Yet another newbie from Jersey. I've had a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder SE for almost exactly a year. It's my daily driver (ouch, the gas prices!) and I go off-roading around NJ and PA about once every few weeks -- nothing extreme, mostly dirt/mud/sand roads, some shallow water crossing, and the occasional sand pit. I also tow a trailer for camping -- about 4,200 lbs fully loaded -- so with my two kids, the trailer and our gear, we give the 6,000 lb max payload a run for its money. So far, no complaints on the towing end, other than gas mileage (about 12), but I'm a little disappointed with the off-road capabilities of the R51.

I'm leasing right now and, while I've got 2+ years left, I'm at the point where I need to decide whether I'm going to buy-out at the end of the lease or turn it back in. I've made a few mods - Aries Bull Bar, Sportsrack Safari Rack, Air-Lift rear, CB, Nav (just ordered the Nissan Portable Nav Housing, thanks to the article posted here) and lights, but everything I've added is easily removed and re-used later. I desperately want to add skid-plates to protect the drive train and plastic fuel tank. Then I'll decide if I am going to buy her out and add the OME suspension and a new bumper/winch, or switch over to an Xterra.

In a few weeks I'm taking the Pathfinder, camper and kids cross-country to South Dakota (Badlands/Black Hills), Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Jackson Hole, Moab and Estes Park/Ft. Collins, Colorado. I do expect to spend at least one day at each location off-roading (probably 2 or 3 days around Moab and in Colorado). I'm leaving on June 27th and figure it will take 3-4 days to get to Badlands. Then I spend 3-4 days at each stop (with a few 1-day stops in between). If you live in any of these areas and want to join-up for some off-roading, (easy to moderate trails), I'd appreciate the company.

Anyway, here's some photo's of my rig:







More photos here: http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn18 ... 6/MyTruck/

Welcome to the forum MARKSPATH, great photos. Looking at your rigging you might like having a browse through this forum;

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/index.php

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good lookin' truck! that safari bar + Hella light mod is what i want to do to mine as the hi-beams are poor. welcome to the forum from another NJ member.

Welcome to the forum from another NJ member. How did you run the wires for power , ground and antenna up to the cargo basket?

Tony

**edit**

Never mind. After looking at the pictures in your album I see how you did it. Does the rack only go on for special trips or is it pretty much always up there? And do you ever get any water penetration where the wires break the seal on the gasket?

Greybrick wrote:Welcome to the forum MARKSPATH, great photos. Looking at your rigging you might like having a browse through this forum;

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/index.php

.

Thanks! Bookmarked that one.

00void wrote:good lookin' truck! that safari bar + Hella light mod is what i want to do to mine as the hi-beams are poor. welcome to the forum from another NJ member.

The basket started out with $65 Coleman basket from Costco.com (including shipping!). I searched for almost a year to find the extension, which wound up costing more than the whole basket ($90 from rackoutfitters.com, it's a Sportrack basket extension.)

The Hi-Lift Jack ($71) and Shovel mounts ($42), and hardware to mount the Blockhead bike mounts also came from rackoutfitters.com. The Blockheads themselves were picked-up from a local Dick's sporting goods.

I will warn you that the Sportsrack is not a high-quality item. I had to use my Hi-Lift jack to spread the rack to get the extension to fit. That was after beating on it with a mallet for an hour. It also rusts easily. I counter that by cleaning-off any rust and touching-up with Rustoleum after each use.

I got the Hella's at Wal-Mart for $60. The Pilot's came from another local auto parts store (I forget which). The key here was to mount a strip of aluminum bar, 1/8" x 1" x 36", behind the fairing so the light mounts can be screwed into something more solid than the plastic. Eventually, I hope to replace the plastic fairing with aluminum plate, and will be able to put two pairs of Hella's on top, too.

blink32 wrote:Does the rack only go on for special trips or is it pretty much always up there? And do you ever get any water penetration where the wires break the seal on the gasket?

No, I usually take the rack off for daily driving to save a bit on gas. And yes, I have got a few drips where the wires cross the weather seal, but I try to loop the wires so the low point is away from the gasket. I may do some more work on this area in the future.

Sounds good. I didn't think there'd be much penetration but figured it would happen. If you need any rack type products in the future I've gotten good deals via RackAttack.