big_johnson

Unfortunately it's not. I shorted out the taillights the other day, but the brake lights still worked. Now, the brake lights aren't working but the taillights are

Well I was trying to wire up my trailer harness using the trial and error method, and now my brake lights don't work. The haynes manual shows the circuit going to a fuse in the fuse box, but I can't find it! There is nothing in there that corresponds to the brake lights (note: there is a "tail" labeled fuse, this corresponds to the regular taillights and interior lights, as I shorted those out as well). So where is this brake light fuse? I really need to know soon! -Chris

Thanks for the help with the panel, I saw that little clip but didn't want to pry too hard since I wasn't sure it was supposed to be removed. Now...any idea's with the wiring? I guess I could just do trial and error...but seems like I might short something out that way

I'm installing trailer wiring on my 97, and got the driver side panel off and the wiring installed, but can't get the passenger side panel off. Right where there is that storage box, there seems to be something holding it all on, but I cant figure out what and can't get it detached. Also...I bought the factory wiring harness from nissan, and one side has 3 wires coming out, while the other side has only 2. Does it matter which plugs into which side? The wiring came with no directions at all. Thanks, -Chris

I haven't posted here in a while (busy with the mountain biking boards ) but this thread caught my attention. I'm in Fort Collins during the school year (CSU student), but Highlands Ranch during breaks. I think somewhere in Buena Vista would be prime. Numerous great trails, some easy, some super difficult (ie Iron Chest, haha). Plenty of free camping. Only problem is that it stays snowy for quite a while. Right now I bet none of the trails are passable by anything even close to stock. Of course, the same can be said for most of the (decent) CO 4wd trails right now anyways

Ahahaha! The manual's are winning over the automatics, 8 to 6 (In case you didn't guess, I have a manual, and much prefer it over auto's)

You have an SE, right? So that would mean you have the 4.636 gears. Some Fronties (and Xterras?) came with 4.9xx gears in the H233Baxles, if you could find a donor vehicle with this ratio, it would save you some cash. Other than that, I'm not sure how much higher you could go with gear ratios, if at all, with the H233B

At least compared to my neighbors, that is. My neighbor asked me to do a little roofrack work on her '00, and when I was done, I drove it back to her house, and noticed quite a ride diffference. In short, her's rode more like a sedan, less body roll, yet more supple over curbs/bumps. I'm not sure why this could be. I have 1 year old struts and shocks (KYB GR-2's and Rancho RS9000x's, respectively), and recently replaced lower control arm bushings. I know they did some redesigning to the rear suspension with the 99.5 and up, such as repositioning the shocks to be vertical (as opposed to mine, which are angled back a bit), they put in different bushings, and they may have upgraded the stock shocks (not positive on that one). Anyways, I'm wondering if those upgrades may have contributed to the difference, or if something in my suspension is awry. I've heard that Rancho's aren't exactly known for their longevity, but like I said, mine are only a year old, and haven't really been abused during that time. Also, my stock springs are close to shot. These were my first thought when I noticed the difference, and will be replaced with OME's when I have some money to spare. Any ideas?

I've been thinking about cams for some time now. Seems like the performance increase is substantial, and I remember someone posting on AC a while ago raving about the increase. However, he also reported a substantial mpg loss. Of course, at the stage your pathy is in, I suppose mileage isn't exactly a main concern . Installation costs would be another thing to consider. I really have no idea how much a shop would charge for something like this, but I'd wager that it wouldn't be cheap. Oh well, go tto save some money before spending any more

Not exactly. HP for the 3.3 NA Frontiers was rated at 170. The S/C version was rated at 210 hp. So, +40. I think adding another 40 on top of that would be relatively simple, just by messing with the boost, ECU, and some other basic things. My mistake...but I believe the N/A Xterra was rated at 180HP. You could do a K&N, exhaust and a chip for less than $1K and probably get 60-75+hp...much cheaper than boosting and better payoff. Yeah, I think they "added" 10 hp in the 03 or 04 model year for Fronties and Xterras. But 60-75 hp with just an intake, chip and exhaust? I think not. Figure intake to be 5 hp max, exhaust would be around 10-15 hp max, and a chip to tie it all together, another 20-25 max and the total comes to 45 hp additional. However, those figures are likely on the high side, actual numbers would be lower. I actually have an intake and free flowing muffler w/custom piping, and it probably only made about 10-15 hp extra combined (at the crank, not the wheels). Generally speaking, forced induction is the most cost effective (in terms of hp per dollar, or more likely, dollars per hp:D ) way to add some kick

