Zibi

Cut and installed trans cooler lines and filled it with coolant and trans fluid. Started her up for the first time in over a month, which was great to hear. However she started leaking coolant like a sieve. Traced the problem to the thermostat. Going off this because the fluid was leaking from well above the water pump, and the flow increased as the truck warmed up and stopped (mostly) after it cooled off. I probably screwed up the silicone gasket when I installed it. I've been scared since I installed the water pump that I didn't scrape the old gasket off well enough and nearly @!*% myself when it started leaking. Anyway I drained the coolant and dug my way to the thermostat, cleaned off the old silicone and redid the seal. I'm letting it sit for 24 hours and I'll try again tomorrow night. Shouldn't take me long to get all the parts on and fill it with coolant. If I'm honest I'm still scared that I'll get some air trapped in the cooling system. First time doing all this, and enjoying the hell out of it(for the most part anyway )

Hadn't done anything in a couple weeks due to getting sick and just generally being lazy. Anyway spent a few hours on it today. Timing belt installed, covers on, power steering belt on, changed oil, pulleys, drive belt, new fan clutch, fan, new hoses, and new spark plugs in. Tomorrow morning have to go and pick up a new fan shroud, then it's install the radiator, fill it up with fluid, and hope I didn't fskc anything up

There is a metal bumper under the plastic cover. I don't think I have a picture of mine handy, but I've been running it without the bumper cover but with the stock metal bumper for a few years now.

I used a 1/2" impact gun, came off real easy. I bought my new harmonic balancer off rock auto for $92 less the 5% discount plus shipping.

I love my r50 but it would be absurd to spend 5k on an SAS kit. As mentioned you can buy a variety of ready to wheel, proven solid axle rigs for that amount. Glad to see a company developing parts for our trucks, but I question the sanity of anyone that buys that kit for that amount or any amount close to that.

Cool thanks guys. While doing some research prior to starting the job i read it was recommended to use an instalation tool, which really just looks like an extra large bolt with a big thick washer and nut ( which sounds a bit dirty in retrospect), to avoid potentially damaging the threads. I figure ill just lube up the shaft a bit and slide er on. Tee hee. Anyway I didnt accomplish anything today as my boss gave me fourth row tickets to the canucks game. I did fet the tbelt installed yesterday though.

Didn't have much time to work on it today. Pulled the spark plugs (not looking forward to putting #6 back in). Pulled the cam shaft pulleys and theres no leaking. Also replaced the bypass hose that goes above the thermostat. That was a major pain in the ass...I had to cut the old one off as it was largely adhered, and the new one didn't want to go on easy. Was going to try the boil trick but was short on time, turns out if you lube up the pipes and fold it in half it pops on pretty easy. Thinking I'm going to go out in a few minutes to put the rear timing belt cover and cam shaft pulleys back on. Tomorrow after work I want to get the timing belt back on. Damned if working on it for an hour or two at a time doesn't make this take forever. Question: When others have reinstalled the harmonic balancer did you use a harmonic balancer installation tool or just shove the new one on and tighten the crankshaft bolt? I know the risks of thread damage but curious what others have done.

Where do you live in Canada? I've taken to having my parts shipped through the Kinek service to a place in Blaine, Washington. They charge $5 per package, per week to store them, and it doesn't take me too long to drive down there. The last two times I've been over I haven't been charged duty on them either *knocks on wood*. I end up being way ahead. For example NAPA priced a Harmonic Balancer for me at $225 before tax (and before %10 discount). Rock auto has them for $92. I just bought a Harmonic Balancer, Fan clutch, four radiator hoses, and a box of hose clamps for $202 including rush shipping. Add in the $5 fee that the Kinek place took and a few dollars for gas, and I'm still way ahead. I'd definitely suggest it if you live near the border; I got raped on shipping costs and duties when I had my OME lift incl coils shipped from the states to my door.

Grab one from a wrecker. I got a used one off of another board member a while ago for quite cheap as a spare (although I've never actually tried running it). Just clean off the wires with some alcohol and a q-tip and you're good to go.

Wow glad I decided not to replace that one due to mystery leaks in my ac system, all the other belts are plentiful and easy to find

in the middle of a timing belt change. got the water pump and thermostat replaced today and the timing belt off. Glad I decided to replace everything right now as I found a crack in the timing belt. Big hiccup so far was getting the harmonic balancer off. It had separated and shredded my belts, which was the original reason I'm changing everything. However I had a hell of a time getting it off. First tried a pulley remover, which didn't work. Then got a harmonic balancer remover tool, but it didn't have the right sized bolts. Then went and bought bolts but had one of them break off. Luckily I learned you can still remove the harmonic balancer with only one bolt.

