New Tires

I decided to replace the crappy BFG Longtrail tires before heading cross-country on vacation. I really wanted to go up a size, but on reflection I decided I didn't want to deal with trimming the wheel wells, recalibrating the speedometer, and losing fuel economy. So I looked at the options, compared tire circumferences, cross-sections, rim size recommendations, weight, thread patterns, temperature ratings, load ratings, wear characteristics and price. Ultimately, I decided on the General Tire Grabber AT² in my original tire size of 265/70x16. The tires with mounting, balancing and taxes cost me a total of $500 at a local tire shop, which worked-out to be cheaper than buying from TireRack, shipping and paying for the mounting/balancing. General Tire is also offering a $50 rebate trough the end of June.

Pros:

• Aggressive Mud + Snow Thread
• Slightly larger (.3" diameter, .2" wider)
• UTQG rating of 640AB (vs. Longtrail's 440BB rating)
• Much better dry and wet traction. Wheels no longer slip when backing-up my steep driveway, lane changing is more certain, corners can be taken faster without VSC kicking-in.
• Looks nice on truck

Cons:

• Slightly noisier. Not enough to really notice at normal or highway speeds with the windows up, but very noticeable when turning at low speed.
• About 7 pounds heavier per tire, so I just gained 28 pounds dry.
• They weren't free.

New GPS

The other thing I did was I installed the Nissan Personal Navigation Device housing with a Garmin nüvi 760 GPS Navigator. This is now my third GPS, and I'll post an article later about my experiences with Lowrance, Garmin and TomTom GPS's in off-road situations. To make a long story short, I am now happy with my Garmin, particularly with how it integrates into the dash with the Nissan PND housing kit, but i could have gotten 90% of the capabilities with my 4-year-old Lowrance had I done more research.

BTW, both the TomTom 920T and the Lowrance iWay 500c are up for sale on eBay (no reserve). The Lowrance is an excellent unit for on- and off-road navigation, is built to take abuse and is even waterproof (certified to 1m for 1hr). And as things stand, you can possibly get it at a great bargin.

I'll do a posting on the install and a review of all three of the above GPS units at a later time. For now, here's a picture of the finished product:



Skidplates

After weeks of trying to order the skidplates for a R51 Pathfinder Off-Road from local dealers, I finally gave up and placed an order with Courtesy Nissan. True to their reputation, their prices were very good, and so was their service. Two of the three skidplates were out of stock, but it only took two days for them to get the parts and ship to me. These parts are expected on Tuesday, and I'll report my experiences there.


New .Signature

See below...

The GPS install looks very nice. Can you tilt/rotate the unit so you can have a more driver oriented view of the screen?

Is the Nissan Personal Navigation Device housing something that you can order from Nissan? If so do you recall what the model number is or how much it was?

Thanks!

Cooper993 wrote:The GPS install looks very nice. Can you tilt/rotate the unit so you can have a more driver oriented view of the screen?

You can adjust up/down by opening or closing the cover more or less. The cover hinges are designed to keep it in whatever position you like.

There's no left/right adjustment, but neither my passenger nor I have any difficulty viewing in a any conditions from bright sunlight to dead of night.

donmigga83 wrote:Is the Nissan Personal Navigation Device housing something that you can order from Nissan? If so do you recall what the model number is or how much it was?

Part number 999q5-ku001, I paid $110 at my local dealer. I tried checking CourtesyParts.com but couldn't find the item, but I hear they sell for about the same, plus shipping.

I've been pretty satisfied with the Grabber AW's that came with the truck both for ice / hard packed snow and fuel economy.

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Wow, that GPS install is nice. I really don't know much about GPS devices (yet) but I believe the Garmin 760 has FM capability so one can get live traffic updates or something like that.

Did you have to tap into the Pathfinder's antenna?
How long did this install take you?

Thanks!

All of the 7xx series has a built-in FM transmitter to send sound from the GPS (directions, music, Audible books) to your car stereo. It does not tap-into your vehicle's antenna line, it broadcasts and your antenna has to pick it up. And, with Pathfinders (and many other vehicles), this is a problem because the GPS is in the front of the vehicle, but the antennas are in the back (rear-side windows). Making matters worse is, in many areas, there are very few unused FM frequencies, so often the car driving next to you or behind you is using the same frequency, and your radio picks-up their broadcast instead of yours. This seems to be a particular problem if the other car has a Sirius satellite radio, since those units broadcast is so powerful they will override the GPS in my car even when the Sirius unit might be several car lengths away.

