Bax03SE

Thanks, I’m running airlift 1000 helper bags in the rear coils. I’ve had them a couple months now and I love them. I also carry a small air compressor on board, so it’s really easy to add/remove air as needed depending on the load. I hauled about 1000 pounds of mulch and landscaping bricks in the back of the Pathy last month and was still able to get it nice and level. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Picked up my new trailer the other day. Very happy with how the Pathy handled it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like you can get a lower quarter section with dog leg pretty reasonably at least. A good body shop can cut and splice that section in pretty easily, but you’ll want to get on it before it gets much worse. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, seeing the Instagram I agree its beyond patching with a little fiberglass. Still fixable for sure, but to do it right you need to cut and weld in replacement panels like you said.

Where is the rust exactly? In the door opening or is it coming out from under the flares? Mine had rust under both rear flares, but luckily it hadnt spread to be visible beyond the flare when I caught it. Since its hidden behind the flares, I just cut out the rusted areas and rebuilt it with fiberglass, then coated everything under the flares with bedliner. I pulled the flares off to check it a year after and it still looked good. Depending on how bad your rust is, fiberglass patching may be something to consider instead of welding. Just a thought.

Thanks for the replies. The ATF was replaced last year with Castrol import multi vehicle fluid. The trailer has a dry weight of 1200 lbs, and a max rating of 3000. Most of the stuff well be hauling is bulky but not heavy, so I dont expect it to ever get much heavier than 2000 when fully loaded.

Ive never towed with the Pathy before, and am going to start towing a 6x12 enclosed trailer 3-4 times a year (hauling props for kids dance competitions). I just want to go through the list of what Ive done to see if theres anything Im forgetting to make sure its up to the task. Its an 03, and mechanically the truck is sound, only 83k miles and well maintained. I did give it a good once over last week and found a few things that needed attention. I replaced an intake boot that was starting to crack, and the cooling fan blade was developing some cracks so I replaced that as well. Also flushed and replaced the coolant. For towing specific stuff, I put on a class III hitch, 4 pin harness, airlift 1000 helper springs to keep the rear level when towing, and installed an external transmission cooler. Anything else Im not thinking of?

I have no idea where they originally were from the factory, but on mine they're on the bottom. Based on the mixed responses, it sounds like it doesn't really matter.

It would even be worth calling a few shops and asking if they have experience aligning lifted trucks. I agree this style lift should align no problem, you just need a shop that's comfortable working with it and knows what they're doing. Mine aligned without even needing camber bolts.

This is getting weird, can we just go back to talking about tires and stuff?

Agree that it is fine to jack from the front crossmember that goes between the suspension. But I wouldn't use the radiator support that is further forward, just want to be sure that is what your calling the front crossmember.

The amount of play you described is excessive, so I agree it sounds like you have worn out cv joints. While the cv joints are designed to allow the shaft to move in and out as the suspension travels up and down, you shouldn't be able to move it in and out like that by hand while it is all bolted up to the truck. I just checked mine and it really doesn't move at all when I try sliding it back and forth. What kind of noise is it making?

Can you describe what you mean by side to side play?

I always like your pics, keep them coming. Nice looking Z, the super low look isn't my thing, but should be a fun car nonetheless. What size are the spacers you got? I'm running 1.5 inch spacers with 245/75/16 BFG KO2's, and it rubbed a little but a little trimming to the inside bottom of the bumper took care of it. I like the look enough that it was worth it to me to make them work.

I don't remember the procedure exactly, but I had to reset my sunroof as well the last time I had my battery disconnected. Just google it. It was a quick procedure that just involved holding the switches for a certain amount of time as I recall.

The air temp from the intake has nothing to do with how hot or cold the engine will run. There is just no way the intake air could ever be hot enough to effect that. Take a good look at your whole cooling system. Fan clutch, coolant age/condition, water pump, thermostat, etc... if it's starting to overheat something is going on and it's best to find it early while it's just an occasional issue. I love the look of your rig btw.

I've had a couple vehicles with the 3.5, including an 07 Quest that we bought new and my wife drove for 10 years. The chain guides on that one did wear out and were first replaced under warranty around 50,000 miles. Then around 100,000 they started to make noise again, mostly noticeable as a rattle on cold start up. I wasn't going to put the money into it again out of my pocket, so we decided to leave it and see how long it lasted. We drove it for several more years and another 50k after that and it was still running fine when we traded it in. Always had a little rattle on start up, but never got worse, and keeping the oil fully topped up and running 10-30 weight also helped minimize the noise. I wouldn't lose sleep over worrying about the timing set.

Actually in 04, the Armada was called a "Pathfinder Armada", so based on his question of it being a V8 I'd say you are correct that he got the two vehicles mixed up. There is no 50/50 chance or random difference btw 03/04 R50 pathfinders though, he's a bit mixed up on that. But as others have said, there aren't too many options for front struts on these, the guy is right about that.

Fwiw, I'm running one of the eBay kits as posted by the OP and the fit, finish, and quality is great. I got mine a little cheaper, think it was about $160 at the time I ordered. I'm sure Fleury's kit is great as well, but I didn't see that option at the time for whatever reason.

As others have kind of said already, it can vary from truck to truck and also depending on tire brand. I have I think 2 inch spacers in front and 2.5 in rear with fresh stock springs. I test fitted BFG AT2's in 265/75/16 and they cleared everything in the wheel well, but the side lugs on the tire were just barely making contact with the strut. A different tire without the wider lugs on the sidewall would have cleared the strut, but I really wanted that tire so I went with the smaller tire size. Spacers will help clear the strut, but then you run into a lot more issue with needing to trim the bumper, inner fender, and remove mud flaps.

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