Mr. Pickles

Be VERY careful, highway speeds will kill the transfer case. I think 55 is max in 4WH IRRC, it may only be 45. More like 25-30 in 4WL. This drivetrain is very strong, more than most, but only to a point.

Which "islands?" Your profile is blank. Are these parts free, or in a junk yard for a fee? If free, I'd grab both full front axles from the transfer case to the rims first, and maybe the transfer case. Then, well, the engine, tranny, t-case, ect., etc. Interior parts are easy and quick, so grab what you need. If you have to pay, I'd still start at the front end, and if parts are scarce there, I'd strip it clean of commonly used parts if you can get them for a reasonable price.

I'm not sure they work the super cheap deals anymore, but its worth a check, since I got them for $130 or so + shipping, but I heard somebody got fired like 6 months later because of this. This was about 2 1/2 years ago, so things have changed, I'm sure. $169 seems very reasonable considering the competition, but if so, be SURE to specify the UCA's bushings are included. I went through a run-around with Rough Country because they *forgot* my bushings and figured I wouldn't need them anyways. Right. I dropped $10 in the mail, and it was solved quickly and to my satisfaction, just a heads up.

I followed 88's instruction, but cut the pig tail coil at the top. I've been running for 3 years absolutely fine, and have wheeled repeatedly while trying to get max extension on the rear suspension, with no issues what-so-ever. Doooo-it. *edit* see my sig pic if you have any doubts, and remember, this is WITH the pigtail coil cut, 4-door with tire carrier, and this is at least 2 years after install from a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8.

Ah, saw the stripe from the neg post down. Cool, if anything, maybe I'll get an additional strap and go from there to another point. It should help more than hurt, I'd think.

Egg-sactly. I specifically remember having to scrape and rub some of the corrosive crud off of my starter + cable last time around (last summer), can't believe it slipped my mind. Has anybody noticed where the ground connects to the block? Sorry, its dark as the inside of a cow outside. I had already been thinking earlier of one of those ricer grounding kits on feeBay, where you get a couple stranded negative straps. Couldn't hurt, really, especially with about 1800 watts of stereo grounded to the truck chassis.

Are you *sure* that its from the rear end? Just a though, sound effects an all.

Thanks, this is the first thing I checked tonight on a full battery. Rigged up a long (15' or so circuit with a monster 12v LED so I could set it up under the hood and see it from the cab) test light to the solenoid wire, and it lit. Then I replaced the light with a meter and read about 11.5 volts. I think this would be acceptable drop given the long test circuit of only like 14 gauge wire for the circuit. So, seems good there. Checked volts at the starter again, good. Checked a few other things, fine. Then I said screw it, if the starter is fried, I'm gonna "bench" test it to find out. Pulled it, ran jumpers for ground to the chassis, power and just touched off on the solenoid. The damn thing fired just fine and repeatedly. So... a new + cable will go in, hopefully tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers. I might finally go ahead and replace the ground cable to the block too, just in case. Thanks for the help, wish me luck.

Got a roller/stacked Craftsman for the garage, plus the rest is on shelves, workbench, all over the place really. Screwdrivers and stuff in drawers around the house, you know, just 'cause. LOL A nylon bag o' stuff like screwdrivers, cutters, pliers, etc., for the Pathy, plus a Stanley socket set (cheap and pretty stout), a 1/2' Harbor Freight socket set for the big stuff, and a HF full metric and standard wrench set. Gotta be prepared...

Not Nissan, you're typical reman'd ones, from Autozone. I did the bang on it deal with the original one and that got me by a few times over a month or 2, but no luck now. One other thought the book brings up is maybe the ignition switch. Any ideas on testing it without tearing it all down? *back to football, and its raining outside*

Yeah, that's an next step, the book lays out a few tests you can run to check the cables and such. I'm betting its another junk starter for some reason, something about the "made in Mexico" sticker on the side. I just want to make sure before pulling it yet again. Grrr By the way, isn't there a starter relay only on auto trucks? That's what Haynes says.

Ok, update: put the new one in (lifetime warranty at Autozone), but nada. Took it back, they put it on the tester at Autozone, and it failed. The guy thought it was grounded internally or something, and was defective. Got another (should have had them test it there), put it in this morning, nada. WTF?!?! Battery connections are clean & fine, connections at the starter are fine, fuses are good I believe. Anyone recall which would cover the starter, "engine control?" Does anybody remember the voltage required for the starter to turn? I've got 12.38 at the battery, 12.08 at the terminal on the starter. That seems fine with the drop, but I've got the battery on the charger now. Still, I tried the 50amp "charge" mode on the charger, and it wouldn't turn, so that's probably not it. GRRR... any ideas? Let me know, I'm off to check my Haynes for what little good it will probably be. I'm gonna let that battery charge and go watch the Seahawks maul the Cardinals.

