Fitting an 87 'Bush' bumper on a 95 Pathy

[Freddymac]

Hi All

 

I read a local ad for a 'Bush' bumper from an 87 Pathy. Yup it's cheap. Yet I wonder if it is possible?

 

How far apart are the front bumper mounts for an 87 Pathy to a 95 Pathy?

 

Is the width of the front end of the body on an 87 even close to what the 95 is?

 

Any info would be more than welcome. Thanks

[Vsicks Pathy]

Hi All

 

I read a local ad for a 'Bush' bumper from an 87 Pathy. Yup it's cheap. Yet I wonder if it is possible?

 

How far apart are the front bumper mounts for an 87 Pathy to a 95 Pathy?

 

Is the width of the front end of the body on an 87 even close to what the 95 is?

 

Any info would be more than welcome. Thanks

Give that the front ends are totally different, what would you think?

[madhatter_xe]

The Nissan Pathfinder design remained essentially unchanged until model year 1996 when a completely new unibody design replaced it. In 1993, it received cosmetically different front and rear bumpers and for 1994, it received a revamped interior dashboard design in an attempt to make it even more car like in order to meet market demands.

 

Considering this, you could probably make some custom mounting brackets for it to fit your rig. IMHO, with some fabrication you can make any push-bar mount to your rig.

 

Good luck

Edited December 2, 2005 by madhatter_xe

[Vsicks Pathy]

Considering this, you could probably make some custom mounting brackets for it to fit your rig. IMHO, with some fabrication you can make any push-bar mount to your rig.

 

Good luck

The r50 was out (here) in '95.

 

If the front is the same then of course it will bolt straight up, no modification needed.

[89_trailboss]

the front ends are pretty much the same. the only difference I have found was that the bumpers are a little different. If it was me I would by the bumper. Im not going to say it WILL fit, but Id be VERY suprized if it didnt.

[SC88Pathy]

If what Vsicks says is true and in Aus. the 95 pathy is an R50 then I don't think it would work since bumpers and brush gaurds mount direct, or almost directly, to the frame on WD21's, and R50s don't even have a frame. Of course if you know how to weld and are a good engineer you could probably make something to force it to work...

[Freddymac]

The r50 was out (here) in '95.

 

If the front is the same then of course it will bolt straight up, no modification needed.

Thanks everybody for the input, My 95 is a WD21.

[SC88Pathy]

Well in that case it shouldn't be too dificult, there are some differences between the 87 front and 95 WD21 front but it's nothing some fairly simple bracketry couldn't overcome.

[Freddymac]

Well in that case it shouldn't be too dificult, there are some differences between the 87 front and 95 WD21 front but it's nothing some fairly simple bracketry couldn't overcome.

Thanks for your report SC.

 

I gave the dude who wrote the ad a call last night. 'Language difficulties,' it seems, may have misidentified the 'Bumper' as a wrap around Brush guard from his non-working 87. I asked him if the guard was frame mounted. He said it was. As far as I know most Brush guards are mounted to the bumper with 2 square holes made by a Dremel. If this unit is frame mounted I realize that there may be another issue that may need to be addressed:

 

The frame mount bracket on the passenger side of my 95 WD21 has been badly bent upwards into the towing hook by a previous owner's contact with Terra Firma. I figure by removing the hook and heating up the bracket, a good Fab Shop should be able to straighten the piece back to vertical? Am I right here?

 

Here is my next question: If this unit is frame mounted, I can see two possible contact points with the truck. Without a 3rd or 4th attachment point, I would risk severe damage to the front end (read: grille, rad, tranny cooler)if I hit anything larger than a Gopher trying to do the 'Chicken-crossed-da-road' routine.

 

Ya, I wished that this unit would replace the chrome bumper, yet I need protection up front. If nothing more than to have the crack head, jaywalking pedestrians in Vancouver, BC hopefully bounce off the front of truck. (Sheesh, Green Metal Flake costs a fortune to repair).

 

Anyhoo, I'm seeing the dude tomorrow and check out his goods. I'll keep ya posted.

