Kingman

My thoughts exactly. Fully boxed ladder frame, it will be very hard to bend. They're thicker and more supported than some full size trucks. GM did a major oops with installing the 6.1L in their SS Trailblazers, people were twisting the chassis and breaking interior panels left and right. However they are fast as @!*% though and a great bang for the buck. I think people have the misconception that our frames/chassis are puny because of the weak output motor. This is definitely not the case...

I've never seen that before, I really want to know what that is. If it's a manual air/fuel mixture adjustment I'm willing to bet it'll sove quite a few of my problems.

New motor and clutch. Not a fault of the truck, I beat the piss out of it and when I first changed the oil after I got it, it was black sludge. The heads were fairly bad ass well and there's a lot of evidence that someone has been into the motor before more than a timing belt change. Other than that, nothing really. Suspension is getting a little tired, with is understandable with 200K on the chassis. My old Pathfinder needed CV axles due to torn boots, MAF sensor, an ECU Coolant Temperature Sensor, and a few other little things. Overall nothing major that were the fault of the vehicle themselves. I tend to be fairly hard on what I drive...

We've got a Harbor Freight wire-feed welder that we got on sale. It works just fine...

You'll need to drop the diff, which can be done without removing the torsion bars.

Japanese vehicles were quite a bit behind Americans and the rest of the world in technology. A lot of the 70s and 80s American cars could be had with single or dual power/memory/heated seats, electric sunroofs, automatic ride leveling suspension systems, completely digital dashes with an onboard computer diagnostics and information system, etc. One that that's always bothered me is that Nissan didn't offer electric seats in the WD21s when every other SUV out there did. I know it's more things to go wrong, but still. Chevrolet started putting fuel injection in the Corvette in 1965 and power windows have been around since the late 30s. At the time most vehicles were fuel injected, Japanese makers were still using carburated motors. Also, in case anyone was wondering, Alfa Romeo started using variable valve timing (think V-Tec) in the 60s. Japanese companies have been stealing American technology for decades now. LCD screens, CDs, calculators, assorted TV technology, etc.

That's how it should be. It's just that people are becoming so stuipid that auto makers need to add an extreme amount of features to save people from themselves in their own vehicle. I need to bypass mine. My legs are too short to sit comfortably and depress the pedal to the floor to start the truck, so I have to slide way down in my seat and get comfortable again. That and the position of the interlock switch is stupid. It needs to be on the left side of the steering wheel, not the right.

I was referring to pipe sizing and what not.

Hmmm. MPFI, intake port matching, polishing the entire intake, headers, and a PROPERLY designed full exhaust system should give about 170HP.

They're the same fenders, yes.

Cast iron.

Good description Dowser, I need to do mine too. My passenger side is squealing like crazy as well...

Thank you for actually taking the time to explain what you did, David. As was said it should be pinned for all members to see whenever they have a question. I've been trying to explain to many people that back pressure is never good on ANY motor, ever, and that it won't make any more or less torque. Also how after the primaries and further along the system larger piping isn't going to hurt anything. Your ideal set up is basically exactly what I've been planning to do with mine for quite a while now, just haven't had the money to do it. Another muffler to mention is the older Edelbrock mufflers that are no longer in production. They use a perforated metal design that produces zero back pressure at any RPM and have a really nice sound to them. I search constantly on Ebay for them, but usually don't have the money to snatch one up when it comes along. But of course, when I do they never show up... Oh, and what brand headers are those you have pictured?

Yeah, sounds like mine. Although when it's running right it'll hit 100 and acclerate great. Acting up it struggles to hit 85 and hold highway speeds. Pretty significant difference.

Did you ever find a fix for this problem? I'm having about the same issue. Sometimes the gas pedal is touchy, the truck accelerates quickly, and other times it's sluggish and requires more skinny pedal to get to the same speed.

Beat me to it. X2 on that...

That car is gorgeous. I love the 6-series. I will own one of those and one of these someday. Jaguar XJS HE V12 hardtop.

Well, I bet if you were devoted enough you could trace some wiring diagrams and rewire everything needed to make the gauges work.

Oh I know that and I understand what you're getting at. But what I'm saying is, manufacturers measure their tires so differently that there's almost never a true-to-measurement tire and there's always a little bit of deviation in the physical tire size. I put a set 265/75/16s on a '97 caR50 and they looked great. It was also the same size tire that came off and I talked to the guy about it and that's all he's been running since he got the truck.

In theory yes, but after standing tons of 31s and 265s together when I worked at Les Schwab, I've found that they are basically the same overall size in width and height.

Some Magnaflow and older Edelbrock mufflers are a non-baffled design that generates practically zero back pressure. I've ran straight pipes on a Pathfinder. Made no difference at all in torque compared with a full exhaust system, gained a MPG or so with it being straight piped. All it was was a down pipe below the back seat. And pipe sizing has about 95% to do with the primary exhaust size, not so much the rest of the system. All the velocity is generated in the primaries (header/manifold down pipe flange). Nothing else really matters after that point.

Exactly, 1500 is way too low. Dangerously probably, hear your valves floating yet? I shift at 2500-3000 just cruising and like B said, around 4000 if I'm trying to get somewhere in a decent amount of time. 11.7 is pretty horrific mileage though, but keep in mind that if you bog down an engine as much as you probably are by shifting that low, it's going to suck almost twice as much fuel trying to create power where it just doesn't exist.

A 265/75/16 is a 31x10.50x15.

Almost all of the links are no longer valid. Ebay links won't work for long, most linked "searches" through websites will only redirect you to the master site, and linking to a thread in a member-only forum isn't going to allow anyone who's not a member to view.

With the stud secured you're no longer twisting into the head threads directly with force, instead the nut is twisting onto the stud with the flange as a buffer, whereas a bolt you're still tightening and twisting into the threads while trying to secure the flange. I've seen quite a few people swap bolts for studs because they're too lazy to fix them and cause even more problems for themselves in the long run. I've mentioned swapping bolts for studs to a few mechanics and each one of them about came out of their pants because it was such a bad idea. After talking with a 30 year Nissan mechanic (M.B. Anderson & CO) about the VG motors he's seen come in that are insanely messed up because of bolted on manifolds and heads, I know I'll take the safe route and buy a set of upgraded studs when I put my headers on. Because you're a machinist, I understand you're more aware of torquing and being extremely careful not to damage anything. Most people aren't though, and this is why things get destroyed... It's simply much safer to use upgraded studs in an aluminum head.