3 5/8 quarts of oil in the engine, IIRC. Of course, there's the dipstick. LOL I run 10W 30 in our western WA climate, it depends on your location and driving. I don't have an auto, sorry, and I can't seem to find my book for the diff #'s, the wife seems to have reorganized. Maybe I'll find something. Finally, don't go on "what I heard" regarding what options came with which truck. The model trims and option lists were very loose, at least on WD21's (late 80's-early90's Pathfinders and Hardbody's). You'll find an SE with unexpected options just the same as you'll find and LE with wierd options. Mixed in where auto and manual transmissions, options on tire sizes, chrome vs. paint trim, open diff vs. LSD, drum or disk rear brakes, etc. etc. etc. The combinations appear to be nearly endless, and can even go into 4cylinder trucks (especially Hardbody, and some early Pathfinders) and people who have swapped parts between Hardbody and Pathfinder as well as aftermarket.

I can't imagine the bearings being gone enough that it would affect alignment and yet the truck still drove. That's some serious slop.

Yeah, cause rolling around in my gravel driveway with 2 sprained ankles, a bruised heel, a banged up shoulder, and a dork light strapped to my forehead is exactly how I'd like to spend the rest of my days.

Just yanked mine for the 3 time in just over a year (first time, it bench tested fine at Autozone, put it back in and it failed miserably a couple days later). Thanks for lifetime warranties. No real meat to this post **(this is a lie- see below)**, just some rambling annoyance. Got that thing out quick this time though. I'd still love to bitch-slap the enginenerd that designed that fiasco.

Don't forget a hammer. I've had to *motivate* some openings in various rigs, no biggie. Just be careful and work slow and smart. I've got Infinity 5x7's up front, 6x9's in back, no real mods required behind the stock speaker grills, just a little snipping of the plastic and such. If you're using stock grills, check how much clearance you have between the new speaker and grill. You might be able to make a thin spacer between the speaker and metal, maybe 1/8th-1/4" thick behind the speaker to pull it out of the hole and clear the metal. Try some cheap paneling/wainscotting, that stuff about half way between cardboard and plywood, you can pick up a sheet pretty cheap at Home Depot, etc. Or just cut the metal. Your call.

Have you figured it out yet? If not, try pulling the trim plate in back on the bottom around the little hoop the hatch catches on, then un-bolt the hoop thing, and place a washer under each side on the 2 bolts. Should solve your problems for about 20 cents.

You can't get them from Randy's Ring and Pinion (among other outfits), I've tried. Contacted a few of their reps as well as a manager, and they said a combination of they couldn't get a reliable source and they weren't sure there was a big enough market for them. One of the guys suggest AC... LOL.

Not so much, apparently. If you're really going through with this, I suggest figuring out that snorkel of course, but also adding a locker in the rear diff. If you try to push through deep water with just an open rear end, you'll end up going nowhere. At least get some traction down if you're bent on not getting a 4wd truck.

Yeah, that's a bummer. There was some good old stuff, not much, but still. Also, his old mrjim.net/jimbennet.net site went away a while ago, and that had the old original threaded Pathfinder site from back in the day around 2002 or so when I first joined in, along with some cool old pics and vid's (like AirNissan). He said most of that was lost unfortunatley, I assume from when his laptop was stolen a while back.

Um, did you actually read the article? It was dyno tested. Hence, pics of said truck on the dyno.

What they said. Honestly, I've never driven my Pathy with AT's, and only for like 2 months in my 720 before it, its been mudders all the way. But I've driven AT's on other rigs, and they're fine all around. MT's slip more in the rain and more so in ice, I just got used to it. That being said, I'm in WA so it doesn't get super cold and most trails are either dry or muddy, no real inbetween. Climate is a biggie, and it looks like you're in OK, so I'm betting rain and wet for 9 months isn't a concern. My Pathy started as a commuter rig, and I got about 45K miles out of a set of BFG MT's, and I'm 15K into my ProComp MT's with tons of tread to spare, granted my commute shrunk from 25-30 each way to 5. I'd take the ProComps anyday over the BFG's, as they have some siping and are better in the wet. I bet you could get more out of an AT, but how much more depends on how you drive I guess. As much as MT's look cool, and AT's are usually very capable in most situations, its down to personal choice and what you have to deal with in your world. AT's will get you through most stuff great, they're generally quieter, they might get a little better mileage, and are usually a little cheaper. On the other hand, I don't like getting stuck. Period. I only go on long road trips in the Pathy for camping in the summer, and I want to be able to tackle most anything, so MT's it is. Good luck!

We dropped to $2.75 at the cheapest AM/PM here in Bonney Lake, WA. Closer to $3 up the road in Seattle. We had about a 400 mile weekend last weekend. Thank goodness for some foresight a couple years ago when buying our VTEC 4cyl Acura CL rolling around 34MPG hwy at 75-80MPH.

Um, yes, I believe extra "stuff" will be a concern. Your shopping list covers lots of stuff you don't need, as has been said, but also doesn't cover everything. Have you considered simply selling the 2wd truck and buying a 4wd one? You could lift yours to the sky, but if you really need the lift for flood waters or whatever, I'd bet you'd be up a creek (or foating down one) without the extra traction of 4wd. It doesn't make much sense to me to spend this kind of money to lift a 2wd truck when you could do the same more effectively with 4wd for a similar price.