hawairish

Sorry, what I meant to say was that I was considering supporting separate brackets, one for higher channel and receiver (for which I would also provide a kit), another for a lower channel without. Other ideas have also crossed my mind. Main takeaway at this point is that there will be options, including custom ones. Since TownDawg plans to use part of his XJ bumper for his build, I've got an offer out to him to customize the brackets to his liking. Fact is, he's already a fabrication pro at that stuff (whether he admits it or not). Since we have the same CNC routing equipment, we'll be able to collaborate on the design pretty easily I think. As long as he can wait a couple more months for a finished piece! But generally speaking, I'm hoping this project opens doors for other projects...you know, like a bolt-on SAS kit or something...

Here's a daylight shot: One day, I'll actually start that rear bumper, giving me a better excuse to pull everything down and get it coated! We finally got some rain the other day...prior to that, it was fairly rust free. On the plus side, I finally started v2 redesigns this week on the bracket. I'm at a minor blockage rethinking where to put the shackle mounts due to other modifications, though. I'm currently planning to move them closer to the OE tow loops, about where the lowest bolt is in the pic. That would provide the necessary space for mounting a crossbar/receiver under the winch channel. I'm also playing with the idea of lowering the channel altogether, for those not wanting to find an alternate control box mounting position like I did...but it would lose the option for a receiver. I know this build has slow going, but we will get there... Not yet. The original plan was to have a batch done by my local steel shop, but we're fast approaching the time when I'll be able to cut these in my garage for less. Equipment arrives late July, hoping to be on my feet early August. That gives me time to make my design changes, set up shop, get material costs, get a new head-count on interest, and start cutting stuff. Exciting days to come!

Fronts are tougher. I'll sell you my rears if you're interested, though RainGoat has first dibs (didn't see his last post on the thread until now): http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/40111-4x4-parts-rear-swaybar-disconnects/?p=778320

Odd. The links in my original post seem to work fine for me, but are bad in your quote of my reply. Anyway, try these instead:

Not hard to remove at all. Personally, I didn't like the feel without it, but that really only pertains to cornering. Can you drive on the freeway? Sure, just avoid quick maneuvers...that's a pucker moment I had that got me wanting to put it back on. However, firmer springs and shocks or the addition of air bags can help with stabilization, too. What's warranting its removal? I don't think it's thick enough to really restrict articulation...hasn't been an issue for me, anyway.

Can't say I've had that issue, but I can say this much... If there is grease on the face of the differential side shaft (what the CV bolts to), it's likely from the backside of the CV. The boot keeps grease on one side of the CV joint, but there's a cap (kind of like a paint can lid) that does the same on the reverse. If that cap is damaged, it might warrant a new CV since I don't think the cap is a replacement item. If it's not grease, it would have to be gear oil. While there is an oil seal behind the differential side shaft, it wouldn't produce oil on the face. However, there is an o-ring on the long bolt in the center of the side shaft that, if compromised, would allow oil out over time. Are you saying some of the CV shaft bolts went missing, and the one(s) that remained ended up shearing off? Is it possible the CVs were rebuilt, the caps were damaged during the process, and the bolts not torqued down?

Couldn't resist digging this old topic up after seeing some Harrop videos that address my original concerns tonight. Take-away: presuming they're all the 4-pin collar-type, the engagement/disengagement that occurs between forward and reverse would not be an issue. I'm obviously not in the market for lockers now (my how much my truck has changed in two years!), but if I had to do it all over again, this is likely the direction I'd go. Air fittings suck...inconsistent sizes, expensive parts, too many parts. I accidentally snapped a brass fitting on my rear locker...a $30 mistake because I couldn't find a suitable replacement piece and had buy a complete kit. My setup is a mashup of 5mm, 6mm, and 1/4" tubing with 1/8' and 1/4" BSPT and NPT fittings using parts from ARB, TJM, and now Yukon. It works, but what a mess, and much of it unavoidable.

Good call. Forgot about that lower seal; for some reason, I thought it was inclusive on the RMS assembly. I see now it's a separate part. But either way...if you've gone so far as to pull the transmission down, my money says you'll just change out both while you're in there.

Rear main seal.

Same here. Very tiny saturation on mine. Im giving it time to fester, in case lower 4L gears are in my future.

No problem, glad you've got a solution. Replied to your PM...you might be able to adjust the latch and stopper a little to get more contact on the switch. But to recap the discussion for everyone else, after reviewing the FSMs, it looks like there was a short pigtail that ran between the some harness under the RH tail light and the switch for the carrier. The 2-wire harness branches off of the tail light wires somewhere nearby and should have a grommet on it; the wire in question is a green w/white one. To make the light work, you only need to ground that wire. I think in my case, mine happened to have the pigtail, but others may not. If you take pancake's approach, older gauge clusters have the G/W wire as pin #3 on the M24 harness. In my FSM, that wire is pin #2 of the same harness, so be sure to check your FSM and confirm the wire color (both are listed as G/W). In the FSM, see the EL (Electrical System) chapter, specifically the "Meters and Gauges" section for info about the gauge cluster, and the "Warning Lamps" section for more specific details about pinout and wiring. The schematics will have a "TC" icon to indicate components related to the "tire carrier switch".

I'd first head over to your local DIY spray-n-wash bay, be liberal with the tire/engine degreaser, let it soak in a little, then power wash the area. With everything cleaned up, might make it more obvious were the leak is coming from. Otherwise, it's just being soaked up by all the grime that's built up. Sometimes the "cleanest" of the dirty spots is near the source, since dirt sticks a lot better to oily surfaces than it does to actual oil drips. The wiring loom is in the way in your pic, but that grime-less "clean" spot on the back of the block above the oil pan is directly below the bellhousing weep hole, making the RMS a plausible source. Seeing as the bottom of the bellhousing also looks more wet than the rest, I'd say drips are from the weep hole. Next is determining the color of the drips, brown or red.

