PathyDude17

Car ID is a sham as far as I can tell. Amazon, rock auto, or even eBay sells everything they do for less

Last weeks winter storm. I hope winter is treating everyone else alright so far!

Bigger struts? New front coils and new struts would help, but I don’t know that there’s such a thing as getting bigger struts, in terms of suspension travel. I also don’t think we have any struts that we would call Heavy Duty. Perhaps Old Man Emu, but everyone seems happy with their KYB’s, myself included.

Heck ya! Enjoy it, she’s not gonna be stock much longer

Yes, they do use the same shocks.... basicallly. The length from mount to mount is slightly shorter on the pre facelift pathfinders. So for example, when I go wheeling with @micahfelker, we both have the same shocks, and at full flex his springs fall out. Mine however, just barely unseat. The slight difference in length begins to matter when you upgrade shocks, but for any OE application I’ve always understood that you can use the same shocks on both models.

Very common trick, works well. Having done the screws myself, definitely recommend the cardboard and taking some pictures. Also a torque wrench and the torque specs from an FSM.

I believe the mounting plate is a carry over from the Load sensing Valve that was present on earlier model pathfinders, mine has it too.

Ohhhhh Gotchya! Definitely misread that

I think Micah lives in Montana, I’m not sure who you meant to actually mention

Thanks for the heads up! It is kind of a poor season to visit during, and I’ll have to keep looking into that. As spring break gets closer, hopefully I can flesh out the practicality of our plans with @micahfelker , @02_Pathy, and also @TowndawgR50, as those are the people I’ve been talking about this idea the most with. If it has to be a different location, or a different time, that’s the way it is.

There’s been a lot for me to consider lately. I want to make a trip for my spring break, and as I noted earlier, I’m most likely gonna go from Iowa to Montana to see @micahfelker. That would happen from about March 8-10. Then I’d head from Montana to Washington to catch up with @02_Pathy and the PNW crew. The considerations: 1.Saving up $$ for gas. Doable, and shouldn’t be a problem 2. Minimizing wear on my car. 3. The possibility of my golf team scheduling a golf trip over spring break (really hoping this doesn’t happen). 4. Space and housing. I’m not sure what that’s gonna look like (number of nights in Washington, what trails to hit and when, etc). If I make it to Washington, it’s gonna take 2-2.5 days to get back to Iowa, which means I won’t be hitting any trails on the weekend (March 14), or I’ll miss a day of school in order to stay through Saturday. I don’t expect people to take time out of the middle of the week to come over to Washington, but if you can make it, then stay tuned for more updates from this thread. As January/February come and go, my planning will become more proactive and definite. I’ll hopefully have exact days and times of departures, as well as which members of the PNW crew will be joining us, and what trails we’re considering. I’m also keeping in mind the possibility of a March blizzard that prevents me from even making it to Washington. Wouldn’t that be neat. It would be fun to meet somewhere in Eastern Washington/Oregon/Western Idaho, but then we don’t have anything of a home base or a trail guide in case of emergencies etc etc. I would also like to make see the pines 2 spines northern lab, so that’s another bonus of making it all the way to western Washington. So, for anyone reading this thread, sorry for the confusion I may have caused, and stay tuned for developing details as 2020 gets under way. The week that I am available for is March 8-14. If that falls through (dumb golf trip) my next bet would be a trip right after I finish school, which is the first week of May. Thats how my road trip is beginning to shape up, and I’ll have the opportunity to meet a lot of you guys, as well as seeing some familiar faces. If other people have dates and times that are favorable, feel free to communicate those and begin conversations of other meetups. If you’re hoping to meet up with me, Micah, @02_Pathy, and @jg1123, as well as much of the Oregon/Washington residents, there’s a good chance this is the plan we’ll be working towards.

Engine swap! I’m gonna pay extra attention next time I’m in 4LO and see how difficult it is to feather the throttle over obstacles

Perhaps we can look at this if we get a group up to washington this spring. Especially comparing myself and @02_Pathy.

