I want to track my progress in "restoring", "updating", and "modifying" my 05 LE Pathy.

A little about the vehicle...
I picked her up about two months ago. She currently has 149,xxx miles. Overall, she's in good shape. A few things I've checked or changed...

-seems that the radiator on the truck is an updated version.... Either way, I went ahead and performed the bypass "mod"

-she came with Cooper Discoverer tires and the tears were cupping a bit. I went ahead and bought new tires. General Grabber AT2 in 265/70/17

-she also wiggled like a Cadillac and had massive body roll. I went ahead and purchased Bilstein 4600 shocks for all four corners and while I was swapping out the rear shocks, I noticed that the rear right away bar link was completely broken (snapped at the ball joint).... So I replaced that as well. She now rides great!!!

-My Bose woofer was rattling and cutting in and out. Did some research and I ended up eliminating the relay on the board and made a jumper for the fuse in the glove box.... I also used some silicone on the dust covers and guess what? No more rattle and a lot more thump now.

-2nd row seat cup holders were broken... I just installed the replacement ones today 12-2-15

-installed the Wally World Reese roof rack

-installed the groom aux input module

-ordered 3rd row seat floor mat

-ordered a dash cover

-ordered front seat cup holder inserts

-installed front air splitter

-plasti dipped grill and emblems


A few things That I've noticed is that the rear subframe (rear suspension frame) is pretty rusty. A piece of metal by the camber bolt is completely missing.... Looks like it was caught in a rock and the piece broke.... New frame is about $450... Debating about replacing it.

E-brake is super loose.... The pedal almost hits the floor when engaging it.

I'm getting a steering wheel rattle... If I press I. The middle plastic it goes away.... I may need to pop it off and see what's going on.

I've also ordered the air lift bags for the rear.... I'll update as I go.

Sweet update love the kayaks similar to mine lol

Thupertrooper wrote:Sweet update love the kayaks similar to mine lol

Thanks.

I picked mine up at Dicks sporting goods.

We usually use 'em for fishing at the ocean but the wife wanted to take the dogs out to the lake, lol

Thats sweet i used some ebay roof rack kayal mounts and they work great for $60 lol

Thupertrooper wrote:Thats sweet i used some ebay roof rack kayal mounts and they work great for $60 lol

Yeah. I ordered mine from Amazon...$60-70 for a set. They look like "J"'s


They work great!

I've been up to 80 mph with them and no problems what so ever lol.

What else you have planned for it?
I been wheeling alot lately so i picked up some 2.0 radflos with 700lb springs and i got a buddy who made a 4" long travel kit he sold me

Thupertrooper wrote:What else you have planned for it?
I been wheeling alot lately so i picked up some 2.0 radflos with 700lb springs and i got a buddy who made a 4" long travel kit he sold me

I'm coming from a 93 grand Cherokee that I wheeled the crap out of so I want to stay a little mellow on this pathfinder. I still plan to do camping trips and the occasional mild off-road trip but nothing like before.

I may eventually do a 2" lift but that's down the road.


I went ahead and replaced the spark plugs today and found that one of them, rear far left on the passenger side, had a nice puddle of oil when I pulled the spark plug out... Not sure if this means that my valve seal is out or if my valve cover gasket is done. The rest of the spark plugs looked great. I went ahead and replaced the oil with 5w-40 shell rotella t6 as well.

When I got home, I could hear a "knock" rattle coming from under the engine cover.... I'm not sure if I left a loose bolt, which I doubt, or something else is going on. I'm using 87 octane... Huuummm

Also installed the airbags today.

I had the oil in the spark plug tube in the same location as you. The only way to fix it is to replace the valve cover, which comes with integral spark plug tube seals.

I did buy the valve cover, but honestly haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. Last time I checked, there was no oil in the tube this time, so it may have resolved itself. I switched to synthetic when the truck was new to me.

disallow wrote:I had the oil in the spark plug tube in the same location as you. The only way to fix it is to replace the valve cover, which comes with integral spark plug tube seals.

I did buy the valve cover, but honestly haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. Last time I checked, there was no oil in the tube this time, so it may have resolved itself. I switched to synthetic when the truck was new to me.

Thanks for the reply.

I did some research and in fact, it seems like I'll be replacing the valve cover as well.

I'm an idiot at installed the Bosch 4316 +2 plugs which were gapped wrong :facepalm

I went and picked up the OE NGK's. I'll be dropping those in tomorrow morning.

I was finally able to take the girl on a good road trip this Christmas........we went up to Shaver Lake to go sledding for the weekend.

The airbags helped a TON. She was loaded down pretty good and she felt plated and firm the entire ride. I filled the bags up to 35 PSI and it seemed to be happy there.

Overall, she did great. The tires performed great and I've confirmed that the 4wd works, lol. There's a couple of rattles that I cant pin point...they're bugging the shit out of me.

I'm surprised how much power the thing has. Not once did I ever think to myself that I needed more power. The thing sprints up the mountain roads and cruises at 80 mph down the 99 with out missing a beat. I hadn't noticed this but it seems like it has excessive bump steer over some bumps on the road......not sure how common that is.

Either way, we had fun and the thing is a great road tripper.

Think bumpsteer is relatively common for those with slightly bigger tires.

Most of the recommendations I've seen involved a good alignment but I think its just the nature of the beast.

azaizai wrote:Think bumpsteer is relatively common for those with slightly bigger tires.

Most of the recommendations I've seen involved a good alignment but I think its just the nature of the beast.

That's what I've basically read.

I just had an alignment done when I had the new tires installed so that should be a non-issue.

It's not that severe but it's definitely noticeable.