1994 Pathfinder Build

[MUDFINDER]

Hi guys,

Thought i'd make a thread of my 1994 Pathfinder Bush hack build.
It's a 3 Litre V6 manual. When i first got it, it was standard as with 31" A/T's


I took it out for it's first test run at Woodhill 4WD Jeep park and it was really suprising how well it performed. I had previously been to the park with a friend in his Patrol which had a fair amount of work done to it and the Pathfinder certainly didn't have any trouble doing what we attempted in that. I ended up getting a bit out of my depth towards the end of the day and bent a rim and damaged a few panels so i thought it was about time to start looking into some modifications while it was off the road for repairs at the same time.

Adding to the repairs, i bought myself a 3" suspension lift New tortion bars, coils, front & rear shocks. Aswell as a High-lift jack, Safari Snorkel, 33" Simex Extreme Trekkers and a 95000lb winch

So the work begun...

And this is now the outcome so far..

[lax2wlg]

Welcome

Awesome, go the VG30

Have you looked into steering strengthening yet?

Thats all it really needs

[MUDFINDER]

I haven't yet no.. I didn't know it was an issue with them but i will definitely do some research into it. I do still need to get a wheel alignment as it hasn't been done yet. What are the weakest points in the steering in these do you know? The only trouble that i have run into is my upper control arm coming in contact with the aftermarket front suspension (as the shocks are larger than the old ones) however it should be okay now that i have a bit of weight on the front with my winch & bar. I haven't taken it to the forest yet, that's this coming weekends mission but i feel it is now lacking a bit on power with the larger tyres.. Possibly look into a turbo kit at some stage

[johnny262]

Your upper arms will still touch the shocks at full droop, new poly bushes sorted that issue for me, although theres more than enough of a lip on the inner of the arms to grind a small relief in them if your that way inclined

[johnny262]

quote="MUDFINDER"]I haven't yet no.. I didn't know it was an issue with them but i will definitely do some research into it.[/quote]

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=34933&hilit=toughening#p375694

^^^^^^^^How strong you wanna go?

[MUDFINDER]

I did notice that there is a small lip on the inside of the control arm, a mate had told me that i could always grind a little off however i have been looking at some aftermarket control arms for the front to get the clearance instead, I believe they sell them on 4x4parts.com... I just had a read of that thread now, some good information to take onboard. I'll see how i get on out in the forest this weekend and go from there i guess. The truck will be coming off the road again in the next couple of weeks for the new turbo conversion so i will look into getting it all done then

[MUDFINDER]

Took the truck out to Woodhill 4wd park in the weekend just gone. It performed so much better this time round! The 33" Simex's and lift have made a huge difference and i was going many places i wouldn't have even thought about attempting beforehand.

Tested out my new winch and winch bar numerous times pulling not only myself out once or twice but a few of the other trucks that couldn't quite make it through. Unfortunately i bent my mounts that hold into the chassis in the front there. I was only running the standard bumper support mounts so this could be why...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to strengthen these mounts or has anyone made any custom bars to suit there pathfinder/terrano and had the same issue? Are there any other structural points on the front end that i could also use as supports for the bar?

[Mehrts]

Not wanting to be nasty here, but that is one rough winch bar

You will find that you'll most probably get pulled up at WOF time for having too many sharp edges that pedestrians could get caught up on. Plus it hangs off the front by miles!

Surely you'll come up with something tidier and less cumbersome in the future. I understand everything is a work in progress.

[Crash bandicoot]

yeah i saw your pics in the other thread and thought anything but a staight line pull is going to rip that clean off the truck....

You need to triangulate the force employing the two mounts you have used plus the ones under neath the chassi rail were your tow hooks bolt on also. then you also need to allow for sideways force. ill post up some pics of mine so you can see for your self.

Although this is a 98 mistral the chassi is the same.

I started with just the winch mount keeping the winch as close to the front cross member as possible to help minimise lateral leverage when winching on an angle.


You then need to spread the load force up and down aswell, this is where you need to employ the lower mounts under the chassi rail, this will stop any leaverage up and down you can see the distance between the mounts above the chassi rail to the mounts below the larger the distance the more force it will handle





first page of scribble right hand side is the bit you want to be interested in. this is the winch mount made from 8mm plate steel. the ret of the bar was built off this

[derk]

you want to try and mount that winch up on that bar not in front of it, chop a bit of the grill out so it can sit right back, get rid of that little push fan to get it right back and make sure you've got a good pull fan on the other side of the radiator don't use one of those useless Chinese ones from supercheep they move fawk all air go up to pick a part and get the biggest one you can find off a big 6 cylinder car

[zukmeista]

Ah so you're one of the lovely chaps who buggered off and left me stuck... Thanks so much it's nice to meet such wonderful people.

