Co-opski’s Last Frontier Build

[mortonm]

I just changed my resistor out last fall. Pretty simple and quick. I was only missing fan speed 2 but I would have lost others and it always seemed like 1 was too little and 3 was too much.

Another sidebar, all of the fan speeds got stronger with the new resistor as well as fixing the missing fan speed 2.

 

[stioc]

Nice updates! I should change my spark plugs, I have no idea how old they are but it's a bit of a job.

How do you like your tire size? I'm really thinking of getting the 235/85/16s if I can sell my current ones. The only concern is will they look too skinny? I see your's and Mortonm's don't at least in the pics but I have no real reference.

 

[Co-opski]

Russell,
They are skinny, people are always commenting on them to me. You just don't see that tire on small trucks but the f350s and other full sized rigs they are common. I went from 255/70r16s to these tires. For my winter slush driving 8 months a year they are the best as I don't get any hydroplaning in 4 inches of slop at 50 to 65 mph and they cut to the road surface. I had them one time in bottomless muck when I drove on the tundra during break up and I sank to my frame in no time. I had them aired down to 5psi and still couldn't get the surface I needed. But that is why the off road rigs up here are running 44s that are 14 inches wide or agriculture tires.

I just trimmed some plastic and cranked the t-bars to clear the front. I got more rubbing with (my desired size) 245/75 r 16 but I was on a stock backspacing. Now I only get rubbing on the front right as I bashed my lower bumper flashing in as I was climbing something too steep. I pulled it back but I'm just holding out for an ARB or custom bumper this summer.

The 235/85 and 245/75 r 16s are very common tires up here, and that keeps them somewhat affordable. I'm looking for Duratracs myself or Cooper stt. I may just keep with BFG AT ko or step it up to BFG MTs or Goodyear MTRs time will tell. But I will keep the 235 85 r16 size.

 

[mortonm]

Unfortunately outside of this site they aren't common so its tough to find pictures, never seen one on an R50

To me, they don't look too skinny, and the Xterras had 255 and 265 wide tires.

You have 245 right now. So the difference in width is 1 cm, hold up your pinky finger, that is pretty close to a cm. Will that really make that big of a difference?

I know the extra height will be what you notice first

 

[stioc]

Did you notice a difference between the 245/75/16s and the 235/85/16s, height wise, handling wise etc? I'm just wondering if it's worth it to trade up.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Co-opski]

Not much in performance loss with the taller 235 vs 245 but the 235 (49lbs per tire) set up I have is on alloy wheels and the 245 (48lbs per tire) were on steel taco wheels so they were heavier per wheel. I did feel a little pep with the lighter 235s and I have way more miles on 235s but they are stiff and don't flex well even when aired down.

 

[IrishXJ]

but they are stiff and don't flex well even when aired down.

Sorry for you having to answer twenty questions, but...


How do you think they'd do in sand? I'm seriously interested in putting them on mine, but the truck will probably go on some sandy beaches someday. If someone could get stuck right on the edge of the ocean with high tide rolling in, that someone would probably be me... :snorkel:

 

[mortonm]

Tall and skinny are good for a lot of terrain. Deep snow and sand are not among them.

If you will be spending a lot of time on sandy beaches something wider might be better for flotation.

 

[The BN Guy]

Good maintenance. What about the in-cab air filter? Mine was tooooast!

 

[IrishXJ]

Tall and skinny are good for a lot of terrain. Deep snow and sand are not among them.

If you will be spending a lot of time on sandy beaches something wider might be better for flotation.

Thankfully, the shorelines that you can drive up on in Kentucky (Namely LBL) have hard-packed sand, so I don't expect it to be much of a problem. I'd simply worry about showing up at an actual beach and running into issues.


http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

I think I've read the above about ten times now.

 

[Co-opski]

Good maintenance. What about the in-cab air filter? Mine was tooooast!

I just need to find my Dremel tool as I have not done the cabin air filter mod yet. It was right there but I didn't have the filters or a way to cut out the box. I sure need it as the glacial silt gets everywhere.

As for the 235s on the beach do well on the hard wet sand and do just ok in the soft stuff. Its been nice and in the 50s I may take it down to the beach this weekend and post up some pictures of the stuff I get into. :snorkel:

 

[Co-opski]

So lets see. I've cut in the cabin air filter and put some Wix cabin air filters in, fresh Amsoil server gear w75-90 in the front and rear differentials,extended my rear diff breather hose, Amsoil torque drive atf in the transfer-case added the Nissan wd21 Pathfinder transfer-case skid-plate, repacked the wheel-bearings, cleaned the MAF sensor and throttle body, painted the frame rails, added Hella Supertone horns and relay wiring harness, tore out the old fogs and put in some Hella Micro DL fog lights and Hella yellow-star 100w bulbs, added a Gibson SS cat-back exhaust, and AEM CAI and bear sprayed myself in the face since I last posted. I'll get pictures up soon.

 

[beverly]

Yikes!

 

[stioc]

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! How do you like the Hella Supertone horns? Mine are pretty wimpy. Do you have to add in a relay and harness for them? I would've thought the horns from the factory are already on a relay no?

Please post pics and impressions of the upgrades when you can.

 

[Co-opski]

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! How do you like the Hella Supertone horns? Mine are pretty wimpy. Do you have to add in a relay and harness for them? I would've thought the horns from the factory are already on a relay no?

Please post pics and impressions of the upgrades when you can.

I'd expected more from Hella. So my stock Fiamm trumpet horn slowly died, I went and got a set of the Hella Stones after hearing some poor sound bites off of youtube. Overall they sound like a disc buzz horn (meeeep) like on my old VW or a newer Subaru but louder. Think New Delhi rush hour traffic. I found them for under $40 and I put $5 or so in to building the wiring harness.

If I were to do it again I would stick with the trumpet style horn and get an OEM Bosch or Fiamm two tone BMW horns (they just sound nice). I took a trip to North Denali and Healy this weekend and there was a moose cow and calf on the Parks Hwy and the horn was enough to get them to move back into the trees, that is the only test. I did put a relay to the battery with an inline 30A fuse and relay triggered by the factory horn. Yes the factory horn is on a relay also I could have just plugged in one of the Hellas and made a harness for the other one. I didn't see any difference by adding my own harness/relay; I only did it because I had spare parts and wire around.

Working through all my summer photos so I'll Get them up tonight.