The Rolling Tool Chest

[Staggering_Genius]

Greetings everybody!

I'm new to the R50 but wrenching isn't new to me. I'm hoping to devote this thread to my mild build, hopefully ask a few questions and review a few products while in at it.

 

A quick introduction: I'm a twenty something year old tradesman from Littleton Colorado. Started wrenching out of necessity, and soon dove into custom fabrication. Worked a few years at a metal shop running a waterjet cnc and welding aluminum pans and frames for custom fire features. Just recently I started flipping houses with an old friend.

 

There's quite a few horses in my stable at the moment. I'm hanging onto a 1972 International 1010 eight Travellall. Bought the old beast about six years ago from a friend of the family and original owner. Hoping to get the old gal cherry before buddy kicks the bucket.

 

Few Subarus hangin around, 90, 91, and a 97. 01 Honda Civic in the midst of a motor rebuild.

 

Which leads me to the Pathfinder. I picked up this little fellow from an old friend for a whopping 1200 bucks in May of 2016. Originally intended for the girlfriend to drive, it somehow ended up my daily driver. No complaints here! It's just the right size to hold a days worth of tools and materials and jet all over town.

 

The goal is to get the Pathfinder sitting a little taller, running a little stronger, towing a little more, and capable of getting me and my pups to my favorite remote camping sites in the mountains. So here we go!

[Staggering_Genius]

 

This was my last build. Started off a 2000 Ford Ranger, ended up not so much a Ford Ranger. SAS, 97" wheel base, too much to list. I sure miss this one.

 

Here's the international:

 

 

Now on to the Pathfinder!

[Staggering_Genius]

 

On top of remodeling houses, I also play in a few bands. I wanted to take advantage of unused space in my truck, haul my everyday equipment in an organized manner, and be able to squeeze in my music gear. So out with the back seats!

 

 

Skinned the floor with 3/4" OSB, and padded out from the rear seat mounts. Glued and screwed 1/2" osb to build up the initial cabinet. Could have gone with MDF or particle but the OSB was on hand and I wanted to keep the weight to a minimum. Few inner corner cabinet brackets and the box is stiff.

 

 

Built my drawers out of 1/2" mdf left over from a customer job, ran a few 22" soft close drawer slides" and carpeted it with a Home Depot garage rug.

 

 

Mission accomplished! Plenty of room for my every day tools, and I still was able to squeeze in a 3/4 upright bass (and a upright stick bass, and a

Hoffner)

Edited January 8, 2017 by Staggering_Genius

[Staggering_Genius]

Now onto towing. I built this trailer last summer for my buddy. Overkill is an understatement but that's how we roll. Max load so far was a trip to the concrete recycler weighing in at around 7500 lbs. And yes, it's sitting on 33's with GM wheels to match his work truck.

 

 

Bullet proof, but stupid heavy for a 6x10 ft trailer. Dry weight is 2200 lbs and empty tongue weight is 350 lbs. Needless to say my pathfinder squats quite a bit. I'm usually only responsible for light loads or getting the trailer to job sites. But, I'd still like to increase my towing abilities within reason.

 

I'm looking for a stiffer rear coil and to supplement with air bags. I'm not concerned with lift at the moment but the front end will ultimately get lifted to match.

 

I think the stiffest I've seen directly for the pathfinder is a 220lb spring rate from 4 Wheel Parts. Anyone know of a stiffer spring? Or perhaps a variable rate coil?

 

Also, Air Lift and Firestone have bags that'll fit our trucks, any recommendations or experience with either? An $80 gamble isn't the end of the world but I'd like to save time if there are known problems with one or the other?

[mjotrainbrain]

In terms of stiffer, I believe that is the stiffest direct fit you can find. However, there are other options you can play around with. When going to a 4" lift people use springs from a particular Jeep (WJ maybe?) so maybe you could do something with that. For a couple weeks I had Old Man Emu rear heavy duty coils for an R51 Pathfinder cut 4 inches on the back of mine. It gave at least 6 inches of lift and rode like @!*%, but with 300lbs of sand in the trunk it squatted less than an inch. So depending on what you want to do, options exist, they just may require a little fab to make it work.

 

Edit: Maybe Old Man Emu rear coils for an R51 in a medium strength is stronger than the 4x4parts coils? Might be worth looking into. You'd have to cut them down of course and would run the risk of them being too stiff, but again it all depends on how hard you plan to work this truck vs. how it has to do daily driving with no load.

Edited January 8, 2017 by mjotrainbrain

[Staggering_Genius]

Thanks for the direction. Currently digging through the Moog universal spring listings. There's a few options that may fit my needs. I'll be sure to document my findings!