Mr. Pickles

You could probably get by cutting an old putty knife or something if you have one laying around. It can be done with a slim screwdriver, just take your time and be careful. But some sort of remover tool is much better and easier.

I believe some Chevy rims may fit, although you may have to have the center bored out on a lathe. That or you may look at some Rock Crawler-type steel wheels, as they're pretty cheap.

Ladies and gentleman, proof that a stubborn person posting with a buzz can be a bad idea. I retract the stupidity statements on my part. What do I care what you do with your wiring. You're not hurting anything, and overbuilding is a good thing. Please retire the flame suit and accept an apology from an idiot. I'm getting good at the foot in mouth stuff. As for the wires to the top speakers, I'm not sure of the exact routing. I loosened up the trim, and was able to get the roof liner separated enough to slide new wires up in there. Its pretty much an easy shot once you pop the edges loose.

I counter for somebody to run on stock stereo wiring, then switch out to full aftermarket of the specified sizes, and find a noticable difference. Not happening. I'm talking same speakers, just switch the source and stock vs. heavy wiring. You're not drawing enough power on a somewhat stock set-up (say a deck and 4 2 or 3 way speakers). Granted, you'll definately see a gain via an amp in this situation. As for the flip down multi movement do a back flip decks, they flip down, then operate. No more mystery movement, little draw. My point of this being, an average Joe should ha ve no concerns in going at his own stock system with an aftermarket deck. There are so many people ready to shut down the average Joe for swapping a quick deck and speakers in the name of quick sound product for cheap prices. I fully expect 88 to try an slay me at this point.

Yeah, you might break some clips, but oh well. They're almost 20 year old plastic. Either hit your local junkyard, order some from the local auto parts store if you can, or improvise if you have to. No big deal really.

Unless there is a real problem with your motor or tranny, I'd suggest just running with it. They're gutless, in case you're wondering, that's not your imagination. Just try driving it around. There's no point dumping more money into it than it cost you unless there is a real issue that needs addressing. If it drives fine, let her be. 265K miles is middle age for a Nissan. I'd suggest a tranny oil cooler if there hasn't been one before, and DO NOT flush the engine or pressure wash it. That's just asking for things to pop up that apparently at this age are happy where they are.

If you could get a Hardbody grille and go with regular squared headlights (I can't remember the size specifics) you can get Euro size headlights to fit that simply take regular bulbs. Its just your basic Euro lense casing, holding whatever bulb fits, basically the replacement if a Euro-spec ride gets wrecked. They had them for my 720 back in the day, but it was going to be like $70 which wasn't happening on an old truck. But take a look.

Go to a good locksmith, generally one that has been around for a long time rather than a new place or a chain of stores. My old 720's key was so worn down that it broke off in the door lock one night. Suprise to me! I pulled the pieces with tweezers and took it to a locksmith that knew what he was doing, and he was able to carefully make me a brand new key that worked on door locks and an ignition system that was about 250K miles old.

Just checking, as with how mine was set up by the PO, I know 1/10" would have made a difference, let alone more.

You must be driving some serious speakers off a regular stereo deck, or you're using a 1979 vintage deck. A modern stock stereo will usually come close to adequately powering mosts sets of stock or aftermarket replacement speakers, and most any aftermarket set, without anything close to a power draw that would dim the lights. For that kind of draw, you're looking at a good sized amp and some subs. We hope you've moved beyond the realm of 8-tracks and Pioneer Power Tuner I. 12 gauge is monster in this application, and won't be matched by any other wiring in the system, until you get into amp power and ground. If you run a stereo with regular speakers using stock wiring, you'll be fine. Move up to amps and heavier speakers, move up to heavier wiring. It all comes together.

Underinflation at speed is the problem you're refering to. Low inflation while while stuck in the much is a much different beast. I dare you to flip an Exploder while running 8lbs. at 3mph on the trail.

That thing is awesome. Was that you a few years back (Dec. 2002, I think) out at Tahuya, where some of the first remnants of NPORA first got together? I've always wondered who that was that was making us look like chumps.

Yes. Maintenance is key, so polish and/or wax when you can. Also, be sure to clean the back side of things like wheels and bumpers, and if they're new maybe a clear coat or some sort of sealing would help on the back. I've got a 1 year old new chrome front bumper that, when taken off to see the back, is already starting to rust like crazy. And I'm in WA where they don't use salt and stuff.

