01Pathmaker

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.

With the toe being a ways off you would have started eating up some of the tread on the front tires, so in that respect it needed to be done, but yeah, prices for certain things have gotten out of hand and this is one of them. Unfortunately a necessity though. Goodyear charged me about that for my last alignment with a 3 month guarantee, they tried to sell me on an alignment with an unlimited 3 year guarantee (could get a free alignment every 3 months for 3 years) for over $200! I'm going back to Firestone next time for their $89 lifetime warranty alignment...

VERY GOOD SAFETY INFO HERE! Sorry for yelling, just wanted it to get noticed, because yeah, welding (or burning off in any manner) a galvanized coating is no bueno. Some choose to grind it off (just a light kiss with a mild abrasive disc in the areas that will be welded), but there to, proper PPE needs to be worn to protect your respiratory system and full goggles should be worn as well.

Very good point Patrick, and yep, my 96 has 3 of the crossbars you have pictured (in addition to the 2 elevated bars), my 01 just has 2 elevated bars and 4 of the little black tiedowns (but there are a few more of those threaded plates in the rails). Also, I'm pretty sure AK is referring to the size of the head being 10mm, good info though, as I was curious as to the thread size and pitch, but too lazy to unscrew one of those little guys to investigate.

Everyone has brought up great points, and I too am very happily surprised how this thread is taking off. Also a great resource to keep in mind in case you have any question on if your child seat is installed or adjusted correctly, most police departments and many fire departments offer child seat inspections. You'd be disgusted to see how many people out there are driving around with their kids strapped into a seat that is improperly installed or adjusted, then thereare those who switch to either forward facing or boosters before they should, simply for convenience. You are 100% correct in that the seat does need to have some movement for the exact reasons you've stated above. Very good info. As to the LATCH and ANCHOR points, IIRC the ANCHOR points came to the R50 with the facelift (my 01 has them, 96 does not, nor did a 99 that I saw not too long ago). The LATCH points became more mainstream in the 03-04 range. It is a good idea to utilize the Anchor points in combination with either the latch or seat belt. Even with a properly secured lower section, I've seen the top of the seat flung forward.

Since I love my kids dearly, and have seen some very horrific and tragic things happen during my time (19+ yrs) serving as a firefighter/rescue technician/emt, I use every available attachment method (seat belt and latch) on both of my girls seats. I also check and readjust the harnesses once a month for proper fit. To me, there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to safety.

Looks good AK! Hey Megaton, do you have any details on the build of your rack? Been thinking about this for a while.

Nobody makes a longer strut for the R50, but kyb seems to be one of the more preferred brands, so as long as those are the correct part numbers for your application (there are 2 for the R50, 1 for 96-99, 1 for 99.5-04), then yes.

Diffs call for 80w-90, don't see why 75w-90 wouldn't work, been running full synthetic since about 15 miles in my 01 (just turned 150k yesterday). T-case is dex equivalent ATF, auto trans is also ATF (needs to meet Nissan Matic-D specs), both of these I've also been running synthetic for the same amount of time.

Bumper dimensions are very similar to the Jeep Cherokee (XJ), a few have modified the brackets to work on their R50. I'm currently looking at a bare steel XJ pair (front and rear) on ebay. Great selection to choose from and much more reasonably priced. http://m.ebay.com/itm/1984-2001-FRONT-REAR-JEEP-CHEROKEE-XJ-BUMPER-SET-/171242724367?nav=SEARCH

2" is the max total of "safe" suspension lift in the front (some will argue 2.5"). What I have personally found is if you go with 2" front springs than adding another half inch or so via spacer will work, with oem height springs 2" spacers max out cv's at full droop, with .5" springs 1.5" spacers seems to be the max. If you purchased MD springs for front and rear, I'd go with 1.5" spacers in the front and 1" in the rear to level it out (without a load in back). Since I'm ok with a half inch rake, I'll be doing 1.5" on top of my md's all around (mainly because I have some sort of load more often than not). As for rubbing, especially with the stock size tires you won't rub. Although I do have them myself, I'm not a big fan of spacers, the smaller the better (I run 1" with my stock wheels and 31's on my 96), once you move up to bigger tires you may have to get out the heat gun and do a little reshaping on the corners of the inner fender liners.

