AlwaysWrenching

I was doing a tune up and inspection on the 1997 Pathfinder I recently purchased, I discovered a small amount of play in the passenger side front wheel. However when going down the road the bearings sound find. Is possible that the backlash is set wrong but the bearings are still good? Or when there is play do you just replace and re-pack the bearings?

How weak are the mounting points? I really like the truck but we have a huge deer population and I hate the idea of sinking a bunch of money into it only to have a deer destroy it. I was was also contemplating reinforcing the factory bumper a little and just adding a brush guard.

What is the rear bypass? I’m new to Nissans. Had a couple Toyota’s with 22REs back in the day.

Living in rural Michigan deer are always jumping out in the road. I'm looking at either a brush guard or a Coastal Off-road bumper. The 1997 Pathfinder still has a metal bumper so I'm wondering if the bumper is a study enough mounting point to provide real protection if a brush guard is mounted to it? Also being a uni-body it's bumper mounting points don't look near as strong as a body on chassis SUV. Is it even worth getting the Coastal Off-road bumper? Would it just destroy the mounting points in an impact?

How much lift does that provide?

How much time is involved in doing the timing belt? I definitely plan on doing it in the near future. I'll definitely be undercoating it, then spraying the entire underside with some rust proofing oil.

Thank you very much. Definitely sounds like coils are the way to go. Did the 31 inch tires clear without a lift? I am buying new wheels since the ones on it are pretty rough.

I just picked up a rust-free 1997 Pathfinder. It's from Oregon and I'm here in Michigan so that was lucky in its own. 220,000 miles. Totally stock. Very clean. My plans include a small lift, 31 inch tires (or equivalent), and some serious bumpers for deer and possibly adding a winch. It's sat for a year so after a major cleaning and detailing it's time for a tune up. It has a manual shift t-case and I plan on adding Warn manual hubs so I can get a little better MPG on the road. Is there any way to tell if the timing belt has been done or should I just do it to be on the safe side? Any other pointers, advice or recommendations are great!

I just purchased a 1997 Pathfinder I plan on modifying for a decent trail rig and also a daily driver. I’m wondering if people are happy with the spacer lift kits, or is it worth saving up for the OME lift kit with new coils and struts? What brands of spacer kit are best? Looking just to run 31” tires. https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Suspensions-1996-2004-Pathfinder-1997-2003/dp/B01N4VFX7V Any good?