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R50 Tire Carrier Mod: Let's settle this!


hawairish
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Now I really want to do this. I wonder if the swing arm would fit on a qx4 and if it would require any reinforcement

 

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I think it would fit. The parts where it actually attaches are the same on both vehicles. There wouldn't be a need for reinforcement on the Q if there isn't for the Pathy.

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I think it would fit. The parts where it actually attaches are the same on both vehicles. There wouldn't be a need for reinforcement on the Q if there isn't for the Pathy.

That was my thinking. I'm headed to a junkyard for some parts tomorrow and with any luck I may come home with a swing arm too. I was going to build one to put into my receiver like you did CDN, but I'll probably do this instead. I want to put a hi lift and Jerry cans on it too so we'll see what happens

 

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  • 4 months later...

Thought I'd give a follow-up on this install. It's been almost a year and the carrier has held up just fine, with a few observations and changes...

 

I did eventually reinforce the area where the latch striker mounts because of the slight bending that was occurring. This area must've also been reinforced from the factory. I didn't take any pics for some reason of the fix (I'll try to remember next time I pull the bumper), but I took a piece of 1.5" x 1.5" angle aluminum, trimmed .5" off one side to get an "L" shape, the riveted the face and bottom to the chassis. I only exposed enough hole for the bolt, effectively sandwiching the blind nuts. This will definitely hold up.

 

I also did mount one of my leftover liftgate struts to the arm. I bought some ball studs from McMaster-Carr, perfect fit for the strut.

 

IMG_4073.jpg

 

You probably won't be able to use this if you didn't change the hinge pins to bolts like I did, since this allows me to tension it just by tightening the bolts. Otherwise, the gate will fly open! The leftover strut doesn't hold it open, but a new one would probably do the trick. It does, however, open smoothly and on it's own if I just give it a little nudge.

 

I wore through the paint a little on the plastic trim piece above the license plate area on the liftgate. It rubs on the back of the release handle on the gate, which also has a little wear. I knew it was close, but the plastic has worn down just enough that it's no longer a problem.

 

I think I mentioned it earlier, but the liftgate on older R50 (and also QX4) is different from the later R50. I don't think you'd have the rubbing problem on the older R50. But one thing mentioned from another post is that the QX4 has the reverse lights next to the license plate, so the tire would block them if you did this mod. You'd have to swap taillights and re-wire, or come up with some custom reverse lighting solution (or perhaps the taillight harness already has the backup leads?).

Edited by hawairish
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  • 7 months later...

hey all. just wanted to give an update on this mod as I have just finished and completed it myself, following Harwarish instructions and it really was pretty simple and straight forward.

 

little update with the switch that triggers the dash light. I pulled the door switch off a r50 pathfinder driver side door. it has a different connection compared to all other door switches, and the driver door switch matches the harness pigtail for the tire carrier.

 

I did my install a little different. brought a note book with me to the wreckers and traced out the holes onto the paper and marked the lights as well and made a measurement to line up the paper and it was perfect for marking the holes for the carrier. just do 1 first for the bottom, drill it and install riv nut, do same for one on the top bracket, then mark all remaining.

 

also. I found a 1999 SE pathfinder at my local junkyard that had factory installed rear tire carrier.

 

 

I'll take some pictures and upload soon. truck needs a bath!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another successful install using this method. Big thanks to Hawairish for all the R&D.

 

A few things I noticed during my install.

- Like Hawairish mentioned, the rear bumper comes with a template on the inner face that, when cut very precisely, can be used as a template for the bolt pattern. I used a wood burner with hot razor attachment to easily cut the plastic.

qAqDVVc.jpg

slI4glF.jpg

 

 

-The tire carrier equipped R50's have a few features that can be used for alignment consistent with facelifted rigs but not all features are in the same location. I had attempted to use the bumper clip holes as my alignment features but my rig had the holes shifted slightly to the right. I scribed a line from hole center to hole center and used that to align the template I made of tape then compared to the cut holes of the bumper before drilling.

 

IEudYwW.jpg

4Snbs4g.jpg

 

- Installing the latch first made things much easier as it helps to take guess work out of the position of the carrier on the rear of the truck and supports it during placement. I used the rafters of my garage to hang the carrier from. It was tremendously helpful as the entire weight was supported and there was no struggling to place it for alignment.

 

WyMaN79.jpg

 

-As mentioned the latch release contacts the panel of the lift gate so I cut the bracket and dropped it down to clear the body.

 

kqL6r7b.jpg

Avso826.jpg

rka6OLA.jpg

 

 

Great addition overall and I plan to add fuel storage and a strut in the near future. Its still a little weathered for now but I'll take it all down and paint in the future.

 

NQeSXo1.jpg

4BpzVH7.jpg

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Very nice. Remember to move your license plate before you go on road. Olympia Powder Coating does good work, my father in law and I have both had things painted there. Price is reasonable too, but quite a drive for you.

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  • 3 months later...

It seems to me the one major drawback of having a spare tire carrier is parallel parking, it would make more sense in a right side driving country to have it open to the left so you can access the trunk from the passenger/sidewalk side.

So considering that you can put these on without any reinforcement, do you see any major issues aside from a lot of work flipping it backwards and mounting it so it opens to the left?

Everything seems pretty straightforward, just basic cutting and welding. The smaller inserted curved tubes might be tricky but other then that am I missing something major that would make this impossible? I guess if someone ends up getting this pathfinder after me they'll sure as hell be confused as to why the carrier open light shows it opening to the right, but that's not my problem.

 

I'm hoping to buy one tomorrow, if I end up flipping it around I'll start a thread for sure.

