My 1995 Nissan Pathfinder is getting some upgrades this season. The folks out at NPORA (Nissan Pathfinder Offroad Association) have been tremendously helpful in providing gads of information regarding available upgrade options to the Pathfinders.
It recently seen brand new tires – Toyo Open Country A/T 31—10.5. These are hands-down the best tires I’ve ever run – road noise is extremely low, handling is great, rain performance is awesome. Only thing I’m waiting to see is how they handle in snow on this truck. I just recently put on Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks and a Monroe steering stabilizer – a welcome replacement to the aging (120K mile) stock shocks that were installed. The stabilizer is great as well and provides a lot better control when traversing Spokane’s particularly nasty roads. I’m looking forward to getting her off on some light trails to see how the ride has truly improved.
I’ve got new Thorley headers on order at the moment and should have them installed in the first part of November. This is in an effort to repair the common exhaust manifold problem – and should ultimately cost me about $200 less than it would cost me to replace the manifolds. (With engine performance & MPG increase to boot!) Along with this project, I’m planning a complete exhaust build out by taking the tubing up to 2-1/4″ with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler and a Dynomax Hi-Flow Catalytic Converter on the back end and a convenient O2 sensor replacement. With this upgrade, I am expecting to see about a 2-5% increase in gas mileage and a HP gain of around 10-20 ponies.
While the Pathfinder isn’t known for great performance in any particular category – it’s been a fine ride for the last year and I feel is worth these upgrades. At 120K miles, I should see at least twice that out of the engine with a possible transmission rebuild to keep her going. Other than that, it’s been relatively maintenance free besides the typical recommended maintenance schedules.
