TrailChaser

I contacted Warn about my busted hub cap since I saw people on here talking about getting free parts from them. I just got my brand new replacement cap in the mail and all I can say is WOW!!! I didn't have to pay for shipping or anything... When it comes time to buy hubs for the D44, I'll definitely buy Warn Premiums.. Not to mention looking into a winch from them if I can save up some $$$.

I would luv to score some OEM manual hubs myself. I hear the best place to look is on HardBodies. What would be totally awesome would be a set of factor manual hubs attached to the Patrol H233B front axle.

I've only heard of Warn Hubs exploding once, and that was here. I've seen two mile markers and a stock hub on an xterra be destroyed in ONE DAY!! Two other mile markers on a different trip destoyed by a pathy(hoohaa's), but I was guiding a different group that day so I heard about it at camp that night. I have a slightly busted Warn premium on the drivers side from a road accident..(the warn hub ripped off some morons bumper that pulled out in front of my pathy) I have been wheeling on that hub a few times since expecting it to blow at any time... It's still holding up good.

With my rear sway bar removed and the front end cranked up to the point that I have hardly any downward travel for the front wheels; I know exactly what you are talking about and have pretty much perfected the "art" of 3 wheel motion. Turning both ways... The question I have for you is.. How long can YOU hold that tire off the ground??? I can get the front tire smoking on a concrete parking lot. lmao I do it on the public streets ALL THE TIME.(because I know just how fast I can turn w/out rolling and I hate driving on roads so faster = less time behind the wheel) It's my truck and I do all types of illegal stuff in it with no worries. The list includes: 3 wheeling, speeding,(unless I'm speeding up or slowing down) NOT wearing my seat belt,(it's my life, I say write me a ticket if you want pigs) Jumping curbs to aviod traffic, and I talk mad $#!* on my PA system to people who need to hear it. Not to mention that I would blow my super loud air horn at the slightest driver mistake.(until it got ripped off from blazing thru a big water puddle at high speed..karma.?)

To each his own... You could just as easily be killed in a wreck on the way to buy a spring compressor or taking it to the shop. Life is full of risks.. It's better to be smart than scared... That being said most people who die at home die while doing "normal" tasks.

I just compress the springs with weight, then putting a couple of ratchet straps on the spring to hold it compressed while I put it onto the lower spring bucket. Then jack up the axle until the spring gets compressed again by the truck weight and take the straps off the springs and repeat on the other side. All I do to accomplish this is remove the panhard rod, swaybars, and shocks. There are lots of ways to compress the springs with weight, I doubt any of them are "safe" I have a shop floor jack that works perfect. Also be careful of having the straps sliding on the springs. A zip tie on the downhill side of the strap on top and uphill side on bottom will stop it from slipping. Edited to say* That hitch will definitely handle the weight of the truck if you want to jack from it. I have a hitch carrier that I used to install into the receiver hitch to lift the whole backend of the pathy off the ground before I built my rear bumper..

Here's my youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/TrailChaser Just type in "Pathfinder" into the little search box on my page for all my pathy vids. It's been over 2yrs since I've uploaded any offroading vids.

First thing I would do is clean the MAF sensor, then pull off the ribbed rubber hose that connects the air filter box to the intake. Check that hose for cracks between the ribs by flexing it a little... If you plan on flexing it alot have a new one ready to replace it. I have a K&N filter in mine and after breaking a motor mount and ripping that hose it was impossible to stop the leak. It was gutless at low speeds and when I needed torque. While you have that hose off the engine clean the intake as much as you can while holding open the butterfly valve. Good Luck with getting it fixed. PS. If you find that it the hose is ripped, check your motor mount on the driver side. Best way to check it is by having someone watch the engine while you hold the brake and give it some gas in gear.

How do the wires and plug to the MAF sensor look? Cleaned it(MAF Sensor) lately? I had a ton of problems out of mine for a couple of months. Dieing at a redlight if I didn't keep my foot on the gas. Then if it died I would have to pop the hood and unplug/replug the MAF harness to get it to recrank. Also you might want to check the TPS. Have you ran any seafoam thru it yet? I wouldn't take it to Nissan unless you know the guy's there have some brains... Most likely they will just do all the same things you already did w/out finding anything but a bill for you to pay. I went down that road when my pathy was cranking forward but starting backwards...(I have video proof of the backward running engine) They told me I needed to leave it with them for a couple of weeks and that they wouldn't promise anything but $60per hr. to find the problem. They also told me it just about HAD to be the ECU and not anything on the engine... The guy on the phone didn't think our engines could start backwards and basically called me a dumbass. Turned out to be a faulty distributor.(discovered using a timing light. lol)

Remind me that you called dibs when I get the SAS done. I have a horrible memory. I'm currently laid-off so making more would be out of the question ATM.

