Hello everyone, I'm happy to say that this past weekend I picked up a 2008 Pathfinder LE V8 (Black/tan) with 65k on the clock. One owner, in remarkably good condition. The only Black, LE, V8, Tan I could find in the country at the moment. State Line Nissan in KC made it really easy on me, I flew in from Denver and they picked me up at the airport. 30 minutes later I started the 604 mile drive back home to Boulder, CO. So far I'm very impressed - I'd never actually driven one before I got to KC. I had a 2003 (R50) that I really liked so I pretty much knew what I was getting into.

First why - two main reasons; tow and dog duty. On Sunday I adopted a 7 month old yellow lab female from a close friend and this season I plan to tow one of my other toys to the racetrack a fair bit - my 2006 Lotus Exige. While still street legal I'm spending enough time at the track that being able to take a trailer with tires, fuel, food, cooler, camping gear, dog, etc is good. Will be the first time I've ever towed anything (picking up a 2000lb trailer soon).

I have one other toy in my garage at the moment, my previous daily driver is a 2008 Audi RS4. Not sure how much 'll be driving her, the Pathfinder is so comfortable and I drive it so much more relaxed than the RS4. Of course it's not nearly as much fun.

This is my current to-do list for the car. I generally make all my cars my own and this will be the 9th car I've owned in the past 5 years (yes, it's a sickness). As I'm planning on using her first and foremost for camping trips at the race track I'm planning the following:

- 7 pin trailer connector and trailer brake controller
- (Trailer will have huge Yeti integrated cooler and grill)
- WeatherTech floor/cargo mats
- 110v inverter (not sure where just yet but want OEM look)
- Add at least 4 1amp USB chargers (iPads, iPhones, etc)
- Replace all internal lighting with LED
- 25" ceiling mounted LCD facing out the back (tailgate camping)
- rear facing speakers
- custom battery charger (so i can plug into a RV power pole)
- Black out all exterior chrome
- Black front grill
- Powdercoat wheels black
- light tint head/tails (full murdered look)
- Nav hack to allow input while in motion

Other than regular maintenance (I assume she needs the 60k maintenance which I can do) what else would you guys add to the list? I read through the post with links to some of the above and plan to post about the things I do to mine.

Some pictures of my toys

dang, I can't see your pics for some reason. sounds like a nice ride.

Welcome to the forums!

t

I too have an 08 LE V8. Love it. Had it just over a year and put 22k miles on it. I too can't see your pictures.

Welcome! Don't tint the headlights - they are not extremely bright to begin with. Even the lightest tint (say the smoked film frm Laminex) will decrease your light output by another 10%.

Sorry about the pictures guys - let's see if this works better, can you guys see them now?

I hear ya on the tint - I'm going to give it a go and see how good it is. I'm used to low light output as my RS4 is tinted and the Lotus headlights are essentially candles. So far it's plenty bright - if after tint it isn't I can always peel it off (film not spray).

yep I see them now. Nice!

Welcome to the forum Ross. You've got some fun toys there. The television and speaker setup you have planned sounds interesting. I don't think anyone here has done something like that yet so if you're up for taking pics along the way we'd love to see how you do it.

As far as additional mods, airbags for the rear springs are common here. For the towing you plan to do, you definitely want them.

airbags for the rear springs

Tell me more??

Check out this thread:

http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=3219

nice on the rs4. my boss has one. love it and it's exhaust notes. how many people keep trying to use your lcd as a touch screen?

also nice on the exige. i've driven/ridden in one before. seriously a gokart on steroids! soooooo low to the ground and handles like none other. bumpy ass/hard suspension though (at least the one i was in).

as for what to do, at the -very- least install that airlift 1000, especially if you're towing. that link above should give enough info.

I would also do the struts, rear springs & shocks. 4x4parts.com has a 2in lift package deal that *I* haven't seem to have had many problems with, but others have had alot of alignment troubles. it did take the guys at ntb two times to get mine right, and i -think- i'm set now. the guy at the counter said sometimes after you do the suspension it still has to settle, hence it going out of whack again after the 1st align.

the rear springs on the paths are garbage, as are the struts and shocks. at only 53k miles i was able to compress the rear shocks -by hand- after i took them out. the front struts you may have to take somewhere for them to change out. the spring compressor i got from my local auto shop would not fit in-between the spring coils. guy at ntb charged me $50 each to do them as side work (not through ntb). the rear springs are supposed to lift 2in, but i've only seemed to get about 1.5 out of them.

but i absolutely LOVE the ride after the suspension. the rear isn't so sloshy when doing harder turns and such. here's a link to the package:
https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/deluxe- ... -5843.html

another thing that might get you a little more mpg out of the hwy is to change the intake. some do k&n, some do voltair (sp?), and i did the airraid quick fit. my hwy mpg (at 65mph with cruise) went from 20 to 25mpg.

as for inverter, here's my post on how i did it. found a light duty one to fit in the smugglers box area
http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=5913

i think that's it.

Nice choice in cars I just need to pick up a Lotus Now