Can't say I've looked, but I would also expect the clutch to not be serviceable; riveted unit. There is a p/n for the just the clutch (92660-4W00A), but it exceeds the cost of a replacement aftermarket compressor with clutch (closer to $300 or less?). Other reason for asking for clarification is if you threw a belt, I would have expected a grenading idler bearing to have been the problem. Of course, with the belt routing behind other belts, I would have expected some carnage.

To be sure, you're talking about the bearing in the compressor unit, and not the bearing for the idler pulley nearby? Or is it the clutch itself that is bad?

Thanks Kyle! Hopefully we can get the pics showing again. Found out that PostImage had some issue with the postimg.org domain registration, but if the image URLs point to postimg.cc, all will be good. I pm'd RedPath88 to see if he can make a bulk change...it would fix it for everyone using PI. Going to see if I can move this project forward a little tonight...

Not late, I'm just a little stalled for the time being. I'm trying to ramp back up for a v2 of the bracket, but too many other projects at the moment. Hoping to have a much better answer within a month. I still have all the pics, but my image host, Post Image, did something stupid with links. Checking with them to see if they have a better solution before I have to redo everything. Here's the abstract:

As far as I know, all the manual hub brands for any one R50 year will fit all other R50 (and QX4) years. The CV shaft and wheel hubs are dimensionally the same. I think all the fitment applications are screwy because older Pathfinders had OE wheels that could accommodate the Warn hubs, while the newer wheels couldn't because of the center cap style. All the OE wheels have 100mm center bores, but the older wheels had center caps that didn't reduce the bore diameter a few inches away from the wheel hub. My 04 SE wheels have a recessed center cap, and the flange it rests on would prevent the Warn hubs from fitting without modification because the bore reduces in that area to something like 94mm. The generic hubs I use have a smaller diameter, so they fit just fine. My buddy has an 02 with Warn hubs, and they fit just fine because he has afttermarket steel wheels where the center cap isn't even a factor. That all said, if you have aftermarket wheels, you probably won't have an issue because the center cap won't interfere with the Warn hub body. As for Auto-Mode usage, the way RainGoat explained it is how I understand it, but I have the part-time system so I can't attest to anything. I can't really say the having the hubs helped mileage either...it's pretty crappy as is (14 mpg is "normal").

Ha, should be (or in your case, should've been) either a 10mm or 12mm...standard OE for 8mm x 1.25 JIS bolts. Fun fact: only sizes you'd typically need on any OE Nissan bolt are 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm, 21mm, and 22mm. And then, because you're a R50 owner where crappy aftermarket parts exist, you end up with a bunch of Standard and non-JIS sizes as things get replaced. Bummer about the mounts and rust, though.

Hmm, yeah my pics in posts seem botched now too. However...one thing I've noticed over time is that Postimage tends to cycle through URLs for some odd reason...my bookmark for postimg.org doesn't work, but I see all my pics at postimages.org, which redirects me to postimg.cc, which I've not seen before (I've seen the others). Hopefully they're still working on some traffic redirects.

Ran a trail over the weekend, plus the 4 hrs of highway there and back...results were good. I think having a proper PHB drop enabled some body roll, as there's a little more than I remember with the previous setup. But overall, the ride was comfortable, yet firm for both highway and trail. Definitely seemed to handle the trail well, without bottoming out. Of course, this was a full shock, strut, and spring replacement, so I expected improvements at all corners.

So, looks like the springs do end up seating fine on the lower perch. Maybe I over-thought it because of the work required to get my spacers to fit into the spring. Still haven't pulled it out of the garage for a test drive! Just finished the PHB drop tonight...what a pain this has all been.

Man, those reservoir brackets turned out sexy!

Ok, things are installed-ish, finally. I must've missed the part where the spring ID was close, but not quite, OE ID. It's like 4.9" vs 4.7" ID. Sits a little high (0.25"?) on the lower coil perch, and I needed to mill the inner seat of my coil spacers in order to re-use them. Without my rear bumper on, the 9448's and 2" spacers netted about 3.25" lift over my previous setup w/ OME MD springs. As it sits right now, I need a 6.5" PHB drop to level the bar, suggesting these are good for about 4". Going to make a 6" drop bracket tonight and let a custom bumper bring it down a little more. OME HDs up front lifted another 1.5" after bumper, winch, and skid installs. I'm cool with the 1.75" extra lift in the rear because the previous setup sagged a little in the rear, especially when loaded with family and gear. There's a bit of a rake unloaded, but it should sit nicely when it's loaded up. I have enough wheel clearance for my kids (4 and 5) to crawl atop the tire under the wheel wells now. Time to start wearing down these 32's faster... Haven't taken it for a test drive yet, of course, because the PHB is disconnected. I've always liked the ride on the truck, but I could tell it was getting softer. Had to modify the rear KYB shocks to get them to fit, and hopefully that effort was worth it. Installing the springs this time around was a real pain. I'll get some pics up once I'm able to get it out of the garage.

My 04 has the 3-button remote. However, having taken it apart before, there's a 4th button that's hidden. I think it just acted like another panic. I wish it would pop the glass. The FSM describes the process for learning new keys. However, you may want to find a local locksmith willing to cut any key blanks you provide. I had hell finding one locally, and eventually gave up. The shops would only cut the keys they sell.

Totally agree! In fact, excellent idea...probably should toss it on that NICO thread? Id like to think they could make the case for keeping some info around. Besides, the 05+ FSM exploded into like 3x the number of chapters. I swear the rear view mirror has its own section.