[Crash bandicoot]

Ah so you're one of the lovely chaps who buggered off and left me stuck... Thanks so much it's nice to meet such wonderful people.

wren't driving a zuk by any chance

[zukmeista]

wren't driving a zuk by any chance

Zuks don't get stuck... So anyway good thing I had my UHF with me otherwise it would have been a long walk and I would be a little bit annoyed, might pay to think twice before leaving someone stuck in the middle of Woodhill next time?

[derk]

might pay to think twice before you get stuck on your own as well

[zukmeista]

might pay to think twice before you get stuck on your own as well

Might pay to get the facts before commenting instead of jumping the gun as usual? Was with this terrano and a hilux for most of the day, was mucking around in a play area got bellied on a hump and apparently it was quite funny to drive off and leave me stranded?

[derk]

shit you bite don't you mate did you get rescued ok in the end

[zukmeista]

Yes. By the patrol team which happened to be the Jeep club, so yes I got pulled out by a Jeep. So spent the rest of the day being the odd one out in a group of Jeeps, but at least they wouldn't leave me stuck. We were trying to find a lost pajero, the description of the location from the owner was that there was trees. And sand. So it took a while...

[MUDFINDER]

wren't driving a zuk by any chance

Zuks don't get stuck... So anyway good thing I had my UHF with me otherwise it would have been a long walk and I would be a little bit annoyed, might pay to think twice before leaving someone stuck in the middle of Woodhill next time?

Might pay to think twice about going out to woodhill by yourself with no other support. We had no issue helping you out the first couple of times but gets a little anoying when you have to consistently stop every two seconds, anyhow you didn't actually ask our help you just assumed. We found it rather funny how you were talking down the Hilux regardless of whether your truck is better or not when he struggled going up that sand hill - Possibly why we didn't want to pull you out when you got stuck

As for the bar, it was just a quick build to see how it'd go. Ideally i really would like a winch bar that houses the winch in close and doesn't stick out far but unfortunately i don't have the skills to fabricate such thing myself. It's definitely the next thing i'm looking into though. If anybody has any good suggestions or ideas of what i could do or someone who could build me one i'd really appreciate it

[lax2wlg]

People dont like being outdriven by a Terrano. Its like a wonderful cocktail of suprise, anger and confusion.

Anyway how about something like this (attached)
Like crash was saying, utilize the factory tow hook points which are in the frame (green arrow)
Then tie the mounting points for the winch frame into the factory bumper holes (red arrow)

ie Where you cut and folded the factory bumper mounts - those mounts are attached with two bolts each side and can be removed completely.

Like derk is saying, you want that winch up on top of the bumper as far back as possible. The bumper itself is fine, just needs to be secured in more places. So if you cut the front frame off, Then if you reworked the upper mounts and added the lower mounts, it would be all good

[hamboy]

Keep an eye out on trademe, winch bars pop up every now and then, that's where I found my steel monster

[zukmeista]

Might pay to think twice about going out to woodhill by yourself with no other support. We had no issue helping you out the first couple of times but gets a little anoying when you have to consistently stop every two seconds, anyhow you didn't actually ask our help you just assumed. We found it rather funny how you were talking down the Hilux regardless of whether your truck is better or not when he struggled going up that sand hill - Possibly why we didn't want to pull you out when you got stuck

I wouldn't have gone by myself if there wasn't going to be other trucks there, and there is always a recovery patrol if necessary. You only gave me one tow, not as if I was deliberately driving into the biggest deepest holes I could find just to get stuck? I wasn't hating on the hilux, just asked a few questions about whether it had turbo lsd etc so I wouldn't call that talking it down. Yes one would assume that if one was stuck someone might endeavour to help them out but maybe I'm just not an unhelpful douche... For what it's worth I thought you guys were nice enough people until the ditching happened.

[MUDFINDER]

:lol: People dont like being outdriven by a Terrano, let alone one with gears and lockers. Its like a beautiful cocktail of suprise, anger and confusion.

Anyway how about something like this (attached)
Like crash was saying, utilize the factory tow hook points which are in the frame (green arrow)
Then tie the mounting points for the winch frame into the factory bumper holes (red arrow)

ie Where you cut and folded the factory bumper mounts - those mounts are attached with two bolts each side and can be removed completely.

Like derk is saying, you want that winch up on top of the bumper as far back as possible. The bumper itself is fine, just needs to be secured in more places. So if you cut the front frame off, Then if you reworked the upper mounts and added the lower mounts, it would be all good

Been on the hunt through Trademe for a while and stumbled upon one but unfortunately someone else bet me too it these things happen though. Ideally if someone had one for sale that was all setup i'd get that but i don't fancy my chances.. I'll keep my eyes peeled but for the meantime i'll begin some modifications to the current winch bar to try get it seated in as far as possible and re-strengthened by mounting it differently like those pictures you attached above..

