2001 Infiniti QX4 (R50) build

[marty1977]

Hello all

Here is the build of my QX4. We got the truck ( me and my better half ) less then a year ago and did some driving exploring last year and now I am in the process of fixing it up for the years to come and to make it in to our adventure overland vehicle. I did read many threads on here already and got tons of useful info how to modify, what to use and what parts to buy. Now is the time to put that knowladge to good use.

My immiediate plans are :
- address all the warn out suspension components, trailing arms, ball joints, stabilizer links and bushings, lower control arms
- remove and fix all the rust i can find and I'm really looking for it :Wow1: ( living in the rust belt )
- new or newer tires
- change oil in the transfer case and tranny

What i did so far :
- rear shocks wore replaced right away as they wore very bad ( rubber bushing on shocks wore almost not there not to mention completaly shot ) so now i have there Monroe shock, they wore cheap
- changed oil in the engine 3 times within 5000 km to plush out any dirty stuff
- changed oil in the rear diff twice since i got the truck
- change oil in the front diff
- replace left front fender as it was eaten away by rust and also fix best i could rear quater panels as under the flares they wore all gone eaten away.

This year mods :

- get new bulbs for driving lights ( maybe not a mod )
- install set of right industries dually spot lights and wire them as high beams
- OME suspension all around or OME springs and KYB struts + bilstein shocks ( as always all depends on available $$$$ )
- built rear storage system
- change fluids to synthetic oil
- refinish wheels to factory silver or black not decided yet
- safari roof rack ( its a must on an expo rig )
- do something with the radio so i can hook up my mp3 device ( get new one or plug myself in to existing radio )


Im sure the list will get longer and now few picks of the truck ( but how to upload them hmmmm.... )

Good From Far



Far from good ( working on it )



you can see here how much i did cut out





now i will submit the thread and see if the pictures will show up

 

[Allof75]

Welcome, good to see another R50 on here, sorry about the rust, hope you get it all taken care of.

 

[marty1977]

finally figure out how to upload pictures so here are few from our adventures :

In search for adventure we fuond abandoned house and i manage to get stuck in the mud ( i wish i had the picture of that ) in the effort to get free i broke off the tail pipe on the muffler as the vehicle bottom out and after 2 hrs of shovelling mud we wore free and all that was on the old street tires and with stock shot suspension. The spirit of adventure is strong in this one

pics after we got free

more pictures from our adventures

any comments sugestions guys always welcome

 

[marty1977]

Welcome, good to see another R50 on here, sorry about the rust, hope you get it all taken care of.

thanks and it will be a long and big battle but at the end i will win :victory:

 

[bushnut]

man your build list is almost a carbon copy of mine....(it's on NPORA)...
I find it a great truck to work on, though sometimes you scream WHY NISSAN WHY?
have fun may your adventures never cease.

 

[02pathfinder]

Glad to see another qx4!

 

[Weekender41]

Holy cow that rust was under your trim?? Im glad I took mine off when I did! Im sad to say this ( as it makes me feel dumb ) but when you first commented on my build, your profile picture looked like this to me

Anyways its good to see another QX4. The classier pathfinder siblings are starting to join this forum now finally. I will be watching them both with interest. As for the rust war you have.. Have fun with that. I have
seen some vehicles start as rust buckets but come out looking wonderful and hope yours does the same.
`
Cheers

 

[marty1977]

man your build list is almost a carbon copy of mine....(it's on NPORA)...
I find it a great truck to work on, though sometimes you scream WHY NISSAN WHY?
have fun may your adventures never cease.

Yea so far i had fun working on the truck i do actually like working on cars and even went to school to be a mechanic but that was long time ago but passion for cars is always there. I hear you with the NISSAN thing sometimes its like " somebody bring me flame thrower i will send you back to hell where you came from damn machine " but then we make peace

 

[marty1977]

Glad to see another qx4!

Yes mate its awesome to see exactly same car

 

[marty1977]

Holy cow that rust was under your trim?? Im glad I took mine off when I did! Im sad to say this ( as it makes me feel dumb ) but when you first commented on my build, your profile picture looked like this to me
View attachment 221020
Anyways its good to see another QX4. The classier pathfinder siblings are starting to join this forum now finally. I will be watching them both with interest. As for the rust war you have.. Have fun with that. I have
seen some vehicles start as rust buckets but come out looking wonderful and hope yours does the same.
`
Cheers

yea that picture i have no idea where it came from maybe NSA had something to do with it lol

and the war on rust it already started i will be posting pics as i go along with repairs

this is driver wheel well and i did see rust from recalls on some guys pathys and mine is not that bad still fixable in my humble opinion

 

[Allof75]

That's fixable, I agree with you on tackling the rust- get it out ASAP, it can only get worse.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Nice adventure pics. Enjoy your ride.

 

[marty1977]

Nice adventure pics. Enjoy your ride.

thanks mate and this summer we really planning to got out there every chance we have :smiley_drive:

 

[marty1977]

So im working on fixing some rust and as will have to replace my struts and real trailing arms and some more important stuff to get the truck to ride properly im cleaning and loosening all the bolts so when i get stuff coming in based on money coming in the replacing part will be quick and easy. I had this idea to show what i did to make the process easier and maybe someone who will be fighting with some stuck rusted bolts can take away something from this.

First i clean as much rust i can with the wire brush on the drill

of course spraying lots of W40 and once i have one nut off or its good if you have something that will fit i run it on the thread to clean it and make the stuck not come out nice and easy once it breaks loose. I do have and impact gun but i figured that its also easier on tools plus there are places that impact simply want fit.

i did also remove my stabilizer bar links and with some cleaning they came out almost like new just need to put some new grease and they will be great when they go back in

once it will warm up as this morning was -15C ( 5F ) i can go back to garage ( its not heated ) and start working on breaking loose rear trailing arms.

 

[mortonm]

Nice to see another Canadian on here, not too far from me either. I am also about to begin a battle against rust....

Good luck, look forward to updates!