Nd4SpdSe 2001 Frontier turned Expedition Trailer - "The Frontrailer"

[Prime]

Man. You have the best adventures.

And I agree. Having a dedicated camping trailer is the goal. Like you said, it makes it easy to just hitch up and go.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Man. You have the best adventures.

Heh, thanks.

I love the X. It's as much of a toy as it is a tool, a tool for life really, and you can do great things if you use it. It's got a great capacity, ability and capability to do many things and enrich one's life. Some people complain about the hobby about modifying vehicles as a waste of money and time, but there's many, many things that you can't put a price tag on. It's stuff like experience and experiences that make it all worth while. The stuff we learn, places we see, the people we meet along the way and thereafter the stories we have to tell.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

For those that see them posted on the Facebook Xterra groups, Manny has been making up illustrations of members trucks in his spare time. I asked him to do mine, and he was more then willing to, admitting he wanted to before I asked him.

I think they turned out absolutely great! If anyone wants any Frontrailer paraphernalia, or from other members trucks, you can check out his shop, and probably easily contact him to get him to make you stuff of your own.

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2536732-2003-nissan-xterra

Also, a few new things have arrived!

A great find thanks to my good friend Fred. A Xantrex 2000w pure sine wave inverter. I know it's been part of my plans for this trailer, but hasn't been a priority. I was thinking about the Canadian Tire 1000w model for the price (when it comes on sale) thinking that it'll be handy, but I don't want or need a large amount of AC power, nor want to include many systems that depend on it. I did want to go the pure sine wave route for it's efficiency, especially the trailer being more dependent on battery power and slower recharge capability. But $200 for a lightly used (about 6 months) Xantrex is a steal when they sell for about the C$600+ range. It's not the most robust version for cold under freezing and humidity, but I'll just be smarter on the installation. I don't see myself really needing this in the winter, and more for extra functionality in the summer, which will be why I'll be connected to the same battery as the Webasto. Besides, if I need something, I do have the 1500w modified sine wave in the Xterra that does that job just fine. To be honest, I have no clue when I will be installing it, and exactly where and how, but it's no rush, and I'll let it simmer and figure it out.

The piece I was most anxious to get was my Dexter 1000psi electric-hydraulic brake actuator. I know the trailer is illegally heavy for the truck without brakes. It does tow and brake fine, and I would just call it fine. This piece is the last of the "big 3" pieces, the more expensive parts of the trailer build. First being the awning, and the second being the Webasto. Ordered it from the USA and picked it up across the border. It cost me about half the price then buying it locally in Canada. It cost me about C$680 while everyone locally wants C$1100+, with tax puts it over C$1200. Amazon Canada they have it for C$999. Huge difference. I'll still need to get a brake controller, and I'll redo the entire brakes on the axle, including the cylinders since they've never been used in the last 3 years of my ownership, and the truck sat for a year prior to that, I'll do it some good to do a proper refresh so that it's not for nothing. I'll still need a brake controller, and that Redarc Tow-Pro Elite looks like the perfect option for use and install. I'd like winter to get the heck out of here ASAP so that I can pull the trailer into the back yard and spending some nice time outside in the sun and making up the braking system. I'd like to get this up and running for an overland meet in Quebec the weekend of 15-17 of June since it may have to do some real off-roading, depending on what they decide. I still have like 3 feet of snow in my back yard, urgh...

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I also got the next big piece for getting functional brakes on the trailer, is to actually have a way to control them. I've been thinking about installing a brake controller in the Xterra almost since the start, but not only did I have no need, but I couldn't really decide on where to install it without being in the way. It's been more on my mind since I started the trailer project, knowing I had plans for brakes eventually. She toes it well, but illegally overweight for not having brakes, and the braking could be better for panic stops. Although I still hadn't figured out where to install one that my knee wouldn't hit it, or get in the way of my center cubby storage since I do find it handy, especially since I did install a deeper version from a Frontier since removing the OEM Rockford-Fosgate amp that was behind it when I upgraded the stereo.

First day of the year in shorts! While we did host a mother's day lunch for the girlfriend's family, I did get some time in the afternoon to start prepping to get some work done before truly starting the seasons. Weather is on the up and time to take advantage of it!

The reason why I went with the Dexter was the size and shape. It gave me the best mounting options for my setup, and so far, everything is going exactly as planned. It fits nicely underneath the floor for the tongue storage tray.

Test fitting the brake actuator. I was thinking that the best place to mount it was going to be here, but I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. Ironically and gladly, it fits perfectly! This is a tray I had made to mount and secure a single battery when I had first started this project. I had left it there after making a proper battery tray and moving them up towards the front, thinking there was no real reason to remove it until I had to. Well it couldn't of worked out better with only a small modification to cut away a small piece just to clear the hydraulic line fitting.

Picked up most of the braking components. Drums, pads, spring kit, cylinders and the line with a few fittings. I'm still missing the flex line and associated fittings, but should come in within the next day or two.

First time the wheels have been taken off in a few years. Time to get this started.

What was left of the original braking system. Wasn't sure how I was going to go about doing this when I had planned for this build, but left it in case. Now, it'll all going to get removed, brackets and all. Time to start anew.

I have no idea what's the state of the brakes, and they haven't been used in over 4 years. I've had it for over 3, and the truck sat for a year prior.

Brakes were about half way worn. Seems to of have no leaks, but the parking brake system (which is totally different them from the Xterra) is completely jammed. The whole system does look old like it sat, not surprised

Everything removed. Bolt from the brake cylinders snapped of course, all of them. Will be giving it a quick clean up with the wire brush. I don't want to jinx myself and spend too much time on cleaning it up and painting it until I have it all working and am happy with the system. I'll give it and the axle a whole bunch of TLC one day. Probably the day I work on the suspension and will have the axle completely unbolted at that point.

A whole new kit installed, on both sides of course. I removed the parking brake hardware, but will be keeping it in case. I'm undecided if I use the hydraulic system for the parking brake, or rebuild the cable system.

Tension adjusted and the drum installed. I'm not a fan of the color, looks more green in person. I'll have to clean those up and give it a coat of black caliper paint.

Time to work on the hard lines. Here's the original one, the shorter section runs to the passenger side

I'll be centering the brake distribution block, so each side is equal length. It makes it easier to mount and install, and I don't need as long for the flex line. I'm not sure if there's a difference and having it center will reduce any natural biasness from one side to the other, but it definitely won't hurt.

It's been about 3-4 years since I first and last touched hydraulic lines. I redid the clutch line for the Xterra those years ago. The first took me a while to figure it out. The other (drivers) side was much quicker.

And the lines connected to the distribution block, which is part of the flex line. It's an aftermarket replacement for the OEM Frontier brake flex line. I used a nut to use as a spacer to raise it to clear the top of the diff. I'm not a fan if doing that, looks half-assed, but again, I want to make sure it all works before getting into the finer details.

The original line went in back of the diff, while I decided to run it so that it's not the furthest point to avoid any rubbing, like on the spare tire. I may redo them to follow more of the curve of the diff, but again with little experience, I want to make sure it works and especially, that my flares don't leak.

I also grinded away the clearance necessary for the hydraulic output of the brake actuator, cleaned it up with a wire brush and primed and repainted it.

I finished up the hydraulics Monday like I wanted to. You may excuse the odd loop. I decided to run the main line inside the tubing with the wiring to protect it, but was worried that if I was to have a leak, that the fluid would follow the line, so I made a "drip loop" in case. There's nothing to say I can't do back and redo the line, and it may be here where I would "T" into for a hydraulic hand brake. I honestly don't know if this is possible. With the information that I can find on hydraulic parking brakes, they either have their own reservoir and people use install a second set of calipers (largely referring to drift cars), or there are versions that let the fluid pass through when not in use. The issue I have with this is the brake line I would have to run up to the tongue and back. Maybe I'll rebuild the cable parking brake setup, but I'll let this idea simmer for a while in the meantime. Fortunately all went well and I was surprised to of only had one leak where the hardline joined to the flex line. Despite trying a few tricks to fix it, I ended up having to chop off my flare and do it again from scratch. It's probably from working underneath upside down. Once that was redone and tightened down, all was good. My girlfriend ran the pump to help me bleed the system and all seems good so far. I'm actually really anxious to try this out, really see what it's like to tow the trailer that can brake. but the next step is to get the controller installed in the Xterra.

And yesterday evening I worked and completed all the wiring. Was hot but a bit windy. It's not going to be nice the next few days to decided to use this day to finish this up. Picked up the wiring I needed after work from my local trailer supply shop and got to work. The E/H actuator uses standard trailer wiring colors, which pisses me off cause I hate using black for power. It wanted power directly from the vehicle source. White is connected to ground. Blue of course went up the harness to the 7 pin trailer connector that will get feed from the brake controller. I also had another 7 pin connector on hand, so I replaced it. The old one was showing some signs of corrosion on the pins, so I figured it was a good time to swap it out to ensure a good clean connection, and I also did a much better job at sealing up the wire end and retaped up the wire loom.

Yellow is for the breakaway switch, so I ran a pair of yellows up to the tongue to the switch. From there, one was connected to the yellow on the E/H actuator dedicated to the breakaway function, and the other was connected directly to one of my batteries. Specs lists a battery of a minimum of 9Ah, so my car battery will more then suffice. I may work a system in the future to use power from both batteries as an extra redundancy, but that'll be when I do a total reorganization of the electrical system. This is all designed to be expandable and reliable, but it's not the permanent setup since I'm still making it up as I go along.

 

[Prime]

I hate you. I love your build. But I hate you. You're building my dream trailer. If I can ever get a front end wrecked 2nd gen Fronty, I'm doing all of this.

 

[kirk]

Man thats fantastic. I get happy every time I open this thread. Like he said, you have the best adventures.

 

[kirk]

Also, thank you for all those pics that allow me to live vicariously through you. Fantastic.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

With the brakes technically done, it was time to get some work done on the truck. I was working pretty crazy (as always) for about 2 weeks trying to finish up the truck while working on a haunted maze for our gang of the haunted house for family-friendly event. I reinstalled the roof rack with the newly installed rear light bar and signal bar, installed the Red Arc Tow-Pro Elite brake controller and new connector on the truck side. The event was great exposure for us, but it took up 2 weekends of my time; one for prep, the other for the setup and the event. We were suppose to have 2 days to setup, but because the city screwed up with not finishing the road, one entrance was blocked off and the fire department forbid us from using the school gym they were setup at. They paid for a tent, but setting that up took up a day, so we only had 1 day to setup this all up. We finished around 2am, went to bed around 3am, and was up bright and early at 7 to be there to finish up and open for 9:30am. We rested up Saturday night. The event finished at 4 Sunday, but EVERYTHING has to be taken down and removed from the tent that night. We finished after midnight, so we'll say that Monday, I didn't have the energy to work on anything.

I'll just glance over it, but I had started a project to convert the truck over to an electric power steering pump back in late 2016 but ran out of time, and 2017 was a write off for any projects, and I made it my priority to get that done this year. I had a two week window to sort out the new belt and pulley to bypass the old pump (shares the belt with the water pump and radiator fan) and extend the hoses. The hose being actually the hardest part. I did get it completed and so far it's working quite well. More information on the conversion can be had here:
https://www.xterranation.org/index.php?posts/461059/

From there, I managed to score a set of Pathfinder manual locking hubs for a great price. It coincided well with the upcoming overland event, and figured it would work out better then the auto hubs if I have issues getting stuck with the trailer. They didn't come with the studs, but I picked up (shorter) bolts instead. Oddly the ones designed for the Xterra are longer, and thus stick out more and tent to get damaged by rocks and such unless your running offset rims. I have no clue why they made more then one version since they're very much compatible, and plus shallower.

I drove the truck to work the next day. Leaving in two days, I wanted to make sure everything is OK and not find this out on the trail.. I took Friday off to get a bunch of last minute stuff done, including getting the skid plates from the mother-in-laws garage and install them. A last minute modification to the trailer was to install a water pump. A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine wanted to borrow my Martin hot water heater for a weekend at his new cottage. Well I'm sure you know where this is going and indeed, the pump came back broken. Apparently still somewhat functional, but broken. Well the day before we were leaving, my girlfriend asked if I was bringing the shower kit. I guess I forgot to mention it and she wasn't impressed. She hates it when we/I lend out stuff cause it never comes back in the shape it left. In the what, 3 years I've had this heater, I lent it out once. It's frustrating. She really wanted the shower for "feminine hygiene" reasons. While it was always part of the plan, I guess this would be a variant of a "forced upgrade". So part of my errands of Friday was to purchase and install a new water pump. I'll deal with cleaning it up when I replace the hot water heater with an Eccotemp L5. This will do for now.

And around 9pm, we were ready to head off. I stopped off at the gas station to fill up the Xterra, fill up the tank in the Frontrailer, and also the 20L jerry can. The water tank was full plus another 20L, and I also had a bit of wood. After a little over 3 years of work, this will be the trailer's first real test. It's the first time it'll be used in the environment for what it was designed for, and will full weight. I'm both excited to finally get back out on the trails, get out camping for the first time this year, but also nervous. I'll find out if my design and setup actually works as I had planned and hoped it would.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Fortunately it was a little over an hour away for us, so it wasn't too bad for the fact that we left late and would get a good night sleep. Oddly, in almost 10 years, this is the first time that I'm camping and that I'm not the only person using a roof top tent.

We didn't pack the warm sheets, but I didn't think we would need to for mid-June, but by 5am, I had to pee, and it was chilly and the tent was filled with condensation. While up doing my business, I figured this would be a good time to hook up the heater, considering it takes less time to setup then it was to actually pee. Would give a little warmth and especially to dry up the inside of the tent before packing up.

We were 35 vehicles in all in all different overland configurations. We all met up for a briefing of the events of the weekend and explained the two trail options. Not knowing what to expect nor the limits of the trail, I was planning on following the main group on the easy but long trail since this was essentially the inaugural overland trail run for the trailer. After chatting with a few people, they said that the hard trail wasn't bad and it was just the beginning obstacle. With that, I thought, what the hell, let’s make this fun! Trial by fire! This would especially be interesting since the trailer is in fill overland mode, meaning that the fuel tank is full as well as the water tank, minus what we used for dishes the night before, but we also had a 20L jerry of fuel and a 20L jerry can of water as well. It’ll be essentially in full weight, somewhere around 2800lbs would be my solid guess, but it could be more.

We had stopped on the road with some people going straight, and some people going on a trail to the left. I asked what was happening and this is where the group split for the different runs; left is hard and straight is easy. After chatting with a few people, they said that the hard trail wasn't bad and it was just the beginning obstacle. With that, I thought, what the hell, lets make this fun! I could of sworn in the info and briefing that we all were going to fuel up on the way out, but this wasn't the case and only as few people did. I didn't was to lose the group nor my friends and kept with the pack. At the stop I took advantage of the time to air down using the speed bleeders and added a 1/4 tank of fuel from the main tank in the trailer.

And off to start the day!

The first obstacle was the trail entrance. It was tight and we needed to turn. Most needed some help, a few trucks made it look easy (helps if you have a heavy foot) like my friend in his Tacoma, or the guy in the Tundra. The stock Tacoma and 4Runner had a particularly tough time here, but would be their story from the start to the end of the that section of the trail. It would of been a fairly easy obstable for me as well but I got caught up on my driver’s side leaf spring hanger and needed a slight tug off the rock. The trailer followed with no issues and took a line to compensate from the start. From the video, it looks like it squeezed by.

Mud was my enemy on this trip, as was most us of. I could get anywhere if I had traction, but if I had to paddle through, the trailer would be an anchor. They said when they scouted the trail a few days ago there was only one, but there was several to contend with and I needed a tug a few times throughout the day on this section.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I was starting to get frustrated since I hate having to ask for help, and took a few bypasses around some of the mud holes where I could. The stockers in the back where complaining that we were tearing up the trail by the time they got though. They weren't wrong.

The picture that follows was an interesting detour. By buddy in the red Taco was pulling people out and he was looking for a detour to get ahead and help out. He asked me to walk ahead to find him a clear path around. There was some parts that was grass/moss with mud hidden underneath so I was looking for a solid path for him. After getting him through, I thought about it for a bit and looked at the 3-4 sequential mud holes (where the Wrangler is pulling out the Cherokee in the pictures above) and wanted to avoid being a hassle for the others and decided to go for it, but was worried that I’d be on my own if I got stuck; the consequences of my own actions. I figured by now that all was going well as long as I had traction, so I’ll just follow the path I led my buddy on. It wasn’t as easy I thought out to be. It’s not easy to see the tracks of a single truck’s path. On the first start of the detour, I needed to go up a rock covered with grass, but I took it to the right where my buddy went up, but it wasn’t smooth like for him and with the running start I took (for the trailer) we jumped up and so did the trailer. That caught me off guard. From there the bypass went well, but there was a point I lost his track and went too much to the right where the truck leaned to the side from being on a slope and then girlfriend screamed. From that I totally lost track on where I wanted to go. I think it was the issue of me not going where she thought I was going to go. No choice, I had to keep going, but my girlfriend at this point wasn’t comfortable with it and for the first time ever, stepped out of the truck. She did record a bit (will be posted later) but the video doesn’t do it justice, but does it ever? I pointed the truck uphill and after a few attempts (losing a bit of traction from a rock) and repositioning, I got up and over and back down another hill and rejoined the trail. I was ecstatic, what a run, what a rush!

We all then rejoined back on the forest road.

The Cherokee did some trimming that day

From there, we took some much lighter trails. From the pictures, it looks like this is where the easy group passed by in their part of the trip. We stopped for a late lunch, waited for the easy group to join us (they took a detour and went to a lake) and eventually we headed off to the spot planned for the group to camp for the night.

We didn’t want to open the awning, so we tried to make a make shift shower under the tent with a tarp. My RTT doesn’t have an annex. I don’t remember them existing back 10 years ago, but I didn’t know all that well about them back then either. I’m always torn about getting one or not, but maybe one day I’ll add one.

And cooking up some steaks for supper. A well-deserved meal.

And a fire. I wanted to stay up late, but it’s been a rough few weeks. My body wasn’t having any of it, especially when you’re sitting and relaxing, so I and decided to shower and rest up.

The next morning people were slowly making their way out. Some having longer distances then others. I followed some Land Rovers until we split leaving the park and jumped on the highway to head home.

I left I had over a quarter of a tank left I think, and decided to stop off the highway eventually, and fuel and air back up. I wasn’t really worried, I was going to use the fuel in the tank of the trailer anyway. I’ve already paid for it and I don’t want it to get old and go to waste. I spotted a good exit to stop and just as we hit the ramp, the fuel light came on. We stopped at a gas station for the air pump to save time, and transferred the fuel while we were doing that

I forgot about thinking to time the fuel up, but we figured from the messages my girlfriend sent when we stopped, took less than 15 minutes, which is much better then the 40 minutes that I calculated with the water bottle test I did earlier this year. I need to revisit that test. What I found interesting that despite that I put in a “1/4” tank of fuel, I still managed to go from the fuel light on to touching the fuel line in what was left in the tank before the it started to sputter. I of course don’t want to burn out the fuel pump.

And a stop for ice cream before arriving back home

In the end, it was an amazing weekend. I couldn't be happier with how the truck and trailer performed. I didn't feel the trailer other then in accelerating and when I got stuck in the mud. It just did it's own thing and followed without and complaints and never hindered any obstacles. It never jostled the truck which I would like to attribute to the off-road coupler and the soft and long truck suspension absorbing the bumps. The only thing is that the truck is missing just a bit of power under 1000rpms to get going. Gearing would help and maybe even going with a smaller S/C pulley might make up the difference. I was happy that nothing broke, especially on the trailer. I was put through it's paces and took it like a champ. The weight had me worried. It's a common concern that's been pointed out since I started the build. Considering it's weight, I wasn't worse off compared to the FJ towing a lightweight military trailer, and still did much better then the stock trucks. In the end, I'm extremely pleased of the performance of the setup.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

 

[BEEFY]

Looks like it was a great time. The trailer sure seams to work good.

 

[Prime]

Looks like an awesome trip! Great to see your setup in action.

 

[Bushnut]

what size were the bolts for the warn hubs? length and thread pitch?

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I ended up cheating and got them from work, there the mechanic's shop are supplied by Fastenal. What I ended up doing is measuring how much the bolts stuck out of the bottom of the stock auto hub and compared that to the length I needed if inserted in the manual hubs since they obviously don't run the entire length of the hub. I had brought the bolt with me to compare size and pitch.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

what size were the bolts for the warn hubs? length and thread pitch?

Sorry, I've been meaning to get back to you, but they're 3cm long. Pitch and thread I haven't figured out yet, but should be easily findable. I'll look in my gear when I get a chance

From here on it, I found some time to work on a prototype jerry can holder. While I wanted to have it ready for the Rassemblement Overland, I couldn't get it done in time, but I did get it done before my trip to Mosport. It was an idea and my first attempt at building one. It's designed to hold either my Sceptre military fuel or water Jerry cans. I know there's a variety of different jerry can holders that you can buy, but I found them mostly quite expensive, and I had a few features that I wanted out of mine that I couldn't find; 1) I wanted to be able to side load it 2) I want have to lift the jerry can as little as possible to mount it. 3) I wanted it lockable, of course. 4) I want to be able to put the jerry can on it's face. Would be handy with camping with a spout for the water can. We'll consider this one a prototype and could easily be unbolted if I change my mind. I do want to build one for the drivers side eventually, but it would block my access to my actuator control box, so I may have to work on a proper electrical system before I make one for that side. With it's mounting location, I also needed to add a spot to relocate and mount the front corner light.

All loaded and latched up

Lockable latch picked up from my local trailer supply store.

The double-hinge setup was made to save my shins if it was made as a solid piece. When I was making it, I could already foresee and feel the pain

Although I need to make up a spout, in this position it would be convenient to pour out water.

And also, just to having to avoid lifting it higher then I needed to, with the lack of sides, I could easily just load it with as little lifting as possible, and I can do it from the side, so I don't have to fuss with going straight in from the front, especially with pinned to the truck.

The other part was the awning extension system. I made it in a haste in fall of last year and never properly cleaned it up nor painted it. I didn't have the time but I also wanted to make sure it actually worked before spending all that time on it for nothing. So far so good, but badly needs some TLC. The issue was with the awning, specifically installing the walls, even more specifically the inside walls. Having the awning not extended beyond the side of the vehicle would have it follow the shape of the vehicle, taking up some of the length and width of the walls, where they wouldn't line up to all properly attach together. I could of easily used some really long brackets. I had actually bought some to modify and use for this exact I but I didn't want to have the awning be the furthest point on the side of the trailer where it's widest part of the setup and increasing the potential of it to get caught up on stuff. I still wanted to be able to use just the awning without the sides and needing to extending it out. I let the idea simmer most of 2017. Eventually I got an idea and in the fall, found a set of identical scissor jacks for sale for a good price and not $100 a pair new, especially since I needed 3. I also needed them to open up flat and use a socket style for the crank handle and not the hook style. I got some cheap discount swivel sockets to use as u-joints, welded to come round bar and clips in to the proper socket to drive the jacks. I needed to weld on a joint to the end of the worm gear on two of the jacks and modify the top of the jacks to be able to attach them to the rack using my favorite 2" muffler clamps. The front most jack needed a spacer to compensate for the tubing that extends the Frontier rack forwards since it had a slightly bend inwards. Hopefully I'll take them off soon and clean them up. I'll also need to replace the pin in the swivels with proper stainless hardware. Another modification was that the top facing feet on the base of the jacks needed to be cut off and made flush to clear the RTT when it was retracted.

So, as a warning to what's coming up as an update from here on in, as I look back and read it, it's more of a generic blog that's generically about vehicles then the trailer and the truck. You guys will have to let me know if it's interesting or me just posting up long winded digital rambling, but I find them ironic and interesting. Not just to validate on why thing happen, or not, but I find when I talk to people about things that happen in my life, I get the feeling that people look at me like I'm making it up all up, or just exaggerating what happened. They also tell good stories, and lessons to learn, for myself and others.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

As it always seems to be, things were just crazy and non stop. I did get a little fun in July with my yearly pilgrimage to Mosport to watch some races with some of my best friends from Ontario. This time, we managed to bring my girlfriend's best friend along and her new boyfriend. Since I wasn't planning a trip down to visit my parents this summer, I convinced them to come up. They didn't camp but spent the night at the hotel. Other them regretting not having ear plugs, they seemed to of enjoy themselves as well.

Before the trip, I swapped to the Frontiers old street tires. I wanted to see if it would improve my fuel consumption since there was zero off-roading on this trip. I wanted to get there as soon as possible to get a good site. They open up Thursday morning, so what we ended up going is booking Thursday, Friday and Monday off, but planned to leave right after work Wednesday, drive until I didn't like feeling like going anymore, and cut much of the drive to get there at a good time Thursday. We left later then we wanted to, and stopped at an On Route just inside Ontario to get some coffee and figure out the plan for the night. I did look at the iOverlander app days prior, but what I failed to see, because I didn't zoom in close enough, is that the spot I planned to spend the night was on the other side of the St-Laurence Seaway in the USA, so a no-go at this point. There was Walmart nearby, but I then got thinking about truck stops. I've heard they have services for truckers, and the girlfriend REALLY wanting to of taken a shower (the spot in the USA had them) so I looked into it. There was a Flying J really not far off, and it had pay showers, so why not?

We took a spot amongst the other tired travellers

We we're actually quite surprised with the showers. We were able to pay for one shower for the both of us. They were clean, plenty hot, and no time limit. Even came with a set of clean towels for one person. While waiting for my girlfriend to do some business, I picked up a dual 12v fan setup. The evening was hot, and it typically is in July. My old single 12v fan had been with me for many years of RTTing and has seen better days, so we connected that and went to bed. I ended up waking up around 2:30am. I was not only getting a bit chilly, turned off the fans and had to pee, but also woke up to the sound of diesel engines idling. I look outside and see flashing red lights. First thing I'm thinking is that whoever it is will be kicking us out. I stepped outside and checked out the situation. I also took some pictures as well. They were going into the building for the Denny's with their suits and masks on. They said nothing, and I went back to bed. The next morning, I talked to the girl at the cash. She was a different person from when we first arrived, and she had no clue what something had happened. I guess I'll never know what it was all about. During the drive, I bring it up in conversation with the girlfriend, but I didn't realise that SHE HAD NO IDEA of the events of the night before. Not the trucks idling feet from the tent, not me getting out of the tent or climbing back in, nothing. She thought I was making this all up...until I showed her the pictures.

For the first night, we just did the basic setup

And the full awning setup.

Weather was nice, but as with typical fashion, we did get a storm roll through Thursday afternoon. We got a warning and my friend had (as always) had left me the task to tie town the gazebos. We sat in the truck to wait out the storm as opposed to spend it in the tent, to be ready to jump out and fix anything. As we watched the lightning in the distance and the dark clouds coming near, it looked like it just missed us from the north.

While I had spotted a nice campground for the trip back, the girlfriend not only liked the convenient and services of the Flying J, but we had supper with my parents and left later then planned, it worked out better. Fortunately, nothing happened this time during the night, that we know of.

What I found odd was that normally we're usually hot camping in July, this time around, we actually used the Webasto during the night; on minimum, but still. We should of had the fans on and still complained, but cold, in July? It's been a weird summer weather wise.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

One of the reasons for leaving and getting some distance in Sunday, was to arrive in time to see the Foo Fighters playing in Quebec at the F.E.Q. Monday night. Last time they were in town, I was in course in Kingston (Ontario) and my girlfriend being a HUGE Foo Fighters fan, as opposed to coming down to meet me and head off to Mosport for the same ALMS event, she stayed behind to watch their show. Unfortunately for her/them, they played a few songs before having to shut the show down for a severe thunderstorm. The evening didn't go that well, but we did make the show.

While about a half hour out of Quebec City, a hole blew out in the exhaust. While not a big deal, it was more embarrassing for me for my truck to sound like a POS driving downtown while towing the trailer. She does stand out, but we didn't want to stop at home so we could get a good spot in line. It's an outdoor show, so it's a first-come first-serve "find a spot and stay there" deal. We were too early to get the cheap parking rates for the evening, especially with the trailer, so we went to look for one in a side street. We lucked out, and while pulling into the spot, the slave cylinder on the truck goes flat. It was just replaced in October as well. With that, I put it in 2-Low and went around the block to line myself up better. And a few back and forth bumps with the starter, I was good enough.

At the show, while watching the other shows before the main event, it went from sun to a nice downpour. I HATE getting rained on, and we didn't have any of the emergency ponchos with us, but fortunately I had my Mazda cap I got from Mosport, and I rarely wear a cap. We met our friend Tommy there, and his CAA Plus was expiring very soon, so gladly volunteered to use one of his tows left that would otherwise go to waste. The show was awesome! They played an extra hour, so a full 2 and a half hours of Foo Fighters with permission from the city to make up for last time. Walking out around midnight, we called CAA to get a head start on that wait. We didn't wait too long, but we had other issues. The drover asked me if the trailer was for camping, which I thought was small talk, but he was looking for clarification for the tow. CAA Plus in Quebec includes a trailer, but not a camper. I didn't know this. Fortunately for the setup, since the RTT is removable and easily transferable, it "can turn into a utility trailer", so I was able to correct myself on that. He also wanted to count this as two tows, but it's not supposed to be. Also, the tow truck didn't have a ball for a trailer, and the driver said there was a second tow truck driver on his way for the trailer. We waited around I believe it was 40 minutes, and he then got a call that the second tow truck wasn't coming, so he was going to do it on his own and make two trips. Since we worked in the morning, I sent the girlfriend back with the tow truck driver, they dropped Tommy near his car along the way (it was a good walk and late), while I pulled a camping chair and my cell charger out of the truck and closed my eyes, waiting for the 40+ minute round trip of the tow truck, in the cool night air, while still damp.

The next while now, for the most part, is working on stuff. To begin, I had to replace the AC condenser on the Mazda2. I bought this car with the intended feature of air conditioning. You can easily find one for much cheaper without, especially in manual. When I bought it however, it was November, so testing it wasn't really possible. Mind you, up to this point, I've been driving it in the summer no problem, but I've never been bothered by it. My Mx-3 didn't have AC, and the truck didn't have it for a few years after I removed the radiators to replace the lower rad support and got it only recharged last year. This was more for my girlfriend who can't really handle the heat since she'll be driving it while I work on her car for the next bit. I was thinking 2-3 weeks, but that wasn't the case.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

The girlfriend has a 2008 Dodge Avenger (2.7L SXT) and rust had been getting worse over the last few years, and my goal was to stop it, patch it up, and extend the life a few more years. I've never done major body work, but I figured if I took my time, I could handle it. I needed to pick up some mixed gas and some 0.23 wire for the welder. Here's a few pics of what I had to work with:

What I had to fix up is: Rear passenger fender (major), drivers side rocker panels (major), front fender and door (they rubbed in the winter), hood (minor aluminum corrosion from chips), roof (though minor, but rusted and pierced through in one spot), passenger rocker panel (fairly major), rear fender (reasonable compared to the driver side) and trunk (minor rust and dents). What made it much worse was that there's foam all over the vehicle. Sprayed in between the panels, but also a layer squeeze in between the sheet metal. This caused the rust to spread from the inside out. What wasn't rusted, was dry and a fire hazard when welding in the new sheet metal. It was fun.

I also had a buddy who came by, needed the welder to weld some flanges to remove the resonator

And a rear brake job on a Jetta. Friend purchased it just 3-weeks before dieselgate

We did make some time to get away and do a little camping just me and the girlfriend at a close by campground and water park. The weather was good except for one day of a good downpour, but again, for August, we used the Webasto a night just to cut the cool air.

My girlfriend also wanted to make some gardens. She wanted them for this year, but progress was slow. While I did the majority of the work, I refused to work on it unless she was. Surprisingly (not really) they never got completed. One is 95% done, the other 85%, and will be finished next year

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Finally getting back to the trailer, I jumped on a deal for an annex for the RTT. I was told that my tent was made "in the same Chinese factory as the ARB", but don't they all say that? Anyways, an annex was always on the wishlist, but I could never make the leap of faith to give it a try. On one of the local Quebec Xterra Facebook groups, a guy had an RTT, awning and annex for sale. It was the first time I've seem him and his setup, but he was selling it for the reason that it wasn't practical to setup this all up and incapacitating the vehicle. That's the exact reason why I build the trailer. I got the annex for C$80+shipping (cause he was 2hrs away) and arrived Friday, the Friday we had planned to go camping. We were heading back to Mont Radar, but this time there would be no snow. We had planned to do some filming for the teaser for this years haunted house on Saturday, but decided to head up and setup on Friday, take it easy, and leave Sunday. We went up with her cousin and her friend from work. The rest of the gang would show up Saturday morning to build the sets, film, deconstruct and leave. We'll say they regretted doing it that way. We did enjoy the annex and we used it as a shower and change room. This was way better then any improvised setup that we have done to this point, and like we did back at the Rassemblement Overland in spring, pumped the Webasto into it to warm up while we shower. The days were nice, but again, using the Webasto at night. You can tell is frustrates me that it was this cold during the summer. I always look forward to summer, but I already find them short in Quebec, I don't need them shorter and less pleasant.

Actually, while on the way up to Mont Radar, just a few km from the base, we come up to a Jeep on the side of the road. At this point it was getting dark, and while anxious to arrive, we rolled up beside them to see if they were alright. At what I first thought was a look of disgust, but actually more of a look of surprise once they actually said something. They were towing a pop-up trailer and were on the way to Mont Radar themselves. There was a Jeep off-road event there on the weekend, and the trailer had came off the ball, but had no way to get it back up and on it. I had the Hi-Lift and gladly pulled over to give them a hand. They said many people drove by but no one had even stopped to ask if they were ok, which would explain the look of surprise. They had friends that did show up just as we were finishing up. They offered $20 for the help, but we refused it. We said we'd come by for a beer over the course of the weekend, but it sadly didn't pan out. We setup and took it easy Friday, and finished up the filming and helping the others pack up around midnight. They did gladly wave hello to us when the Jeep group came up to the top of the hill for their run Saturday

With no plans for the trailer for a little bit, I took the time to bring the cover to a local canvas shop and had them repair the zipper. It's been frustrating cause it doesn't zip the two halves together. He ended up just replacing the slider.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Come middle of August, this is when the weather took a huge change and we got a few weeks of an actual heat wave that lasted into the beginning of September. During this time, we got a call from the wife of the Rona that sponsors our haunted house saying that they had a bunch of material that was going to get thrown out and that we could come and get it, so we did. I took the 16ft trailer, and her friends boyfriend took his little one. It was a HEAVY load but we didn't have to go far. I wasn't concerned for the truck, but for the trailer. We actually had to load the front and the rear of the trailer at the exact same time to balance it out. Actually, just the front load on the trailer was going to completely bottom out my rear suspension, but we did stop him before getting to that point. Remember that I've done 2000lbs of cement bags in the trunk with little issue last year. With the center of the trailer loaded, the tires didn't seem to like that too much either. My truck's brakes weren't feeling too healthy at this point, so we took it easy driving it back. I kept it under 40km/h cause it felt like it wanted to sway above that anyway.

We got a call about a week later from the owner of Rona, basically accusing us of thief. Our friend told him to talk to his wife about it. In a subsequent call, not only did he never apologize, but also said he wanted it back for Monday morning and abruptly hung up. Unfortunately all the weight on the trailer, cause they never had a chance to unload it, caused it to flex and made the trailer undrivable. He and some employees ended up coming by with a forklift to get it. For what we were told, after he loaded the first batch, he said it was garbage and should of just left it with us. He did end up leaving a small batch of wood, but did never apologized. We were getting stressed by this point cause it's been several weeks since he's been pushing back the meeting to talk about the sponsoring the event again. They normally give us wood to for the major constructions, and we're usually building stuff come August and September. Come the first week of October, our friend gets fed up with the running around and goes to see him directly. He says the business hasn't been doing well since January and that we weren't a priority to him, he basically didn't care. Its one thing if you can't, it's another to lead us on and put us on a spot and in a position there it hurts our constructions and where it's deliberately too late to find someone else> Sadly it was true because we did try, but we do have Home Depot who's really serious about backing us, and told us to see them come January when their budget gets released, and said they'll give us a good spot.

At this point, the work on the girlfriend's car is going well, but overlapping with the haunted house. The drivers side took long because of all the learning and mistakes and corrections I had to do, but at least was on the side that needed the most work. I did get almost all of it done, but left with just two spots to finish up; attempt #3 on the crack on the front bumper (finally found a product that worked) and the spot on the rear passenger fender.

Over the course of the summer, I found the Martin hot water heater was having a hard time, starting to leak internally, and was getting worse and worse. I'm not sure if it was age, another break that happened with the water pump, or the new pump is putting off too much pressure for the unit. So this would be my excuse to get an Eccotemp L5 heater. As opposed to putting it in a Pelican case, but my plans would involve making some holes to give it a permanent installation, so I used a Canadian Tire knock off for the time being. I'd rather mess up a cheap knock off then a real Pelican case until I confirm how the install will be.

The hot water heater was setup just in time to be used for the (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend for the first major construction weekend for the haunted house. As we usually do, we setup the awning and the kitchen, but also setup the annex as a shower, freeing up room in the awning. We didn't setup the awning sides at Mont Radar, and what I liked going this way was the fact that having the shower separate as opposed to being a section under the awning, was we didn't have the extra humidity and condensation created from showering in the same space. We also another cool weekend, we used the Webasto to heat inside the awning space while we cooked and ate. While it didn't make it comfortable, it did make a noticeable difference.

And with typical fashion, making trips with pallets, and the front section of a Westfalia, all for the

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

And as well this year, I was able to get a week off for going volunteer work and spend 8 days living on site. It would of been 9, but my girlfriend had came up after work and had the Friday off, so I went back with her to come back the next day. I was kind of happy since my nice new Eccotemp L5 also decided to leak internally, so I was able to take a shower. Mind you, I did wash up boiling water on the camping stove on the second day, but I was pissed. I had a rough day of construction, spend time outside getting dirty, had jumped in the shower, powered it on, and had nothing coming out of the shower head. I was troubleshooting that in a towel outside in the cold. I had found some baby wipes in my shower kit, but still, not the day for that to happen. What may of happened, but I hope not, if that overnight, it dipped down to -3 or -4*C. Maybe the water froze, but I had followed the instructions for Eccotemps "Extreme Cold" use. Being Canadian, -4 is far from being extreme cold. During the rest of the week, I did see -6, and the Webasto heater did just fine. At these temps, I think the issue starts to become the cold floor at the bottom of the tent. While inside the tent was nice, I was both warm and had chills, which I think was the cold floor seeping through the mattress and into my body, but I was fine come morning which I would like to attribute to the heater doing it's job all night and the floor eventually warming up. I don't know if an anti-condensation mat would help, but may be something to try. They were calling for a -12 the one night, but it was ironically the night I slept at home.

The first night we opened, I had slept there the night before and with the rush of opening, I didn't bother to spend time to pack up. I had planned on it, but was asked to do some last minute work in some other scenes, so I forwent that, but closed down the front, knowing we wouldn't be sleeping there tonight. Unfortunately, the weather got bad, going to windy and rain, to windy with sleet, to windy with wet snow. We closed up early for the guests and we went back home. I figured it would be best to leave the tent open and hoping when we come back it'll be clear and dry to pack up

But the next day, the Sunday, it wasn't, so I left her as it, and my fingers crossed she's be ok for the new few days.

For those days, I spend some time at work, working on making the Neopixel prosthesis for my girlfriend's character for her scene. I was my first time working with Neopixels, and made up a quick phototype with 3.5mm and 5mm pixels on a flexible board. I'm not an Arduino or programming expert, but it was something small to start with. I wanted to do this sometime over the summer, but it got pushed back just a tad.

Speaking of no time. It was time to put the Rx-8 away for the winter. My CAA membership renewed on the 15th of November. Sadly, my Rx-8 had broken down on her first real outting of the season, and I had ZERO time to work on her. I didn't even have the time to properly diagnose the problem. The "Engine" fuse blows when I turn the key to ON. What I think/have been told/hoping is that it's a coil pack issue, but I guess I'll check it out in 2019. It sucks, it would of been a perfect summer to of driven her instead of the truck all this time, but life doesn't always go your way. I didn't really enjoy her last year either, but I'll get there, just gotta get through the tough times.

Oh, but wait, there's more! In my typical style, things aren't that simple...they never are. She gets stored less then two hours away, so we followed in the Mazda2 to help unload her and pay the storage. We dropped off the car, rolled her into her hibernation spot and all goes well there. When the tow truck pull out, he doesn't know or see the limit of the driveway, goes wide, and went off the paved driveway and into the grass. He apparently did well, until the rear tires got in and stuck.

After failed attempted to push himself out, the tow truck driver had to call for a tow.

And the week after, December decided to come early and we got dumped on, and we've constantly been getting snow and some serious cold. Temperatures we shouldn't see until January.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

At this point, this is where all this starts to take it's toll on me. I knew the Xterra needed brakes soon, I could see the performance dropping, and eventually the brake light comes up, figuring I'm low on fluid from the worn pads. With that, I ordered some brakes. In the local Nissan club, someone had shared a link to a set of Max Brakes. Made in Ontario, their top of the line Elite slotted and drilled brakes and ceramic pads were C$130. Not bad, worth a try. I ordered them and they arrived the end of September. I kept driving, having no real time to take care of it. It got to the point where I was braking better towing the trailer. Come the first week of November, it was my turn to be on duty for the base HQ. This is 12 hours shift for 7 days, including the weekend, but this time I was on the night shift, from 6pm to 6am. During this time, they were franticly tearing down the haunted house since the tent was being taken down on the Monday after. I couldn't be there, not working 12 hour days, but I was only one of two trucks that could tow their trailer and move stuff. I tried to nap in the middle of the night to keep from messing up my internal clock, and to try to be more productive during the day by between the hours when the cleaners weren't coming to get and drop off keys. It worked, but as the week went by, the office chairs were getting less comfortable. I could get 2-4 hours of sleep, and it helped pass the time along much faster, but I'm losing track of the day of the week. Unfortunately by mid week I had an issue. I was leaving from my shift in the morning and went to brake at a busy intersection. The light turned yellow and my foot went the floor. I had very little brakes. I downshifted and ended up in the middle of the intersection, fortunately with good timing that traffic wasn't moving yet, but it was busy being the start of the morning commute. I called my aunt and uncle and ask for help. I needed to use their garage to do the brakes. I couldn't do this out in the cold and in the snow in a rush. They gladly offered and I drove it all so slowly and carefully with the little brakes I had left. We pulled in the truck and my uncle wanted to add in brake fluid first. I didn't see the point, but when doing this, and pumping the brake, it just kept on taking more and more fluid. This is when we realised that my rear passenger side brake slave cylinder was leaking. We pull the rear brakes apart and prepped both sides for new cylinders which would arrive at the parts shop the next morning at 8am. We also remove the front brakes, having the time to do it, and would save us time tomorrow. As you can imagine, the brakes were getting down to the metal. Also the driver side caliper bracket was badly worn; the holes oblong and the pins shot. I couldn't find any in stock, no wreckers had anything, so I would put it back together for the meantime and order a new kit from RockAuto. My uncle drops me off at work, my girlfriend picks me up before she heads into work, and my uncle wakes me up with a call at noon to pick me back up and get the truck fixed.

The weekend comes and at the haunted house, the stress is kicking in. I do what I can, cut back on sleep and go up and help both Saturday and Sunday, spending about an hour and a half, 2 hours tops, each day to make progress. I take care of the more detailed stuff like the electrical that I wanted to salvage and save. I got a friend to come by to help, which was a big help. It was the best I could do. Fortunately there wasn't any accidents on my way back home to get ready to work, otherwise I would of easily been late with how close I cut it.

Monday rolls around. I had Monday off from the Remembrance (Veterans) D, and Tuesday off as a day to compensate for the lost weekend. Monday we took the truck to make a trip of pallets to the mother-in-laws barn and unload the Xterrra (old Frontiers) street tires to her place for the winter, along with a few more things. I'm in the left lane and I get a "bang" and the rear end shook. All felt fine, but that wasn't normal and I pull over gently but immediately and take the shoulder on the first off-ramp to clear as much of the highway's main traffic. I find the truck is rolling when stopped in gear, so I have to put it in 4x4 to lock the front since my parking brake doesn't work (was on the list for this year, need a new line). I look around, no flat, I look at the driveshaft and transmission, all seems good. I end up looking again at the rear tires and this is where I noticed the problem. I see that the rear drivers side wheel had come off and the rim was rolling on the drum. The drum itself was off, holding on to what I don't know if it was on just a few millimetres of the studs left before completely dislodging. A taxi drove by and honked for what reason I don't know. The ramp's lane is a good lane and a half wide, and I was well into the shoulder. So I went to light my flare, but it snapped in half and the ignitor didn't work, but I remembered I have my directional light bar, and it would be the perfect time to use this to make sure we don't get hit or hurt. The bar is a grey area legally, depending on it's use, but it's dark and my safety at risk, I think it's completely valid and called for. With all my tools unloaded to bring stuff, I had nothing to fix this. We get in touch with the sister-in-law and she eventually comes. She picked me up, brings me home and I grab my torque wrench, breaker bar and 6 lugs from the Frontrailer. Nothing was damaged, at all, so I put the lugs on, torqued them down, and we went on our merry way, but we lost a lot of the planned time for the evening, and just ended up moving stuff from the site to the storage unit and didn't go to the mother-in-laws. I would attribute this to the lug nuts improperly torqued town and the huge shock in temperature change. I just found it odd. I've had them come lose before, but you know and feel the vibration as it loosens. Never a pop.

Tuesday wouldn't be a bad day, but a long one. My buddy Tommy wanted me to use my CAA to tow his Xterra for winter storage. He stores is at the exact the same spot at me (it's his friend's uncle actually), and my CAA expires on the 15th, and we're now the 13th, so this can't wait for the weekend. After going to bed late, I get up early. He wanted to start his day at around 10 since he finished work at midnight. I went to bed around that time as well. Before I started the day, I wanted to make a tool to attach to the winch to pull the pallets out at the site of haunted house. There's about a dozen on the ground we used for people to walk on, that are not frozen and covered in snow. I figured this would be MUCH easier then to shovel and pull them out by hand. I get up around 8, fire up the welder and make what I could with what I had. It's not fancy, but it'll work. Threw it in the snow to cool down and left.

My buddy called as I was getting into his truck and arrived at my buddy's place for 10. I called CAA upon arrival. He also had a yellow Xterra, but a 2002, but I still made the call for a 2003 yellow Xterra in case they question or record it. They showed up in around 2 hours, which was reasonable considering we got hammered with a snow storm that morning. I was planning on showing up to the site for the haunted house to help doing the final clearing of the site, so we dropped the Xterra at the nearest exit along the day and headed along ahead of the tow truck. We waited for a bit, but was easier since the truck ran (but couldn't safely do the 160km drive) and the tow truck didn't get stuck this time. We left and my buddy dropped me off at my truck around 4pm, technically late for work since he starts at 4, but didn't seemed to be stressed about it.

I head directly to the site and start pulling pallets. Not efficient as one, but was easy. The girlfriend texts to see if it's worth stopping by, and either she comes directly from work, or goes home and changes, which would add an extra 1.5 hours on top of that. I say to come, she can have the fun part to drive the truck, since she can now drive manual, while I hook her up. That goes really well as two, and her friend shows up. We work much more then planned and made 3 trips, one to unload stuff at the storage unit, and the other to put the left over pallets in the industrial section. The last load of pallets would be kept on the trailer to eventually unload them at the mother-in-laws barn. The temperature got colder as we worked, going from +2 to -8*C and the freezing rain turned into snow by the time we finished. We finish it was 1am, I hit bed at around 2, and get my alarm for work 6:30, the latest I could.

