Balmer

Tell you what guys... We could do a Hope run in Setember or October if any of you are up for it. There's some pretty sweet trails up my way (I can post some pics if there's interest) that include wicked views, sweet wilderness campspots (that are usually unoccupied in the fall), varied challenges, obstacles and "hard routes" that are optional if your worried about damage as well as plenty of wildlfe. Also if anyone wants a place to crash for the night, I've got a couple of spare rooms, a fire pit in the yard and my yard ends at the Coquihalla river, so it makes for a good "base". The trails are within 20 minutes of my place for the most part. I did a similar deal with a bunch of the guys/girls from FIBC and it turned out great - everyone had a blast and if we put this one together we might have some tagalongs too if you guys are up for it. The last time we went up Garnet creek to Harrison, but this time I'd like to hit some of the more challenging stuff on Garnet, American and Nickelmine. Stokers are still fine for these trails - I took mie up them all the time with 31's and no lift at all, you just have to take the easier routes at times. Any interest?

My exhaust actually vibrates against the floorboards on climbs due to me smashing it on rocks so many times... . My solution will be a body lift this fall.

Well deserved, nice one!

Hey Mr. Jim... It would be great to see you up this way when you get your rig back... how 'bout joinin' us for a faser canyon run? Check out the thread "Lower mainland truck status". I've also been through one hell of a break-up recently. Hitting the trails definately helps the ol' heart a little. I feel for ya buddy, hope the medical issues are all worked out for you too. Darin

Calmini, Rugged Rocks...

What's the best place to get a decent C/L? Anyone know anywhere in southern BC? How much are they?

Yep...American creek/Garnet is one of my mainstay trails! there's lots of good mild stuff and there's some wicked washout challenges towards Garnett. The access is still open. Nickelmine is even better and just up the highway. Lets get together and hit 'em up! The FIBC crowd are pretty ruthless alright, but once you get in there, you're in! They're a decent group for the most part, but a thick skin is MANDITORY with those folks! NEVER take greif for driving a pathfinder... our's are some of the most capable IFS rigs out there. I go wheeling with lots of "non-cliquey" FIBC'ers, it's all good. Check out Reeseman's stock bronco... he very rarely gets any flak about having a stocker, it's all in the atitude, just give back what you get!

Coincidently, you came up with a proper sentance... congrats!

Sticker n' shirts are a great idea!

I'll be donating $20.00 CAD on Fri (payday). Good karma baby, good karma! I'd like to say that I'm proud to be a part of such a genuinely decent group of people!

Oh, come now, just 'cause I'm willing to bend sheet metal doesn't metal doesn't mean you have to! There's an "easy" way through almost all of the trails up my way if you're worried about damage. Harrison or Davis would be cool too... we'll pick something reasonable : ). Are any of you guys on funinbc.com? We've got a newbie run coming up at Davis that promises to be a blast! It's on Aug 23, check out the site if you're interested. It's a great way to meet locals!

Maybe we could figure out a lowermainland or fraser valley/canyon run in early fall - something IFS friendly! Anyone interested in setting something up?

I just replaced the torsion bars and crossmember in my rig. That stuff will be coming out in the fall and my D60 is going in. A 14B is giong in the back, along with a bunch of other stuff. I would LOVE to meet up with other southern BC Pathfinder enthusiasts! SmithK, Maybe we can swap some ideas and info in regards to SAS? Zibi and others, I'm sure there's lots of info we could trade too! I'm in Hope, but I go down to the lower mainland once in a while if anyone wants to meet up for a beer and a chat. Also there's some sweet trails and camping areas up around my place if anyone's interested in getting out this way.

Stupid torsion bar set-up is back in - no problems with the install. It was much easier than I had figured it would be. I cranked them up an additional inch so that the truck sits perfectly level now. Good enough for a couple of months, then the SAS finally begins in earnest!

So after a month long absence, not much has changed. Things have been challenging lately but getting back on track. I'm hoping to pick up my driveline and start prepping it by mid august. After checking out the poly performance kit I'm thinking that it would be the best way to go, but it will definately slow my progress due to cost. I'm going to save for it, but if I can figure out a cheap n' easy way to do a radius arm set up on my D60 I might do it as an intermediate step. Damn I'm sick of IFS!!!

