Mrs. Prime's 2011 Pathfinder

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
But wait! It isn't an X!!!

But it kinda is.

So here we are.

Picked this up with 45k on the clock and the extended warranty to 7/75k. For about 5 grand less than retail.

2011 Pathfinder LE
- VQ40 v6
- Dark Sexy Slate
- Graphite Leather
- 4WD
- Heated everything
- Sat Nav
- XM
- Back seat DVD
- 3rd row seating


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Mods to come.... Some of these are going to be super obvious.

- LEDs. All of them. Duh.
- Complete color change to white on the night time illumination
- Remove / replace ALL wood grain interior panels
- Sat Nav lockpick so interface can be used while vehicle is in motion
- Hidden chargers for phones, iPads, etc
- Helper air bags in the rear suspension
- I'd really like to black out all the chrome, but the Mrs has the final say so on that
- headlight/fog upgrade. I haven't determined if I'm going to do LEDs or another HID retrofit.
- Full WeatherTech or Husky floor liners
When these tires go which will be a while as they're brand new, I'll be getting some slightly larger AT tires.

Any power mods you guys can suggest will be welcome as I know very little about the VQ40 platform........ Yet......
 
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Pro-2X

Suspension Lift
Location
Rockmart, GA
Not sure if it has the same y-pipe that the Gen2 X does, but if it does, removing that was my biggest performance increase.
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xterror04

Site sponsor
Founding Member
Location
Carlisle, Iowa
Hrmm..... PRG makes a 2" budget boost. For less than 300.
but then you need to buy camber bolts for all 4 corners... We also have a 2011 and we get decent mileage out of it... I would recommend putting air lift bags in the rear and leaving it... I personally wouldn't even do larger tires... I mean are you really ever going to need them? Plus they are damn expensive for the 18" wheels... As much as I would love to mod our it has the air lift in the rear to keep it level when towing, an upgraded stereo and a k&n drop in... And we get 18-22mpg and it's very comfortable on a long drive.... I had a volant on it but it was just to damn loud... It's nice to have a family road trip cruiser that's quiet... That's just my take.... On the other hand of I win the lottery mine will get Titan swapped, run a solid rear axle and 35's lol
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Nice! You'll definitely want the rear air bags. My parents have a 2008 SE with the VK56 and they love it, but with people in the back it bottoms out pretty easily.
I really wanted the 5.6. But the only one I could find that was worth a damn was 6 hours away and 6k more.
 

ryandavenport

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Middle Tennessee
I really wanted the 5.6. But the only one I could find that was worth a damn was 6 hours away and 6k more.

Yeah they are extremely difficult to find. The power difference feels substantial being that my X has 34" tires and full armor, but I imagine the VQ40 on a stock vehicle feels pretty good.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
I'm not all that broken up about it though. The v8 I was looking at was this exact same truck, just with the different axles and engine. Literally. Same color, year, options, but more miles and less warranty.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
but then you need to buy camber bolts for all 4 corners... We also have a 2011 and we get decent mileage out of it... I would recommend putting air lift bags in the rear and leaving it... I personally wouldn't even do larger tires... I mean are you really ever going to need them? Plus they are damn expensive for the 18" wheels... As much as I would love to mod our it has the air lift in the rear to keep it level when towing, an upgraded stereo and a k&n drop in... And we get 18-22mpg and it's very comfortable on a long drive.... I had a volant on it but it was just to damn loud... It's nice to have a family road trip cruiser that's quiet... That's just my take.... On the other hand of I win the lottery mine will get Titan swapped, run a solid rear axle and 35's lol
You raise a good point. I just can't leave anything alone. Heh. Gonna focus on the lighting and tech. Probably will do a K&N drop in.

Question on the airbags. How do you adjust the pressure? Just a Schrader valve on the back somewhere?
 

xterror04

Site sponsor
Founding Member
Location
Carlisle, Iowa
Yeah, the kit comes with 2 valves you can run them both off one or both separate... I ran both separate... They take about 5 seconds to fill all the way up... We run ours at 20psi for normal use
 

Timrich

Super Duper Moderator
Founding Member
Location
Central FL
Congrats! Nice Pathy. We looked at one before we got my wife's Sequoia and she wanted something with more interior room. It is nice having a quiet comfy rig for long trips.
 

Pro-2X

Suspension Lift
Location
Rockmart, GA
Who doesn't love a nice Family Truckster
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Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Interior LEDs are done.
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5 of them. That wasn't cheap. But worth it.

Brake lights are here, but I want to get the reverse and turn signal bulbs so I can do them all at once.
 

Rammer'sX

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Sylvan Lake, MI
Congrats on the new acquisition. Here are some performance mods for this engine:

Remove y pipe/replace muffler with magnaflow 12580 - look for coupon for advance auto parts in retailmenot that will get you the muffler for $85 shipped

Replace sparkplugs with Iridium

XTP IMS (do the plugs at this time)

Drop in Performance filter/CAI

Idle relearn

Gas pedal relearn

ECM relearn

Headers (doug thorley shorties or long tubes)

Tuner options:
-hypertech is better than superchips,
-superchips has more options,
-bullydog gives live monitoring
-uprev gets the most power, recommended with multiple performance mods

Seafoam treatment: 1/3 bottle in gas tank, 1/3 bottle in crankcase, 1/3 bottle in vacuum line

Clean intake, clean throttle body, add oil catch can.


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Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Wow. Thanks for the heads up. One thing I have noticed is that the transmission likes to be in a taller gear than the engine is happy with. So the engine is only running at about 1200 rpms and trying to pull along in 4th or 5th gear. And it does not sound happy about it. I'm wondering if that's something I can adjust with a good programmer.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Are there links somewhere to these "relearn" procedures you mentioned? And also, iridium spark plugs? Being an old-school engine guy, I've never understood or had good luck with these kinds of plugs. My Ford's always get regular AutoLites, and the Nissans get regular NGKs. Is there a significant difference on this platform to switching to fancy spark plugs?
 

Rammer'sX

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Sylvan Lake, MI
No, unfortunately the programmers do not adjust transmission shift points in these engines. The towing tune from Uprev will have a higher tranny fluid pressure that will help it delay the shift a little, that is what I was told but when towing it did made a difference.

Superchips also has a towing tune but I am not certain what it does.

When Im driving city I usually disengage the O/D to avoid it going into 5th speed, the engine is a little more responsive when pressed on the gas ad it doesnt has to downshift.

Forgot to say, you can add a secondary tranny cooler and do the tranny bypass. Check for smod. Real cure for smod is replacing radiator.

For suspension stiffening upgrades (affordable) do the helper springs in the back and the sumo-springs CSS-1094 in the front, about $150 for front and back.




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Rammer'sX

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Sylvan Lake, MI
Sparkplugs double platinum and iridium are pretty close but it is said that iridium has a stronger tip which will last longer and will produce a stronger spark. Costwise they are pretty close one to the other. NGKs or Densos are good for asian engines


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