Buying a Pathfinder tomorrow

[TurboE]

Hi, I'm 90% sure I'm going to buy my friends 98 pathfinder SE tomorrow. He is going to replace the trailing arms tomorrow. My question is from what I have searched I can put my 31" tires that used to be on my jeep and they will fit with maybe minor rubbing. I am planning on buying the crager soft 8 15 x 8 steel wheels. I had those on my jeep also (different bolt pattern). Before I buy them from summit, does anyone suggest any other wheels to use? It looks like from everything I've searched the 4" backspacing will work well. Just wasn't sure if the heavier wheels/tires combo was that bad on a pathfinder, or if there are some typical aluminum wheels anyone is using? It has 16" xterra wheels on it now, but my tires won't fit and they were $600 at a great price and only have 2,000 miles on them so I want to reuse them and my friend would like the xterra wheels.

 

Also anything in particular I should look at or for prior to buying, I'm getting a great deal so I'm not picky just figured some of you guys would know any typical issue items to look over (besides the trailing arms).

 

Thanks in advance for any info!

[Iceman2989]

Welcome to the family! I ran 31s on mine, and then switched to the metric equivalent on 16s and bought my wheels from summit. If its the style you want, and the price you like, I say go for it. I went with 16s simply because of the tires I bought, and they were cheaper than what I could find here locally on craigslist. They were out of stock of the 31x10.5R15s and so I jumped up to the next size wheel (opposite of what you're doing, sounds like).

 

I'd ask him when the timing belt was last changed, if at all, and probably put that near the top of your to do list. Good luck! Feel free to ask all the questions you have, and believe it or not, the search button actually does GREAT at bringing up old topics that may have covered the average "beginner questions". Enjoy the wealth of knowledge here!

[TurboE]

Thanks, yeah looking forward to getting it. My other car is a G35 coupe so I really need something 4wd and also like off roading time to time. I just sold my 95 jeep wrangler last week, in the sole purpose of buying my friends pathfinder. Yeah I'm used to using the search feature on a bunch of car forums I use, and they definitley help a lot just figured since I am about to buy wheels I should post a topic to see if I get any last minute responses. Don't want to kill the gas mileage but don't mind it being slightly hindered since it's not really my daily driver unless it's snowing or loading up a bunch of people or stuff (the trunk in the G35 sucks, good thing the seat folds down but I didn't buy that car for it's capacity specs!)

 

This is what I am planning on buying, and they are also pretty cheap, cheapest I could find and nice to know after searching that they should just bolt up no issues?:

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/crr-3975860

 

These are the tires off of my jeep I want to use:

 

http://s1297.beta.photobucket.com/user/EdEngel/media/Jeep_zps883e2bb2.jpg.html#/user/EdEngel/media/Jeep_zps883e2bb2.jpg.html?&_suid=136318231713904301119662360023

 

These are some pics of me and friends previously off roading mostly at Raush Creek in Pa, funny thing now is everyone in the pics has an nissan or toyota now:

 

http://s1297.beta.photobucket.com/user/EdEngel/library/#/user/EdEngel/library/Jeep%20Offroad?&_suid=136318210665309997656425359929

[Iceman2989]

Ive got those same wheels

[TurboE]

Cool, think I'm going to go for it. Going to drive it tonight and decide whether to buy it.

[Iceman2989]

A question for ya, what do you plan on making this vehicle into? Is it pretty much just a daily driver? or do you plan on doing some serious off roading in it? A heads up to ya: Theres very little aftermarket support for the pathfinder. This forum is a wealth of knowledge, and if theres something youd like to do to your pathfinder, odds are, theres a thread on it. As stock, the pathfinder is extremely capable (about as capable as the one driving it). If you have any specific plans for anything, try a quick search to see what you're getting yourself into. I'm definitely not trying to deter you from purchasing your friend's pathy, just thought I'd give you a heads up that I never got before I bought mine. Without the aftermarket support, I've just had to get... well, creative.

 

 

 

EDIT: And for the record, I dont regret owning mine for a minute!

Edited March 14, 2013 by Iceman2989

[TurboE]

That's cool, thanks for saying. Yeah it's kind of the exact opposite as the jeep lol. It won't be a daily driver basically snow/winter vehicle and when I need to tow or lug stuff around and just need a SUV. I'd also like to take it wheeling some. I never lifted my jeep and took it serious off roading just bigger tires and it was very capable. My other friend has a 98 pathfinder also and honestly he has beatin on his pretty good and it just keeps on going lol. But I might want to do the skid plates i saw someone makes and maybe eventually a little bit of a lift? Now just trying to not spend too much money and see how I like it for a while?

[Iceman2989]

Good plan. And if thats your goal, the Pathfinder will pleasantly surprise you with what it will handle.

[TurboE]

Yeah just bought it last night. Runs good, swapping the tires on soon and a few clean up modifications. The drivers seat is pretty torn up (leather) so might try to find a replacement or some kind of nice cover like neoprene or something?