FINALLY picked up a torsion bar and cross member set up the other day, one of the adjusters came off easily the other is soaking in deep creep at the moment. I'm going to attempt to strip the set up down and clean, paint and intall it tonight. Back to crummy IFS for now!

Ya, ok I feel stupid! Still, I can't see putting a leaf set-up in a rig that came stock with links... it just seems like retrobuilding to me. Not to knock the flex of SOME leaf sprung rigs out there. And that's one of the few moded Bronco2's I've ever seen and by far the most flex I've seen out of one! I guess my reason for slagging leaf suspension is that I have a near stock 'Finder that is AT LEAST as capable as my buddy's YJ that he's put like 5 grand into. Were both decent drivers and he always blames his leaves for a lack of flex when I go through something he thinks I won't be able to follow him through. They really do seem to hold him up compared to coil sprung TJ's.

Nice looking rig in your avatar! Do you have any build info?

Thanks for the help as always! My Nissan specific posts will all reside here from now on, I'll leave the local and general stuff on FIBC. Well, this whole thing is definately picking up speed! The build will hopefully be completed over this winter, but the parts collecting begins now! I'll look into those link kits for sure...good to know there's a starting point available - I figured I'd be starting with raw materials and doing it all from scratch. I'm planning on using the 205 T-case, wouldn't this allieviate the pumpkin on the wrong side issue? Origionally I wanted to do the radius arm thing for the front but now that I'm likely going Chev axles instead of Ford I figured that I may as well link it? Do you think it would be easier/cheaper to fab up radius arms (I think they're also referred to as cage arms) with Johnny Joints (or whatever those joints that allow for misalignment are called)? 180sx, far as amount of lift goes I'm looking at keeping it as low as possible while having the clearance for at least 39" boots. Pathy87, how long have you been running your linear springs? I know you have yet to decide which springs you like better but what differences have you noticed between the progressive and linear coils?

Thanks for the response! I wound up having to pull BOTH T-Bars AND the cross-member to which they are mounted as the adjusters are SERIOUSLY SIEZED on and will not come off! So now I need to replace the whole deal as a unit...including the 1 new LCA anchor. The passenger side T-bar was engaged with about 1/8" of spline showing, just as you said it should be. The grooves in BOTH adjusters were in the correct positions and the C-clip was installed, in the corect position, on both adjusters. Seems weird to me that the drivers side could have been backed out so far given that all the reference points lined up? I guess I'll just be very aware of the spline depth when replacing the bars and if there's a descrepancy I'll make up some kind of spacer that brings the anchor aft about 3/8" and install the bolts reversed as you suggested. It's only a few more months 'till it's off the road for SASing anyhow!

I'm overwhelmed by the response to this thread!

Thought I'd touch base with ya. I'm doing a SAS this winter also. I got a great deal on some pretty gnarly parts from a '79 Chev 3/4 ton so away I go! Turns out my stuff is pretty similar to yours so I'm curiuos to see how your build comes along. My stuff: SM465 4-spd (planning on trading it for a T-400 since I love autos off-road) NP 205 T-case 14 Bolt FF D60 (with Warn Gold Series hubs) I want to do a triangulated 4-link in the rear and likely radius arms and a track bar in the front (I think that's what you're refering to as "cage arms"). Initially I'll be adapting the stock trans to the 205 but eventually I want to use a T-400 with a stock, injected 350 4 bolt. Good luck with your project, I'm eager to see the results!

The torsion bar anchor on my LCA stripped out a couple of weeks ago and I need to replace it. Has anyone else had this issue? I've removed the torsion bar from the LCA anchor and this afternoon I'm going to try to remove the anchor from the LCA (three bolts n' nuts - not captive nuts either). I'm not sure that I'll be able to get new bolts through the LCA if one or more of them should break - there seems to be very little clearance between the LCA and the crossmember to which it is mounted. Do I need to remove the LCA in this case? Also I noticed that the splines of the torsion bar were only engaed about 40% of the way into the anchor (about 3/8" of a possible 1" or so). Is this normal??? It sems to me that the splines should be almost entirely engaged with just a bit of play for expansion and shrinkage as well as enevitable fore and aft movement within the chasis. Should I plate the LCA behind the anchor to bring the anchor back another 1/4"-3/8" to allow more engagement? Any input is appreciated on this one...I'm doing a SAS over this winter so the less time, effort and $$$ into the damn IFS, the better!