vengeful

I've repeatedly towed 4,000lb trailers with my 99 SE Pathfinder. They're rated to tow 5,000lbs. I've exceeded GCWR on a couple of occasions with no drama. Every time I towed more than a significant amount of weight, it was with a twin-axle trailer, with surge brakes. Go ahead and tow as much as you want. There is no brake controller circuit pre-wired into the R50 Pathfinder. I wouldn't worry about a brake controller. Just get surge brakes, and you'll be fine.

Also, check the rear suspension. If your rear suspension links are bent, it'll tweak the rear axle, and you'll have to counter with the front wheels.

Oh. My. Gods. They need that. For reals!

It DOES require cutting steel, just not chassis, sub-frame structural steel. I used plastic flex-hose to route the air into the air box, and just cut sheet metal. Also, GPG, is that Lake Christie at Rausch?

Eh....not really, just keep with the flow of traffic.

Yes. It most definitely is. My old rig, I was able to consistently achieve 20.7mpg commuting to work. 90/10 highway/city ratio. 32x11.50 Tires, 3" lift, TJM bumper, huge safari rack, ARB Snorkel, 4 lights on the roof, warn manual hubs. I'm sure that without all of the extra drag it would have been a lot more. Oh, and that was with 165-180k miles, poor maintenance and a crap alignment. My peak was 23.6mpg on a single tank, once. I was able to achieve 17.5mpg towing a 3500lb trailer from Rochester, NY to DC, though. That was pretty impressive. But....I'm liking my 37mpg Integra right now...

Jane has always been good to me. When I ordered my lift, what....6 years ago, they actually called ME the next day to tell me they didn't have the stuff in stock and it would be a few months. I've had nothing but good experiences from them, but I ALWAYS placed orders over the phone, and never online.

I have information at home. If you don't find it by tonight, I'll post up what i have.

I've never had any problems with my insurance company and the modifications on my vehicles. Heck, when my dads car got flooded, the tow yard stole the stereo out of it, they asked what was in there and gave us full retail + labor for it, even though it was 3+ years old. When I had gotten into a couple of incidents with my Pathfinder, they asked me about the modifications, and the adjuster was impressed and thought it was cool! I had an extra rider on my policy for some of the modifications on the Pathy.

The ARB is a great product, Alex. You'll really like it, especially with what you're using your truck for. Hopefully this thread will give everyone, no matter if you're doing an LSD rebuild, or an ARB locker, the confidence to tear into your diff and just go for it. It's really not as hard as people make it out to be. If you're going to do the install yourself, and have any questions on getting the gears setup, don't hesitate to ask.

Dean, Have you guys ever been in touch with Disabled Explorers? They might be able to help out with your trips, too. http://www.disabledexplorers.org Also, back to the original question at hand, as long as the passengers are secured safely and properly in the vehicle, there's minimal risk, no more so than you face yourself. If it's their first time out, I'd suggest taking them on some lighter trails to get them accustomed to the "bouncing and banging" a bit before tackling the more hardcore stuff.

The KMA stuff is made to work without the factory gear. The swing-out for the tire is mounted on the bumper itself. It's not a Pathfinder, but it's a good representation. As for a Pezzy-Style one, you could find a local fabrication shop, there's a few in the DC Area that are good, and they can build you something like that. It'll cost you a bit, but it'll work, and be of nice quality. Just a bit of a warning on KMA though... Here's an example of their workmanship/quality. This is the mounting bracket for their front bumper. And, as a contrast, here's the bracket for the TJM T-15. See the two holes in the middle there? That's what KMA uses for their mounting. I would have to presume their rear bumper is of the same quality. They have also had problems with QC, bumpers not fitting, welds not complete, etc. And numerous problems with shipping and fulfillment related issues.

The air locker will work in any 33-spline H233b axle, 1996-2004 Pathfinder, 1999-2004 Frontier V6, and 2000-2004 Xterra V6. They all share the same rear axle. Thus, why the LSD from the Frontier will swap into the R50. The Axle in your 1996 is identical to the 2001. You will need two LSDs to complete this, or an assortment of extra plates and discs. It just happened that the LSD we used was from a 2002 Frontier, and it just happened that the vehicle it was going into was a 2001. The Frontier made it's debut in 1998 as a 4-cylinder only truck with the C200 rear axle. Nissan added a V6 to the lineup in late 1999. Uh...no. I don't really have any where to do this, and finding the parts for reasonable money is tough.

Nice find. MSRP According to ARB is still $870/$300 respectively, though.

