jlduthie

Hey that’s great, thank you! Just what I wanted to know.

Hey all, a quick search turned up nothing. Per the images below there’s supposed to be a dust shield between the baffle plate and the disc/hub assembly. The dust shield is discontinued and looking at FSM and Nissan parts website there’s not a continuation after 1998 but the baffle plate is different. Is there anyone who can confirm that the “new” baffle plate (post-1998) does not have a dust shield built in and that the part in question was apparently deemed unnecessary by Nissan? I believe the seals on the back of the hub are identical pre- and post-1998.

Aha. Maple syrup jugs a) was at hand and b) had the perfect handle to use coathanger to hang and catch brake fluid when I took the soft lines off. It’s well-labelled with skull and crossbones and has since found a new home. Here’s the manual page showing the location of slinger mounts: The front location is just above the alternator mount and below valve covers: The rear is on driver side and requires removal of a bunch of hoses for any kind of reasonable access. Because I had to patch my strut tower I also had the power steering reservoir removed which I think helped because I could reach from the front. Presumably if the engine is going to be moved at all most of this stuff will be disconnected anyways. I couldn’t reach down with the phone to grab a better photo I’m afraid but it’s down here rearward from the dipstick:

Late reply, but there are threaded holes in the block for this purpose. The factory sells lift points that bolt into these holes or you can do what i did when I installed my SFD and run bolts - I believe they’re M10 - through the chain links and use a spreader to avoid crushing the valve covers and other top end bits: The lift point locations are in the FSM but I can grab a pic when I get home from work tonight if you still need it.

I had one of these put on when my stock one fell off two years ago after 360K kms. https://www.flopro.com/max.html Not super loud and very minimally louder than stock when cruising on highway. Nice little burble in the cab.

That’s fantastic info to have, thanks for sharing that. I have a bunch of rust repair to do on the rear quarter panels so on the passenger side I‘ll make sure to weld some reinforcements on the inside of that area while I’m in there before I mount the carrier.

Yep. Inconsequential tire rub on fender liner at bottom on the very inside front at full steering lock but zero other issues. Did this on a stock 97 4x4 on stock 15” rims.

Wondering this as well. Sounds more like something beginning to wear and complaining at the limits of its travel

Are you sure it’s not just a worn belt squeaking? Changing the belts is a pretty quick job

Can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years! Over the last 6 months finally got the move done and garage set up so have had a chance to get some stuff going again. Pines to Spines 4” SFD painted and ready to go: Driver’s strut tower - product of wet leaves collecting and behind and under air box: and fixed (though welding won’t win any beauty contests): Once the SFD is installed the front end will get rebuilt- new PS pump, rebuilt CVs, etc and onto the sheet metal on the windshield surround snd the rear end: it sure had been great to get back to working on the truck. Going to get my 3 yo going on it with me soon - every day he asks if we can fix the truck!

If rust is an issue for you (perhaps not if you're in Orange County) I do not recommend the NAPA Proformer line (#PFC 104379). One winter in western Canada and mounting plate and fasteners corroded beyond belief. Redoing the front end now and had to order a new set.

No, but some trimming needed. I have almost the same tire and, post 2”-lift, have those wheels as well. There was some rubbing both pre-lift (stock 98 XE wheels) and post lift. Fender liner and splash guard need trimming.

It’s probably easier to just replace the entire arms. I’d do ball joints etc. at the same time as you’ll have to pull them apart anyways to get the control arm off. I had a HELL of a time getting two of the rear bolts out. Grit collects on top of the subframe where the bolts thread and worked it’s way in as I was unthreading the bolts, galling the threads. I ran a rethreading tap before installing new bolts and had no issues after that.

Faux carbon fiber came stock on this model for that year; I haven't replaced any interior trim. Good luck with that hum! Hopefully it's nothing major.

Glad you got it working!!! Just brought it to a local exhaust shop. Told them I wanted something a little more aggressive than stock that would still be reasonable at 110 kph on the highway. Brand is Flo-Pro. I’m not sure of the exact model (other than that it’s from the Max series) but this is the website: https://www.flopro.com/max.html

Yeah they're 15". 8" wide, -19 mm offset.

I agree. Haven’t tried it as mine was under coated from new, but have heard good things about the oil-based spray on products. I’ll be using Rust Check when I’ve replaced all the rusty panels.

Been a while! The thread linked to the previous post is a fantastic resource. Just a couple small updates: 1) Earlier this year the exhaust rusted off aft of the muffler so replaced muffler and everything back. More aggressive than stock - sounds fantastic at 2500+ rpm with the pedal down - but as quiet as stock when cruising. 2) Hella 450 fogs to replace stock. Removed a section from bumper to accommodate larger fogs, filled the voids, and prepped and painted entire bumper flat black. 3) Indicator for hubs locked/unlocked. Just an illuminating switch wired to ACC wire for head unit. 4) Full exterior LEDs minus front indicators, headlights, and fogs. Load resistors for rear indicators to avoid hyper flash; attached to inside of rear light housing with heat-conductive double sided tape. 5) SFD kit from Pines to Spines is sitting in a shipping warehouse in Montana waiting for the border to open... No access to garage at the moment so likely that’s it for the winter, though I may try my hand at upholstery and repair the driver’s seat. Everything I’ve found in a yard has been pretty nasty looking. Major plans for next year or two include the rear tire carrier mod, new fenders at all 4 corners, new rockers, SFD kit with 33s, and possibly gear ratio change plus/minus Lokka for the front diff. I’ve toyed with the idea of a SAS for the front and a heavier rear axle along with a Cummins 4BT but that fab is on hold for a long while and I think that motor is just too heavy.

Great guys to do business with.

Buy new lights ? The housing is aluminum and the screws on the back side are steel. No way to replace bulb without pulling the back off, at least on my 1998. Twisted all 4 heads off the screws (after 48 hours soaking in PB blaster), tried drilling out, and then gave up. Hella 450s on there now, although they don’t fit without removing the horizontal bar below the factory fogs.

Pre-1999.5 here. Upper direct, lower drilled out to 1/2” for use with sleeve supplied with shocks.

Drilled the mounts out to 1/2”. It’s a .028” increase in diameter so lots of material left. Then just used the supplied 5/8 OD 1/2 ID sleeves with grade 8 bolts.

Once the filter's broken loose, wrap it in a plastic bag with some paper towels inside and spin it off.

Likewise. For sake of completeness (and green lights!).

Great to hear you got the HVAC done and thanks for the heads up about the wiper switch! My ashtray bulb was permanently fixed as well. I ended up breaking the bulb so trimmed the plastic housing and soldered an LED in place and glued it back in.