Not exactly. HP for the 3.3 NA Frontiers was rated at 170. The S/C version was rated at 210 hp. So, +40. I think adding another 40 on top of that would be relatively simple, just by messing with the boost, ECU, and some other basic things. My thinking behind the S/C 3.3 swap was that the engine is already almost identical to our current powerplant, so the issues caused by the transplant should be minimal. With a 3.5 swap, seeing as how it is an entirely different series of engine, it seems as though many more problems would arise, like wiring, fit, etc.

Well, your post only mentioned the issue of gearing, as opposed to the more difficult to solve problems, so it seemed like that was your main concern about adding a turbo. Of course turbocharging a pathy will be difficult, especially stateside where there is a great dearth of aftermarket support, but I have seen pictures of several turbocharged Japanese Pathfinder (twin turbos, at that ) which seem to be perfectly functional. Granted, I do not know what difficulties/expenses they encountered, it could have taken years to get it running correctly, who knows? Now, if we're talking engine swaps, I've always thought it would be the most cost efficient to drop in a supercharged 3.3 from a Frontier/Xterra. Add an underdrive pulley and some other basic performance mods, and I think the BHP would be in the 250+ range. Seems like this would be the most simple way to add a fair amount of power, and it is a far off dream of mine, but to each his own. While adding an aftermarket turbo to a pathy may not be "worth it" (depending on how you define worth...), someone may have the desire/money to make it happen, and I'd sure love to see it

Mine does Of course, the previous owners stacked my SE with every possible option, so I'm, pretty much driving an LE with bigger tires, lower gears, and fender flares

I'm up here at altitude and I get away with 85 octane. However OR99.5 is right, I have noticed a difference in the quality and MPG's I get with different gas stations. Now that I have found out what stations carry decent quality gas, I fill up at the same station, same pump (almost) every time

Yea, pathys tend to carry higher RPM's than other auto's, due in part to the gearing. Especially manual trannys though. If you have a stick, and your friend has an auto, that would explain a bit of the difference.

18-19 mixed driving on my 97 SE with 30x10.5's, manual hubs, intake and exhaust. Somehow it stays around 18, no lower than 17, no matter if I take it easy on the skinny pedal or get heavy with the right foot.

Looks very nice I like the reverse lights you mounted in there I feel sorry for the person who rear ends you :o

I would highly doubt that an Xterra bumper would fit an R50 Pathfinder, since the Xterra uses body on frame construction whereas the pathy is a unibody. I think the mounting the Shrockworks bumper uses attaches to the X's frame, but our pathys do not have a 'frame' to work with, really. You may be able to have a shop rig something together and hook it on, but I doubt it would look right, and with the money you paid that shop and spent on the X bumper, you could have gotten the pathy specific ARB.

^^ The only reason a turbo wouldn't be worth 'it' would be due to the difficulty of re-obtaining a reliable engine. Going from N/A to turbocharged always causes issues, (be they electrical/ECU related, engine internal strength related, etc.) but if you could work those out, it would be well worth it. I've seen some 4wd 4runners with turbo supra motors, worked quite well for them

Very nice looking. Now, for the questions you will asked by everyone...how is the rubbing? What kind of trimming did you have to do? The fenders look pretty intact. I beleive you are the second R50 in the US to go above 32" tires

They're actually drive flanges, or full time hubs, as opposed to auto hubs A few people have run the stock hubs with a lift with no problem, but others have had CV joint issues. A slight increase in MPG is also another benefit to consider

check this page out. He has a pathy similar to yours, with the OME springs, and he fit 265/70R16's. Makes sense, because 265/70R16's are equivalent to 31x10.5".

A few R50's in Japan have single or twin turbos, but I don't beleive anyone in the States or Canada has completed one on the VG33E.

Whatever happened to martin (from the AC board)? Wasn't he supposed to be the guinea pig? Anyways, that'll be sweet if you're the first. Would you stack your current springs on top of the 6" lift? 8" lifted pathy...huge

that seems to be a very good deal. I got my loaded 97 SE 2.5 years ago for 14K. 12K is a steal, jump on that