[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

Anyone know whether the grill from an SE will fit an LE? I’m thinking it probably should as long as it’s a post facelift R50, but not sure. 

 

My grill is peeling and cracking and looks terrible, and I love the look of the SE grill so it would be nice if it fit

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

You’re awesome man! Thanks a ton

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

Does anyone have the part numbers for the two thermostats? When I do a search I can’t discern which is which. 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

Just started buying parts for a minor engine “overhaul”. Super excited to finally get started on this. I’ve been planning it for a while now, doing a lot or research on parts, locations, and how to do different jobs properly. A lot of this stuff is pushing its limit of reliability and I road trip a lot so I need the peace of mind of the preventative maintenance. I’ll be doing:

 

*Takes deep breath*

 

MAF, IACV, plugs, injectors, fan, radiator, fan clutch, water pump, starter (solenoid is starting to stick), Thermostats, upstream O2 sensors, fuel pressure regulator, PCV, coolant temp sensor, knock sensor, valve cover gaskets, spark plug tube seals, cold air intake, and replacing worn vacuum hoses. Probably a few things I forgot but yeah that’s most of it. I’ve got a few things already on order but still saving for the rest.
 

The other thing I’m looking at is having the timing chain replaced. Not sure if it’s worn or not but at 280K it must be right? 

 

Oh yeah and I’m going to try making a trailer with one of the axle kits they sell online. It’ll be nice to load it up with spare parts and camping gear for longer trips rather than clutter the cargo area of the truck itself 

 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

10 hours ago, RainGoat said:

A version of this has been in my ToDo list for over a decade. I look forward to copying your final results.

I promise you’ll do it 20 times better than I did lol.

 

I don’t even bother making the wires look clean and tucked away. I figure I’m always messing with the electrical stuff and adding things so it’s easier to leave them in temp positions than to dig under panels every time I decide to move or add something.

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

 

New underbody camera is finally mounted. I went with a hard wire connection to fix the spotty connection issues the last one had, and so far so good. I’ve noticed that the front shaft spins with the wheels at all speeds so far, but I haven’t gone fast enough to get the 4wd error light or get rid of the vibration so I still don’t know what happens to the front shaft when that occurs. Time will tell, and I’ll update when I it happens.
 

I ended up mounting it to the front of the crossmember that’s between the Tcase and tranny. I love the new spot because it lets me see the front wheels but also under the bumper for when I’m going over hills. And of course the underbody lights make it usable at night as well. My next goal is to shield it somehow so that it doesn’t get killed by road debris like the last one. I’m thinking super clear lexan, but it’s hard to figure out a way to mount the shield effectively or make any sort of box around it because there’s not much room where I put it 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

19 hours ago, RainGoat said:

Here in the PNW, where it is wet all the time, it’s a big bonus to have AWD. I also prefer it for gravel, packed sand & snow as I get 4 wheel grip without the plowing understeer of a licked center. I often forget to put it into 4Hi until I come across something truly challenging & then it’s usually because I actually need 4Lo. The lack of that option is one of my biggest complaints on our 5th Gen 4Runner (Limited models do have it but that’s a whole different story).

I hear you man, there’s no denying the awesomeness of AUTO mode.

 

But my whole thing is I have no idea how much damage, if any, is being done to the Tcase by running manual hubs. With the manual case I wouldn’t have to worry about it. And I’d definitely trade off a bit of helpful tech to have the peace of mind that my truck won’t be dead in the water 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

3 hours ago, R50JR said:

Sounds like you need to change your fluids


Sent from my Pathfinder

If you’re referring to the Tcase fluids, they were just changed a couple months ago. No difference before and after.

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

Well, turns out the mile markers are absolutely no different, the vibration is the same as it was with the warns. At least I ruled out the hubs. 
 

Instead of swapping them back out, I’ll probably just sell the warns and keep the mile markers because they should be plenty strong enough for my purposes and the warns will fetch more used than the MMs cost me brand new. If anyone on here wants the warns, hit me up. 

Anyway, this experiment basically confirms that there is something else dragging on the CVs and keeping them turning, so the only options I have now are to fix the vibration itself (front shaft or CVs) or live with it. I might even just keep the hubs locked most of the time since the manual hubs aren’t saving much on gas or CV boot wear. I do still want to keep them for the other benefit of easy changing CVs as Raingoat mentioned

 

Still need to figure out what happens when the vibration smooths out, so the camera is going on sometime this week and that should clear things up. If it turns out that the CVs stop rotating when the vibration smooths out, itll tell me that the front drivetrain is to blame but also raise more questions about how the Tcase actually works. Because again, I can’t see how he clutch plates could disconnect from the front shaft after 80mph if they aren’t built to ever fully disconnect at all. That screams “breakage” to me

 

Id like to also mention that on a couple of trails I was getting a constant 4wd light popping up a couple times during slow speed maneuvers or tight turns and reversing in 4 low, but it went away after restarting the truck. This hasn’t happened before, so I’m worried that the clutch plates for the front shaft are being damaged and are getting less reliable engagement of the front than they used to, causing the light to pop up? If so, that would definitely be a reason to avoid manual hubs, but only time will tell. I don’t recall anyone else having any issues like that, but who knows? 
 

