (engine, coolant, transmission, transfer case, front/rear diffs and fuel filter.

Sounds like you made a good choice. The 2 biggest improvements I've made on my 01 are upgrading to medium duty springs with KYB struts/shocks which have drastically improved the ride/handling/carrying capability and also gave me 1/2" to 3/4" lift. I used the springs from AC (4x4parts.com) but I've also heard the same feedback about the OME (Old Man Emu) springs. The second best upgrade was going to slightly larger, competent all terrain tires, I'm currently running 255/70/16 General Grabber AT2's. This combo has turned this pathfinder into a very capable, well rounded daily driver (wife's dd). It's comfortable, capable and still gets pretty good gas mileage, averages about 15 with a mix of highway and local driving, on premium gas (drops to about 13ish on regular). I went the more "off road" direction with my 96; 2" lift, 31" mud terrains, skidplates, etc; as this is my daily/woods/sidework vehicle. The ride is loud, less comfortable and gets worse mileage, but I have a much shorter commute than my wife. So to sum it all up, it really depends on what you want/need out of your pathfinder, but from your first post, it sounds like a similar setup to my 01 would be a good fit.

The thought crossed my mind but when I pulled it out I found a tag on it from one of the infamous low quality local rebuilders, so I figured dump it now before it throws Murphys law at me. I know if had done the bearings, no doubt it would have crapped out soon after. Surprised it was dated almost 2yrs sgo, usually everything that shop touches is only good for a year at best.

As a current owner of both I'd spend a little extra for the vq35. My 01 (bought it new) hit 150k miles last weekend, never any major issues, just routine maintenance, O2 sensors, a camshaft position sensor and a few evap related fixes. My 96 (I'm the 3rd owner) was well cared for mechanically, has about 178k on it, but really beginning to nickel and dime me to death (I'm currently searching for a clean 01/02 to replace it). Not to mention that the power difference feels drastic when I drive both on the same day. Another plus to going with the vq35, since you plan a lift and bigger tires, it's really easy to swap out the front diff and rear ham for better gearing from the vg33 generation R50. And the additional minor creature comforts available on the 01-04's over the 96-00's. All food for thought.

No pics cause I was angry, I replaced the alternator in the 96 today. It was charging fine but the bearings were screaming, sounded like an X-wing fighter! Now that is quiet, I'm hearing a squeak/chattering kind of noise, seems like it might be coming from the water pump? Seems like there's a little play when I try to wiggle the fan blade with no belt on the pulley...

One thing you guys might be overlooking is the increased rolling weight of the larger (and possibly higher load range, ie. thicker carcass) tires. This factor increases the actual load on the drivetrain more than everyone thinks, it's not just a difference in size.