couvboy

Hi all, Planning a 2400Km road trip this summer (there will be mountains), deciding on whether to pull a travel trailer or tent trailer. I've got a well-used 2004 3.5L V6 R50 with a listed towing capacity of 5000lbs....stock. Have done the SFD and AC Lift up front and have added some 33's (285/75/R16s) On top of that, it's got 280,000Km on the transmission.... Would like to make this drive without excessive worries about destroying the transmission..... Some users online suggest.... Tow <80% of your listed capacity = 4000lbs Decrease towing capacity by 400-500lbs per inch of tire height added (32.8"-29.1") = 2250-2600lbs Does anyone have any personal experience towing with vehicles with this modification? Any additional pathy-specific considerations? Any other suggestions on what towing capacity they think is safe and not overly taxing on the transmission? Otherwise I suppose I will shoot for the 2250-2600lb range (fully loaded trailer) Thanks in advance!

PS I got some Treadwright Retread 285/75/R16 Guard Dog M/Ts which were cheap but loud as hell. Put 3" aluminum spacers on front and rear to get my backspacing okay, no problems with those either.

I got the kit and installed it myself save for the steering rack rotation, very happy. The kit takes a bit of time to install but I have pretty basic experience and managed to do it fine over a couple of weekends. Steering Rack brackets are a bit of a hassle and I still couldn't get my rack to sit tight after the rotation--it would clatter over every bump etc. etc. Got a shop to cut and modify the bracket in town and now it works great. PS - I did not get the newest iteration of the steering linkage on KRFabs website, so maybe that new linkage makes things easier. I *did* also purchase the Jackson Autosports "Missing Link" cross-member. That was key and made a huge difference in the stiffness of the ride. I wouldn't install the SFD without it. Didn't need to weld any of the blocks. No wobble at speed. Been sitting on it for 15,000km or so and still holding up very solid.

Anyone managed to find any polyurethane bushings for the steering rack? Just wondering if there are any burlier options than the OEM bushings.

Do you feel increased resistance (and then a drop) in the steering wheel resistance as you do this as well? My guess is that your steering rack has come loose a little bit. Have somebody take a look under the front as you turn the wheel while stationary, to see if it is moving a few cm from side to side

Hmmmm, On a similar note, if you DO have the OEM side steps that are welded to the frame, do you think those are sufficiently strong to jack up the truck from?

Interested. PM'd you.

Just an FYI. After I did my 4" SFD (Andrew's/KRFabs' kit), I called the guys at 4x4parts and inquired about a custom front skid plate. They did it with a few weeks turnaround and for $160 total. Fits perfectly.

Very slick! Definitely beats putting bigger spares in the trunk

Those eBay coils look like $105 per coil. The description says "stock replacement for one coil spring, rear". What about these? http://www.xtremeterrain.com/rearcoilspring.aspx . $52 each plus shipping (which can't be too outrageous).

Hey guys, I didn't see any restrictions on it in the forum guidelines, so just thought I'd post a link to my 2002 Pathfinder Service Manual PDF (Owner's manual is included as well). You can open up each section directly, or just open "fwd.pdf" and link to the appropriate sub-heading (transfer case, suspension, etc). EDIT: Updated link. 02 Service Manual

Just put in Andrew's SFD kit--absolutely awesome, can't wait until my 33s come in! Did any of you extend the drop-downs for your rear sway bar? Or just disconnect it? Or neither.....

So, assuming that we have sufficient backspace to clear the front struts (3.25" or 3.5" or whatever), will we still run into issues with tucking the rear tires? I'm looking to get a set of cheap steelies with 2.5" of backspace--will my wheels hit the fender when the rear axle flexes? Or is this amount of flex too far-fetched?