My 2001 Pathfinder (R50 ) mild/budget build

[txfactor76]

I haven't experienced anything that makes me regret running 33s. I think the difference in overall diameter and weight is so slight that there's no appreciable difference when it comes to overstressing the suspension. I've got nearly 40k miles on my 255/85 KM2s and apart from being seriously underpowered (I have the VG33), I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm on KYB struts and AC coils, but still on original ball joints (200k miles); I'd be on original tie rod ends if I didn't massively tweak one during a past excursion. Everything is still nice and tight, and I'm not what you would call a light-footed driver on or off the road.

Long story short, I'm not afraid of any pothole, nor is my Pathfinder.

There's nothing wrong with 32s. Most R50s with small lifts like ours, are running them. I would go with the 265/75 though. The 235/85 is pretty popular among the expo crowd, but that's just too dang narrow for my taste.

If you can trial fit some 33s, that would be your best bet. Your truck is too nice to be hammering on those fenders lol



BTW, my username is 'alexrex20' on pretty much every other forum, in case you recognize my Pathfinder. I used to have a login here but I can't seem to access it.

 

[mortonm]

I think its quite a decision to make, glad I have already made it.

The difference between the 235 85 and 255 85 might be an inch in diff clearance gained, which can be a little or a lot.

The 255 85s will be almost all E rated as well and super heavy.

If it was going to cause a lot of potentially rubbing issues (which it sounds like unless you change a few things it will) I would opt for the smaller size and save all the worry about the front suspension handling the weight and size.

Not to mention they will seem quite a bit taller than your current 245 75s.

Best bet would be to track down some vehciles with both sizes to see in person, pictures often have a way of not telling the whole story.

 

[txfactor76]

Hmm, I thought he was already on 32s. Stioc, if you're currently on 31s, I don't think 33s will ever fit without extensive modification. IIRC, you're on OME coils?

btw, did you try running your 245s without the wheel spacers? I used to have 265/70s (also 31s) and they fit fine without spacers.

 

[stioc]

All excellent comments guys, I'm liking this discussion because it's hard to find people that have first hand wheeling experience running 32s+ with a basic lift.

My tires are indeed 245/75/16 C-load Duratracs- they're supposed to be 30.6" mathematically but only 29.x" when I actually measure them. I ran them without spacers for quite a while and they fit perfectly without rubbing. I then added the 1.5" spacers which made them rub on the front bumper a bit- but only when backing up. For good measure I recently trimmed the inner lip of the rear flares (you can't see them from the side) to help when flexing out the suspension. I just ran Death Valley's Steel Pass without any rubbing and there was quite a bit of flexing going on (no sway bars on my truck either).

I had OMEs but I'm now on the AC springs. I think I can run 33s without much modification, I feel like I'm close. I also have the 1" NX4 strut spacer still sitting in the garage somewhere if I need some more clearance in the front.

Alex, two questions for you- do you find clearing the 33s harder to do in the front or the rear? Are you running any spacers on those stock rims?

Having said all this I must say that even with the pseudo 31s it does really well hanging with the big boys. However, it does make it easier to get over larger obstacles with bigger tires, they also help remove the top heaviness feeling while adding a bit more ground clearance. So if I can I would like the 255/85/16s but I'm not (yet) willing to give up the fender flares or bend sheet metal...I said yet

 

[txfactor76]

Get a little rock rash like mine, then anything goes.

I don't have any clearance issues at all in the rear. I can stuff them to the bump stops without even getting close to rubbing. I do not have spacers on the rear though; only the front. I'm running Tacoma wheels, which have the same backspace as stock wheels IIRC. Some people will buy wheels with the proper offset to clear the struts up front, but then they end up pushing the rear tires outward as well. I think my rear tires would rub if I had high offset wheels, or the equivalent of spacers.

 

[txfactor76]

If you ever want to sell those NX4 spacers, keep me in mind. My old saggy front springs could use a little help in their old, tired state.

 

[tbscan]

tbscan, thanks for the compliments on the truck. Regarding your question, I think the first advice I will offer is to think about how you will use the truck and how others in your area use their's. I'm all for starting slow and making only the necessary changes. However, keep in mind that sooner than later you'll likely be going offroading with others and you may have trouble keeping up with them or worse damage something. Good tires and some ground clearance is absolute critical for offroad situations so I would recommend a good set of all-terrain tires, springs and struts/shocks. That's pretty much all you may ever need depending on your wheeling preference and the type of trails you have.

