MIXED ROOTS | Tommy’s Bodydropped 2008 Nissan Pathfinder

A Collaboration Set to Perfection

WITH 7,500 MILES BETWEEN THEM, CUSTOM TRUCK BUILDS OVERSEAS IN AUSTRALIA PLAY A HUGE INFLUENCE ON NORTH AMERICA CULTURES. Tommy Harmer of Las Vegas has always had the truck bug and spent most of his childhood admiring the details and custom additions to trucks in his area. Once social media opened up cultures around the world, influences began to filter in from everywhere. With a couple of Chevy minitrucks under his belt, Tommy began to think broader and look for wider creative outputs.

Through the Internet, Tommy came across a Nissan Pathfinder located in Queensland, Australia, owned by Sean Bloemers.

“I remember the first time I saw the Nissan,” Tommy said. “There was something about it that just mesmerized me.”

Over the course of the next few months, Tommy and Sean became friends and he shared how difficult the build was, which made Tommy want to get one even more. He was able to find a used 2008 Nissan Pathfinder at a dealership that was in decent shape.

“I didn’t want to purchase a brand-new Nissan,” Tommy said. “I knew that I was going to chop it up.”

The sound system was first as Tommy tackled the work himself, adding a full Rockford Fosgate-powered sound system starting with a Pioneer head unit at the helm. The next step was the hard work with Tommy separating the body from the frame, giving himself about a foot of room to work in between the two.

A temporary frame table was constructed to keep everything square. Tommy “Z’d” the front frame section and then cut sections under the seats while replacing them with box steel frame rails so the seats didn’t raise up like a traditional body drop. From there, Tommy worked on the rear end. The firewall was tubbed for the wheels to clear as well as the door frames. The most difficult part was fabricating the front suspension. Custom drop spindles were created by cutting stock spindles apart and boxing them back together with the drop and fabricating uniballs on top for travel. A pivoting bag mount was added to the lower a-arm to increase the amount of lift the bag gives the Nissan.

All the floors were cut from the front seats back and reworked in new sheet metal. Tommy’s brother Chase built a new fuel cell and mounted it underneath the new floor in the rear along with the other air components. Once the suspension and adjustments were made, Tommy enlisted good friend Charles Devlin for bodywork, which was done inside his home garage. Once the bodywork was completed it was time for a new coat of paint.

ONCE THE SUSPENSION AND ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE, TOMMY ENLISTED GOOD FRIEND CHARLES DEVLIN FOR BODYWORK, WHICH WAS DONE INSIDE HIS HOME GARAGE. ONCE THE BODYWORK WAS COMPLETED IT WAS TIME FOR A NEW COAT OF PAINT.

“Deciding a color wasn’t easy,” Tommy said. “I gave that task to my girlfriend Liana to decide.”

After seeing a Jeep Wrangler in Rescue Green around the area, she chose that color for the Nissan, and Charles covered the entire Pathfinder in new paint.

Under the hood, Tommy’s brother Chase built an intake manifold and added a cold air intake so everything would fit under the hood with the body drop. This allowed Tommy to avoid having to do any cutting or adding a cowl hood to the Pathfinder. For performance, Chase installed a full custom exhaust from the header back. The last step was on the inside, assuring the clean feel of the outside carried over with an upgraded sound system and new carpeting.

Tommy was able to turn a stock Nissan Pathfinder into something he can be proud of and show with pride. From the Australian roots of Sean Bloemers’ body-dropped Nissan Pathfinder to Tommy’s custom body-dropped Pathfinder, it’s clear that the custom touch isn’t set in any specific region. For SEMA 2018, Sean was able to make the trip from Queensland to Las Vegas and the two finally got to meet each other in person.

“I let him drive the Nissan around the Vegas Strip,” Tommy said. “It made him want to change some things up on his own Pathfinder back home.”