The traffic is also broadcast FM, but a frequency range outside of normal commercial radio broadcasts. The traffic receiver is built-into the cigarette-lighter plug, so both power and traffic go up that cord to the mount and then into the GPS. The traffic receiver has its own, built-in antenna. I just had to swap the mount and cable that came with my 760 for the one designed for the 750 (no traffic) that came in the Nissan housing. I stuck that plug and cabling behind the dash, above the stereo, and it works fine there.

It took me about 1 hour to disassemble the housing, replace the stock mount and cable with the one for my 760 to support the traffic, and splice an outlet from a cigarette-lighter extension to the power cable provided with the Nissan kit. Then it took me another hour to wire-up, test, finish the install and clean-up.

MARKSPATH wrote:....The traffic receiver is built-into the cigarette-lighter plug, so both power and traffic go up that cord to the mount and then into the GPS. The traffic receiver has its own, built-in antenna. I just had to swap the mount and cable that came with my 760 for the one designed for the 750 (no traffic) that came in the Nissan housing. I stuck that plug and cabling behind the dash, above the stereo, and it works fine there.

It took me about 1 hour to disassemble the housing, replace the stock mount and cable with the one for my 760 to support the traffic, and splice an outlet from a cigarette-lighter extension to the power cable provided with the Nissan kit. Then it took me another hour to wire-up, test, finish the install and clean-up.

Mark,

I also purchased the 760 but its CLA was broken on arrival. The tip unscrews to replace the fuse. It's broke off at the base of the threads. It appears to be a manufacturing defect since the shipping and product boxes are pristine.

To make sure I understand your mod, you added a CLA plug to the Nissan Personal Navigation Device's wiring harness. You then plugged the Nuvi 760's CLA into the plug you added. Is this correct?

I'm trying to decide which way to go: use the 760 without traffic, hardwire the 760 cord to the wiring harness, or return the 760.

rlh2005 wrote:I also purchased the 760 but its CLA was broken on arrival. The tip unscrews to replace the fuse. It's broke off at the base of the threads. It appears to be a manufacturing defect since the shipping and product boxes are pristine.

To make sure I understand your mod, you added a CLA plug to the Nissan Personal Navigation Device's wiring harness. You then plugged the Nuvi 760's CLA into the plug you added. Is this correct?

I'm trying to decide which way to go: use the 760 without traffic, hardwire the 760 cord to the wiring harness, or return the 760.

I left the entire cord/CLA that came with the 760 intact. I cut the harness that came with the Nissan kit between the the plug and the fuse, and wired a CLA outlet to the plug, so the only fuse is the one in the 760's CLA tip.

If it were me, if I got the 760 locally I'd return it for another. Otherwise, I'd contact Garmin for warranty replacement.

Yeah, I leaning towards sending it back. I can return it at my local Costco Warehouse to return it without any problems. I emailed Costco Thursday and just emailed Garmin to see what my options are.

My hangup is I got the 760 for $349.99 (S/H included) plus tax from Costco.com. I cannot find it that cheap at a "reputable vendor" and it was a limited engagement item from Costco.

rlh2005 wrote:My hangup is I got the 760 for $349.99 (S/H included) plus tax from Costco.com. I cannot find it that cheap at a "reputable vendor" and it was a limited engagement item from Costco.

Return yours at a local store and order another from Costco. I've got a Costco membership and have had to do that a couple of times.

Garmin responded to my support email yesterday and is sending a replacement tip for the CLA. Returning the Nuvi 760 to Costco for replacement wasn't a good option. It was a limited quantity/time item and they don't have any more right now.

I installed the dock tonight. It was a fairly simple install. Only dropped one screw in the dash cavity (thank goodness for magnetic pickup tools) and one scrapped knuckle. I looks pretty good. I'll post pics later.

I stuck with the dock's wiring harness instead of using the CLA. The traffic option is $60/year (after the included three months run out). I don't think I need GPS traffic since Sirius's WashDC traffic channel covers my area and I have a Blackberry. Plus, I can use the Nuvi in other vehicles with the CLA.

We played with the Nuvi 760 during a trip to the local mall and back tonight. It works well enough. Only complaint so far is the maps are a little off. They have my house 200 feet up the street from actual location. It's not a GPS drift/error issue as the "where I am" is correct.

With the increased importance on hands free cell phone use, I am strongly looking at the Bluetooth capability of these Garmins for part of my justification. I just need a little push to get me over.

I would love to hear your thoughts as to how these devices perform in conjuction with your mobile phone as far as receiving calls, making calls as well as sound quality or anything else of relevance.

Thank you very much.

I'll look into the Bluetooth and let you know my impressions.