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Comments
Bull Bars/Roo Bars
Four Wheel Drive Safety
It seems clear that bull bars can interfer with crumple zones and air bag triggering, and many are excessively dangerous to pedestrians.
Steve, Host
For example, in certain minor front-end collisions, nearly all grille guards will add to the amount of damage your vehicle sustains, because the top and sides of the guard will bang into the hood and fenders. Without the device, it's likely that the bumper alone would sustain more of the damage.
In more severe frontal collisions, bull bars, which replace the entire front bumper assembly, will greatly affect occupant deceleration dynamics, primarily because the vehicle's crumple zones have been significantly altered. If you replace a deformable plastic/steel/foam bumper with a rigid steel bumper, then impact energy will get transmitted directly to the frame instead of getting aborbed. In some cases, depending on the way the bull bar mounts to the vehicle's frame, crumple zones can even be partially bypassed.
My Pathfinder is equipped with a steel bull bar, primarily for off-road protection and winch mounting. It's several times stronger and over 100 lbs heavier than the factory bumper it replaced. I already know that the factory bumper can deform and absorb a 15mph collision with another vehicle without transmitting the impact to the airbag sensor, but while I have no desire to determine whether my bull bar will affect airbag deployment, I acknowledge that there is likely some risk that airbags may not deploy the same way under the exact circumstances as a stock vehicle.
At this point, I'll side with the Aussies and leave the physics for Tidester ....
Steve, Host
Definitely! But that alone doesn't answer whether bullbars affect the deployment of airbags. Given that the bars are attached to the frame, then whether deceleration rates are increased or decreased depends on the relative rigidity of the bars compared with the crumple zone. If the bars are more rigid then, being attached to the frame, they will increase the rate of deceleration causing deployment when it would otherwise not occur.
If they are less rigid (which I doubt) then the opposite would occur - deployment will be retarded.
As to pedestrians being struck by vehicles, SUVs are generally more harmful to them because their higher and flatter frontends cause momentum to be transferred to the pedestrian all at once. In the case of passenger cars, the momentum transfer is spread out in time reducing the likelihood of fatality. (This involves both translational and rotations components of momentum transfer with a large portion of the exchange occuring with the body being slapped onto the less rigid hood.)
Whether attached to a car or an SUV it would seem to me that the bullbar would increase injury (not necessarily fatality) to a pedestrian because momentum is transferred over a smaller area. This is like the difference between being punched with a boxing glove and receiving a karate punch.
tidester, host
We all agree - you love your PF with or without the bullbar! ;-)
(sorry - couldn't resist!)
tidester, host
However, the design of the Nissan guard, in my opinion, contributed to my PF leaving the ground. When you hit the brakes quickly the nose of the vehicle dives down. The guard has two curved vertical pieces in the front. The combination of the the two, along with a utility trailer with weight in it, moved the vehicles momentum from going forward to the rear end going upwards.
This maybe difficult to believe, but this happened in a real world crash. A 5000 lb. vehicle with a loaded utility trailer flipped end over end, landing on it's roof.
Just a side note the guard was attached to the frame of the PF and each bolt was torqued to 30 foot pounds, per Nissan specs. (that was for fleetwoodsimca)
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
Thanks
I just bought an '02 SE with 24K over the net sight unseen from "a national leasing company". Could not be happier. It did come with "excessive high speed shudder" when braking. I should have known from all the postings!
Called three local (KC) dealers and they ALL told me it was NOT covered under warranty. Life's hard, get over it.
Made an appointment for Saturday service. When I dropped it off all I did was tell them what the "symptoms" where. Went back less than 2 hours later and to my surprise... there was NO CHARGE!
Thanks for the information. I am placing an order from my Canadian dealer.
I'll let you know if I have any install issues.
I was assured by the dealership in Canada that the warranty would be honored down here. I would have maybe reconsidered the purchase if I knew it would not be covered down here.
Please help!
-Mike-
Try telling these guys that Nissan did cover Canadian cars in the US when you purchased it and you expect to be covered under the policy in place when you purchased the Pathy.
Dropping a hint that your next call will be to the Consumer Protection office of the local AG's office may help grease the skids a bit too.
