2002 Pathfinder (R50) Overland Build

[duke90]

Does the ARB bumper mount to the existing stock bumper mounting points?

 

[duke90]

A little update: haven't added much to the pathy as of late, but my transmission did take a dump last week. I wasn't having any issues with the trans and out of nowhere it started to howl while I was doing about 70mph on the freeway. I actually thought I got a flat because it sounded similar to the rubber thrashing around the rim when you get a flat at higher speeds. I pulled over and seeing as all the tires were okay, I looked under the car and there was smoke coming out of the trans. Towed it to the shop and $3500 later I should have an OEM Nissan Rebuild Trans installed sometime next week. I thought these R50s were pretty good quality, but having to replace the motor at 140k and the trans at 155k doesn't seem that great. I figured I'd get a lot more mileage out of those two parts...maybe I just got a lemon :/

 

[duke90]

I also removed the rack and spare. I was averaging 13mpg around the city with it on and about 15.5 without it.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

A little update: haven't added much to the pathy as of late, but my transmission did take a dump last week. I wasn't having any issues with the trans and out of nowhere it started to howl while I was doing about 70mph on the freeway. I actually thought I got a flat because it sounded similar to the rubber thrashing around the rim when you get a flat at higher speeds. I pulled over and seeing as all the tires were okay, I looked under the car and there was smoke coming out of the trans. Towed it to the shop and $3500 later I should have an OEM Nissan Rebuild Trans installed sometime next week. I thought these R50s were pretty good quality, but having to replace the motor at 140k and the trans at 155k doesn't seem that great. I figured I'd get a lot more mileage out of those two parts...maybe I just got a lemon :/

Man that's bad luck! Sounds like you just got one that wasn't maintained as well as it could have been. I have a couple friends with Nissan 4x4s that have over 200k on the original drivetrain. Sorry to hear about your troubles! Hopefully this sorts out the big issues.

Oh, and to your earlier question, yes. The ARB bumper will mount to the stock holes. You'll have to remove the old steel behind the plastic, but the ARB will mount to the same bolt holes. I can attest to ARB's quality as well. Absolutely awesome stuff, built like a tank. Not sure why more Pathy people don't use them to be honest.

Best of luck going forward with your rig.

 

[duke90]

Man that's bad luck! Sounds like you just got one that wasn't maintained as well as it could have been. I have a couple friends with Nissan 4x4s that have over 200k on the original drivetrain. Sorry to hear about your troubles! Hopefully this sorts out the big issues.

Oh, and to your earlier question, yes. The ARB bumper will mount to the stock holes. You'll have to remove the old steel behind the plastic, but the ARB will mount to the same bolt holes. I can attest to ARB's quality as well. Absolutely awesome stuff, built like a tank. Not sure why more Pathy people don't use them to be honest.

Best of luck going forward with your rig.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to have it sandblasted and powder-coated before mounting it, but hopefully should have it on by next month. I'll post an update once the mechanic tells me what caused the tranny to fail. He's going to pull it and open it up tomorrow.

 

[duke90]

Just an update: the torque convertor failed which caused the transmission to fail. I ended up having them order a brand new (Not rebuild) transmission from Nissan and it works great, only 500 miles on it so far but it's smooth with no issues. I also got a great deal on ebay for a pair of rear light guards, but have yet to put them on. I also noticed that the rear differential is starting to give out so I will need to replace that with an ARB locker soon. FYI*** ARB has a special right now; if you buy a locker you get a free air compressor (The cheaper one for $170).

 

[marty1977]

I'm praying for you to car gods for this to be the last of your worries,I have 315,000 km on mine now and no major problems with the drive line. Like guys said it must have not been look after. Great thread you have here, keep it coming.

 

[Hawairish]

I know duke90's not been on recently to update his build thread, but I hope he doesn't mind me hyping his build up a little...

I've been in touch with him for the past several months and we've been planning a major overhaul on both our R50s. He'll be heading my way in a couple weeks and we'll be doing these things:

R200 Lokka
H233B LSD swap and re-pack (open diff to LSD @ 150 ft-lbs...for reference, stock R50 LSDs were 65-80 until 2003, then they dropped to 25-43)
4.636 gear swap
3" SFD (plus his existing OMEs); adding 2" of spacers in the rear
Installing panhard drop bracket
Installing an ARB bumper
Wiring a winch?
Installing super sliders
Retrofitting an R50 tire carrier
Air Lift 1000?
Custom sway bar disconnects?

I've done everything above to mine already (except I don't have an ARB bumper or winch). Still working on the disconnects; we'll see. It will be an extremely busy weekend+!

 

[stioc]

Very cool, can't wait to see it all kitted out!

 

[duke90]

So after a MARATHON weekend, Hawairish and I were able to overhaul most of the suspension plus some other goodies on my truck. We installed all of the following over the course of 3 days:

- 3" SFD (Spacers made by Hawairish, these things are top notch quality)
- 3" Strut spacers
- 2" Coil spacers
- 4.636 gear swap
- Lokka for the front diff
- LSD rear diff (Repacked the discs so it's now at 150 lb/ft torque)
- Retrofitted an OEM tire carrier (Looks great and seems very sturdy, I'm 225lbs and I hung on it while fully open and it's very solid.)
- RR supersliders
- ARB front bumper with M8000 winch.
- Replaced driver's side engine mount.
- Custom Steering link.
- Airlift 1000
- Installed the Panhard drop bracket from KR fabs (This thing is complete junk and required a lot of metal cutting to get it to fit, I'm sure Hawairish will post more about this later).

Just a couple of pics of both trucks, I'll post more of the build process later when I get the chance. This build was a lot of fun and involved some long hours to get it finished in time. Couldn't be more thankful for Hawairish for spending his weekend to help me with this build.

 

[Hawairish]

Seriously, marathon is right..."over the course of 3 days...and nights and mornings" Hope you got enough sleep on the drive back home before your shift!

We also resolved a mystery clunk due to a busted motor mount...and ended up buying 33% of the motor mount supply in the entire Phoenix metro! And now you have working windshield sprayers, too. The little things.

Truck looks great, wished we could've gotten some wheeling in, though that little corner of farmland wasn't too shabby...never drove up into there. Glad to see the truck didn't end up being higher than mine! (Kidding!) But almost perfectly, the twin R50s. Let's start planning a SoCal wheel event.

I've already posted up my review of the pan hard bracket at NPORA. It ain't pretty. Wish we could've gotten some pics this AM, but the time crunch.

 

[duke90]

A few pics of the build process. This is pre-SFD:



ARB bumper and sliders ready for install:



LSD:


Custom Steering Link to replace the OE link:

 

[duke90]

Installing the Airlift 1000:



Bored out the original hole to create more space for the air line:



Coil put back on over the bags:

 

[duke90]

We ended up plumbing the airlines for both bags into a single valve, located in the front of the driver's side rear wheel well. No chance of a tire hitting it, easily within reach. Lines were routed up the control arm. -Hawairish




Here's a pic of the SFD, spacers were designed by Hawairish. Top notch quality and easily to torque the bolts due to his design. Using the design of the spacers from KR doesn't allow much room for tightening the bolt. These spacers made it easy tighten the bolts.



Panhard Drop bracket: Installing this bracket required cutting off an approximately 1/2" piece of metal flap that would have otherwise hit the weld of the KR bracket.

 

[duke90]

3" Strut Spacers on OME HD Coils: