Installing Rocky Road Super Sliders on Your Nissan Pathfinder R50

I’m not a hardcore fabricator by any stretch of the imagination. But I do love building things with my hands, and making modifications to my Pathfinder has become one outlet. Prior to heading on a cross country trip, I completed one last mod to the Pathy (a 2004 Nissan Pathfinder R50) to install some Rocky Road Super Sliders. This made sure that I had just enough protection to take on some of the off road routes I had planned while in Colorado and Utah.

As a modest contribution to the Nissan Pathfinder Off Road Association (NPORA) — that greatly helped my prep and planning — here’s some pics and details on installing these sliders.

Tooling:

• 1/2″ Industrial grade drill
• 23/64″ or Letter sized “P” drill bit for the self-threading bolt, and a 1/4″ drill bit for the supporting seam weld.
• Jack stands and lift (to hold the rails in place)
• 15mm and 11mm combination wrenches & sockets

Step 1: Fit-up

As I learned in years of manufacturing, check your fit first!! Take the time to place each rail on the rig, use the stands to hold them, and get a good feel for how you have to position yourself (if you’re drilling by hand like I had to). Also make sure you have all the parts. I had to request a second set of bolts from RRO, but the nice people out there shipped fast and no questions. [Thanks RRO!!]

Step 2: Drill Baby, Drill!

On the R50, you have six (6) places where you drill into the frame and two (2) more where you drill through a seam weld near the door. I used an alphabetic drill bit. Notice that at least one of the arms (the one closest in the pic) is close to a brace. You just have to notice where things (braces, mounts, wiring) are on the vehicle and make sure not to make a mess out of a pretty simple project.

The picture below is from the rear of the car forward.

Here’s a view of both the arm bolts into the frame, and the supporting seam weld bolt assembly.

Step 3: Bolt ‘n Go!

Once you’ve gotten the bolt holes drilled, you’ll likely have to play with the bolts a bit. The self-tapping bolts hold most of the weight and are responsible for transferring force from anything you hit into the frame of the Pathy. So you want to make sure those are fitted properly and don’t go in loose. The smaller 1/4″ bolts, washers and lock nuts can be upgraded to grade 8 bolts pretty easily at a local hardware or fastener store. (If memory serves, I think the ones shipped were Grade 5.) These smaller bolts mostly hold up the outside of the rails.

YES, I have stood on these! I have a roof rack and used these rails to stand on while loading/off loading things during my trip, so once installed these babies will hold the weight. I’ve also placed a jack on them and lifted the car just about a half-inch or so to see how they handle upward stress. They’ve been great.

Most important, I took these sliders to Moab and they definitely took a couple shots. Once you get them bolted, go give ’em a whirl!!

They work great, look awesome.