mjotrainbrain

That is very cool. They had a ladder on the back too, didn't they?

Woah, that is super cool! Was that a part of the Japanese off-road package?

Garbage man

Too bad you had to give up your old one! Congrats on having 2 now though.

Can't wait to see this build thread progress! I've seen what your rig looks like now on Facebook, so I look forward to seeing the story of how it got where it is.

hot dog

Soda pop

Ice cream

That is seriously cool, especially with that wood grain. Didn't know those existed.

Sounds pretty awesome man

Space age

Word.

Space probe

READ AND FOLLOW THE RULES! NOMINATIONS AND POSTS NOT CONFORMING TO THE RULES LINED OUT BELOW WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT NOTIFICATION. 1. You can nominate only Pathfinder/Terrano/QX4 trucks belonging to Registered NPORA Forum Members. New members will have to wait 3 months and have a post count of 100 before they can be nominated. Members who are banned, currently on suspension or for 1 month after their return from suspension will also be disallowed. (If you are banned you won't be able to be nominated for 2 months). 1a. Include the name of the NPORA Member who's truck it is that you're nominating (even if it is yours) 2. NO FAKE OR JOKE ENTRIES. 2b. Only original, unaltered photos with out graphics, advertisement or watermarks will be accepted for nomination. (Actual permanent stickers are allowable.) 2c. Final acceptance of TotM Nominations pics and winner submissions is at the sole discretion of the NPORA Moderation Team. 3. First 20 nominees are up for consideration and the nomination thread will be closed after the 20th submission or the 20th of the month, which ever comes 1st. Voting will be from 21st-31th. 4. One pic per nomination post, pics must have at least 640x480 of usable image space for use in the in the official boarder in the event that it wins the popular vote.All nominations are subject to the approval of the Mod Team and all decisions are final. Try to make it a good one or nobody will vote for your nominee! A recent pic is preferred but if the Pathy is still in the same shape as your last pic, go ahead and use that. An offroad setting or action pic is also preferred, but not necessary. 5. Only one truck nomination per member per month. 5a. If multiple people want to nominate the same truck, it is up to the nominee to decide on which pic to run with. In the absence of the nominee, the decision will be made by NPORA Moderating Team 6. Winner gets 3 pics of their choice of their Pathfinder pinned in the TOTM forum (PM me the links please) and is ineligible for the remainder of the calendar year. 6a. A Member can only win once a year - multiple pathfinders does not mean multiple wins. 7. No post whoring. 8. Not reading these rules may result in a zombie attack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOTM: THEMED MONTHS The idea was put forward by packie88 with then intention of getting people out in their pathys to get themed shots. It is only each alternate month that is themed, so you can post up whatever pic you want in the in between month (Some people will never see snow). It is a kind of rule, but a loose one. For example, water crossing nominations may be considered if there is a mud crossing, the truck is in water, or crossing the road in a torrential rainpour. If you post up a pic with no water in sight, then that will be removed. Below are the monthly themes: January Anything goes February Snow pic March Anything goes April Water crossing pic May Anything goes June Sand pic July Anything goes August Flex pic September Anything goes October Sunset pic November Anything goes December Mud pic This nomination thread is open through March 20 or until 20 submissions are reached (whichever comes first).

Power Point

Certainly looks fantastic in pics, bet it looks real nice in person too! Good job!

Isn't Windrock near or in Tennessee? You could attend WENT Windrock this fall and wheel with a bunch of other Nissans! I always wanted to drive down to that event.

@Citron not sure if this is what you're thinking of as far as the disappearing oil, but that's definitely an issue with the VQ 3.5 engines in the later R50's. Don't think anybody's figured out where it goes yet haha

Couple of updates worth noting (other things too, but going to *try* and keep this brief-ish). Figured out how I'm going to get the body off the frame when the time comes; somebody who I know through the 4x4 club I'm in who has a pretty nice FJ Cruiser is getting a 2 post lift installed in his garage and offered to let me use it/help me with my frame swap. I also put on some front recovery points, although only one is useful, since the one on the driver's side is hardly bolted to anything due to rust...it's only installed for emergency purposes. Strangely enough, the passenger side is rock solid. Also got some new tires as I said in the previous post, but not Falkens. Due to a screw up on the tire shop's end I wound up with KO2's. Loved em on my Infiniti and love em on my Toyota. Looks much better too, the stock tires were far too small and the lack of sidewall tread on those Coopers made me sad. Pic for your time.

That's something that I really like about the 2nd gen Xterra over the 4Runner for sure. Depending on market, a really nice condition 4th gen could be just as expensive as an almost brand new Xterra due to stupid "Toyota tax". Technically you can get a 4th gen with a factory rear locker too, but it was only on rare Trail Edition models only available in 2009, so you're talking about $20k for a 10 year old truck (still puzzled that Nissan was on their game so much more, heck, even Jeep had a factory locker in the LIBERTY back then!)...on that topic though, if the ATRAC doesn't do well enough a locker from another Toyota can be retrofitted pretty easily. Not sure how far you intend to go with this vehicle @Citron, is it gonna be more along the lines of a hunting road rig or do you intend to wheel in SAS territory? Honestly I'd say they're both really solid choices; for me, it would come down to whichever one I could find in better shape with the desired options in the required price range, rather than setting my heart on a particular model. Make sure to test drive one of each too, sounds obvious I know, but just don't forget! 15 minutes behind the wheel could show you that you can't stand a vehicle that sounds awesome on paper (er, screen?). Is there a place to check out your Xterra somewhere @bushnut? It sounds pretty sweet!

