Pathfinders or Pusfinders?

[Beastmavster]

Pathfinders.

Are they completely crap or are they good.

A mate of mine bought an MU, but has since decided he really wants an early Petrol Pathfinder - just loves the low and wide cabin look they have (Sorta like the MU but even better).

But are they really any good off road? People tell me they are but I can't find any wild Pathy's on the internet to support it - only 33" rubber max and that seems to need major mods to get working right.

Are they just a tarts handbag 720? Or are they better than a Coldwater Surf?

I could barely find any mention of them here - it's all GQ or nothing. Cmon Pussfinder/Pusfinder people where are you?

[N*A*M]

I voted NO

They are no worse than most other IFS rigs (4Runners, Jackaroos, Pajero, Vitara, MU, etc...). In Australia they have very little aftermarket support (eg gears and lift kits) but there are a few US mobs that look after them.

Good bits:
Front and rear ARB and Detroit lockers are available
Relatively low COG
Ladder chassis (not unibody like Cherokees)
VG30DE is a great donk (TD27T is also okay)
Comfortable interior that can seat 4/5 people with plenty of room in the back
Sort of mid-wheel base (not too long or short)
Handles great on road, goes okay offroad with body lift and bigger rubber
I think they look great too - muscly and wide

I had one and flipped it onto its roof at 60kph and it held up great. I can't remember if it has a divorced transfer case or not. Double wishbone torsion bar suspension in the front. 4 link (parallel) + panhard rear.

Paul (who is rarely online) has a SAS Pathy with a Hilux front diff and some bigger engine I think.

SAS one with Patrol or Volvo diffs and it would be hella sweet.

Between a Vitara and a Pathy I'd take the Nissan.

[Cheesemaker]

The Pathie R50 is very capable off road. A front bumper that acts like a scraper or scoop is the first thing that needs to come off, otherwise you will rip it off like I did in a mud hole at levuka.

Ground clearance is also a issue, most after market shocks and springs will give you somewhere between 20 to 45mm in raised height, costing anywhere between $1200 to $1800 fittted depending on brands. I have not done this mod yet.

True tyres make a big differance like they do on any vehicle, the range of off road tyres is limited in this size tyre, I'm running BFG muddies legal max size 255/70/16 for the R50 and yes very happy so far, I'll usually air down to around 26 to 30psi, when I hit the tracks.

Yes the Hayman reece has come in handy protecting my rear end but can be used as rear recovery point which it is essential.

The plastic mud protection plate at the front is useless and will be ripped off sooner rather than later, mine has been replaced with a steel bash plate which travels half the length of the Pathie.

We do S.E QLD tracks every 6 to 8 weeks due to my shift work, otherwise the vehicle can do tracks rated up to hard, Levuka, Cruiser Park, Glass House, Black Duck, Rover Park, RedBank/Collingwood Park, Brownsplains but Extreme is out of the question, mainly due to lack of ground clearance and lack of front and rear lockers.

My expereince in 4 wheel driving is 12 years doing full on recovery for my mates in Lada Niva's and std 40 series cruisers and about 2 years behind the wheel as my experience grows so does the levels of tracks I dare to venture on.

ANY vehicles reputation can be ruined by that person behind the wheel, depending on their experience.

So having owned a Pathie and have been playing around in it off road I'd have to say no They are not crap' just slightly less capable than others. Unfortunately you don't see many Pathies off road, we can thank Nissan marketing for that.


Cheesemaker

[kiwipath]

I had an R50 2.7 turbo Diesel untill recently, Great car, Lovely to drive. It had a 50mm suspension lift and I ran 30/9.5 BFG Mud Terrains, Mine had a good LSD which helps heaps.
I had built some rock sliders for protection of the sills and it had the Hayman Reece tow bar with recovery Shackel in it. Yes They are a little low and lack articulation Like all IFS but for Medium Offroading I had a great run from it and people always seemed impressed with how well it went.

Cheers

[Big Boots]

I will say no. Good for what they were designed to do. Being comfortable touring type vehilce. I will also clarify that Australian delivered pathy's have never been turbo diesel until the current model. If its turbo, its probably an import. The early ones (WD21) share alot with the early Navara's. The next model (R50) is one of my favourite Nissans but only came with a VG33E (3.3 V6 petrol) and an auto trans. Very little mechanical faults with them.

[zook chick]

yes

crapola is my vote

what a gay car

[DieselBoy]

This was my Terrano.
Got rid of it just over 18mnths ago.
50mm sus.
No sway bars
32 X 9.5 ex trek's

Bloody good truck!!!
Just not strong enough for me

[Tiny]

are they good relitive to what? they are good for what they are designed for, like most vehicles. they are no rockcrawler, but they wern't mad for that and for a comfortable DD that can take on the normal type trial they are fine, equally as good as an MU but with a little less clearence, BUT if you want something for the extremes, without a lot of work....like many vehicles, no there ae not. what does your mae want to use it for?

[Beastmavster]

Talk about grave digging.

[Cheesemaker]

It's called relighting the fire, by the way DieselBoy thats a fine looking truck you had. Yeah Yeah the R50 is great for the highway, but until we can afford a Dunga (probably a MQ) for a $12000 modification bonanza, for the harder tracks, tree hugging, Bank scraping. Until then the Pathie will have to do.



Cheesemaker

[Vsicks Pathy]

R50's are shit but the early Pathies are OK.

You just have to tweek them a little.

[MQ080]

R50's are shit but the early Pathies are OK.

You would say that... How about an unbiased opinion

[Vsicks Pathy]

R50's are shit but the early Pathies are OK.

You would say that... How about an unbiased opinion

How is that biased? They are shit. Unless you put a 6 inch lift in one and get it to look like this. But then they fall over. http://www3.coara.or.jp/~takenao/member/mem28.htm

I suppose you're gunna say that a monocoque 4wd is the best thing since sliced bread then. Are you?

[buger man]

Pathfinders.

Are they completely crap or are they good.

A mate of mine bought an MU, but has since decided he really wants an early Petrol Pathfinder - just loves the low and wide cabin look they have (Sorta like the MU but even better).

But are they really any good off road? People tell me they are but I can't find any wild Pathy's on the internet to support it - only 33" rubber max and that seems to need major mods to get working right.

Are they just a tarts handbag 720? Or are they better than a Coldwater Surf?
I could barely find any mention of them here - it's all GQ or nothing. Cmon Pussfinder/Pusfinder people where are you?

http://npora.ipbhost.com TRY THIS

[buger man]

http://www.pcoa.org.au/forum or this

[buger man]

If pathfinders are pussy how come the new one beat landcruser (score 5.75/10 ) and prado (6.5/10) in 4WD MONTHLY's 4WD of the year in the hardcore off road test ( score 6.5/10