Am I missing anything on my list of needed upgrades?

[trtturbo]

Here is what I plan. Anyone feel free to chime in as I am new to this.

Performance Accessories 3" body lift.

JGC coils

UCA's

new ball joints

Swayaway torsion bars

Lockers front and rear

Rancho shocks

Panhard bar relocate?

15x8 wheels with 4" back spacing

32x 11.5/15 tires

Electric fan conversion

Remove front and rear sway bars.

Hope to fab up some rock sliders

(edit) add manual Superwinch hubs

(edit) add alternator upgrade

 

I'm not wanting to do crazy stuff, but want a better than average truck. This is not a daily driver either; just for fun.

Edited April 22, 2008 by trtturbo

[GhostPath]

You forgot powerful Hella lights, clear shields for same, a winch, and front and rear hitches.

 

I'd keep the sway bars and put some disconnects on.

[pathmaker1]

not sure why you would need to relocate your panhard rod. i have almost 5" of suspension lift in the rear with no sway and i have some great flex and my springs stay put. im runnin Rancho 5112 in the rear and am very happy with them. i would recomment going with a little taller tire(33's). you NEED ground clearance. theres no point in putting 6" of lift on your pathy just to put some tires on her that would fit with no lift in my opinion....i was runnin 31's stock but in about a week ill be running 34's with no body lift and some fender trimming. you need to upgrade your center link if you plan on wheelin often or hard. Hoohaa(Bryan) sells a beefed up CL for $225 + core and he is a member on here....just search him. i would definately do sliders and full underbelly skids if you like to play on rocks. if its an auto tranny you need to install a big-ass tranny cooler and bypass the stock one that is in your radiator or else the tranny wont last long....or just swap it out for a manual which is what im doing. also with a 3" BL and a PML with no sway bars the trucks gonna roll all over the place in turns on the road. im runnin no sways with no BL and its scary at first but you get used to it. id also put some manual locking hubs on the list.

 

im not a fan of BL's. 3" is a lot to me so i would do as little as possible. you could easily run 31 x 11.5 on 4" BS rims with a PML only in my opinion. just remember.....its all about GROUND CLEARANCE!!! the only way to get your diffs up off the ground more is with bigger tires.

[trtturbo]

Thanks alot Pathmaker.

Couple of questions.

There isnt alot of power there. I know the 31's will hurt power, but I thought the 33's would absolutely kill it. Its a 5 speed and now with stock size tires, it seems very low geared, but still no power to spare.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a center link? Is it the link between the pitman arm and idler arm? Why does it need to be updated?

[MY1PATH]

Thanks alot Pathmaker.

Couple of questions.

There isnt alot of power there. I know the 31's will hurt power, but I thought the 33's would absolutely kill it. Its a 5 speed and now with stock size tires, it seems very low geared, but still no power to spare.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a center link? Is it the link between the pitman arm and idler arm? Why does it need to be updated?

wd21 pathys came stock with 4.36 gears, if nissan had put a 200 hp motor in em they would have been higly formidable stock vehicle!

calmini makes a Panhard bar relocator bracet, it usually comes in their 3" supension kit which comes with everything you need to lift your pathy(T-bars, UCA's, Coils, Upper ball joints, shocks, brake line extentions...)

 

you guessed it about the CL and it needs to be upgraded to keep you form wearing out your TieRodEnds, pitman and idler arms. there's a few opions out there but I'd reccomend the HooHaa CL beacuse it is the most affordable but also just as durable as any of the other high dollar CL setups out there. Their site grassroots4x4 Is down right now but look into it next month they sould be up and running again.

[packie88]

no real point in removing the front sway bar as it is IFS and wont help much. Also i would do a LSD in the front or a selectable locker in the front that way its not always locked. i would also look into headers and exhaust if your looking for a little more umph. If your gonna run lights/stereo/winch look into the quest alternator upgrade. Also if you went looking in the junkyard you could find 4.6 gears which came in the autos. you could long arm the rear if your gonna relocate the panhard. thats all i would add. Also through in an idler arm brace and youll be good

[csutke]

you can always regear to get a lower ratio

[unccpathfinder]

Headers, snorkel, on-board compressed air and a ready welder, CB, spot lights (front and rear)...Kitchen sink

 

nah in reality it looks like you've hit all of that...if you havent done a Tbelt/water pump you better do that 1st

[trtturbo]

the cb I have. (trucker in a previous life). I was already planning on doing custom bumpers and having them hold air.

I have a friend that is a fab guy, so bumpers should be easy.

This some of his work on a Camaro we did; exhaust, sub-frame connectors, and loop.

[pathmaker1]

Thanks alot Pathmaker.

Couple of questions.

There isnt alot of power there. I know the 31's will hurt power, but I thought the 33's would absolutely kill it. Its a 5 speed and now with stock size tires, it seems very low geared, but still no power to spare.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a center link? Is it the link between the pitman arm and idler arm? Why does it need to be updated?

 

 

yes the CL(cenerlink) is the "bone" looking rod that basically connects your steering wheel to your wheels via ball joints connected to your tie rods. it has 4 ball joints in it that are very easy to break. basically hoohaa removes the 4 ball joints(2 on each end, one on the tie rod and one to the pitman/idler arm) and replaces them by pressing in a bearing and using heavy duty bolts as well as upgrading the ends for more strength. i believe he beefs up the whole centerlink too but im not too sure. also look into an IDLER ARM BRACE. you can get one from automotive customisers or calmini for about $40 shipped.

 

the VG30 is a very peppy engine.....with the right gears. you can make anything nasty with the correct gear ratio but the great thing about the pathy V6 is that is is very strong. there are peolpe on here that have over 250K miles and its still runnin strong. i have 185K miles and my tranny is just about shot and my rear main seal leaks oil but my engine purrs like a kitten, doesnt smoke or burn oil. fortuniately, i am blessed with 4.63 gears and a very unlimited slip rear diff. like i said im runnin 31" mud tires and the tires chirp when i go around corners. with the 31's i can powerbreak it and leave fat-ass burnouts with some awesome clouds of smoke. some manual pathys did come with 4.6 gears and an LSD in the rear(so ive heard). look at your rear axle gear housing and see if you can find a bright orange sticker that says LSD on it....if its there you cant miss it....you may need to scrape off some grease/dirt but it should be on the backside of the pumkin. i know theres a pic of what your lookin for floatin around here somewhere. i know theres a name plate somewhere under the hood that will tell you what gearing you got but dont know where it is either. i think the LSD only came with 4.63 gears. likie someone else said, look in a JY(junkyard) for an automatic pathfinder, see if it has an LSD sticker on the rear axle housing and if it does it has 4.6 gears front and rear. then all you gotta do is buy those axles and switch em into your truck....it will be a direct boltup i believe.

 

your correct though...runnin 33's will reduce acceleration and street driving but offroad its all about TORQUE. i know the pathy tcases have some pretty low, good gears. i think you would be fine runnin 33's offroad esp if you utilize 4LO. i know the manual trannys are geared pretty high as i have heard 1st gear in 2HI is almost a granny. but, of coarse, the higher the gear ratio=the bigger tires you can run. i wouldnt go with anything bigger than 35's on IFS and thats even pushing it. when i start runnin my 34's, even with my steering upgrades, my ball joints and CV's are going to ware quickly and i will probably have to replace my ball joints a couple times a year and my CV axles every year.

 

just remember once you start modding your truck you just got infected....its a sick twist between a disease and an addiction. be prepared for things to break/ware out faster. no one ever said wheelin was a cheap hobby but its so much fun!!!!!

 

Rich