I'd pay top dollar if someone made me this looks blody choice and is exactly what i've wanted the whole time

[Crash bandicoot]

Might pay to think twice about going out to woodhill by yourself with no other support. We had no issue helping you out the first couple of times but gets a little anoying when you have to consistently stop every two seconds, anyhow you didn't actually ask our help you just assumed. We found it rather funny how you were talking down the Hilux regardless of whether your truck is better or not when he struggled going up that sand hill - Possibly why we didn't want to pull you out when you got stuck

I wouldn't have gone by myself if there wasn't going to be other trucks there, and there is always a recovery patrol if necessary. You only gave me one tow, not as if I was deliberately driving into the biggest deepest holes I could find just to get stuck? I wasn't hating on the hilux, just asked a few questions about whether it had turbo lsd etc so I wouldn't call that talking it down. Yes one would assume that if one was stuck someone might endeavour to help them out but maybe I'm just not an unhelpful douche... For what it's worth I thought you guys were nice enough people until the ditching happened.

As the owner of a 4wd with lsd's and winch/ recovery gear i get called often to help out bogged stuck rolled 4wd's without requesting or considering reimbursement, Some of them up to 4 hours away.......the people are gracious and i come home to boxes of beer on the doorstep and on occasion a letter in the mail box c/o our club with thanks and fuel vouchers...no matter there position. Have you considered this before wrecking this build thread?

I think you should be thankful they took the time in the first place and it's pretty clear from what has been said you aren't appreciative at all.

[passengerpete]

toms off road has made some very very strong winch bars for terranos, ive used and abused mine and it been exceptional.

[MUDFINDER]

toms off road has made some very very strong winch bars for terranos, ive used and abused mine and it been exceptional.

He was actually the first person i approached regarding a bar cause i've seen some of the work he had done and was very impressed. Unfortunately though he said it wouldn't be for at least another 6 months :/

[MUDFINDER]

Went out today with a group of friends..

I got caught out when i went through a puddle that turned out to be more of a lake. Before i realized, i had hydraulic'd my engine with water staying positive, we tried our best to get it running again with the minimal tools that we had, removed the spark plugs and tried to turned it over to try get the water out, tried crash starting it behind one of the other trucks and didn't have any luck.. I believe that it's now seized and won't be going anywhere for a little while...

Got towed from the bombing range to Rimmers road by the boys and had a family friend waiting at the entrance with a car trailer to get us home! This lovely chap in his patrol gave a helping hand to get us up through the entrance cause the Toyota's struggled a little with the dead weight of the rano behind them!

It's definitely now time to look into a new engine and i'm thinking about going away from petrol and making a TD42 engine out of a Nissan Patrol fit. Don't know if it's been done before, I'm sure it has though. If anybody is selling or you know of anybody selling a TD42 engine i'd really appreciate a heads up as i'm now on the hunt for one!

[Crash bandicoot]

Bugger eh, well good news

best advice,

few options...

find another replacement engine........

best one and the info is all here on this site in another thread,

Search here for the paulballz RB25det powered terrano build this would also apply to a RD28t engine but ........

the TD27eti with a mechanical injector pump from a 97 onwards mistral produces more power then the rd28t.

One thing i would do differently in the RB25 thread would be to bolt the terrano transfer to the skyline auto(if you are running an auto) instead of trying to rewire the box to match the RB.

second.....just buy a patrol (no way with out chopping the fire wall and having your gearstick back by your seat belts will it ever fit ................................a RB block only just fits as it is.. )

other options include fitting a later model V6 engine.

[Crash bandicoot]

i would have said QD32 but a good one are hens teeth as guys are replacing the weaker ZD30 with them, the TD27 is basically two thirds of a TD42 so basically add another third of a TD27 and you have a fair idea of the length of the engine,.

[MUDFINDER]

Bugger eh, well good news

best advice,

few options...

find another replacement engine........

best one and the info is all here on this site in another thread,

Search here for the paulballz RB25det powered terrano build this would also apply to a RD28t engine but ........

the TD27eti with a mechanical injector pump from a 97 onwards mistral produces more power then the rd28t.

One thing i would do differently in the RB25 thread would be to bolt the terrano transfer to the skyline auto(if you are running an auto) instead of trying to rewire the box to match the RB.

second.....just buy a patrol (no way with out chopping the fire wall and having your gearstick back by your seat belts will it ever fit ................................a RB block only just fits as it is.. )

other options include fitting a later model V6 engine.

Would an RD28t or RB25det not be similar length to a TD42?

[zukmeista]

Karmas a bitch ain't it...