I live in British Columbia so most of my off-roading will be done on old logging roads and such, some of them can get a little rough but nothing too extreme. Been doing a lot of research and basically have seen that no matter what you do, you're going to end up with problems one way or another (as I figured). I hope that I don't cause too much damage because as I have mentioned before I am going to take it easy on the thing. After looking through a bunch of things, I just want to know what you think about this kit from 4x4parts.com https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/pathfinder-deluxe-suspension-package-p-1961.html

Thanks a ton for your help by the way/

 

[stioc]

Based on your local terrain description and wanting to not get too crazy I would recommend against the kit above. My recommendation would be to go with the OME springs (HD front, MD rear), KYB struts and shocks- may be BILSTEIN 5000 rear shocks if you have some extra cash. This setup will not only be better for a dual purpose truck it'll actually be cheaper. Take a look at Lecoq's build here.

I would also suggest that if you have to decide between suspension ugrade or a tire upgrade do the tires first. Get some good All-Terrains suited to your area.

 

[stioc]

If you ever want to sell those NX4 spacers, keep me in mind. My old saggy front springs could use a little help in their old, tired state.

Thanks for the info man. I just may go with the 33s. We'll see, been spending too much on the truck lately and ignoring other things

I'll keep you in mind about the strut spacers too.

 

[tbscan]

Funny that you led me to Lecog's build, because it's almost the exact same truck (colour and everything) besides the fact that his is an SE and mine is a Klondike (Canadian SE). I'm going to use his as a precedent because it's exactly what I would like mine to look like.

Thanks again for the advice, helps me out a ton.

 

[stioc]

My 4 day Death Valley trip review-

So a page or two back I posted a link to the pics and the trip-report but I wanted to also write up a second report more from the truck's perspective. Let me start by saying that this 4 day backcountry trip to DV is a perfect example of what I wanted to build this truck for. We had 500+miles of highway, 250+ miels of steep climbs, sandy washes, bad washboard, rocky terrain- just about everything but mud (though the clouds did threaten us).

Other than the overheating issue I experienced in the begining the truck performed flawlessly. One of my concerns on a long trip is about weight management. I try to pack light but 4-5 days worth of water, food and extra gas are heavy. On this trip we had about 300lbs of water (9gals), food, clothes, camping supplies etc. I didn't weigh the recovery gear, spares, tools, accessories etc but I did stop at a highway scale and weighed the whole truck. It weighed 5260lbs - this was before we filled up the 8gals of fuel containers. The GVWR I believe is 5300lbs so I was still under that but almost 1000lbs over the curb weight. Despite the extra weight the truck returned almost 18mpg on the highway fully loaded. I'm really happy about that.

Next consideration is the handling, braking etc. So the braking has never been great on this truck, may be it's just my truck but even with the agressive pads (which improved the braking force) the braking feel is pretty bad and for a second or two when you first step on the brakes it feels like the truck won't stop. So I have to look into this a bit more. Handling wise, even with the sway bars disconnected and fully loaded it does well. It does feel a bit top heavy and why I'm considering bigger tires.

Off-road it was unstoppable...I pretty much led the whole trip and it went through every tough section first without any issues. The size of the truck allows it to get away with a lot where the longer wheelbase trucks would have to be more careful. Of course, the longer wheelbase trucks enjoy more stability than us shorter wheelbase turcks. The AC lift gives it a decent ground clearance to tackle some challenging sections, I scraped my rock slider once and that was on a fairly tough section. I used the locker once and it was like getting winched up by another truck, where the truck was struggling before now it was a smooth crawl up. I did skip going over one small uphill section with loose dir that was clearly a locker-only section...it's a matter of confidence that will come with more use I guess. On the washboard I was able to maintain 45-50mph, the shocks were too hot to touch afterwards but it was fairly comfortable inside...as comfortable as can be expected. At a couple of points I did hit some ruts that were hard to see and the truck almost caught air...I felt bad for the truck but it kept on going without complaining. The best part? when we got on the paved road it was as smooth and quiet as a Lexus.

Here're some action shots:

 

[stioc]

BTW I think I forgot to mention that my compressor worked flawlessly! And one of the guys is now on a mission to setup his HF compressor like mine.

 

[XPLORx4]

Lookin' good! I'm glad you had an awesome trip.

 

[Lecoq]

Sounds like a lot of fun. It's always nice to see someone using their truck as they intend to. I'm sure the locker put a smile on your face!

 

[Xracer12]

Great build. Thanks for all the info. What was the reason for the overheating issue? Thanks