Wednesday was tough, I was done. If I ever had or was the closest to experiencing a burn-out. I turned off the alarm to skip the morning PT managed to get out of bed and to work for 9. I walk in, I'm done already. The Sgt asks if I'm ok. I pretty much break down. She's an awesome Sgt, told me that I should of called in sick and she sends me home. I hate calling in sick after a weekend or especially after a few days off; to me it always seems sketchy to do so. I passed out and slept most of the afternoon.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

From there, November thought itself to be January and not only did we get constantly get dumped by snow, but temperatures dropped to January-like temps, averaging -15*C and even down to -18*C. My garage having no insulation and only one of those 4000w heaters, I had to wait it out. Eventually the temps rose back to seasonable and I went to finish the final prep of the garage and the car. The weekend coming up, they were not only calling for temps hovering around 0*C, but also overnight as well. The nights leading up it was still dropping down to -10*C. They wanted to start construction for the Christmas parade float for the haunted house. I said that Saturday that painting the car was a priority. They had a few hands for Saturday, but ended up pushing it back to Sunday, and on Sunday it got cancelled before we got to step out of the door. I slept in since I went to bed after midnight painting the car and had no intention of burning myself out again. The reason they cancelled? Because where was not only no one else going to be there for the construction, but they had no idea, and was hoping/expecting for me and my girlfriend to come up with that idea. We had a few, but nothing really inspiring and that got approved. I wasn't stressing over it to be honest. At this point, you can bet my give-a-f*ck meter was at 0 and I was slowly recovering my drive and energy.

Once the car was painted, I kept the heat on for a few nights to try to keep it around the 15*C the paint wanted to be at to cure, and the rest of the time I just used the halogen lights for heat (which made a good difference) while she sat in the garage while I slowly put her back together and get extra dry time before going back outside.

The painting went so-so, and I'm not pleased. I know it's my first time painting with a gun and compressor, I wasn't expecting to do such a bad job. Maybe it's my settings, maybe it's the cheap Rok gun, maybe it's all me and bad distance and technique. It also for what ever reason decide to throw up on the last coat on the rear drivers corner. The only way to learn is by trying, and I will be practicing my wet sanding and polishing techniques come spring I'll tell you that, but at least it'll go through winter and it'll get cleaned up after taking a beating from the sand a salt. The frustrating part is that no one will notice all the repairs and just see the less then stellar paint job, but the good part is that the repairs are done, and despite now it looks, it's repaired and protected. Worse comes to worse, I'll get more practice and it'll get a re-spray, and if all goes well, despite that it's a one stage paint and doesn't need it, I'll give it a clear coat. The car will roll debadged in the meantime.

As for the trailer, she sits in my driveway covered in snow and missing 4 lug nuts on one side. I needs to throw in a few items in the trailer before closing her up for the next little bit, but I also want to see about exchanging battery #1 since it seems to have a hard time taking a charge, and that's the battery that the actuators use. I removed some snow from her on the weekend, but that's the best I got to at the moment. I had to clear the mounds of snow from the driveway with an axe. Because of the lack of time and the early winter, I couldn't properly clear the driveway, so there was a step where the cars couldn't get in (after the city passed with their grate equipment), and the truck had a good mound that needed 4x4 to get in on her side. Winter is already being a b*tch this year. After getting the car oil sprayed and detailed by a friend, I'm back in the Mazda2. While I already miss the truck, and feel less manly, the wallet isn't complaining.

 

[Bushnut]

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Your mechanical creativity is always a joy to see. I enjoyed meeting you last summer on my way to NB. The mead beer was great!

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Damn, 2018 since my last post, eh? Been a while and a tad due for an update. I guess with social media I had went more in that way as it was more accessible and easier, but lately I've been getting sick of Facebook and no other social media platform allows some deep and documented content so I've been working my way back to forums over the last few months and had forgot about this place until I came across it in a search this week. It's hard to be motivated to be active in forums but I'm surprised and happy to see this place is still around and kicking pretty hard! It shouldn't be too bad to update as I updated my Expedition Portal log a few weeks ago and it's not far behind this one.

We'll get to catching everone up on the last *gasp* 6 years, but for now note that the Frontrailer is still around, the Xterra isn't but it has been properly replaced. We'll get to it in due time.

2019 wasn't too active in general car wise as I worked on the foundation of the house. Sealing up a leak into the basement, adding a French drain, sealing and insulating the foundation and the mess that followed. The RX-8 never even came out of storage that year. Likely why I went dark starting in 2019.

With the haunted house I put the trailer away early and to make sure the truck gets put in the garage to try to control the rust since I wanted to patch it up that year but I didn't get the change, so it would get done ASAP in 2020. Now I was, as always, pressed for time and had to bring both the Frontrailer and the borrowed utility trailer to the mother-in-laws, which is just under an hour away. I decided I'm going this in a single trip. Yep, I'm going to double up on the trailers. While technically legal under specific rules like length and towing capacity, the only thing illegal about the setup was that the second trailer did not have trailer brakes. The Frontrailer having hydraulic brakes was more the plenty to do the job and the utility trailer empty is very light. I added some attachments for chains for the Frontrailer's hitch and made a custom wiring harness extension that would run lights on both trailer.

I can't imagine the looks, but we only stayed on the highway until we crossed the river and used Waze to get off the highway and follow the back country roads before any cops would decide to give us a hard time, and from the application there were many parked along the highway. We did without any problems and the Frontrailer would sadly be put away mid-October

Of course during that time I jumped on a great deal on a reproduction (Tepui-style) weatherhood. It actually has stayed in the box since and up until writing this, I actually forgot I had it and need to test it to see if it works.

As always, the haunted house was a huge hit. Being inside a building was part of the reason why I didn't need the trailer. The Xterra helped light up the crowd coming in. People were waiting 3 hours. We had to shut down entrance before 10pm.

And this, this smoke from all the smoke machines coming out of the building.

Xmas as great, Ontario was warm. Nice to be outside in December detailing my car. Oh I miss Ontario winters. That sums it up for 2019, and so 2020....oh 2020....

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

March break 2020 is when I decided to get the body work done on the truck. Just extend her life that little bit more. Drivetrain is still quite good but it's these Canadian winters that kills everything else with cancer. I spent a week and a half patching that, was back to work one day then the COVID-19 confinement hit.

And all this this, the trailer slept, and slept. With the restrictions imposed because of COVID, it was too far and I technically wasn't allowed to go get it. My RX-8 was much further and stated in storage all year. No point taking it out if I can't drive it anywhere. During isolating I went HAM and did about 2 years worth of house renovations in 2 months. With my luck, as I was trying to finish off what I was working on we discovered that the shower was leaking into the basement, and this while I was back to work full time, I had the extra challenge on redoing the only bathroom we have. This wasn't planned until I built a second one, but no choice, gotta get this done. Come June and travels outside of the region allowed, I made a trip to get the Frontrailer and also got some metal to build a dumping utility trailer.

Also what added itself with the deconfinement was the permission to gather into small groups for projects. During isolation I was working with the girlfriend and her friend on a Murder Mystery project and now it was time to record the video. This has eaten up almost any weekend I had and even was work we did a few evenings a week. I barely had the time to work on the bathroom as my weekends and many evenings were taken up. The trailer got worked on while I waited for the new bath to come it, but since, the utility trailer has and still untouched as I write this. I managed only go get the basic frame built with the suspension and axles mounted.

I did however get some stuff done ahead of time and sent offt a pair of Desert Runner rims powder coated. I got them back and a pair of 33" MTRs installed.

I squeezed in some time and swapped them out to finally have the trailer on 33s. This gives gives it it's final (planned) piece to lift it. I'm also happy that it finally now has matching rims and tires to the truck. Retiring my old 32s on Pathfinder rims.

I tried to get some work done to either the truck or trailer from here on it but I just never had time. Also, all the events I would of needed it for like going to ALMS @ Mosport in Ontario was cancelled. Campings were closed for a while and such as well. One event that the Nissan Truck Club in Ontario, Adventure Weekend, was still looking to be happening, but abeit a small version between friends to abide by the rules imposed, but also, with all the other off-road events that were cancelled, they were worried that it would of blown up with everyone looking for something to do. With borders closed, even camping locally was hard to do and there was many cases, especially around Gaspesie, that people were Boondocking in places that were marked not to and so many people leaving behind trash and feaces that laws came out banning overnight parking in many areas. I think my dream to do the Gaspesian Loop was just killed by ignorant, irresponsible and selfish people. With Adventure Weekend Lite coming up and not being able to do any prep work on the vehicles, I had to book the week off to get as much as I could get done.


Before hand, I managed to grind down, print and paint my old Shrockwork sliders ahead of time.

I ordered a new and proper 20lb propane tank mount from Prospecteur trailers. It retired my home made mount and also switched it sides from the side to the left side of the trailer.

With that, I picked up a fire extinguisher. Another item I had on my list as a piece of safety equipment. With all the fuel it can carry, and the heater, it's not a bad thing to have

With the propane tank swapped sides. I worked on mounting the waterproof case and install my new L5 Eccotemp hot water heater. For those that don't know or remember, back in 2018, I spent over a week living out of the trailer working on the haunted house. I was using the shower system to wash me after a hard day work, but one night it dropped down to -6*C and cracked the core on the heater. I had waited and procrastinated with ordereing a new one since. My "wait" actually paid off and they actually came on sale for a great price, so I jumped on it. This time around, I simplified the heater mounting, simplified the plumbing and made an easy-access drain on the hot side to hopefully avoid that from happening again. Holes were patched up in the case from the previous installation, with the case actually being flipped "upside-down" for this setup. The rest of the installation would get completed in Ontario.

In my week-off prep work, I changed out the compressor, dryer and lines to try to get AC fixed before the drive down. I couldn't get the truck fixed fast enough to get get an appointment; fortunately. I'll get back to this later. But the windows were down and the drive, well say it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be.

One thing I didn't notice when I was doing the rocker and fenders was the frame, and I did notice it once the weather got nicer, and also felt it once the 33s were on. The rear end seemed soft and it ended up being the frame was rusting and cracking around the leaf spring shackle mount. I inserted a piece of 2x2 tubing inside the frame and welded up braces on the outside of the frame. This was a good move and I'll follow up on this on the after trip post. Rear bumper got repainted, as well as the front grill and bumper. Figured a quick refresh would be good before the trip and make her photogenic for what may be her last AW.

And literally before leaving, as a literal one-day-built was to make a system to mount and pivot my new Go Xplore shower/change room. No pictures of it's construction, and it works ok. Metal is a little thick because I used what I had on hand. At least we could use it and see if it works ok and how and what kind of adjustments it needs. With that done, we're packed up ready to head down to Ontario.

We did a at my girlfriend second cousin in Montreal. We arrived there very late and missed the party but had a blast just us 4. We spend the night and headed towards Niagara the next morning.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

In Ontario. I had time off while the girlfriend was still working. Thanks to the Corona virus, she now works from home, so she brought her stuff and we set up her a desk at my parents place while I was on vacation. I took advantage of my dads experience as a (now retired) millwright to help me out. It's also an excuse to get some father-son time in.

With the propane tank in it's final space, we ran fixed lines to the hot water heater and lines to the back of the trailer with quick disconnect hoses for the BBQ.

I also picked up a pair of jery can holders at Princess Auto. It gets rid of my overly complicated and fugly design. I did need to split latch on it and installed a hinge. While these don't have the functionality of the old one, it's better this way for now and ads some much needed storage space on the trailer.

I should also note about the 2 spare tires on the trailer. Technically I only carry one, but the second one was given to me by a friend but wanted his old rim back. I was suppose to get the rim dismounted when I got the AC recharged but that never happened. I tried to dismount it myself and did not succeed. Instead of risking damaging the rim, or the tire, I just bought it with me and had my cousin dismount it for me. Which means that this tire did the entire back and forth trip just for a rim.

Also on the list of mods was to finish the hot water heater install. One thing I wanted to do away from is the need for C batteries to power the heater. I picked up a few adjustable DC-DC step down converters in the Arduino section of an electronics shop before I left. They are 5amp models and ran about $5 each. What I didn't know with them is that they needed a load on it to be able to adjust the voltage. Also, the first one wouldn't drop below 8v (I needed 3v) so I'm glad I grabbed more then one. I also got a DPDT switch so then I turn that one on, it turns on the hot water heater AND the water pump on a single switch. If I don't need hot water, the L5 has it's own power switch if I want to turn that one off.

I also wanted to integrate an LED light in the case just to make fumbling at night less of a hassle. The red switch turns that one on.

I do need to find a way to organize the hose for the shower head, but other then that, all in integrated into the case, literally ready to use at a flip of a switch.

