All my days have been spent as a car nut, zooming around in my little car and shaking my fist as the drivers of trucks and SUVs. I have recently decided to give sanctioned motorsports a try, and can not afford to own 3 vehicles (a race car, a tow vehicle, and a street fun car).
Sooo.... I am in the market for a vehicle that can tow a light race car & trailer, as well as serve as a comfortable daily driver. As much as it pains me, I have turned to the possibility of having atruck or SUV as daily transportation. Being able to tow the trailer, haul parts around, and carry my support friends with me to events is overpowering my need to cruise around in a fun car.
My attention has fallen onto the '95 & up Pathfinders. Before pursing one of these, I have a few questions (although my family has had nissans, this is the first that i will own):
- Where are the common rust spots?
- What are the most common drivetrain problems?
- I have read lots of people complaining about the suspension swaying a bit in the back. As a tow vehicle, this concerns me. Is it true that aftermarket bushings and perhaps an aftermarket sway bar can fix this issue?
- Do the 2WD models have limited slip?
- Compared to other 4WD trucks I've looked at, the pathfinder seems to take a large fuel economy hit when going from 2WD to 4WD. What are the 'real world' expectations of gas milage in a pathfinder?
- Does a pathfinder use a timing belt or a timing chain?
- What does one get on an 'SE' that base model does not have?
- What is the towing capacity of a 5-speed? Is the clutch the weak link? (If I replaced the clutch, could I tow more...)
- How much better acceleration does one get with the 5-speed? It seems at least on cars, that nissan automatics really rob power.
- What sort of potential does this motor have? Does I/H/E give it a little bump?
- What happened from 1995 to 1996?
TIA to anyone who can answer any of these questions, and anyone else who can give me any advice.
Welcome to the forum -- I'll answer the questions you asked that I have a reasonable comfort level with:
- Where are the common rust spots?
I don't think there are any common rusting locations on the frames of these vehicles. The pickups have common rust areas on the bottom of the beds, but since the Pathfinder is a station wagon, it doesn't have that issue.
- What are the most common drivetrain problems?
The drivetrain is pretty reliable. If you get an automatic that's well over 100,000 miles old, it may need a rebuild, but that would be the case with any vehicle you bought with lots of miles. The manual transmissions are plenty strong as near as I can tell (haven't heard of acute problems from more than one person).
- I have read lots of people complaining about the suspension swaying a bit in the back. As a tow vehicle, this concerns me. Is it true that aftermarket bushings and perhaps an aftermarket sway bar can fix this issue?
Yes -- check the thread a few days old about this. Or use the search capability on this site. Aftermarket bushings are available that will fix the problem.
- Do the 2WD models have limited slip?
I don't think so. I believe LSD was only available on 4x4 models. This is the case with the Hardbodies in 1995, and I assume it's the same with the Pathfinder of the same era. 1996 brought a whole new vehicle for the Pathfinder, so optional equipment may have changed.
- Does a pathfinder use a timing belt or a timing chain?
The 4-cylinder engine (KA24E) used a timing chain. The V-6 engine (VG30E) used a timing belt.
- What does one get on an 'SE' that base model does not have?
In the Hardbody trucks, minor seat trim changes, availability of options such as cruise control, sun roofs, etc. SEs usually had power accessories standard if I recall correctly.
- How much better acceleration does one get with the 5-speed? It seems at least on cars, that nissan automatics really rob power.
I don't think acceleration is really good with any combination -- especially with a trailer in tow. I would really consider a different vehicle for a tow vehicle, especially if it's another car on a trailer. The V-6 Hardbody is rated to tow 3500 lbs. I imagine the Pathfinder is rated the same. The chassis is a strong chassis (fully boxed and welded frame), but the motor is weaker than I would prefer to tow with (150 hp, 180 lb*ft stock).
- What happened from 1995 to 1996?
1996 is a whole new vehicle. I think it went to a unibody chassis with a strut front suspension vs. torsion bars on 1995 and older.
If you're looking for an SUV to tow with, I would recommend something with a V-8 engine. Personal experience gives good preference to Jeep products. We had an '88 Cherokee, an '89 Cherokee, a '96 Grand Cherokee; the folks just bought an '03 Liberty. Our Grand Cherokee had the V-8 engine (220 hp, 300 lb*ft) and towed our 8000 lb travel trailer for many summers. That was probably on the outside of the safe towing limit, but it was doable. If you're towing a vehicle, the package (with the vehicle and trailer) would weight at least 3000 lbs I would imagine and that's pretty close to the capacity of the Nissan's factory rating -- and plenty enough to really labor a stock VG30E. You'd have a much safer experience with a larger vehicle -- or at least one with more power reserves than a stock Pathfinder can offer.
