97 R50 Pathfinder- Building the dream

[Lecoq]

I plasti-dipped the front and rear bumper chrome pieces on Saturday. Still have to do the front grille. Also got the new wheels installed today. I kept the wheel specs mild so I could still run my newish tires (bought in December) and I wanted the stance that Janseman has on his R50. So I went with KMC Enduro 15x7 with a -6 offset.

And here's my favorite picture:

 

[Slicky72]

Looks good , one of my favorite greens . What plasti dip product did you use?

 

[Allof75]

Wow! Looks great! I'm curious as to how your plasti-dip holds up, how many coats did you put on?
Some bird decided my grille would be a great target, and needless to say, apparently Meg's Quik Detailer doesn't play nice with plasti-dip, now I have a small chip in the coating. :smilies27

 

[stioc]

I'm digging the transformed look from those wheels, they made a huge difference- the stance is perfect! I forget if you have a lift on it or not?

 

[Lecoq]

Wow! Looks great! I'm curious as to how your plasti-dip holds up, how many coats did you put on?
Some bird decided my grille would be a great target, and needless to say, apparently Meg's Quik Detailer doesn't play nice with plasti-dip, now I have a small chip in the coating. :smilies27

I've only put one coat so far. Might do another one when I do the grille. The good thing about Plasti Dip is that you just peel it off and start over when it looks bad.:elkgrin:

I'm digging the transformed look from those wheels, they made a huge difference- the stance is perfect! I forget if you have a lift on it or not?

Yep, got OME HD fronts and MD rears.

Looks good , one of my favorite greens . What plasti dip product did you use?

Thanks, I used regular black Plasti Dip.

 

[crunchie]

Good looking rig. I have a 99 that I am looking at doing some work to. Nice to see some results that give me an idea of what the finished product would look like. Love the look of yours with the black wheels.
If you want a 7 pass suv, look at the 05 and up pathfinders. My brother has one and he loves it. He can separate all 3 kids and still have room inside for gear and tow a decent sized tent trailer with it. Much more jam than the weak 3.3 as well. Might be a bit more than 10k but well worth it for something that will last and you can build later when the wife is tired of it.

 

[Lecoq]

Thanks!

I love my Pathfinder...but I hate the 3.3L. Sure it's reliable, but it's so slow and gutless. Next SUV I buy is going to have a V8 for sure. Went out to play in the snow last night and the only way I can have some fun is to be in first gear. Otherwise it doesn't go anywhere.

It's hard to make my name as a Snow Drift King with 165hp :smiley_drive:

 

[Slicky72]

What gears do you have in there? My X only has a few more ponies than you Pathy but with the 4.9 gears it feels far from gutless . It isn't going to win a lot of races but I seldom are left wanting more power. Have you tired any power adders or even just running some Seafoam through it?.

 

[Lecoq]

Haven't had a chance to check on my gear ratio yet. I'll see if I can remember tomorrow when I replace my fan clutch.

 

[stioc]

How're you liking your OME springs so far? They should've settled by now, do you have any before/after ride height numbers?

 

[Lecoq]

I'm still loving them. I initially gained 3 inches all around but it has since settled to 2.5 inches. My ride height is at 35 inch front and 35.5 rear.

 

[Lecoq]

Little update on the convenience side.

Went to the junk yard today and picked up the double sun visors off a 98 LE. I was pretty happy to get the HomeLink garage door opener on it.

Got a pic from last week's trail run.

And the snow run we did last Sunday...Helping my buddy get out of a snow bank.

I'm looking at getting a roof top box to put the skis in on the weekend and recovery/camping gear in the summer. That way I should be able to sleep in the truck and have all the gear on the roof away from the rain. I'm thinking I'll probably wait a bit before I pull the trigger on a RTT. I'd rather spend that cash on lockers and a winch bumper.

 

[stioc]

I'm still loving them. I initially gained 3 inches all around but it has since settled to 2.5 inches. My ride height is at 35 inch front and 35.5 rear.

Glad to hear it. I don't think the fender height is consistent between the R50 generations so hard to do a comparison. What I've been comparing is the ride height from the ground to the pinch seam directly below the B-pillar.

Little update on the convenience side.

I'm looking at getting a roof top box to put the skis in on the weekend and recovery/camping gear in the summer. That way I should be able to sleep in the truck and have all the gear on the roof away from the rain. I'm thinking I'll probably wait a bit before I pull the trigger on a RTT. I'd rather spend that cash on lockers and a winch bumper.

Nice find in the junkyard. As convenient as the transmitter link is I personally don't use it because I don't want someone getting into my garage by breaking into my car

From my experience with sleeping in the truck it's really convenient BUT when its cold out the inside gets frigid cold from all the glass and sheet metal, more so than even a 3 season tent. I would think about some insulation or I guess down sleeping bags or such.

Lockers are great...I have yet to use mine

I wouldn't put lockers in the same category as RTT though. Maybe winch vs. lockers vs. armor or RTT vs. trailer - do both

 

[Lecoq]

This is the $1000 dilemma.

Lockers give you more traction-get you further on and off the trails.
Armor is needed once you venture further on and off the trails.
Winch is almost necessary once you have lockers- because once you get stuck, you're really stuck.
Bumper is part armor, part recovery.

Tough choices. I never wheel alone mainly for safety reasons so I should be able to get away with running lockers. If I get stuck I have buddies to pull me out. I really think the bumper is gonna be an issue. Most likely going to have to get a custom one made.

I thought about retrofitting the ARB Frontier bumper with custom made brackets but after much research, this turns out to be a very costly and difficult option. The other option was to get the ARB 00-02 Sahara bar, which mounts to the early R50 but with a gap between the grille and the bumper itself, ARB has none in stock and no idea when they will receive some. A used one might work but shipping may very well kill that idea.

Last option is a custom made bumper, which I'm trying to source out a local fabricator to price out this option.

 

[Slicky72]

IMHO not the best looking but it is an option
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