I encountered this somewhat in Missouri: I’d a approach a rock step slowly, and the engine would just rev and rev and rev, not moving the car onto and over the obstacle, then, once I started moving, I immediately feel the need to slow down. Other times in Idaho there are lunging aspects to the driving style, although I think with my differentials being open-open, my lack of traction might reduce that effect. But even on an obstacle like the one below, which alternately lifts/drops each side of my suspension as I move forward, instead of being able to slog through the obstacle at something of an even speed, I always find myself going over the first step, then braking to stop the lunge, then restarting to take on the next dip/peak on the obstacle. But just about anytime I go over an obstacle, it’s a lunging motion that necessitates a harsh braking, which is about what you have. Though I suspect your lockers are making the problem more noticeable. here’s the view from below. Each dip/step is about 1-3 ft and enough to eliminate traction if I don’t take a really good line. I have a little experience off-roading in a 03 Rubicon 6sp, but what I did with it wasn’t as trying as what I’ve put the pathfinder through. However, I’ll probably have the opportunity to drive it a lot during Christmas break, and was already planning on some light trail use with it if I can get my hands on it. Now I’m going to be paying a lot closer attention to how it performs.....

I watched the rock crawling video yesterday and saw you “gun” it up the second obstacle (about minute 18), it was interesting to see the full effect of the drive by wire system. But props for showing up the big boys, I’m sure you whooped on some of those Xterra’s. I also saw Vic’s failure on Instagram (@trailfinder_pathy), bummer. Hopefully the interview shows up too, that’s exciting!

CB is definitely worth it if you trail with other people, and it’s just fun to have. I’ve met people on road trips just driving along the highway and you both have a CB

The bumper looks awesome man!

@mjotrainbrain what has your state done

Agreed, I mentioned that in post #753. I didn’t understand #755 to have anything to do with wheel spacers.

Lets invest in your research skills a little bit..... https://www.google.com/search?q=nrc9447+springs&oq=nrc&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l4.3465j1j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 If you follow the above link for a google search on "nrc9447 springs", you'll see it yields way more than one result, with lrdirect.com, the recommended buying website, showing up as the first suggestion. Post #155 on the thread that was linked in my previous response lists lrdirect as the preferred buying website, and also explains how, although the spring belongs on the front of a land rover, it fits perfectly in the rear of a pathfinder. It also has some shock advice towards the end. I'm not trying to bite off heads here, I'm just trying to save us all some time and encourage you to do thorough research. You'll have the most fun upgrading your pathy if you know how everything works because you researched it yourself. It's more rewarding that way. As for the function of your OE spec shocks paired with LR coils, it will be easier for your shocks to bottom out, and the down travel of your suspension will be limited by the length of those shocks. I can't say whether or not you'll notice them reaching full extension anytime you're on the road. Regardless of that, the shock will still function safely and normally when paired with those springs. If i remember correctly, factory spec is about 24", and common lift shocks are 26". The other popular option for 9447/9449 coils is bilstein's 29.7" shock. It's recommended that if you go up to the 29" shock that you extend your rear brake line, diff breather, and bumpstops.

fitting 32’s on OME MD springs will be pretty much impossible. 32’s would necessitate either 1: AC springs (4x4parts.com) Or 2: OME 2928 HD springs and, after they’ve settled, a 1” strut spacer would be recommended. For the rear, Land Rover springs would work best. Check page 7 of the below thread for the best estimates of lift height and where to order If you add wheel spacers, you might consider only putting them on the front so that your tires in the back still tuck easily inside the wheel well. As far as specific brands to look at, I can’t personally recommend any, nor do I recall they’re being much of a forum consensus. Of the people who do run spacers on stock wheels, I can think of @02_Pathy and @hawairish

Also, searching for VQ35DE parts as opposed to VG35DE might yield better results, as that is the engine you have.

Last Missouri photo @Buttercup for the camera work

One thing I forgot to mention about the trip-For anyone wondering about the ride quality in my pathfinder (AC springs front, LR9449 rear, 29” Bilsteins, KYB struts, all less than a year old). @joshrichard and @Buttercup rode in all 3 pathfinders throughout the weekend, one stock and one on some form of an AC spring setup (different shocks and maybe rear springs, he couldn’t remember). They were both very complementary of my ride quality as more enjoyable than stock or the other rancho/AC setup, and I could regularly pull away from them on the parts of trails that were bumpy but not full of obstacles. All that to say that I guess my pathfinder rides quite ok on AC suspension. It was no direct comparison to an OME, but I still think the input is valid. It also rides way better than a 2013 F150, as that’s another vehicle I’ve pulled away from on trails.

I’ll keep that in mind! Although with the price of gas, this may be my only trip for the semester. I did get an off campus job though, so I can save up for a big spring break trip