Originally posted by Greyout All my days have been spent as a car nut, zooming around in my little car and shaking my fist as the drivers of trucks and SUVs. I have recently decided to give sanctioned motorsports a try, and can not afford to own 3 vehicles (a race car, a tow vehicle, and a street fun car).
Sooo.... I am in the market for a vehicle that can tow a light race car & trailer, as well as serve as a comfortable daily driver. As much as it pains me, I have turned to the possibility of having atruck or SUV as daily transportation. Being able to tow the trailer, haul parts around, and carry my support friends with me to events is overpowering my need to cruise around in a fun car.
My attention has fallen onto the '95 & up Pathfinders. Before pursing one of these, I have a few questions (although my family has had nissans, this is the first that i will own):
- Where are the common rust spots?
- What are the most common drivetrain problems?
- I have read lots of people complaining about the suspension swaying a bit in the back. As a tow vehicle, this concerns me. Is it true that aftermarket bushings and perhaps an aftermarket sway bar can fix this issue?
- Do the 2WD models have limited slip?
- Compared to other 4WD trucks I've looked at, the pathfinder seems to take a large fuel economy hit when going from 2WD to 4WD. What are the 'real world' expectations of gas milage in a pathfinder?
- Does a pathfinder use a timing belt or a timing chain?
- What does one get on an 'SE' that base model does not have?
- What is the towing capacity of a 5-speed? Is the clutch the weak link? (If I replaced the clutch, could I tow more...)
- How much better acceleration does one get with the 5-speed? It seems at least on cars, that nissan automatics really rob power.
- What sort of potential does this motor have? Does I/H/E give it a little bump?
- What happened from 1995 to 1996?
TIA to anyone who can answer any of these questions, and anyone else who can give me any advice.
See NPM's Project Pathfinder, we are making an old Pathfinder a tugboat for race car towing.
We are currently building a 240 hp VG34E engine with 250 lb/ft of torque with simple easy to get, cheap parts.
Mike
__________________
There can only be one Icy Hot Stunta, Don't Hate.
Looks like most of your questions were answered above but I'll add a little here. One of the main points that lowers your gas mileage in the 4WD pathfinder is the use of the full time hub which turns everything from the front wheels back to the transfer case all the time regardless of whether you are in 4WD or not. When you switch to 4WD then the transfer case provides power to the front wheels. You can get an increase in mileage by switching to manual hubs.
For towing my pathfinder is rated at 5,000 lbs and I tow a boat in the summers thats probably around 3,000 lbs total. One thing you will notice right away with the stock suspension is the rear end will sag with good tongue weight and a loaded truck resulting in bottoming out. I've installed AirLift air bags in my rear coil springs to resolve this and I ride perfectly level with no swaying towing a boat and fully loaded. Keep in mind though that the 96- pathfinders utilize a load sensing valve to determine the pressure to apply to the rear brakes. By keeping my rear level with the air bags it actually reduces some of the braking force to the rear. So in the end I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable towing much more than what I have without a mod to the load sensing valve to accomodate.
Gas mileage for me has averaged around 17 total and right around 20 for the highway. That's with stock wheel size on an XE, with larger wheels expect a large drop in fuel economy.
Originally posted by Greyout do bolt on modifications add much power?
Cams make the biggest difference. I have the Nissan Motorsports 262 duration 430 lift cams and they make a huge difference from bottom end to top. Even my milage got better.
It does have a somewhat lopy idle though. The JWT POP charger and Nissan Motorsports Borla exhaust helps some as well. The JWT ECU helps fuel milage mostly. With my mods I get 4 mpg more highway milage unloaded, about 24 mpg. I also get 16-18 mpg towing the race car!
My city milage went from 15 mpg to 16 mpg with mods.
Mike
__________________
There can only be one Icy Hot Stunta, Don't Hate.
lewisnc100 - I have a 5-speed XE running 31x10.50 tires, when I compensate for my odometer reading - I get the same mileage that you do. 16.5 mpg around town and 19-20 mpg on the highway.
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