I didn't know about the seats thing. I love how the 4Runner's front seats can be scooted forward and then laid flat. Personally I'd prefer a split hatch like an 80 series, but that's a different topic.

One more thing (not going to be foolish enough to say "one last thing", I know myself), I'm 6'4" and find the T4R4 far roomier than my R50 was. If mine didn't have a sunroof I'd actually have a bit of room to spare, same as with my R50, but leg room is definitely better. Also another thing, yeah, the dash cracks and falls apart. And yeah, there was an extended warranty for it, but it's expired. I know I'm pointing out a lot of bad things and making it sound like a bad vehicle, but it really isn't. If you find one that was cared for and continue to care for it, most of these won't ever be an issue.

Also worth mentioning, the Lexus GX470 is the same vehicle underneath. If you can get over the looks and sideways opening trunk, you'll get a manual transfer case lever and a vehicle that was probably cared for much more. The cost of a luxury brand pretty much balances the Toyota tax, and may even come out cheaper. Wish I'd known that before I went shopping!

The aftermarket for the T4R is worlds bigger. You have probably 6 or so UCA choices, at least as many front bumpers, several skidplates manufacturer options (including aluminum or steel, and different thicknesses), etc. There's even at least 2 different companies that make MOLLE panels for the rear windows. Basically, anything you could want you have options. Some of the accessory stuff can be a bit pricey, but the regular stuff like lift components and bumpers are fairly standard pricing compared to other vehicles. Most of the wide parts availability is due to the chassis being darn near identical to the FJ cruiser, and front end being extremely similar to the 2nd/3rd gen Tacoma, and overall strong similarity to the 5th gen 4Runner. As far as selectable traction control (and some other options like outlet in center console), many things aren't tied to a trim level (other than the JBL sound system which is tied to the Limited model), but rather are an option which is usually rare on the base SR5 trim, although technically available. Also, there was a facelift in 2006, and at the same time lots of options were added/became more common. It has a lot of traction control systems, including VSC (is disabled if you lock the center diff, cuts engine power when it detects lateral slipping. This one is my least favorite, since if slip in snow going from a side street to a main road you can be left vulnerable, and often the center diff doesn't lock quick enough to be useful, hence a custom mod or finding one with the button), ATRAC (brakes individual wheels when center diff is locked to help offroad, more aggressive in 4LO), and of course good ol' ABS. I think there's one more system for if your wheels are slipping but there's no lateral sliding, but I'm not sure. Worth mentioning, the V6 is part time 4wd and the V8 is full time 4wd, and most people seem to notice a 1-2 mpg difference between the two at best. For towing, I haven't towed anything especially heavy with mine and it's a V8, but from what I've read people are pleased with what they can tow with their V6, it can just feel kinda doggish in hilly terrain (the engines have similar HP, but the V8 has considerably more torque as you'd imagine). I don't have personal experience though, so take that with a grain of salt. As with pretty much any Toyota ever (and any vehicle with a boxed in frame really), beware of frame rot. The crossmember under the radiator by the tie down loops and the area around where the rear lower links connect to the frame are good places to look for rot. If you go to look at one, they do have some funny quirks. See if the rear window has been replaced; there was some kind of design flaw with them which caused them to (rare) shatter when using the rear defroster. The extended warranty for that component expired this last year, but if it was done the new window shouldn't have that issue. If there's a drivetrain clunk, good chance it's the driveshafts; the slip joints and u-joints are supposed to be greased and they often aren't. Add grease and they'll be fine; I have yet to read of one that got damaged from lack of greasing from a careless owner, only an annoying clunk. Also make sure you test all the transfer case modes (4HI/LO and center diff lock, plus of course 2WD if it's a V6), as the actuator tends to gum up from lack of use and can be expensive and/or time consuming to replace/rebuild (beware, the dealership will insist on replacing the whole t-case) - this one would definitely be a major haggling point if it's not working right (although many folks have gotten theirs working by just giving it a try at every opportunity; if it works/once it works, use monthly). I'm stopping myself now before I go rambling on about more details that probably aren't too important haha. Feel free to ask any further questions.

I've gotta be honest, I love my 4th gen. Never been in a 2nd gen Xterra though so I can't say anything about that. 4th gen 4Runners do have some annoying flaws, like invasive traction control and such that you have to do some custom work to disable anytime you want, but on the flip side the ATRAC makes lockers pretty much unnecessary unless you plan on really extreme stuff. Both the V6 and V8 have plenty of power and last a long time of course, but the early V6 has head gasket issues, the V8 has manifold cracking issues (just an excuse to get headers!!!), and the later V8's, while more powerful, have issues at higher mileage (250k+ usually) with part of the system which gives them more power, although if caught in time can be bypassed cheaply enough. I can answer pretty much any question you've got about the 4th gens if you have any, I'd say more now but gotta hurry off to class! Oh, and V8 is timing belt (not too bad to do), and V6 is timing chain.