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GrandpaX

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Everything posted by GrandpaX

  1. I own a 2000 Xterra... it has the same problems with IFS steering that the WD21's did. It is funny... I didn't think I would miss the open-able rear window that much until it wasn't there. The glass in the Xterra doesn't open... boo! So get ready to grab the groceries or gear before it spills all over the driveway. In my mind the 4 door WD21 is king! Has everything the R50 and WD22 has with a nice price tag. Finding one in good shape is not what it once was.. however they are out there. The R50's really don't trip my trigger.. Not saying an sased early 3.5L with a 5 speed wouldn't be sweet!
  2. As long as my nine year old thinks that... I am good! Thanks Bro! However.... Just mounted a flip down DVD player yesterday. May make a cubby hole under the rear seat for the inferred headphones that go with. Watching craigslist for a cheap 94-95 to grab the newer dash/ front interior from. Boulder Nissan is checking for new Pathfinder stickers for the outside. May give it a new shot of color down the road... I am having too much fun tinkering with this rig. Good chance it will get A/C again with the new dash and be more of a daily driver than expected. If it ends up going down the DD path, the twin turbo setup may be ditched for a simple single turbo. It will be tuned for gas mileage rather than crazy power. There is an 86 300z ecu Nistuned... and there is a M30 ecu in that pile somewhere too. So a nice economy tune is highly possible. Who knows, a neat pathy on 35's that gets 25mpg and has 280 horse... it rings a bell right now with me.
  3. They started out as that... then we got to laughing how they looked more link Jelly Fish..
  4. Rock Ring are something I may make down the road. They are round and take a huge chunk of steel to make. On my list of tools to buy is the nesting software which automatically jams as many parts as possible in a givin area. It would work ok with this big round rings and a bunch of square smaller parts. Thus recovering what steel I can around the big leftover holes... So to speak. With this said what design would you have in mind? And how many of you guys would be interested... I could justify buying the software now if enough folks like the idea. Here is an idea what they cost. I am not sure they would be a big seller... However if there was a custom ring set you guys were dieing to have, I could probably come up with a price before you had to commit.
  5. So the nine year old daughter was helping me with this project. She came up with angry jelly fish skulls. "You, Mini-Man, takin' on the jellies. You've got serious thrill issues, dude. Awesome"
  6. One must first ask why? Is it going to be a dd? Is the wife/gal going to drive it? For a daily rig that other folks can drive.. links are the only way to go. If you just want a tall bitch for yourself.. leaf springs are ok. There have been many leaf spring rigs that end up coil spring after a short period of time. Obviously everyone is going to give you their two cents. However, you must figure out what you want. A rig built for your needs is how you should think. I have built quite a few different styles of SASed rigs. My "Beat to Hell" wheelin rig has leaf springs. It can be somewhat sketchy on the highway.. however I built it to be beat! So why invest the big bucks into fancy links etc. Now I also have a DD in the works that will be radius arm with coils and shocks. These tend to ride nice, sway a bit, and be predictable when hitting a bump while going around a corner. A radius arm setup can be built to require a minimum amount of exhaust work. Three link setups are nice too.. however they can totally be out of wack by not using a 3 link calculator. Lifting a 3 link rig, after it was built for a lower height, can also jack with the setup. Non the matter if you like working with steel you win. So have fun, post up some pics for the window lickers to enjoy, and make sure you reasearch what you want before you buy something you don't need.
  7. 63's are probably the best bang for the buck out there. The link stuff can get pricy and complicated... With that said... links rule! They just cut into the budget a bit.
  8. This front bumper removed the lower valence that your radiator mounts to. It is a one off deal that probably wouldn't be useful to most folks.
  9. You will see this truck in Moab pics... a rear bumper that is getting fabbed up for it..
  10. Search a little more... I can say there are many forums with this information out there. You need to think long and hard about the time it takes to solid axle a truck when the patience level is not high enough to search around and learn for a few weeks. R50=unibody This can be done and the unibody on a r50 blows away any XJ Jeep out there. Go outside and look at your lug nuts... then go look at a Jeep. There is something different about that Jeep axle. This has been asked many many many many many times. It normally starts with some Jeep buddy thinking his Dana 30 is the stuff. Well it will not work well without changing both front and rear axles and if I remember correctly the rear on that JGC has issues. Not trying to be a butt with this post. Just inserting some reality... If you continue on with the project, I can't wait to see it come to fruitation. Solid axles are the fix to many of the problems we have with steering, lift, lockers, gearing, etc..
  11. Tri tracks straighter.. and you are correct with shorter life span. Heims work better in that application.. being they do not have any give. Actually a 3 link would work well with what I am doing too.. the only problem would be I plan on towing with it... so the more links/joints to spread out the force/wear the better. I didn't take your statement as a second guess.. it was a viable question for sure. Being this is somewhat of a build thread I try to answer this stuff as if it applies to the build. Sometimes I don't have a ton of time to make what I type perfect.. just trying to get to the point and run. Can't wait to see your build!
  12. Take another look at the bump stops... :o) Everything was repositioned/raised 2 inches on the axle... uppers, lowers, panhard mount, and the stops for the bumpstops, Also check out how the rear mounts for the arms do not hang under the axle any more... :o) Two less things to get hung up on.. The springs are not longer factory in the back... these are some JGC coils that raised the rear two inches. So it ended up being a two inch lift (total) and runs 35's... So truck is two inches higher than stock and the arms are essentially the same angle as before. I may have said this before... but the idea would work great for an IFS guy who wants a two inch suspention lift. Cut all the stock mounts off... weld on a truss with new mounting points... run the same shocks, springs, arms, panhard as stock... only the truck is two inches higher. The rear link geometry would be nuts on stock... This is not a rock crawler fix... more of a fella wanting to run 33's with a tbar crank and the end effect being factory antisquat etc.. (Don't look at my link/spring setup.. think stock stuff all the way!) Just think... no shocks, springs, or jacked up pan hard angle... to deal with. (Add it up!)
  13. I think Rugged Rocks is your best bet... that ratio was never in an OEM rig... so deals are hard to find.
  14. With 37's the speedo is nuts on with 5.38's. So I imagine you are in the ballpark! What 44 are you using? Rodeo?
  15. This rig is my swiss army knife. It will be driven daily.. tow.. run trails.. etc. However this is not my "wheelin" rig... that would be my HB. The links are matched up, so it is just a matter of placing the mounts correctly. This can be a pain in the arse.. however once it is set it ends up being a long term "low maintenence" setup. They should be good for 100k or so....
  16. The Xterra uses the same drive shaft only with Spicer 1310 joints... Have one here from a fella who installed a Calmini SYE.
  17. Ok... so 9849CY was my Alaska license plate number... thus "AK9849CY" During Gone Moab in 2006 we were comparing the Xterra's to my Red Pathfinder.. I started the conversation saying the frame for the WD21 was purdy much the same as the WD22.. thus making the Pathfinder effectively the Grandpa of the Xterra's. For the rest of Moab they called my red Pathfinder "Grandpa X". It is my radio handle at Moab to this day... Moab Rim during 2006 Gone Moab. Back then it was maybe 50 rigs... now it is around 200 or so... More pics from that week.. Clicky
  18. Maybe get them mounted/cleaned up before Moab... Wonder if the clock could be stopped for a couple months..
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