Since it sounds obvious that you will not be performing any of the work yourself (no shame in that), I'd say find a trusted mechanic, have the radiator replaced, cooling system fully flushed and flush the transmission fluid and change the filter. If you haven't driven it long in this condition, you should be good. Coolant in the transmission fluid will cause a lot of slippage and internal pressure issues (think of an auto trans as a hydraulic pump, it's designed to work with certain pressures that pertain to specific fluid, introduce a foreign fluid and it will not behave as designed), but as long as it was not driven for a long period like that chances are internal damage would be minimal. Not having an initial investment in this vehicle, it would be foolish to not put some money into trying to save it. To do what I mentioned above, it will be less than $750 (honestly it should be no more than 500ish). Selling it as-is you'd probably get $2000 or less, whereas a clean 03 4x4 with 125k in good running order brings 4500-6000 in my local market. With limited vehicular/mechanical knowledge, buying a used car is a crap shoot, unless you're lucky enough to have a close friend or family member that is selling something that you want.

If you're talking about replacing the metal hard lines to reroute them using rubber fuel line hose, technically you can as long as you use fuel injection hose, along with proper clamps. It would be better to get yourself some new hard line (either straight length or a roll depending on the linear footage you'll need), a tubing bender (small handheld will work fine and is inexpensive), an assortment of the appropriate fittings and you can rent or borrow a flaring tool. You'll end up with a cleaner, more reliable setup than you would using rubber hoses.

2 things: 1) Congrats on finding my unicorn! Lol. Have been looking very hard for an 01 or 02 5spd 4x4 se, all I find is either too rusty, mileage in the 200's or gone when I get there. Please don't tell me you have a sunroof too... 2) The 01 3.5 recommends using 91 octane or higher. Don't get me wrong, it'll run fine on regular (ran regular for about a year while gas prices were over $4/gal for regular and almost $5 for premium), but it runs better and I consistently get around 2mpg better on premium. Thread jacking over...

I know that body and interior have some differences, some subtle, some not so much. The qx4 has a different front bumper cover, turn signals, fog lights, front corner lights, taillights, tailgate, added cladding on the doors/rockers, and IIRC the flares are slightly different (certainly could be wrong though). Inside subtle differences continue, as far as I recall many have upgraded the pathy to qx4 pieces inside, cluster, dash clock, assorted trim.

Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, however to say that his products are "crappy" is a gross misrepresentation of what he produces. His products are designed to provide lift to a niche market on a budget, and I'm sure they are designed with certain parameters in mind. There are many (probably at least a hundred or so) that are running stuff from him and have nothing but good things to say. I'm not implying that you didn't have an issue, and yes, there are similar products from different vendors who use different materials. It is up to the buyer to research what's available and make a decision based upon their needs, wants and budget.

Ewww, that'd be caused by excessive heat, could be from a loose or dirty connection or excessive voltage. Had you ever peaked in there before today? Could have been something that happened prior to your ownership? I've seen some wacky stuff happen when John Q. Public thinks he knows how to wire stuff up, up to and including the whole thing burning to the ground. I once purchased a used truck that had 5 8" Dick Cepek 100 watt lights on a nice rack. Came find a few weeks after purchase, when some of the electronics started acting hinky, the fuse box was melting a bit every time the lights were turned on! The brainiac that did the install had wrapped a 16ga wire around the hot side of the cigarette lighter fuse and run that up to the 2 switches to power 500 was worth of lighting! No fuses, no relays, improper wire choice! I was disgusted and very surprised the thing hadn't burned up! Ever since then, I always look at all the fuse boxes and relay centers on any used vehicle I consider buying, if anything looks shoddy, move on to the next one. Wow, sorry that kind of turned into a rant...

This has been covered about a zillion times, the search feature is your friend. Steve at 4x4design.com can hook you up.

Haha! Love it! Clever use of the token off of a certain crown vic too!

Drove the 01 a bit this weekend, so I'm sure tomorrow mornings commute in the 96 will remind me that I think the 3.3 IS squirrel powered! Lol

Damn man! A bit more armor, maybe some runflat tires, some added fuel capacity and you've got yourself one heck of a bugout ride! I think Steve made some custom "bugout edition" decals for bushnut, might need to look into that. Lol

Just for the record, I did the u-joints on the rear shaft of my 01 (manual t-case) about 2 months ago (at 145000 miles), mine has inner snap rings, I installed Moog (about $12US) grease able u-joints as I like to be able to maintain all possible moving parts. If you are mechanically inclined, have a bench vise, hammer, snap ring pliers, grease gun, appropriate sized sockets (1 slightly larger than the u-joint cap and 1 slightly smaller) and 1-2 hours, it's easy enough to do yourself. As for the driveshaft being worn out, I've seen worn slip yokes and bad/dry/worn/stiff u-joints, but the shaft itself cannot wear out. A damaged shaft (dented/twisted/smashed/cracked) or a missing weight would be an issue.