And a picture of the quick access drain. Hopefully won't break this hot water heater from the cold.

The PEX water lines running both hot and cold to the back of the trailer. PEX doesn't like UV rays, but it's so cheap and easy to work with. Here they are installed, and have been covered with wire loom to project them from the sun, and anything else.

With the jerry can holders in place, access to the water tank cover was even less accessible then before. This was the time to make up a proper filler tube.

Also before leaving, I had tried topping off both batteries the week before and I had issues with one not wanting to get up to voltage. I decided to just bring the receipts and deal with that in Ontario. Well played since it had expanded. It was obviously no good and still under warranty. They exchanged it with no issues. What I did see while it was on the counter and pissed me off was that it was cracked around the battery terminal. This is the second time this happened, and it was on this batteries twin (I had gotten two for the Xterra to replace the Yellow Tops since I was short in funds and needed it fixed ASAP) and was denied warranty because of it. I swear I have never been rough on these batteries and can't explain this. And this has only happened ever in my life on those two identical make and model batteries. If this isn't a fauly design, hopefully not done deliberately to refuse warranties. I have found a great source for batteries (Sask Battery) and not likely do this route again. While Canadian Tire batteries are convinent to change under warranty at any Candian Tire store across the country, not if they're designed in a matter that they physically break and get refused for warranty claims then it's not worth it. Sask Battery had great prices on Odesseys and NorthStars and likely go that route in the future.

Back to the AC situation. I got an appointment at my cousins shop to recharge the AC. It worked and held a vaccum and blew cold initially, but the compressor was kicking on and off after about 2-3 seconds. He suspects that it's the expansion valve. I had ordered the valve with the rest of the components, but not realising that it required to remove part of the box under the dash, I didn't do it. At this point, ordered a new condenser and tackled those jobs once the parts came in and the trailer finished. My dad helping drill out a bolt that snapped when removing the bumper bracket. That expansion valve was a pain to get unscrewed, but hasn't also moved in 17 years.

Two other things that were done was to install the skid plates and also install new parking brake lines. We'll also get back to my touching those brake lines later. But for once, every task set out was actually completed. Despite spending much of the time working on the truck and trailer, it was honestly some great father-son time. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas, so this time being the end of August, it was around 8 months I haven't seen my parents. I really enjoyed my time home, but it was time to go. Minden Ontario here we come.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

We hit the road to Minden with a quick stop at Canadian Tire. Was suppose to say goodbye to my aunt but she was done early. Regardless, the point was to stop to get some kitty litter and a bucket. Her plan was to improvise a toilet with the toilet seat she picked up on clearance for $5. We retook to the road to nice weather but caught up to a heck of a rainstorm and a good downpour. We managed to get past it and with less then an hour to arrive and gas prices still resonable, it was a good time to stop for fuel and ice instead of trying to search around the small towns while we'll be anxious to arrive. Fulled up both the truck and the trailer (with 91 octane). The 20L jerry was already filled on the way down. With the storm catching up and the trailer hanging out of the gas station cover, I started to fill it first. I then moved to the truck but it was actually raining enough that I latched the handle and hid up front of the truck from the sideways rain. When done and the pump ahead of me was clear, I pulled ahead to take cover from the rain, especially since we were topping up the coolers with ice then and there.

Word from my friends is that we apparently arrived just after the storm passed. Trying to setup while chatting with people you haven't seen in a long time isn't efficient, but pleasantly frustrating.

Funny enough, setting up camp was actually the first time to even open and setup the Go Xplore changeroom. The setup went quite well but we didn't use tilt feature on my mounting system. My Paha Que shower floor was used as well. This is iteration number #5 of a shower setup and so far our favorite. I just need some sort of cover on the top to keep the heat in and also protect precious womens hair from the rain, if and when.

And here's an inside view.

The Webasto was used wonderfully very night. The second duct was left to make it easy to swap between the tent and the annex. One night it had dropped down to 4*C. The ones in their campers had their furnaces going that night.

All my GoPros were left behind to use for filming the murder mystery but the girlfriend did a great job with her cell. As much as I'd like to record it, I've moved away a bit from making video to just enjoying the moment. It's been 3 years since I've attended AW and I just wanted to enjoy and appreciate it. Day one of off-roading was an easy pleasure. A dozen trucks on trail called Gooderham which I believe is a level 2 or 2+ trail. Nothing spectacular happened and was a good ride to stretch the legs and get back into it.

That evening I had taken the girlfriend to let her learn and drive off-road on the trails at the camp ground. Ray's Place had a bunch of trails right there on site. I got her to do the green easy trail, but it got to the point where there was this climb that we watched some ATVs come down. We chatted with them and they as well thought they were lost, them also claiming they were supposed to of been on an easy trail. We also thought we were lost so I jumped in the drivers seat. The ATV riders wanted to watch me go up the hill they came down in my truck, which struck as off, but man, that was a hell of a climb I can't even describe it and how know why they were questioning themselves on the trail difficulty. At the top there were signs and mud holes that look like they weren't driven through. Not wanting to try to call for help on a trail where I don't know where I am, I decided just to turn back. Checking the trail online, we were indeed on the right "green" trail...I still don't believe it.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Sunday was a different story. There was discussion about which trail to take and a friend suggested to come with them for a small group of more experienced drivers on a harder trail called Anson rated as a 3+. The trail leader was a double locked Jeep on 37s. There was me in my gen1 Supercharged manual Xterra and a friend in his with similar modifications but automatic. A guy in a fully modified Titan Swapped 6-speed Pro4X Xterra and a Wrangler Limited followed at the tail. It was a long but fun day. Myself not having really any problems except on one climb needed a litle hand to ensure I don't break anything in my steering. A guy in the gen2 Xterra who got stuck many times, including a 2 hours stop in a mud hole in which our trail leader Jeep who attempted to get him unstuck had his serpentine belt come off and required letting the engine cool enough to get it back on. He got stuck mentally on a few obstacles, including a mild rubbing of his diff on a rock. The trail leader had his fan clutch let go so we had to let his Krazy Glue temporary fix set.

We started the day late and the sun was going down as we were finishing up the trail. We finally get to the service road to find out that a washout wasn't marked on the map. This meant that we would have to go the other way around and be a 2 hour detour.

There was a bypass which looks like it was done by ATVs. It went down into the river. I walked it all the way to the other side. I seemed doable and to my opinion; we've done worst that day. The unofficial vote? Me and the leader keen to take the trail. Both other Xterras wanted to turn back, and the Unlimited following was going to follow the group in whatever decision. The decision? My plan; the locked Jeep on 37s take the lead while I follow. If I can do it, the others can as well. Two small trees were removed to avoid damage from the off-camber turn on the descent and one on the way up to make the tight S-bend around a set of trees. Daylight had quickly gone and I had successfully made the run unassisted, proving that sometimes, light bars before lockers. I was ecstatic and the Jeeps passenger went over to tell them the news. As they did the descent I went down to meet to guide them on the ascent. Everyone made the bypass successfully with each a small tub on their respective winches and with morale renewed, make it back to camp at a reasonable hour. There was a barrier on the way out that had our hearts skip a beat, but it had an easy bypass. Apparently on the way out there were people around a fire at one of the houses we passed that had a puzzled look on where we came from.

We got back to the fire to tell the story of the day while there was a another group that had to return from their trail despite us getting back at 10:30pm. Once the whole group back together, we're treated to our traditional citronella bomb, but the Lite version as well

Monday was a relaxing day. Part working on the truck and part social. The mention of replacing the parking brake lines before leaving. Well there was a noise on the trail coming form the back. I pulled the wheel and drum off to see what was the problems and it seems that the drum brake adjuster that dislodged and jammed. I patched that up with some improvised grinding and it allowed me to get home without issue. Mind you, it wasn't an issue before, but there was a cause for concern that there's chance that the brake cylinders could over extend. To be honest, I noticed the brake feel was low, but I had so much on my mind that I didn't think too much about it.

I also noticed many sheered off and bent skid plate bolts, and also my rear shackle skewed just a tad. I could see that my frame is cracked around where I couldn't get to that area and reinforce it on the outside, but the inside tubing is keeping it intact and holding it all in place. I wasn't worried about it failing. The trail was quite rough and a heck of a run. I was happy that we installed the skid plates, cause they got used AF the day before.

Monday was the day to pack up and reluctantly leave. The long weekend over, we were to slowly make our way back to Quebec City.

And a photo of the trailer and RTT setup from the guy with the Titan swapped Xterra that we wheeled with on both days.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

The Xterra was now on borrwed time while I was shopping for a replacement, and of course this fell during the pandemic. The plan was to get another Xterra, a gen 1.5 (2002-2004) in yellow, needed to be manual but not need to be supercharged. It also needed to be rust free. I was also in transition from leaving the military as my 3 years of accommodation to my medical release was up while and also getting ready to start two years of trade school as a millwright and electromecanical technician. The overlap between the two was frustrating to say the least.

I did do an interview with a local radio station about roof top tents and brought out the truck and trailer for them to take a few pictures. This would end for 2020.







In 2021 I did some mild work on the water system of the trailer. We did a trip with her cousin and 2nd cousin and using my shower that I had to constantly refill the reservoir I got the idea to install an inlet and a valve. This not only lets me connect to the water system when available but also works as the perfect spot to feed in the air line to purge the system for winter storage, cause they make an adapter specifically for that!. It took some working, reworking and optimizing my Pex tubing but I managed to all squeeze it inside the box. I like this trailer project cause I have to work within the constraints of it's size and maximize the packaging on everything.

2021 was also the year of truck shopping and started off bad. I was looking at a few from the USA, but they didn’t want to deal with exporting a truck to Canada. One guy out east blocked me thinking I was a scammer. By the end of the summer, I was discouraged. My family and friends wanted me to look for something else, but I had no idea. I don`t want a pickup but I also want mid-sized and the gen2 Xterra didn`t jive with me, also having driven one the September before. We went camping for the Labour Day long weekend. The Xterra has always had no issues towing but it never lined long inclines. On the way to the Lake Frasier camping the hills of Charlevoix are steep. I ran hot on the way up the long hills, needing 2nd gear but not enough airflow doing 50km/h in a 90 zone and having to stop half way to let it cool down. Unlike the Cabot Trail, at least I had trailer brakes to handle the weight and not have that being an issue. It`s after all this and one day sitting around, scrolling around Facebook and MarketPlace is when something popped up that I had forgotten existed, the V8 Pathfinder. I messaged the seller and arranged to look at it when we went back home. I immediately fell in love with the truck, but not this one. Note that Canada only got them for 2008 and in 4x4 LE trim only. The USA did from 2008 to 2012, but the large majority were sold in 2008, and 2008 was the only year the SE and RWD options were available. This was a 2011 from the USA and looked to of had a rough life. The owner was supposed to give me a list of repairs due but he never did. Along with getting a quote for a paint job I figured it was best to pass on it, figuring it wasn`t worth the asking price. Now having a goal, I was shopping across the country to find a clean V8 Pathfinder. A few months later with a few dead leads I finally found one at a used car dealership in Vancouver British Columbia. Getting the history and good information, I sent it across the street to the Nissan dealership to get it inspected. They confirmed it clean, in good working order and the repairs needed were the same as listed from the used car dealership. Next I got it shipped the 5000kms/3000 miles from BC to Quebec. She arrived at 2am while I was sleeping and was like waking up on Christmas morning. That night I jumped at it replacing two wheel bearings and a ball joint to then drop it off to get it checked out and aligned. Once that was done, she was dropped off to get it`s final inspection to allow it to get plated. She did fail inspection, needing two new rear shocks, so I ordered the cheapest and quickest arriving Munroe shocks and installed them in the parking lot of the inspection center. As I was using the Xterra`s plates to drive it around I didn`t want to be on public roads except for the essential. The next morning, I went back when they opened, had just enough time before having to leave for school, got the inspection approved and got the truck plated that afternoon.






The Xterra was sold the following spring and was sad to see go. After 14 years she was my trusty steed had had great times together and couldn`t believe it was the end. As much as I loved the Pathfinder and is better suited to my needs today, it's a long way to properly replace the Xterra. The point of getting another gen1 Xterra was to transfer all my parts over, but now I'm starting from scratch with nothing being compatible between the two. Money from the Xterra will be going solely to mod the truck. For me the most important thing in my mind for this truck was locker, front and rear. The independent rear suspension makes it less attractive of a vehicle for off-roading but I figured that lockers would offset this downfall and I could build it to be more capable then the Xterra, also considering the Xterra was stick and that an automatic is supposed to be easier on the trails.