My bubble's not burst. You're still way off. If you can get an ARB for $720 these days, buy 100. Likewise with the compressor. From AC: ARB Air Locker - $840 https://www.4x4parts.com/catalog/product_in...products_id=110 ARB Air Compressor - $250 https://www.4x4parts.com/catalog/product_in...roducts_id=2784 From Rocky-Road: Locker - $835 Compressor - $248 From 4Wheel Parts: Locker - $966.99 Compressor - $243.99

That will depend on where you source your parts from. But, for this example, the complete Frontier 3rd member was ~$200.

ARB Air Locker - $870 ARB Air Compressor - $300 Total: $1170 + supplies Installation Time - 16 hours Frontier LSD Diff - $200 Total: $200 + supplies Installation Time - 7 hours I'll let Mike chime in on the rest of his justification, but driving it before and after. The thing is 10x better. Going around tight curves at moderate acceleration, the inside wheel skips on the pavement like with a locker. The VQ35 doesn't produce enough power to spin the inside tire in 2nd gear going making a turn. It's REALLY tight.

The Worlds Tightest R50 Limited Slip Including H233b Gear Setup Information Well, a couple of cut fingers, busted knuckles and some very unusual scrapes later, it's done. It's official. The limited slip in Laxman's 2001 R50 Pathfinder is the tightest LSD in any Pathfinder out there. With an estimated breakaway rating of over 250ft-lbs(*1), it's more spool than LSD. Background Information: First off, a little bit of background information. The R50 Nissan Pathfinder (henceforth referred to as R50) LSD is rated at only 64-80ft-lbs of breakaway force, with an average rating around 76ft-lbs. Mike's 2001 R50, with the VQ35DE and a 5-speed manual transmission is equipped with an HG43, 4.363:1 Ring & Pinion ratio, 33-spline H233b rear axle. The Donor 2002 Frontier Desert Runner (henceforth referred to as DR) was equipped with a VG33E, 5-speed manual transmission, and equipped with an HG46, 4.636:1 Ring & Pinion Ratio 33-spine, H233b rear axle. After some thorough research through Nissan Factory Service Manuals, and Nissan's factory parts system, FAST, it was determined that the internals of the differentials, save for the clutch packs and the side gears, were identical. The difference in the side gears is not in the mesh, but rather in the clutch pack side. The R50 Side gear had a hexagonal clutch mounting area, whereas the DR side gear was a 12-point, mirroring the "teeth" on the friction discs. This photo shows the R50 differential with the case removed, showing the hexagonal side gear. The clutch pack was removed for this photo. It was also determined that the side gears were interchangeable between differentials, as long as the side gears used were the same on each side. The added "teeth" on the side gear help to grab the "teeth" on the friction plates, and limit slippage of the friction discs. This photo shows the DR differential with the case removed. You can see inside of the clutch pack the 12-point side gear "flanges." Required Tools: Lug Wrench Ft-lb torque wrench capable of 150ft-lbs. in-lb torque wrench Dial Indicator on Magnetic base Assorted metric Wrenches and Sockets, 14mm, 17mm impact sockets Floor jack Jack Stands Drum Brake Spring Tool - big helper! Screw drivers Pry bar Small (1/4") paint brush Parts & Supplies Needed: Donor differential or 3rd member. Ultra-Black RTV Sealant Permatex Prussian Blue Gear Marking Compound Gear Oil for your Differential Brake Fluid Thread Locker (in case) Note: This is not an overly difficult job, but there are several safety critical systems involved. See bold, italicized text below for caution. Preliminary Steps and Disassembly: The first thing to do is raise the truck and secure the body on jack-stands. I like to position my jack-stands just before the rear LCA mounts on the frame. Also, support the axle with jack-stands, slightly lower than the body, so it, too, is secured. Remove the wheels. Before you can work on the differential, you've got to remove it from the vehicle. So your first step is going to be draining the oil from the rear diff. Be sure you remove the fill plug first, otherwise, if you can't get it off, and you've already drained the diff, you're kind of out of luck. I HIGHLY recommend having a service manual handy. We consulted both the Nissan Factory Service manual for both the Frontier and the Pathfinder, as well as the Hayne's manuals. In fact, I would not recommend performing this work if you're not 100% confident in your mechanical abilities, and have a service manual handy. This involves completely disassembling the rear brakes, removing the driveshaft, removing the axles, and removing the differential third member. There is quite a lot of safety critical stuff that you will be dealing with in the course of this work, so please, use good judgment. If you're not 100% confident that you are capable of doing this, have someone help you. Once you've got the vehicle securely on jack-stands, you can proceed to disassemble the rear brake drums. You will need to have both drums disassembled completely, so it may help to take photographs of them so you can consult them when you go to reassemble the drums several hours later, as it may not be fresh in your memory. Once you've got the drums apart, all the hydraulic lines disconnected and the parking brake cable detached, you can remove the 4 bolts (17mm) that secure the axle into the axle tube. The service manuals recommend using a slide-hammer to pull the axles, but we were able to do so with some light taps from a 1.5lb sledge hammer. Place a drain pan underneath each axle-end, as you'll be losing brake fluid the whole time. You will want to inspect your axle oil seals. Replace if necessary. Our 96,000 mile R50's were fine, so we left them alone. Clean up the grease on the end of the axle-tube and install new grease at the hub. This picture shows the disassembled axle ends. You can see the hydraulic line for the brakes seeping brake fluid all over the place, and the parking brake cable secured off to the side. You're also going to need to disconnect the driveshaft from the pinion side of the 3rd member. It is 4 17mm bolts with nuts that secure it, so you'll need a 17mm socket, and wrench. Have a helper put the vehicle in and out of gear to allow the shaft to rotate as needed. Once you've got the driveshaft disconnected from the 3rd member, you can start removing the 3rd member. The nuts securing the 3rd member to the axle housing are 14mm. Be careful removing these as sometimes the nut will be lightly seized and will want to take the stud with it. If this occurs, during reassembly, apply some threadlocking compound to the stud. Take note of the orientation of the 3rd member as you're removing it from the axle. Pull the 3rd member out from under the vehicle. This is DEFINITELY a two person job. It's about 90lbs, and not exactly in a convenient place. It helps to have a creeper handy to roll the 3rd out from underneath. This picture shows the axle housing with the third member removed. Take note of the orientation as you're removing the 3rd member from the axle. Follow the steps on This Page to disassemble your Differential housing. This photo shows some assorted differential parts. Be sure you keep track of what goes where and which diff housing each piece is from. The Modification: Since the part numbers for the friction