The CV angle you see in the 3rd pic is where it's been for the last couple of years with no problems. I've never broken a CV...(I've worn a few out to the point they were popping so loud while under a load it was embarrassing. lol) Maybe I just don't wheel hard enough.. Most of the broken Nissan CV's I've seen were from spin/hop/stop and turning too sharp while torquing the front wheels. I'll be getting rid of my spacers/angle correctors soon hopefully.(SAS coming soon..?)

I made some for myself because I was sick of replacing ball joints due to the extreme angle they were in after cranking the t-bars. Mine were made to help correct the angle as much as possible... They are, and have been working perfect since I installed them. I haven't replaced any ball joints and the ones on there now are still in great shape. My ball joints lasted months at best before, these have been on the truck for almost two years now.

I have a lot of these emails in the last few days. I think they sent one for each video I have uploaded of a pathy. I have been assuming they were spam... *edited to say: I just sent them my email address... Think I can squeeze them for a few $$$? You know they are making money, and I did sweat a little making some of those videos. lmao

Shopkeeper, Thank you for using CafePress! In accordance with our Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Albert Bensusen on behalf of Nissan North America provided us with a notice stating that your use of the Nissan and Datsun Brand Logos and their associated vehicle models and model names infringes upon their intellectual property rights (copyright/trademark/trade dress). Please click here for more information about intellectual property. Accordingly, we have set the content that is alleged to infringe the rights of the third party to “pending status” which disables said content from being displayed in your shop or purchased by the public. You may review the content set to pending status by logging into your CafePress account and clicking on the “Media Basket” link. The content set to pending status will be located in a “pending images” folder, which can be accessed via the pull-down menu bar on the left hand side. If you believe that you hold the rights to the content alleged to infringe the rights of the third party, we encourage you to contact the alleged rights holder directly for a resolution to this matter. Below please find the contact information for the party alleging infringement. Albert Bensusen SVP Nissan Client Sales Manager Equity Management Inc. 4365 Executive Dr., Suite 1000 San Diego, CA 92121 Off:(858) 558 - 2500 ext. 115 ABensusen@EquityManagementInc.com We apologize for any inconvenience that our actions may cause you. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Lindsay Moore Content Usage Associate (650) 655-3047 lmoore@cafepress.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email is about the old TNO(TexasNissanOffroad) Cafepress stuff that was uploaded. The only images were of the drawing that Luis did.(very nice work BTW) Other than that I think "Texas (Nissan) Offroad" may have triggered the lawyer alert. lol Nothing to worry about of course just thought I'd post up the email just in case anyone was thinking of making shirts or calenders in the future. I have already removed everything Nissan related from Cafepress. I have had two shops on cafepress. One for TNO and one for ForemanMetalWorks. The thing that kinda gets under my skin is that both shops where suspended because of Nissan's claim. obviously the FMW shop had zero reference to Nissan. I understand that is a cafepress problem, but it seems to me that it would have been just as easy for Nissan to send me an email asking for the removal of their copyrighted material, along with an nice explanation as to why. Instead of going about it arsehat route and having my whole account suspended. The most disappointing thing is that I was on my way to being rich off those Nissan images... I have $16 in Cafepress cash since 2007. When it hit $25 they'll send me a check. I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks of this.

The only linkage on our 5-speed trannies is to the transfer case. The normal "stick" is only held in with a snap ring. Lots of 5-speed owners pull the stick and pour gear oil in the hole to refill the tranny with the correct amount of fluid.(gl-4 ONLY)

My advise is just drill out the head like someone said with a 6mm drill. When the head falls off you can then remove the hub. Take a propane torch and heat up the the steel around the bolt so that it expands.(like was said earlier) Don't twist back and forth. Clip on some good vise grips and pull up on the bolt as if you where trying to loosen it, but don't put enough pressure to make it slip. Holding that pressure TAP(not hit) the END of the bolt lightly. If you twist back and forth you run the risk of snapping it off inside the hole.(Which is a horrible problem with nissan OEM bolts for some reason) Tapping gives you the same rust fiction breaking efforts w/out the torque. WD-40 is old tech. It's now JUST a water displacer, or a cleaner. Not a penetrating or lubricating oil. Use some Blaster on it and you'll be fine. As for the brake cleaner... Don't worry yourself about it too much. It is only toxic if you weld over wet BC.(the heat converts the chemicals into phosgene gas) In comparison it like me saying "If you point that gun at yourself and pull that trigger it could kill you" and people hearing "Guns can kill you." So they vow to never have any contact with them. Yes they can kill you, but if used properly they are(safe) great tools.