Bottom line is this stupid case is a complete mystery and I honestly wish I had a floor shifter instead, even though the auto feature is cool sometimes

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

6 hours ago, R50JR said:

No source since the auto tcase wasn’t designed to be used with manual hubs. I believe the reason is because it uses clutches that have a bit of drag in 2wd.


Sent from my Pathfinder

Hmm, that does make sense. But again, doesn’t that make the manual hubs almost pointless? If they don’t remove the CVs from the equation, then how do they offer improved mileage and all the other benefits?
 

And really, if that’s true about the clutches  then the vibration makes even less sense because it shouldn’t disappear after a few minutes at 80mph and remain gone AT ALL SPEEDS until the truck is restarted. If the clutches are dragging on the front then there shouldn’t be a way for them to disengage completely, regardless of the conditions. Like you said, it was made for the factory hubs not manual ones. Either I’m breaking the Tcase in some small way every time it happens, or something else is involved. 
 

Anyway, I’ll still try the mile markers just to rule out the hubs and then move on to mounting the underbody camera to see what’s happening at 80mph with the CVs. 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

4 hours ago, R50JR said:

The front still spins with auto transfer case, this is normal. Your hubs are probably working fine. Cv shafts are fine. I’d learn to live with it.


Sent from my Pathfinder

You got a source for that? I can’t imagine why the front would still be spinning with the truck in 2wd and the hubs unlocked? I’ve always been under the impression that the front shaft was spinning passively just as a result of the factory hubs being locked at all times, but only powered by the Tcase in either auto mode or 4wd.
 

I’d love to be wrong about this though

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

Minor update 

 

 

On my last visit to Vegas the brake booster failed randomly so we had to put in a new one. Luckily the master cylinder is still in good shape and now it works perfectly again. Well “perfectly” is not a great word to describe a loaded down truck with front brakes that are too small to begin with and  rear drums that do almost nothing, but hey, at least the booster assist is back now. I’d love to do a rear disk conversion but it’s just way too involved for me at the moment, and I’m not ready to pay a shop hundreds on top of parts. Maybe someday

 

The other big news is that I think I finally cracked the code on that weird vibration I was having up front. It turns out that the CVs are still turning when the hubs are unlocked, which explains a lot. That opens up other possibilities rather than only being the transfer case. I’ve narrowed it down to two options: either it’s one of the new CVs I put in that’s bad from the factory, because the vibration started after they went on (I originally ruled it out because I thought the hubs were completely bypassing them), or it’s the front shaft u-joints, which again I originally ruled out. The last thing I’m going to try is switching to mile marker hubs instead of the warns, because it’s possible that the warns are not properly disconnecting the CVs from the wheels somehow. No reason not to give the MMs a shot, I can always return them if they don’t change anything for the better. 
 

Like I mentioned in a previous post, the vibration disappears when you’ve been driving around 80mph for a few minutes, and stays nonexistent until you turn off and restart the truck, and it coincides with a 4wd light on the dash that comes on shortly after the vibration disappears. This tells me that what might be happening is the CVs finally disconnect once you’re going fast, and the transfer case starts to freak out about the lack of front shaft rotation, throwing the light. That’s my theory anyway, so changing the hubs might help clear things up.
 

Not sure if it makes any sense, but that’s what I feel might be happening. Either that or its coming from the transfer case side, and the CVs are turning because of some movement in the case which shouldn’t be possible in 2wd mode. That’s the only other way the CVs could be moving while the hubs are unlocked. Either the hubs aren’t working properly or the Tcase isn’t. And the vibration itself must be the result of the messed up front shaft or bad CV that’s forced to rotate when it’s not supposed to be.
 

The truth is, if I fixed the vibrating part itself, I could probably ignore the CV engagement altogether, but I feel like that defeats the point of the manual hubs if they don’t disconnect the CVs, so I really want to figure out why they're still turning. I’d rather stop the rotation than fix the vibration, because in 4wd (when I need the CVs and front shaft turning) the speed is low enough to not feel the vibration anyway, so it’s a non issue. One less thing to fix

[Random picture of your R50]

2 hours ago, PathyDude17 said:

 

 

White is such a fantastic color on R50s. Great pic!

[Black 03' QX4 Fun Covid Self Isolation Edition]

On 7/6/2020 at 11:29 PM, PATHYNDH said:

As for the sunroof i actually went to a hardware store and got that clear tubing, very cheap (forgot how long i got) and opened the sunroof completely. There are 2 drain holes on each side to the front and i ran the tube down as far as it went and used hot water. If that didn't work i would have used a air compressor to blow it out. But it worked with hot water and water started dripping down both side of the under carriage.