While this isn’t a worklog on the truck so I’ll keep it short to say that I ended up getting JBA headers as a first major mod. Not only were they best fitting one for the V8 Pathfinder but they were forced to shop production of all their long tube headers, forced a cease and desist from the EPA so I jumped on one of the last sets on Summit Racing as JBA was ordered to destroy their stock. Nissan can have issues with cracked manifolds and catalyst material ingested into the motor, scraping the cylinder walls, so knowing the motor was in good health this was in large part preventative maintenance and the side effect of being a performance mod. Doing the swap, I saw the factory manifold on the driver’s side was cracking and that the passenger side looks to of been already replaced. The headers require an UpRev tune, and so did the PRE GM 90mm throttle body upgrade at the same time. A for other mods, I did follow through and did front and rear TRE4x4 electric lockers with a 2.9 to 3.36 regear from a Titan/Aramada tow package trucks. While this is more about the trailer and not the truck, just a rundown on mods in the last 3 years; 3 lift, winch, 2000w inverter, LED everything, light bars and pods, projector headlights, solar panel, dual batteries, Kenwood radio and Falken RT 285/701r18 tires. Next is a catback exhaust, sliders and skid plates.

The Xterra with it's winter tires seems to have the same ground clearance as the R51 with it's 265/70r18 tires that it came with, which is slightly bigger over stock. It's also encouraging for the lift and mods to come as it means it should get much more ground clearance over my old X, but it's also longer with it's approach and departure angle significantly less. Remember that the Xterra has a lift using SLR UCA's an is maxed in regards to camber ajustment, as well as a 2" body lift but that's irrelevant in this comparison. Remains to be seen, but there's potential here for the R51 to be more capable then the X.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

2022 was the year I concentrated at getting the front landscaping done on the house and literally spent all summer, from May to September, working on it and the truck doing it's duty to haul material. It doesn't matter if it's stock, I'm putting it to right to work. I did a few mods on the truck which was making a rack out of extruded aluminum to mount my lightbars, a new one up front and the rear light and signal bar transferred over from the Xterra. This time around I'm trying to focus on making things light weight as I learned how quick weight adds up on the Xterra. I also installed the Red-Arc Tow Pro Elite brake controller that also used to be in the Xterra along with Airlift 2000 bags to handle the weight. How having a truck that could properly tow, I could use it as a car hauler and does make my life easier to take care of the winter storage of the RX-8 and not need a 2nd driver. I also got a good deal on an enclosed 5x8 trailer later that year.





That year what I wanted to do was go check out they overland gathering at the Casey Airstrip for the September long weekend. A found it sad as my camping prep for the season was basically done in September. I realized that my Eccotemp L5 didn`t survive the winter, again, and needed to be replaced. I also realized that my fuel tank was taking in water, contaminating the fuel and used a 10L jerry can to feed the Webasto for the meantime. Going to Casey requires some extra fuel. While there may be fuel at the Wemotaci reserve, they apparently tend to be unreliable as far as I'm told. Loaded up on fuel and water, the last fuel stop would be in La Tuque and would be here I’d have to return for fuel.

Armed with imprecise instructions from Google Maps and trusting my instincts we set off. The trail was supposed to be stock friendly and indeed it was. It looks to be partially maintained. Other then a downed tree and crossing a small stream crossing, the trailer at this point was more capable than the truck, but with the slightly oversized LT tires that came on the truck it did very well and had no issues. Unfortunately, winds discouraged many plans form attending but it was a relaxing weekend fill with picking blueberries. As for the fuel situation, I added 20L from my spare jerry can just in case and suspect that I may have just not had enough to make it back without it. What I would have been short in fuel I feel would have been the fuel I burnt gathering firewood. Writing this in retrospect as my fuel economy has dropped since the tune and modifications, extra fuel will be *required* the next time I go back.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

2023 was another story. I had gotten really sick and wasn't feeling well. Without going into too many details, I had become anemic and was eating to subdue the symptoms but I wasn't burning the calories I was taking in. I had started to go back to the gym in January but I was feeling more and more tired as the weeks went on. I was dizzy, tired, felt like the world was vibrating and sometimes had my vision close in or go dark like I was wearing sunglasses. I was forcing myself through my end of school at during my internship to trying to not look like I was incapable or lazy, running on coffee and chocolate to get through my day. Even after being diagnosed my first set of iron pills made me sick and want to throw up, the all-natural pills I then took as a suggestion from the sister-in-law still had my iron levels going down until I got a new prescription that finally did its job without making myself sick. I was fortunate to plan my career transition to not need a job until the start of 2024 but the summer of 2023 would I would be in a cycle that I didn't have much energy to be functional but needed to eat to feel better, but I couldn't burn much calories. I fortunately realized that relaxing and lying down made it worse, so the plan was to keep moving and work on projects that weren’t physically exerting. FYI to this day I'm still not 100% but recentlty found that coffee/caffeine makes me feel sick.

Back to the truck, I was lucky and got in on a Wam wincher group buy, 25% off, so I did the winch plate and modified it with 2.5 tubing to eventually mount a reinforced brush guard. Once the modifications were done it was sent out for powder coating. I modified the winch's control box to accept an external control for later in-cab controls, maybe even a wireless controller. I cleaned up some rust behind the fascia, painted the grill, did a 2-inch suspension lift top realized the front “lift” dropped from the weight, but ironically would level with the Frontrailer attached. Me and my dad had made our own solid aluminum subframe drop kit earlier in the year. Installing it I realized extended brake lines were a good idea an ordered a kit from Z1. After fighting with the snapped bolts inside the frame for a few days, I picked up an an air hammer that made instant work of them. While there I removed the rear sway bar. I did new brakes all around with new calipers up front while also painting them yellow as an homage to my old Xterra. I also got a driver’s side tow hook from the UK and also painted it and the passenger hook yellow. I also finally found a cheap Frontier brush guard but was south of Montreal.










Since I first bought the truck I've been on the search for a cheap set of factory 18" rims. I needed a set as I was paying to get my winter tires swapped twice a year but also wanted a set to be able to send off to get powder coated. My and by buddy Fred (finally) found a set at the exact same time, also in the area of Montreal. We took hs TDI to pick them up and I sent those were sent off for powder coating. In the meantime we found *another* cheap set in the area of his cottage which was a deal too good of a deal to pass up. When I went to pick up my 4 painted rims I dropped off a 5th for it to get done as I wanted a matching spare and he needed to see if he had enough paint to get one more done, in which he did. The tires were of course swapped over to the new rims once done.

In all of this, it`s been a few years since I had gone down to Ontario to watch the ALMS races at Mosport with my friends, so with my good buddy Fred, his new RTT and the bed rack we made the week of, we went down to enjoy a week of camping and races with friends. Putting the trailer there was a show for other campers, especially 3-wheeling it to park beside it. It was the first time I had done it in this truck, and also wish I had a rear locker.





Not long after my buddy with his Frontier invited me for a night over at their land. I had never been so it was a cool to see and a cheap and quick way to get out of town for a weekend.




At this point it's starting to look more like *my* truck, but still missing something....

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Once back from Mosport and feeling a bit better, I put the truck to the side to work on the Mazda2. The spare tire well has rusted away. I had gotten a clean one from a friend who had gotten t-boned in his early in the year and the trunk was mint. I wanted to get this done before it was unmanagable and lose the spare tire. At the same time gotten a UK rear bumper an an additonal light from Portugal to do rear fog lights. I had done a rear foglight on my MX-3 back in the day and the idea came back into mind during a severe daytime snow storm we had this winter. While I was in the truck during it, it was a reminder that being seen in those conditions are important and running lights during the day are almost useless when visibility is that poor. I had passed an Audi that had theirs on and I could see them much better the further then anyone else. When driving a small tin can surrounded by trucks and SUVs, being seen I figured is a damn good thing to avoid being squished. I had subsequently turned on my rear signal bar to solid orange to improve the visibility of myself, especially since my tail lights were easilly being covered by snow and literally cleaned them off evertime I stopped; the one downside to LED bulbs is the lack of heat they generate.

This also required modifications to the rear rebar so I made my own 1-1/4" trailer reciever along with a 4-pin trailer wiring adapter. it was a set summer and wold ran on and off randomly. I would be sunny and I'd have my head in the trunk to feel rain drops on my lower back. I`d drag in the welder and wait it out. It did however met me check for water inlfiltration points. I sealed everything that was body seams, bolts and gromets to see if I could stop water from coming in and pooling in the trunk. I then painted over all the seam sealer as I didn't notice I got the white one until I opened the tube. A Note from today is that I checked early this year there is still water coming in from somewhere but looks to be very minor, but the idea that it`s still getting in from somewhere bothers me.








As working on the Mazda2 was weather dependant I'd work on the brushguard modifications in the garage while it rained. Once the Mazda2 was done I could pull the truck around and work on the mounting and fitament. It still needs some work, especially the lower section as it affects my approache angle, which will be checked and modified once I get the lift finalized. I also I need to figure out how to remove the rubber as I'd like to get it powder coated once it's finalized. I love the look, especially from the front, but at this point something seemed off with how the truck looks. The front end and the stock suspension definitely doesn't like the weight.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

With summer officially coming to an end, summer decided to show itself. Seriously, September and October were the better of the weather of the year! I was feeling better, technically was planning on starting to look and to apply for some jobs but I couldn't let this weather pass by. What I decided is that I'd embark on the dual battery project. I had kept the Optima from the Xterra solely for this. I was told it wasn't possible because of some rear AC lines. I couldn’t find any information about this done in an R51 at all, never mind a V8, but I was going to give this a try anyway. Armed only with what others have done with the V6 Xterra and Frontier of the same platform I’d work at it bit by bit, bite by bite. I'd make it out of 1-inch angle iron as it would be easier for me for complex forms while keeping the strength to support batteries. I had literally worn down the grass round the truck from the two weeks it took to get this sorted out. Some minor modifications to the body around the original tray area along withs some added rivnuts, an added stud, a fairly modified power steering reservoir bracket from an Armada along with a new hose and a bracket to relocate the secondary relay box, everything fit. However the solenoid I got off Amazon failed shortly after. I should of known better and subsequently ordered a PAC 200 amp relay, same as I had used in the Xterra for many years without issue. Next on the list would be the Titan 200 amp alternator and another set of Rugged Rocks battery terminals to complete the electrical system upgrade on the truck









To finish off the year in mods I had found a pair of Titan Nismo intakes for cheap in Toronto and used them to replace the Z1 V6 intake tubing that didn't work well with the V6. Along with a new 90 degree silicone coupler, it fit and the truck was happy.



In February before starting a new job I went down and spent a week with my parents. For March it was beautiful in Niagara and one day me and my dad worked at replacing my front suspension to get the truck levelled out. Installed Bilstein 5100s set to 1-inch, Moog HD springs and transfered the 2" spacer over. This levelled up the truck perfectly. Going into an alignment she ended up needing two new lower control arms and a ball joint, the one ball joint I replaced the day after recieving the truck. They also squared up the rear. It seems it wasn't done properly when I got it aligned the last time. It also explained why my MPG droppe down to 16mpg. Driving around I was back to 21 but then I towed my dads trailer back to Quebec, and also did 16 for that 1000km journey back home.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

So how to 2024, which is already almost done. The truck got more mods, but the trailer finally got some love as well.

I had recently discovered that switchback LED fog lights exist through a post in a Frontier group. I had immediately ordered a set. While I don’t like yellow fog lights I find them ideal in the winter, to where the 22” light bar on my Xterra had a yellow overlay. This way I can choose which color I want depending what I need.






From there my buddy Fred offered his shop as a warm and dry space for me to swap over my headlights. I got a custom set from Josh at Automotive Electronic Solutions. Not only is their function impressive, I wasn't expecting them to change the look of the truck as much as they do. They still do need to get aligned. At the same time we looked a running a 3/0 wire from the battery into the cab. Instructons I could find on the net on it and how were vague, but with much disassembly it was actually much easier then we thought. I know 3/0 is *big* but I wanted to run a single like that will split to run my 2000w Xenarc pure sine wave inverter along with my lights and accessories.