I was tight on $$$ when I did my timing belt/water pump and bought a kit that contained everything to do the job. I can't remember the price, but it was a lot cheaper. They sent the timing belt with the square teeth first and the auction description said it would fit any pathy from 87-95. When I contacted the seller he told me no problem the rounded tooth belt was instantly shipped and I had it fast. He told me to do whatever I wanted with the square toother so I gave it to Bryan(hoohaa) since he was wheeling a 93 model. That was quite a while ago and it's still going strong, but I haven't been in there to see how it looks. I looked to see if I could find the seller I used but it was too long ago.

Here in Arkansas we have no smog test or even inspections. We also have nice clean air to breathe.

Sounds like it may be time to invest in some anti-theft gadgets. I recommend disconnecting the trigger wire from the starter and running a hidden starter button. Then when they go thru all the trouble of getting the ignition "on" they will get no response from the starter. You have to turn on the ignition then hit the button to crank it. Pros: Will not crank from the ignition no matter what the criminal does. You can hide the button anywhere you want and keep the location to yourself. If you have a 5-speed you can now start it in gear if you stall on a tricky section of trail. Cons: The button is live all the time.(If you hit the button the starter will turn over even w/out the key in the ignition. Got kids..?) Pain in the arse when someone else has to crank your pathy.(like when getting an alignment or something at the shop) Another fairly cheap option is to have a magnetic switch(reed switch) interrupting the power to your fuel pump. You have to wave/stick a magnet to the spot behind the dash where you installed the switch before driving. Pros: Completely hidden and almost fail proof if you have it install correctly. Cons: lose your magnet and you lose the ability to crank your truck without bypassing your switch or finding a new magnet.(easy to find a magnet around the house but not so easy while in the middle of nowhere)

My sole reason for the swap was the fact that I would have to use my hand throttle to "idle" my pathy at 2000rpms just to get the a/c to blow cool air on my wife and other passengers while they sit in the truck and wait for me to spot others thru obstacles on hot summer days in Texas. My pathy never had a problem with overheating. Now when on the trails I can kick the taurus fan on high speed and let the truck idle with zero a/c problems. I have mine set up on a three way switch. low/temp controlled, off, hi-speed. When idling after the truck is warmed up the fan only runs for about 30secs, and stays off for a while between cycles.

If you are talking about jacking up the truck then letting it down to smash the bushing in then I think you are going about it wrong. I'm not saying it won't work, only that there are many many better ways of achieving your desired results. Also your pathy is not likely 6,000lbs. It's closer to 4,000lbs and you have to divide that weight by the amount of tires on the ground.(about 1/2ton per tire) 1,000 pounds of pressure is probably not enough to push that bushing in. I've done the job a couple of times and it's not hard to push them in using a nice size c-clamp. I recommend using a bench vise and a C-clamp. Also, Keep in mind that I have seen the lip get cut off trying to push these bushing in without the use of a funnel. I know lots get it done w/out any problems, but it does happen when you use lots of force. I made up a little kit to ease doing this job, but the last person to use it never returned it.(it was covered by a deposit so it's no big deal to me; just kinda sux for others who may have benefited from it. Here are some pics.

I finally solved the problem. It was a faulty distributor... Thanks for the timing light recommendations because that is how I figured out it was a dist. problem. When checking the timing I noticed that things were a little strange because I was not getting a steady flash.(especially at higher RPM's) Then just for kicks I decided to leave the T-lite hooked up while playing around starting it to see how it would react when the engine cranked backwards. After a couple of failed cranking attempts I noticed that I was getting a seemingly random flash from the timing light AFTER the engine had stopped cranking. I'm talking about a solid flash 1-2 seconds after it stopped cranking..? That to me was all the evidence I need to shell out $65 for a used distributor from car-part.com. I finally got out there this morning to install the dist. and now the pathy is running good again. Thanks for all the help and I hope this follow-up quenches some of your curiosity about my mystery problem. Hopefully if anyone else runs across this problem they will find this thread and save a ton of time, $$$, & headache. lol

You would need to drill it with the bearing out of the sleeve, and that's most likely not gonna happen.(once they're pressed in they tend to stay in) Otherwise you run the risk of drilling into the bearing itself(good luck, the bearing is probably harder than a HSS drill bit)or at least getting shavings inside them by not removing them. I don't know exactly how Bryan is having them made at the machine shop, but I bet they have a ridge in the middle of the sleeve that both are pressed against so they don't actually touch inside the sleeve and to keep from pressing them in too far. When it comes to greasing the bearing, my advice is to just leave them alone. These bearings are built to handle some serious pressures and stresses. They will never see the kind of stress on our trucks to need new grease, besides they hardly even turn 180degs. Our tiny tie-rods will pretzel long before those bearings failed. IMHO you would have better luck drilling a hole down the center of the grade 8 bolt(with a carbide drill in a really rigid mill) and trying to cut threads into that bolt for the zerk will be the highlight of that task. Then you have the problem of a hollow bolt holding your steering together.