Yes for the power valves! Worked has picked up again so not much time to tinker as much but next up is to do my VC gaskets, all the gaskets, power valves once I'm in there. Oil pan gaskets etc and even upper gaskets, RMS. Coolant Flush with both thermostats as well asap. Like u said I'm gonna do this initially all once to have it mint

Super inspirational thread. I’m hoping that soon I can find the time to take a week and knock out a bunch of maintenance stuff. I want to do the rear diff fluid, transmission fluid, front o2 sensors, fuel filter, oil change, clean the MAF and the IAC, reroute the air intake/add K&N cold air intake, replace VC gaskets, replace the radiator, go through all vacuum lines and hoses, and ideally also replace other sensors that might be due for failure, as well as the injectors (but not super high on the list). 

[Random picture of your R50]

1 hour ago, Johnston77 said:

Where did you get that sticker tho??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’d like to know as well! I’ve been looking for something to fit the window perfectly like that but they seem to only sell those types for xterras and R52 pathfinders

[Random picture of your R50]

[PathyDude's R50 Projects (03 SE 4x4)]

Absolute monster with that lokka, love the video!

[Random picture of your R50]

Cascade Creek road today. Pretty rocky in some spots but not bad at all

 

 

[Random picture of your R50]

 

My dad was in town so the two pathy generations visited Estes Park today. We tried to go up Pole Hill Road, but bailed when it started raining hard. The first stretch was much rockier than it seemed in videos and it was pushing his stock height to the limit. Mine probably could have made it all the way with some decent line selection, but we decided a drier day would be better. We ended up just taking some dirt roads up to a random trailhead and doing a bit of hiking 

[02 build by Dbot]

“Something I've noticed is that at highway speeds, I can hear a noise from what I think is the transfer case when the hubs are unlocked. The noise is similar to a worn out bearing or something. It's very faint and can't be heard unless passengers are quiet and the music is low/off. I can't hear it below 55 mph though. No 4x4 warning lights yet.”
 

 

You've just described the exact issue I’ve been having since I did my own lift last year. What struck me most is that your build is almost identical in terms of relevant variables. The lift is the same, the warn hubs are the same, and your truck is an LE with the same AUTO transfer case as mine. I wrote about it in my thread and explained how I’ve tried to solve it so far. I’ve since given up because it doesn’t seem to be doing any damage or getting worse. Maybe this is a good opportunity to reopen the investigation if you are going to try looking into it?

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

2 hours ago, Sjackson2 said:

I got those 9447s you sent me put on and I’m real happy with them. Combined with the longer f250 shocks in the back the ride quality is nice and it definitely performs better over hilly terrain 

Hell yeah dude, looks great!

 

Also I kind of agree with R50JR, even without 4WD a rear locker can get you pretty damn far so it’s worth considering. 

[PathyGig12’s Build Thread]

7 hours ago, BrettNature said:

HELLO! I really love this setup you have and I believe that I have the same vehicle. I am specifically extremely interested in your ROOF RACK system. I love the front light bars and rear back up lights as well. Could you please share more information about your custom rack build,  please?

I am curious if it would hold my weight to shoot photos from the roof as shown in your photos? I'm about 250 pounds and it would be nice to fabricate something my sweetie and I could get on top to view wildlife and/or pitch a tent similar to the GOBI RACKS. Ideally a small passenger-side ladder would be fun, too.

If you can you point me in the right direction to buy the basic Roof Rack and Light setup online you would be my hero!

THANKS SO MUCH!

I’d love to help but I don’t think I could recommend this roof basket for standing on your roof. It’s not very strong.

 

Your best bet will be making your own out of steel or aluminum tubing

 

Maybe ask this guy for a guide? He custom built one and it looks super strong
 

 

[Lift Options?]

Yeah your only option to lift over 2 inches is by going with a subframe drop. Otherwise you’ll destroy your CVs

 

You’d be surprised where a 2” lift, low profile bumpers, and large tires can get you. From what I’ve heard around here, most people do not need anything more than that for 99% of trails other than hardcore rock crawling stuff. Even at bone stock height the R50 was getting me out of places I should never have been. You’d be better served by adding lockers than by adding an extra few inches of height 
 

With all of that said, your best lift option is going to be longer coil springs rather than spacers, so I would recommend switching to AC coils up front and LR 9449 springs in the rear if you want maximum height. OME HD coils in the front are also great but they won’t lift quite as high 

[Random picture of your R50]

3 hours ago, RainGoat said:

Coming down from Colockum Pass on the old wagon road that connected Ellensburg & Wenatchee, WA. That’s the Columbia River Gorge in the distance there. It was a lovely day & a great little daytrip with the kids & friends. One of the best things about living here is that little adventures like this are doable, door to door, in 12 hours or less.

Very nice!

[Random picture of your R50]

10 hours ago, RainGoat said:

Location? Looks awesome