All I know is that when I had my pathfinder in to ICBC (provincial insurance company here) to get damage inspected after somebody hit me and left a dent on my rear quarter, the appraiser took special care to measure and take pictures of all four of my tires from multiple angles. I have an OME lift in with 31" duratracs, so not exactly huge. It was never mentioned during my case, and in the end I won an appeal to have the other driver at 100% fault, but I have no doubt that should it have suited them in a legal battle they would have thrown my "oversized" tires and modifications at me...

Bushings need to be greased?

Rim size won't affect speedometer or anything else. Outside diameter of the actual tire will. Smaller wheels might rub on your brakes. Vehicles that come with larger wheels stock often do so in order to fit larger brake components.

looks really good, been thinking about doing basically the same thing for a while but haven't had the balls (or the money for new tires)

I had a local off road shop press out the old ones and install new poly bushings. They had a lot of trouble getting out a couple of them. Nissan is correct that it is a major pain in the ass. If you don't want poly bushings then it is easiest to replace the entire control arms. Don't go with the dealership though, try rockauto or a different source as they will be substantially cheaper. Pressing out bushings requires a hydraulic press (which I do not personally have access to). Replacing with new control arms is something you can do in your driveway fairly easily with air tools, or still somewhat easily with hand tools.

Didn't actually do anything to it today, but take advantage of running my stock wheels to put my duratracs onto stock Toyota 4runner aluminium rims, saved about 7lbs per tire. Bought a bunch of impact sockets as well

R50's have the same trans issues as WD21s, reverse going is the precursor to total failure

I wouldn't say the stock roofrack is worthless. I've carried, amongst other things, my canoe, windsurf board, and a large crate that was wider than the truck and weighted several hundred pounds. I would have no qualms about carrying a couple of kayaks on top of my truck. Of course an aftermarket roofrack would be much better On other vehicles I've used roofracks that mount between the gutter and door frame, which is the common design for most aftermarket ones. We've got I believe a Yakima rack for our Toyota Matrix which is quite nice, but they can be expensive. For the kayaks you can get some nice kayak mounts that hold the kayaks on their sides. Those should work fine regardless of whether you use the stock or an aftermarket roofrack. Truth be told I'd just stop by the local rack shop, ask some questions, and go from there. There are several stores around here that deal exclusively in roofracks and accessories for vehicles. I'd stop by, ask some questions, get some quotes, and then look for competing prices online. They'll know their stuff and questions are (usually) free.

Best figure out what you need first. You're asking the equivalent of "I want to be rich. What should I do?"

I've got MD all around, KYBs in the front and OME shocks in the rear. I also put new control arms with rubber bushings in the front and poly bushings upper and lower in the rear. It rides firmer, more like you'd expect a truck to ride. Corners well at speed, stiffer than stock suspension but doesn't shake your bones. I like it much better than stock.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but yes you should replace the pads if you're replacing the rotors. If the old rotors were warped or grooved it would mean the pads are unevenly worn, which would then in turn cause uneven wearing on the new rotors.

Not really sure on good deals. I bought my last set of tires from jeep thrills customs in Maple Ridge. I was having further work done though. I wouldn't say they were cheap but good guys. Before that I bought a set from Circuit Tire in Port Moody. Again, they're not overly cheap but they know their stuff and my dad likes to buy from them. If you know what you want then I'd just phone around and get quotes from all of the obvious places. Tire mounting isn't exactly very complicated and I personally wouldn't really care who did it so long as they're balanced correctly.

I say why not? If you can get them to fit, go for it

Too much I have stages I'm planning. First: - Install efans - Timing belt / water pump - Trans cooler - Upgrade alternator (possibly) - Install skidplates - Finish sound system Second: - Install levelling spacers - Manual hubs - Redo front brakes Third (aka things I'd like to do but have no plans to do in the immediate future): - Bumpers - Cams - Reflash ECU Ultimately I'd also like to cut my fenders to run 33s and install mudflaps and fender flares but I'm not sure really when or what I'm going to do there. Might just keep the 31s in which case I won't cut my fenders. I'm undecided on which course to take though. Part of me always wants to go bigger and better, but my truck is my daily driver and sees almost exclusively pavement right now.