OK, so here is the question after a mountain cabin trip with the wife. How much trouble is a project of this sort.I have don the swap on an older (late 90's) Nissan truck without a great deal of trouble. I have a friend who owns a salvage yard and he currently has a totalled 07 Pathy 4x4 (Rollover). Thuoght sounds interesting, but there are a lot more electronics with the newer Nissan 4x4 systems. Is it something I can rob the electronic harnesses, switches, and ECM in addition to transfer case, axles and driveshafts?

I know several are automaticlly going to say we should just trade for a 4x4 model. I understand that and that thought also wouldn't bother me. Pathfinder is hers though, and also paid off, and in good shape, so don't know about gaining a payment just for that benefit.

I look forward to hearing what yall think.

There are tonnes of differences. I'm having a hard time getting behind you on this one! The cost of retrofitting vs just trading in and upgrading should make your decision on this.

I have seen this question on literally every truck/suv board I've ever been a member. I've never seen anyone going the other way....so that's always my answer when someone is debating buying a 2wd or 4wd.

I have also never seen it done on anything built in the last 20 years that wasn't more than a total beater. Anything is possible...but as many weird electronics that you come across anymore I just can't imagine there wouldn't be a snag somewhere. I think the way you're looking at it the cost wouldn't be that terrible ASSUMING you can get everything together and working. There would be a significant amount of time involved though and a risk that it doesn't go together and you may end up with a big piece of non-working junk.

I think for me, my time is far more valuable and the risk of failure too great to bother screwing up an otherwise good vehicle. But if you have time to burn and don't mind the risk...i'd love to see someone pull it off.

on a similar note, given enough time and money, I would love to attempt putting a smaller displacement diesel engine into my R51.

That would be cool.

However, I've got no time, and I have other things to spend my money on. So not happening!

t

Where are you located?

Anything is possible. The problem with starting with a 2wd is that your electronics aren't completely compatible with 4wd drivelines. Traction control and ABS look at vehicle dynamics and adjust brakes and throttle accordingly. A friend of mine is good with swaps on the xterra's that are 4wd, but I don't know about 2wd/4wd swaps. I'll ask and get back to ya.

My first thought is that you'll need the ecu/tcu from the 4wd truck

After much reading and chatting with a Nissan tech, while it was possible (and I did with an older R50 Pathfinder), The requirements of all the different electronic systems would require essentially finding a 4x4 version that had been rolled and then stealing all the electronics, ECM, etc in addition to the simple things like the Trans, front axle, and drive shafts. Too much time and money. Easier to trade in and get the 4x4 version. Translation - Wife's Pathy, just leave it alone.