It's then I noticed I forgot to order LED bulbs for the signal lights and ordered a set of 3157 Autixo switchbacks. When the weather warmed up a bit I went to install them and they didn't fit, not without some mild modifications. Even the owners manual was conflicting for information but it looks like it used 7444NA bults, but 3157 will work some some trimming on the base.



Up next was a little adventure to check out the total eclipse back in April. The plan was to head up this one mountain, but I must of gotten it mixed up with another. I went down 5km on what would be an unmaintained, snowmobile-packed road to eventually come across what looks to of been an abandonned Ford Explorer. Midly stuck and the eclipse starting soon I stopped to enjoy the show. Honestly, being in the middle of the woods with no other humans around, listening to the forest wake up after a few minutes of totally was totally, totally worth it! Turning around I got stuck, sinking down to my frame likely in an aread that wasn't packed down and the same reason why the Explorer got stuck. After some mild winching and constantly trying to about the 30km/h sign that I kept sliding towards, I got out and made my way back. Lockers would of been handy. Despite everything I signed out of the park after almost exactly one hour after signing in, not bad considering.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

So after all these updates will I get to work on the trailer? Yes, but one more thing.

We have our annual fishing trip but it got mixed up with budget and participation issues. As the brother-in-law normally not only organizes it, but normally does two back to back, one with his girlfriend (the girlfriend's sister) and then with us a week or two later. What we decided is that me and Fred will do an overland trip and join them for a few days of theirs. First I worked on the truck. I had found a 125w solar panel that fit in the dimensions of my rack and decided to install that for the fun or it. I also (finally) replaced the factory radio with a Kenwood unit. I wired up my 2000w inverter and replaced my generic 7-pin trailer connector with an OEM unit as the one I installed a few years ago had already corroded away. What had also corroded away was the axle-back of my exhaust and pulled out the section that was broken after the muffler. I would talk to several local shops over the summer and come out with no viable solution. They either want to install the stock V6 (they say it's the same as the V8) exhaust, ask almost C$3000 for a new custom catback or not want to touch it at all. That'll get done by a trusted shop and specialist back in Ontario when I go down for Christmas.







The last thing the truck got was tires. I hate tire shopping. I knew when I bought the Pathfinder I wanted something capable but less MT as I don't want it to be a dedicated trail rig and a great all arounder. It's wonderful on long trips and moving people around. I really I wanted an aggressive AT. Fortunately since I bought it a new type of tire came out, the RT. Oh man I was happy. The Falken RT came to the top of the list and Duraspec sidewall really attracted me towards it. Unfortunately it was only in a size bigger or smaller then I wanted. I took a chance and went bigger with 285/70r18 and spent some time to modifity the front mugflaps and a melt mod to accomodate the new tires. The rear seemed good so far. Even the spare fits underneath with some minor trimming of the bumper. Ohhhhh.....now the looks like something. Now she's starting to look like *my* truck....





Now the trailer? Yes, now the trailer gets some love. I've been simmering on the idea on making a version 2.0 based off of a gen2 Frontier short bed, but they're not findable in good shape or are expensive, expensive for something I'm going to modify. With the tank taking in water at the pump seal and also leaking at the split joint between the two halves, I had wanted to try a plastic tank for a gen2. I got one from a guy parting out his crashed R51 Pathfinder but it's just too wide and too oddly shaped to work, ignoring the fact that it fills from the opposite side. It's then I decided to say F-it and ordered a new tank on RockAuto. I drilled a hole for the insert for the Webasto fuel tube, but this time higher up. l cleaned out the metal shavings, primed and Tremblad painted the tank, despite it already having a coat of paint on it, then finished it off with rubberized rocker guard, giving extra care to the split seam. It's nice too cause this tank same with a new seal and ring. I installed the old sending unit and pump, with some extra sealant, and put the new tank into the trailer.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Checking the tent is when I noticed that that mice had gotten in and eaten the rain fly. I did my best to clean up the smell of mice urine on the canvas and tried to patch up the fly with tarp tape and 3M glue, but that's the best I can do days before heading out. Now that all the major prep is done, we were off to out trip. On the first day was just to get out of town and we stopped at this wonderful place by the St-Laurence River, overnighters allowed and we weren't the only one. Google maps shows a sign that we needed to buy something locally and display the receipt in the windshield but what we figure was the sign was a blank piece of plywood, and everything around was closed anyhow. Maybe it was too early in the season. We took out the BBQ to reheat my Tim Horton's pizza as a snack before bed. I took a shower, we both started our heaters and went to bed around midnight. I parked us in a type of half circle to protect out ladders, just in case cars driving by hit them.



Before heading into the ZEC we did stopped at a butcher for some meat, did our groceries and I topped up my water in a local fill and dump spot which is another great idea. I love how they accommodate and encourage travellers here. Plenty of no overnight signs in lots, but they also have plenty of dedicated spots for that too. The ZEC, which is public land but also controlled harvesting zone that is shared with campers, cottages, fishing and hunters. Our spot was beautiful and actually spent some time working out setups as some stuff wasn't completely done and between us we had enough tools and kit to do almost anything. After playing with my new Dewalt 20v chainsaw we sadly got a fire ban the day after, so it was something else to do, including my buddy Fred working on his lighting setup. Myself I had other concerns. I noticed a significant drop in voltage after the first night and figured I had maybe 2 more nights of power for my heater if I was lucky and we were here for 6. It looks like my batteries are showing some wear as I used to get 4-5 nights easy. This is where the irony of me installing my solar panel came to save the day. Partially, as I had forgotten the Coleman charge controller that came with it at home, however Fred had a DC-DC charger in his kit that wasn't yet installed that fortunately had a MPPT controller built-in. I ran some wire and adapters into the battery and the power output of the solar was impressive, catching up two days worth of charge in a half day. This would keep my setup alive, finally running out of power Sunday morning.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

The plans on that trip to join the sister-in-law had partially fell apart. The cottage in the "pourvoirie" (or outfitter in English) they were staying at basically gave us F-off prices for camping and fishing there if we weren't renting. What Fred knew is that our ZEC and their Outfitter shared the same access road, but the lands also shared a common border. All ZECs have downloadable PDF's for all the lots and roads and the app is *supposed to* put your GPS location on the map, but it's not the most accurate. The app also needs constant login which isn't useful when you have no cell signal, but at least the PDF is still readable. The map has 3 type of roads; gravel roads that can be travelled by car, then 4x4 trails and ATV trails. What we saw is that there is an ATV trail that bypasses the Outfitter gate and pops out literally a few kilomters from their cottage. Since I can easilly take my truck as Fred needs to pack up his tent and awning, we decided to explore the area and the trails an slowly work out way over. We also saw that the map wasn't the most accurate and upto date. Roads should be 4x4 trails, ATV trails what were actually roads. A trail that we couldn't find the entrance and technically started in the yard of a cottage. We slowly worked out way, trying to interpret the map and down an ATV trail, over a pair of streams and to the sign of a sign indicating we were changing terrirories and that it was illegal to hunt, fish or camp without registering. We laughed cause we weren't doing any of those. I passed through a fence and cement block type of open gate that I might of of fit through if I was Titan/Armada swapped and got back to an access road shortly after crossing it. We arrived and chatted, ate supper together and parted around midnight. This was also the perfect time to try out all of my lights, my lightbar, front spots and projector headlights with LED fogs. We'll say that this combination is plenty ample for my needs.




Back from out trip and very happy with the solar setup. I ran some proper wires and ran them up towards the front, ready for a proper installation. I now needed to shop for a dual battery MPPT controller that did about 12A. The controller would get installed under the drivers seat along with a new Kenwood microamp to run the factory subwoofer once I remove the factory Bose amp.



From there I had to move onto another project. I've been asked since late last year to repair the niece and nephews 6v BMW Mini Powerwheel. The issue was that the battery despite showing 6v just had no amps. Always wanting to, I got the idea to pimp their ride. I had started on a custom paint job but then we got the idea that it would be best that they each had their own. We found another one on MarketPlace and now my workload just doubled. I also had to refrein myself as I also was getting more and more ideas. It was about a months worth of constant work. I will admit that the paint job on the first car is better, but the electric on the second car was done much cleaner and more efficently from what I figured out on the first one. They love them.






And finally, my TRE 4x4 locking diffs with 3.36 gears (factory is 2.9) were finally done. I figured the shop that did the install of the lockers would be best to install them in the truck as I didn't feel like I had the strength to manhandle them under the truck. I just took them back, prepped the wiring and handed off the truck for the install. I've been anxiously waiting for this. It would make the first and only double E-locked Pathfinder in the world, and only one of less then a handful that are double locked at all.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I had dropped off the truck but the time it took to get them installed was longer then expected. I had an off-road outing with some local Nissan guys that would be the perfect time to test the lockers as it was stock friendly with challenging offshoots and would be the first real trail I'd hit with the R51. Unfortunately they finished it the Thursday before and the plan was to leave Friday. This meant I still needed to wire them up and ended up doing so the Friday that we were leaving. I did the main under body wiring in a protected and permanent manner but what was in the engine bay and especially the cab was temporary and my buddy Fred fortunately giving me a hand and built me a control box while I worked on the truck. Along with prepping for the trip we ended up leaving quite late and arrived at the sand pit around 2am. I was going to stop and crash somewhere around the half way mark but the girlfriend took over and it allowed me to pass out for about and hour and a half. We managed to find Fred, opened the tent, hooked up the heater, took a quick shower and went to bed around 3am.




The trail had went great but rained on and off that day. I was the most experienced of the group but not the most capable or modified with the trail leader having a Titan swapped Xterra. Off-roading with the trailer wouldn't work to my advantage but the lockers were amazing. Spots I had a hard time with was big rocks that the trailer would have to climb. I did the off-shoots and have been and always will be impressed with how well it follows and takes the abuse. Is was after this trip on why I changed my mind on building a version 2.0. All was going well until I hit one obsctable. The trailer was caught on another rock. I was double locked and trying to give it a little more and a little more. I was a bit high on adrenaline that day, having a good time and others were saying I almost had it, so I was giving it more each time. The one time I jumped, landed and heard a pop and a banging noise trying to move forward. I'm thinking I snapped a rear CV but on on further inspection it was the rear aluminum prop that that I snapped. It's also then I saw the rock my trailer was trying to climb and it was pretty much going vertical. We unpined the trailer, winched me out, and took two trucks to bring up the trailer. I then moved up to a flat spot to try to do a trail fix while the rest of the group continued on to the top of the mountain. My buddy Fred stayed back for moral support but also his Frontier wouldn't be able to continue on the rest of the trail as he didn't have the group clearance. I worked at doing a smilar patch with my gen1 Xterra snapped a U-joint and removed the driveshaft, unclip the slip yoke and use the same cooking pot to retain the slip yoke in place to make the 200 mile trip home in front wheel drive. The trick worked but have to use the pot backwards. Drenched and oily from the t-case fluid that leaked and rolling around the ground, I deployed the change room and took a hot shower right where the trailer was parked. The girlfriend got out some clean clothes for me and of course I'm walking back to the truck in a towel while the gang is coming back to meet with us. They oddly ask how long I have. I respond I'm good to go once I get dressed.







The next step was going back down the mountain. No one actually wanted to take the trailer to aleviate the stress on my truck as said they didn't have a brake controller. So despite it being crippled I took my own trailer back down the mountain myself. This went surprisinly well and engaged the front locker a few times to gain traction on some of the slight inclines. We arrived at the bottom, took some pics, talked about the day and most went back home. Me and Fred were going back to the sandpit for summer and to sleep for the night and the guy in the other Pathfinder followed us. If the weather wasn't so bad it would of been a great spot and night for a fire.




Discussing about this afterwards many think that the driveshaft may of been damaged with a weak spot from being hit. I honestly have no recollection about hitting it, on that trip or prior, especially that close to the transfer case. Maybe it was preexisting but we'll never know. Everyone says it should be impossible to break. I will say I was happy that the rear CV's didn't snap nor did the TRE lockers fail. Next mod is skid plates before I head back out on the trails. I'm also contemplating going to a steel driveshaft but that's also coming back with mixed opinions.