Please keep us posted!
Steve, Host
Check your brakes, and replace the pads with new (higher quality) ones if the dust is that annoying.
When bunches of us bought Pathfinders in Canada in 2001 the last step in the process (besides figuring out how to spend $4k that you saved) was to call Nissan and get the warranty transferred over to the US. They sent you a form, or you could even go over to the local Nissan dealer to change it. I hope you did this, and if so, Nissan should have sent you a confirmation of the warranty transfer.
I had no problem getting some warranty work done here at home on my Canada purchased Path. My VIN is in the US system and they just look it up there. I know others who have had the same experience.
But in March 2002 Nissan stopped allowing the warranty to transfer. So if you did not do it by then you can no longer get it done. However the warranty would still be good in Canada.
-Jon
Another opinion -- I'm not disagreeing with fleetwoodsimca, just have a different take on the issue.
Regardless of whether you drive 3000 miles or not, I would recommend changing the oil at 3-4 month intervals. Just because the manual says it'll go 3000 miles (7 months in your case) doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea. Multiple short trips (which sound like your driving habits) are much worse for your oil than long trips. You build up contaminants in the oil much faster.
Think of it this way -- more than likely you just spent something in excess of $30,000 on your nice shiny new Pathfinder. It only costs $25 to have your oil changed. (even less if you do it yourself.) If you change your oil every three months you're only looking at $100 a year. If you keep the PF for 10 years, it adds up to $1000 in oil changes -- but how much is a new engine? $3000? More?
Oil changes are one place (imho) that you don't want to skimp.
On the Pathfinder, the top speed may not be limited by a governor, but by drag. At high speeds the drag of the Pathfinder is so high the engine may not be able to overcome it. You would have a hard time getting the Pathfinder to reach 100mph anyway. Besides, why would you even want to drive an SUV that fast? Do you plan to race it?
Xplorx4, to answer your question: "no" I do not plan to race with the pathfinder just curious...
Again thanks all for the info..
But
I asked about why the front end and the windshield was full of little very tiny chirps mainly in the lower part of the bumper and fog lights and the windshield.
The manager told me that my truck was somewht sand blasted..... ????? That I must have used it in terrible conditions for a long time.... and it was my fault if the truck was this way....
BS..... Over 99.8% of driving was done on pavement and I sometime used a gravel road as a shortcut like many other of my neighbors....
No one, not even my wife has anything close to the dammage I have in the front of the truck even though my wife has been using that shortcut for 2 years (my path is 8 months old....)
I think it has to do with the very cheap material, paint and clear coat that cannot even withstand regular abuse by the road.
Has anyone else experienced abnormal wear on their Pathfinder mainly in the area of paint and the front end of the truck???
I will call Nissan Canada to complain.. I've been driving for over 20 years now and never, but never any of my cars had a front end so damaged by regular use even after many years of usage...
A very unimpressed World....
I'm trying to decide between a Jeep Liberty, and a Pathy. My question is this, how does the pathy handle sand (i.e. beach driving), as well as snow driving, and any other opinions would be helpful.
Hopefully I'll make a decision soon and stop my head from hurting so much...
That one criteria should not be the factor that sways your decision one way or the other. What other criteria are you considering in your purchase decision?
15,000 miles
Thanks a bunch!
Anyway, coming back to PFs, I always liked them and the only reason why I was looking at QX4s was because of the huge discounts. But I am back in the pathfinder market now and all set to buy an LE. This is the quote I got for an 03 LE silver with Charcoal, DVD Ent system, Class III Tow hitch, XM Satelite radio, in cabin microfilters, floor mats, sunroof wind deflector, $30,950 + tax, title and freight($540). The MSRP is $36,590 and the invoice is $33,540. The price also includes $1500 Nissan rebate. At first I thought I was getting a great deal but after some haggling got the dealer to remove the freight($540) and reduce the price by another ($750). So, the final price is $30,200 + tax and title. This is a fully loaded LE with almost every available option installed.
What do you guys think, is it a good deal? I am planning to bring the vehicle tonight, please share your thoughts.
Thanks!
Steve, Host