 

For any West Coast Canadian Pathy owners, this truck I'm seeing tommorrow, (I have been told), is an 87 with a transplanted 95 engine that got the wrong people working at the wrong time to turn it into junker (err... parts donor vehicle)

 

Fred

[88pathoffroad]

The bumpers do have different mounting brackets, but they both bolt to the frame the same and have the bolts in the same place otherwise. If it's a Nissan brushguard and not a Smittybilt or Bushwacker or something else, it will likely have mounting points at the bottom that bolt to the frame where the stock tow hook is, then a second set of brackets that either bolt to the stock bumper mount outer bolt-hole, or extend through the bumper to the underlying bumper-to-frame mount bracket bolts.

 

You don't need to heat up that bracket to straighten it out. Just use a 12" Crescent wrench and bend it back straight. It's not made of inch-thick immoveable steel, it's actually fairly easy to bend.

 

Well, you could try not to hit anything...heh. Your point is still very valid. Most times a light impact with another vehicle, into a ditch or dirt bank, or even a post or pole can cause damage to your front end that probably wouldn't have otherwise happened if the guard weren't there.

 

Grilleguards are basically for brushing aside small-sized branches and bushes when you're offroad, not urban obstacles like curbs, shopping carts or gas-station corner poles... Thing is, if they made it strong enough to withstand cows and deer and shopping carts, it'd weigh 500 lbs and your gas mileage would go into the garbage, along with your front-to-rear weight ratio and center/height of gravity.

[Freddymac]

Grilleguards are basically for brushing aside small-sized branches and bushes when you're offroad, not urban obstacles like curbs, shopping carts or gas-station corner poles... Thing is, if they made it strong enough to withstand cows and deer and shopping carts, it'd weigh 500 lbs and your gas mileage would go into the garbage, along with your front-to-rear weight ratio and center/height of gravity.

Thanks 88!

 

Great advice.

 

My dear and suffering wife and I run on the 3 season weekends into the bush in British Columbia, Canada Gold hunting. A lot of the deactivated logging roads that we end up in has cross ditches and brush that hasn't seen traffic in years. In other words, we end up being the Weedonators as Evergreen branches scratch the finish on the truck. I think that an ARB bumper (or a Brush Guard) would be great yet it doesn't trim the waskaly branches that will simply coil up energy as we brush them aside and have them whip back on the fenders. (and I will be DAMNED to take a chain saw out there to trim the friggin scenery!

 

I remember a Jeep web site somewhere for heavy duty self adhesive vinyl clear sheeting that can be attached to the front of the truck. I don't know if I want to basically shrink wrap the front of the truck, yet it may be the answer.

 

(Hmm, the same type of wrapping is used by Transit vehicles for large scale murals)....HEY wanna 'upgrade' your fine truck in camo, 88? (or any other images?)

 

BC pin stripping seems to be a fact of life here...and with a brush guard there may the possibilty that the Crack heads on the byways of Vancouver may choose a different intersection than the one we're crossing (wishing)

 

Fred

[Freddymac]

The bumpers do have different mounting brackets, but they both bolt to the frame the same and have the bolts in the same place otherwise. If it's a Nissan brushguard and not a Smittybilt or Bushwacker or something else, it will likely have mounting points at the bottom that bolt to the frame where the stock tow hook is, then a second set of brackets that either bolt to the stock bumper mount outer bolt-hole, or extend through the bumper to the underlying bumper-to-frame mount bracket bolts.

Checked out the goods from the vendor last Sunday in the snowy wilds of North Vancouver. It was a bolt together winch mount/grille guard with a lot of years on it. The bolts had rust on them (which I consider a bad sign). The piece had been painted but obviously the prep work had never been done. The bottom holes matched the width of the frame mounts, yet 2 custom 6" triangular bracket would have to have been fabed to get the bottom part of the guard to even get close to meeting the frame. The top attachment point to the bumper/frame assembly were not available as an 87 has a very small bumper. My 95 has a chrome bumper considerable larger in volume with louvers for the air intake where the holes should be drilled to stabilize the top end of the unit.

 

Without the top attachment points, I envisioned a groaning sound and a huge bang as the guard and winch under load, would leave a permanent dent into the unlucky tree that was deemed as the attachment point for recovery.

 

I did a bit of math on the man hours involved to get this piece even close to what it would cost to have the same unit custom fabed in welded steel as I wished the vendor a pleasant day in leaving.

 

Again, thank you for your input and interest in this project.

 

Fred

[Precise1]

Sorry it didn't work out, but yes, sometimes it's best just to walk away from it. Didn't sound like such a good deal. No worries though, something else will turn up soon, they are common enough.

 

B