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I wouldn't consider the parallel parking scenario a major drawback. An inconvenience, maybe, but having lived in a major city that relies heavily on parallel parking, you're assuming that you've even got adequate space to open the carrier enough to even lift the rear gate. How often would you need to load up the cargo area when parallel parking? Is there an alternative solution, like parking in a cargo loading zone, or other parking lot? While I didn't have my R50 when I lived in the city, there were times I couldn't even stand in front of the trunk on my WRX.

 

Flipping the carrier would be a nightmare. The brackets alone only fit the RH side in a rather specific orientation...no way you'll be able to mirror that as cleanly as stock (and twice, for both brackets). All latching and striker hardware would all have to be moved to the outside of the carrier, which bends to wrap the rear gate, which you'd also have to reverse. The studs on the carrier base that hold the carrier bracket...the plate it attaches to is recessed more on one side.

 

You'd be better off building a custom carrier, I'd think, if hinging on the LH side was a critical requirement.

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Thats what I was thinking. Make a template of sorts to transfer the hole pattern. Good to know it worked out. Now I just need to find a R50 with a tire carrier at a wrecker here in the PNW.

TowndawgR50, If you find 2, let me know. I'm just up the road in Redmond with an '02 LE and would love to do it. If you only find one, I would still be happy to help you so that I will know what to do with mine at a later date.

RainGoat(Kent)

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TowndawgR50, If you find 2, let me know. I'm just up the road in Redmond with an '02 LE and would love to do it. If you only find one, I would still be happy to help you so that I will know what to do with mine at a later date.

RainGoat(Kent)

Whoops! Replied too quickly as I see it is all done now. Towdawg, where did you find the swingate? You didn't happen to see any others did you?

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TowndawgR50, If you find 2, let me know. I'm just up the road in Redmond with an '02 LE and would love to do it. If you only find one, I would still be happy to help you so that I will know what to do with mine at a later date.

RainGoat(Kent)

 

I've got an extra just sitting incase anyone wants one, its missing the latch mechanism, but should still be good otherwise (got it off a wreck so im not %100 on its condition.) Im just in Fall City, only about 20 minutes away.

 

I had no idea there were so many R50 owners on NPORA so close to me! Really want to see Town Dogs now.

 

-Kyle

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Kyle, I'll PM you. Yeah, it's great to find some more PacNWers with R50s. I went to the NWOR (Northwest Overland Rally) a few weeks ago and there was a QX4 and a handfull of Xterras amid an overwhelming sea of Toyotas.

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Kyle, I'll PM you. Yeah, it's great to find some more PacNWers with R50s. I went to the NWOR (Northwest Overland Rally) a few weeks ago and there was a QX4 and a handfull of Xterras amid an overwhelming sea of Toyotas.

 

 

Lets make it happen, i want it out of my tiny 1 bay garage, takes up too much space.

 

-Kyle

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Swing gate was super helpful. Glad you found a unit. I got mine from the wreckers off 167 just past 405 in Kent and there were lots of R50s there for parts.

 

Come out to the trail run that Citron is trying to organize. I see lots of R50's and older pathfinders around but nobody that I recognize from the forums

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Thanks TownDawg. I dropped a reply on Citron's thread. Is that South End Auto Wrecking@3400 E Valley Road, Renton, Wa 98055. Is it the kind of place you can go in to pull a part & just wander around to see what they have?

Thanks, K

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That piece of info alone is GOLD! The last time I was doing this stuff was with my old Z in Kansas City. The junk yards were like that there & then. Here in the NW I had only really seen the barns with cars stacked vertically on racks (like up in Snohomish). I figured it might be a regional thing with all the rain & cost of land, etc. or just a change over time (a couple decades at least).

 

Those old Zs were rust buckets & I kept mine alive by wandering through the local junk yards. (Ultimately she died after I gave her to my brother & the suspension mounts rusted through-15 yrs though, not bad for a '79 in the Midwest)

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

This thread is awesome. I am going to have to save it all so I can keep the pictures (just incase another hosting site pulls a photobucket). Thanks for all the hard work and R&D. I hope to find one soon here in UT and do this to my Q.

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Cool, glad it's helpful. No worries on the pics, I still have all of them and would re-post them if my host does something stupid. If you have any ties to Santa Barbara, though, there's a guy on the FB NPORA page selling the later style (01-04). I would've liked to get that one, but the older one does just fine. Mounting should be all the same.

 

Though, because you have a QX4, do you have the reverse lights on the rear gate next the license plate, or in the tail lights? The tire would block them if on the gate. Probably not the end of the world, but might require some research to see if you can bring over R50 tail lights and wiring harnesses to relocate the reverse lights, or look into adding reverse lights to the bumper or roof (would likely be easier).

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Cool, glad it's helpful. No worries on the pics, I still have all of them and would re-post them if my host does something stupid. If you have any ties to Santa Barbara, though, there's a guy on the FB NPORA page selling the later style (01-04). I would've liked to get that one, but the older one does just fine. Mounting should be all the same.

 

Though, because you have a QX4, do you have the reverse lights on the rear gate next the license plate, or in the tail lights? The tire would block them if on the gate. Probably not the end of the world, but might require some research to see if you can bring over R50 tail lights and wiring harnesses to relocate the reverse lights, or look into adding reverse lights to the bumper or roof (would likely be easier).

 

Thanks! Yeah my sister lives in the Huntington Beach, that might be a bit to far for her. I'll find one here sooner or later.

My reverse lights are on the gate, but I don't see that being a big issue, I can always find a Pathfinder set and call it good. I am already starting on putting those "pod" LED's into the bumper so if I can't find Pathfinder lights (or for some reason they won't work) it should work just fine.

 

I just ordered the 2" coil spacers from SFCreations, it should be here on Monday. Pretty happy with how it is turning out so far.

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