Looking to get Back into a Finder

[trundle]

I had a 1995 a few years back and loved it. A little underpowered and anoying in the Colorado hills with the auto, but loved it and took it everywhere includng mild offroading and a trip to the top of Mount Antero (fun). Well a 9 inch snowstorm, a 40 mph collision with the side of a Dodge Ram 1500, the repair work and new planetary gears in the transmission which ripped apart the rest made me give it up. I now have a stock 2003 jeep wrangler which is great off-road, but suck in the snow is a harsh ride and cost more than I would like to pay.

 

I am thinking of selling the jeep and I would love to get another pimped out 95 Pathfinder and go from there, but I think I am going to have to go for a 98 or a 99 and just had a few questions.

 

1) I know the offroad performance won't be as good as the jeep, but I figure if I can put a one-inch lift and some 31's and some skids, that I could pretty much go about anywhere I would have pushed the jeep (mild offroading and work days out in the field driving over ditches. I assume the axles won't be quite as burly.

 

2) What do I need to look for on these years? I know the automatic transmissions might have some issues, but that is all I know so far.

 

Thanks in advance you any input. I just would love to drive something cheaper than the jeep that is going to last way longer even if I need to give up a little in the serious rock crawling catagory which is fine by me. ( I was not planning on driving up any walls anytime soon).

 

-Tim

[big_johnson]

Mt. Antero...Buena Vista...sweet I took my pathy up that trail this summer, I love that area. As for the Pathfinder, the rear axle is actually quite strong, better than the axles in the wrangler. However, the IFS on the pathy won't hold up to quite as much. You could put a one or two inch lift (more lifts coming out sometime here), and run 31's or 32's. As for what to look for, the shocks, struts, and bushings may need replacement (or will soon). The exhaust manifolds may leak, but the problem isn't as big as on the 95's and earlier. There's some more potential issues, but I'm sure someone else will chime in

[trundle]

Thanks for the input, thats a sweet rig you have there. Its good to hear that the axles are burly enough to take some beatings. It sound so far like the manual tranny is a little more bullet proof than the auto and I would likely go that way. I need to try it out though and make sure I like the manual.

 

I hear a lot of people saying to just switch out the springs and shocks for longer than stock to get up to 31's or 32's, could you also jsut space it out and get things under there. I guess you would not have the articulation, but like I said I'm not doing anything crazy yet, just crossing ditches and getting up mild offroad trails. Wondering what the success of that would be maybe as an intermediate step on the way to 33's with some major suspension work (and after I had it paid off a long way down the road).

 

Antero was great. We were up there and I was like "we have an 1/8 of a tank to get all the way down?" well at least it was downhill. We took the jeep over tincup pass with a tacoma and an Exploder 4th of July weekend ths year. Burels. The jeep was awsome, but thats all it was good for you know. There just wasn't enough room to car camp in style, and thats really what I am about. Well thanks for your input and I will check back for any updates.

[nick1716]

my buddy has a 95 and he can fit 31s in it stock...but there is some rubbing in the rear when stuffed

[deej]

My 98 has been good to me and I wheel with a bunch of Jeepers. Big Johnson has any common problems nailed down. There is the fact that mods are hard to come by and expensive if you do find them...but then again, there isn't much modifying needed on a Pathy