PB Blaster rocks. Its not a miracle worker, but I used it for the first time on my body lift install. It'll help break loose many somewhat frozen bolts, and for those that move stubbornly, it will help things along. My new plan for any future project will be to scope out what needs to be moved before-hand, and shoot them with PB for a good overnight soak or 2.

Nope, hence tubeless tires. I've got 31x10.5 BFG M/T's, and they claim something like 44 lb max. I keep them in the upper 30's on road, and have rarely had reason to air them down much at all, maybe a few lb's. But then, I'm stubborn and I'm at about 45K miles on these tires, which isn't bad for mudders.

Progress report time! I just finished getting the steering shaft back in, and went for a test drive. Took her to a parking lot down the street and tested her out. After much testing and checking for leaks, issues, etc. I did some hard braking, turning in circles and driving in "S" shapes just to see what would happen. I can shift to all gears fine, and can shift the all transfer case in positions, without notching the floor. However, I'm going to need to source a Hardbody tcase shifter cause the boot is squished down around it and makes it hard to shift. I think I may even like the shifter position down lower like it is, as it reminds me more of a sports car position now that its 3" down vs. a truck shifter. So, all is great... except... 1) Looks like I put the shaft back on 1 spline off. No biggie. -thnkboutit- 2) Steering is great until I hit the brakes, then I get binding in the steering, both while rolling and while stopped. Once I noticed it, I didn't put myself in that position till I hear from you all. Any ideas what's up there? Its only while hitting the brakes, every other scenario is fine. Maybe giving more slack (or less) to the steering shaft by loosening the splines? I dunno. Other than that, everything else seems to check out. I came back home, and kept it running for a while while I cycled the steering and did a bunch of pumping the brakes, etc. Just making sure something didn't get tweaked or come loose. All checks out other than that steering issue. So, other than the binding, I've just gotta hook up the fog lights and re-mount the hitch.

I don't know about this front end spring set-up your talking about, but I have the JGC springs in back. With the stock tire carrier and tire, an aftermarket TorkLift reciever hitch, and a sub box with 2 10's with pretty monster magnets, I still got just shy of 3" lift, probably about 2.75". And yes, I chopped the pigtail off.

Those are just "xenon gas" bulbs, nothing too fancy unless you blow a big wad on some PIAA's or something. I use "" because some places claim more than others as far as xenon content, effects, etc. Or are you talking about HID, cause that's a whole different topic. There are a bunch of the regular xenon-wannabe halogen's on eBay and in the local import shops. This is a very common size, same as many Toyota's and Fords, among others. Most draw similar to the stock bulbs, and you'll see claims like 55watt=100 meaning they say their 55 watt bulbs supposedly put out the light of a 100 bulb. But some of the headlights claim to be into the 80-100 watt range, which I think I'd avoid. I've had somewhat decent luck with Eurodezignz bulbs from eBay. They may blow after a year or 2, but that's not too bad at about $12-16 a set including shipping vs. spending $100+ on a set of high end ones that may blow too. If you're really into light output, you might want to look into replacing the stock headlight wiring with relayed power for more power. I believe 88 was thinking about jumping into this mod.

With the same size rim and tire, just the 1/2" of backspacing, could he just note the travel and clearance of the tire and then check some close reference points and take into account that extra clearance?

Is there something specific you're after that you could use an up-close pic of?

Why would you need a key code? Just take your 1 key to the locksmith or half of the stores in town (don't use Walmart!!) and they'll cut you a new key for $1.99 at most, no problem.

I had a main bearing go on a Dodge P.O.S. (GF at the time's car), and it made a progressive sound. At idle it was fairly quiet actually when run for a few min by the mechanic, but any throttle let out horrible sounds. It was a truly nastly thrashing and such. I'd say, if you're not sure, find somebody trusted who is.

88, thanks for a straight forward approach to the extraction of the shaft with the vice grips and vice solution. To my suprise, my dad recently bought a vice so we did it tonight. 5 min tops, and I had what should be all the extension I'll need to wrap this baby up.

Oh, I did get the shaft out by the way. Amazing what a continual 24 hour soak in PB Blaster and a BFH can accomplish.

Yep, the dealer is full of crapola. You might try a new battery in the alarm remote. You can pick one up just about anywhere, even the grocery store, for a couple bucks.