plates, and friction discs, along with all other internal parts of the differential that are contained in both differentials are the same between the DR and the R50(*2), we decided that instead of simply swapping ring gears and dropping the DR LSD into the R50, we would scavenge some of the friction material from the R50 clutch packs, and insert them into the DR differential. This photo shows the factory R50 clutch pack arrangement. The pieces with the tabs are the Friction Plates; the ones without are the friction discs. The reason the R50 LSD is so weak, it that it is comprised of nearly all friction plates. There are only two friction discs in the entire differential. The friction plates do not create ample friction between each other, only between a disc and a plate. So, we decided to take the two friction discs and either two or three of the friction plates from the R50 differential, and add them to the DR differential. This photo shows the factory DR LSD clutch pack configuration. Again, the units with the tabs are the friction plates, and the units without are the discs. The big fat disc in the middle is simply a shim plate that aids in friction between the F-plates. We measured the thickness of this plate and measured the thickness of our replacement arrangement from the R50 differential. It was determined that two friction plates and two friction discs would be the ideal thickness to replace this shim plate. The new configuration is slightly taller, overall, than the factory configuration, but Nissan includes two spring shim plates that will compress when the differential case is reassembled. For maximum performance, it is highly recommended that for each friction disc, you have at least one friction plate on each side, i.e. f-plate, f-disc, f-plate, f-disc, f-plate, etc. This photo shows the modified clutch pack configuration. Note the alternating friction plate, friction disc pattern. You are free to adjust this pattern any way you see fit, but make sure that the pattern is the same on each side of the differential - starting from the inside-out. The Ring Gear side must mirror the non-Ring gear side. Re-Assembly & H233b Gear Setup: Now that you've gotten your clutch pack configuration figured out, and you've got your clutch packs on the side gears and loaded into the differential case, it's time to put everything back together. Assemble the differential case. Since we were swapping ring gears, we installed the ring gear at this point. You may not be swapping ring gears if you're reusing your factory housing. We switched housings because the DR one had better bearings, and it was easier to swap the ring gear than the bearings. Also, you must not mix and match R&P sets, even if they are the same ratio. They come matched from the factory for optimal set-up. Using a different ring gear with your original pinion will result in a poor contact, and premature wear, loud gear whine, or worse. Once you've got the differential housing assembled with the ring gear, it's time to install the assembly into the 3rd member housing. Unfortunately, I was too busy working to take pictures of these steps, but I will try to be as detailed as possible. Insert the diff/ring gear assembly into the 3rd member housing. Remember to always place the bearings on races, so they do not get damaged. If you followed the steps on the page above (link), then your adjusters will already be in the right place. If you've had to remove the ring gear for any reason, you will need to remove the adjusters and set-up the gears again. We did this. The FSM calls for 0.08" of backlash in the ring and pinion. Once you have the differential securely mounted in the 3rd member, you will need to set up your dial indicator, with the pin as perpendicular as possible to the edge of the ring gear tooth. Move the ring gear to the far side of its play and set the indicator to 0. Adjust the ring gear back to the other end of its play and record the number displayed. Next, apply some of the Permatex Prussian Blue to 3-4 teeth of the ring gear, on both the drive and coast sides. Apply some resistance to the gear, 30-40lbs is sufficient. and rotate the pinion through the compound in both directions a few times. The compound will get rubbed off where the gears are making contact. You want your gear contact to be as centered as possible on both the drive and coast sides of the ring gear. Our first try, the backlash was spot on at 0.08", but the mesh pattern was poor. We noticed that the adjusters were allowing some lateral play in the differential, so we took it apart, moved the adjusters around, remeasured the backlash, and checked the pattern again. It was perfect. 0.078" backlash, and a perfectly centered mesh. If you don't have to remove the pinion from the 3rd member, and you're reusing the same ring gear, it makes setting up the gears much much easier. Once you've got the gears set up, and the 3rd member is properly assembled, and everything is torqued to spec, it's time to reinstall the 3rd member into the axle housing. Apply the Ultra-Black RTV Sealant around the mating surface on the axle housing, going around all of the studs. Again, installing the 3rd member is a two person job, as it's heavy and awkward. The studs will generally not let you simply slide the 3rd member directly on, so it may require a couple of light taps on the pinion flange to set it all the way down. Hand tighten the nuts and snug them to the point that the RTV starts to ooze out the side. Let the RTV set up for approximately 1-1.5 hours. This is a good opportunity to change the front diff oil, and grab a bite to eat. Once the RTV is set up, torque down the nuts to spec. Apply some fresh grease to the wheel seals on the axles, then reinstall them. Then fill the diff with fresh 75w90 GL4 LSD Approved gear oil, or 80w90 LSD approved gear oil. We used 75w90 Mobil1 LS synthetic. Reassemble the brakes, and you're almost done! Final Steps: Now that you've got everything back together, there's still one critical step before you can put the wheels back on and go for a test drive. Remember this picture? See all the wet stuff on the end of the axle housing? That's brake fluid. Your wheel cylinders are also empty by now. It is absolutely vital that you properly bleed the brakes, or you will not be able to stop. Once you've bled the brakes, put the wheels back on, and go for a short test drive and listen for any strange noises. Notes and Observations: - This job, while not overly difficult, is time consuming and requires forethought. Be sure you have at least a full day to devote to it. - This is a very dirty operation. I'd suggest gloves, and long clothes, if feasible. - Take your time, don't rush the critical steps, like brake setup and gear setup. Asterisks: *1 - The Factory breakaway rating of the R50 LSD is ~76ft-lbs. The factory rating of the Frontier Desert Runner LSD is 230ft-lbs (vs 210ft-lbs for the standard Frontier). Estimating the with the addition of 2 disks and 2 plates per side to the Frontier differential. *2 - Exception: Side Gears References and Further Reading: XterraGuy LSD Page NPORA How To - Rebuilding your LSD for More Strength FND4PTH.Com - Photo Gallery Nissan Factory Service Manual - 1999.5 Pathfinder Nissan Factory Service Manual - 2002 Frontier Haynes Repair Manual - Nissan Trucks 1996-2004, Pathfinder, Frontier and Xterra

