180sx Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Thanks for the reply, if we can get a confirmation on that ill go take a look at its condition and possibly pick it up. 96-04 Pathfinders and QX4 have the same exact Chassis. This means that the hitch will fit no problem. Go get it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinpathy Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Fun and simple install... not! For me too, my bolts were there from factory with no hitch. They were a major PIA to get out. Getting the rear portion of exhaust out of the way helps alot, and soaking in anti corrosion spray overnite helped. Once all bolts out you're good to go. I just cleaned and treated the old thread wholes before install. Bolting patterns should be the same as people posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Now you got me wanting a tow hitch.. haha.. Just called a auto wrecking yard and they said they had a 2001 Nissan QX4 with a tow hitch on it that will fit my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. Any truth to this? he wants $75, he didn't know if it was factory or not. if it will fit, ill go take a look at it. Thoughts.... I have a 2003 Pathy, yes the QX4 is the same. A warning.... I put a U-Haul hitch on my sons 97 in about 98 and the two front bolts were wrong pitch, we striped them !!! Since he was only pulling a small trailer we left it. Fast forward to 2004, I buy a 2003. Order a new hitch direct from he manufacturer ( ie NOT Nissan)and front bolts are still wrong pitch. Check your bolts for front mounting holes before you damage something !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Well im sure I will find out soon enough how the fit is.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasanii19 Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I bought and installed my hitch today, it took about an hour to do and wasnt all that hard. I used the 6 bolts that came out of the existing brackets + the bolts that came with the hitch from the salvage yard. No cross threading occured, I used blue lock tite and think it acted as a lubericant for the bolts to thread in easily. I decided to use the lock tight only because I was reusing old hardware and the lock washers seemed to be wore out and ineffective, plus I dont plan on taking the tow package off. I found that taking the 4 12mm bolts out of the charcoal box (or whatever that box is called) and pushing it to the side helped a ton. With that said , the passanger side seemed to be the easiest. I balanced the hitch on a piece of wood that sat on my floor jack. Although I did call it a POS more then once,I feel that when you stay organizsd, have the right tools and think things out before diving into any project, really makes a difference in the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasanii19 Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I also wanted to ask those who have installed this tow package, what did you do about wiring? Could I pull the wiring harness off the salvaged pathfinder I got the tow package off of? or would I just buy one at Walmart or something alike? Would I need to hard wire to my pathfinder or will there be an existing plug in ready to go? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Because the pathy has a separate brake/signal light and most trailers have a combined set-up you need a module of some kind. The one I bought is plug and play - you unplug your tail light sockets in the truck, plug them into the module and plug the module harness back into the tail lights. Pay attention to the right and left sides when pluggin into the module of course. If the wrecked pathy has this module, should be able to transfer the whole thing assuming the taillight plugs all match... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Just a fyi guys the hitch from the 98 fit pretty well. It was a PITA to get it up into place because of the VQ's larger muffler in back. But once it was up I got 5 bolts in on the passenger side and 4 on the driver. The other 2 on the drivers side are impossible to get to due to things being in the way. But for what im going to be mainly using this hitch for....recovery, and light towing it seems good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The other 2 on the drivers side are impossible to get to due to things being in the way. But for what im going to be mainly using this hitch for....recovery, and light towing it seems good enough. Which two are not installed? If one of the 4 bolts visible in dudu's pic I think those are the primary ones for load....While what your plans may involve low loading and missing 2 bolts 'good enough', if something ever happened this would be good enough reason for an insurance company to deny claim. Be very cautious if you ever lend you vehicle out too. JMO. Not trying to be a d!ck, just don't want to see the worst happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasanii19 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Just a fyi guys the hitch from the 98 fit pretty well. It was a PITA to get it up into place because of the VQ's larger muffler in back. But once it was up I got 5 bolts in on the passenger side and 4 on the driver. The other 2 on the drivers side are impossible to get to due to things being in the way. But for what im going to be mainly using this hitch for....recovery, and light towing it seems good enough. Is your muffler bigger then what I have on my 03'? Im asking because I got those two bolts on pretty easily. Did the guy you bought the hitch from give you the two brackets with the nuts welded on them? Those brackets fit inside the frame for the bolt to screw into (if that makes any sense). I would at least try to get all 5 horizontal bolts in and consider using lock tite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I thought all the r50 mufflers were the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Which two are not installed? If one of the 4 bolts visible in dudu's pic I think those are the primary ones for load....While what your plans may involve low loading and missing 2 bolts 'good enough', if something ever happened this would be good enough reason for an insurance company to deny claim. Be very cautious if you ever lend you vehicle out too. JMO. Not trying to be a d!ck, just don't want to see the worst happen. Its the top two farthest in. The hitch I got has 6 bolts each side. The 4 primary in the pics above are all in. The two upfront are not....they are alot smaller bolt also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 No not all R50 mufflers are the same, the 3.3's have a smaller downtube, and they have more of an angle coming off, the R50 has a bigger like secondary muffler with a straight back pipe. Its hard to explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Ah, if you got those main 4 in you should be good to go since that is all the aftermarket class 3 hitches use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Ah, if you got those main 4 in you should be good to go since that is all the aftermarket class 3 hitches use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift220 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 My factory tie-down points were held in by 3 bolts on each side (all the same size). I made my own bolt-on hitch but ended up stripping like 3 bolts so it became a weld-on hitch. 3 bolts that size per side seems to be standard for class 3 hitches. With a unibody, you want more to spread the load over the thinner metal box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I didn't feel like reading everything...I bought Dan's hitch off of his 99 and put it on my 2001. I did not remove the rear bumper, and honestly I don't think it would have helped at all. First of all the bumper on the 99 doesn't hang down as far as my 01, so the hitch digs into the bottom of the bumper a little, which is barely noticeable until you are wondering why it is so hard to get all of the bolt holes to line up. Otherwise, the bolts were a pain in the ass to get in because these are big, beefy bolts that need a good sized ratchet and you have a very small space to work in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmk2zf Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 When I installed mine I had to remove the charcoal filter thing on the driver side inorder to reach the top 2 bolts. That was the only problem I had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasanii19 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 When I installed mine I had to remove the charcoal filter thing on the driver side inorder to reach the top 2 bolts. That was the only problem I had. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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