Yes, it will work for the 2001+ diffs. However, it still won't be as tight as a modified Frontier/Xterra/WD21 diff.

Those sleeves act as "Insulators". Basically they help to prevent the coil from shifting around on the mount and reduce NVH. Not really absolutely necessary to have them installed, but it'll be nicer with them. As far as the bump-stops. It's fine to drive without them, but, I'd get that fixed before you take it off-road, as you'll need them then.

Heat, PB and an Extractor?

Then go with a "Portable" mount. Warn actually sells a receiver cradle for their winches. Mount the winch to that, and then you can put it on either the front or the rear as needed. Best of both worlds. Though, the receiver mounts aren't really tolerant of side pulls more than 10 degrees or so...

Why not put one at both ends?

There are very few Standard differences between the XE and SE. It is a trim designation, nothing else. There are, of course, certain features that are only available on certain trim levels, just as certain options only come with certain packages. For the R50, the SE included standard power windows/locks, mirrors, and an 8-way manually adjustable drivers seat. Each trim level also has a different interior fabric pattern. So the Grey fabric on an XE is going to be patterned differently from the grey fabric in an SE. Really, just about everything else was optional.

An OEM fitmet strut has 8" of travel. At OEM ride height, that's 4" up-travel and 4" downtravel. When you lift the truck, you're increasing your available down-travel, but decreasing the available up-travel, which is what causes the struts to top out more easily once lifted. If you were to lift 4" by the method you propose, your struts would be topped out all the time. The only safe way to achieve more than 2-3" of lift, would be a drop kit.