Jump to content

88 Pathfinder suspension questions...


DukeDuke
 Share

Recommended Posts

I am in the mist of getting a 1988 Nissan Pathfinder V6 4x4 from my uncle when he purchases his new frontier or titan. He got it brand new, and everything that is been done to it has been at a Nissan dealership. I as well have a Nissan Maxima, which I have done a lot to it, and now I want to do a few things to the Pathfinder. I am unsure if is just in need of new springs or what the deal is. It looks like it was dropped in the front a few inchs, again unsure if they came that way or if it just needs some suspension work. So I am wanting to run some 33's on it, I have seen many run 31's out of the box. So I was looking into a 2 or 3 inch body with some 33's. I don't do much off roading, and probably won't do any with this truck. Just mainly using it to go camping and such. I was just wanting to see what everyones recommendations was and what information they had to offer on the current condition of the suspension with it sagging in the front. Thanks everyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't do much offroading, leave it at 31's and a 2-3" lift. 33's need at least 6" of lift to run reliably without rubbing on everything and they will take a death toll on your steering and front end parts within a short time, which means more $$$ for something you're not going to use offroad. Not to mention that 33's will kill your power levels and gas mileage.

 

Crank up the torsion bars if it's sagging. Google it or search the forum for more, it's a simple procedure detailed in MANY places.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the looks of your ride. What did your 6" run price wise? I don't want to drop to much money into a, almost 20 year old vehicle, which is the main reason I would do a body instead of a suspension. What else do you recommend doing? I mean I may take it off road a little, but I won't be hittin 3 ft holes anymore, or crawlin. Just doin the occasional little run. Any suggestions would very helpful. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

STEERING. one of the first things to do. if its an auto. the FIRST thing to do is put a trans cooler in.

 

body lifts are cheap. if you do it yourself its not gona cost more then $100 for a BL.

 

suspension lift. you can get 3" of sus lift for under $150. more like $100(alot less if you look for deals). just go to a JY and find a set of 92-97 jeep grand cherokee FRONT coils. cut pig tails off and slap em in the rear-good for 3". front just crank your Tbars up. you can get 3" with stock UCA. and find a shop that will align it. there ARE shops that WILL align it. it just takes time to find one. but you really dont NEED too get an align ment. you can toy with the toe super easy. and camber, it will wear your tires on the inside. but just rotate em often(what, a 30min job at home?). and onces there all decently worn. take em to a shop and have them swap around. so the orignal inside is now the outside. youll get lots of life out of your tires.

 

I drove around with cranked Tbars(3" in front) for 15 000 km on brand new A/T's. the inside was a HAIR over 1/32 less tread then the outside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

88's is a combo of 2 diff style lifts...he can correct me if im wrong...but he has a superlift (i think trailmaster had the same) which drops the front xmember that the LCAs connect to for 3" and then a tbar lift which gives the other 3" so its 2 diff styles of lifts that add up...and i believe (havent read his sign. in a while but he has some body to it as well...

 

lifts arent cheap for these trucks so be prepared to spend some $

 

and on the tbar crank...yea it will make u wear on the outside...i've put 30k on my bfg a/ts (they suck off road IMO) but i'm just now seeing cupping where i need to rotate (i have yet to do so) and then i figured i'll slack and after 30k on those i'll swap the whitewalls outwards and prob get 5-10 k on each of those B4 the treads are completely gone...but i believe if u do the crank then do an alignment they can correct it so its not as bad on wear (i havent hear of camber kits for our trucks)

Edited by unccpathfinder
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is awesome. It is a manual 4x4. I want something that will do well. I have heard to many horror stories of people having wrecks on the road with body lifts and it pullin the body off of the frame, so I am a little cautious about doing that. But as long as I can hook it up with a cheap little suspension I am good as gold. If I adjust the Torsion bars will that level it out? Then I can put a lift on and everything will be even? I would like some more ideas as well. I have noticed that everything for Pathfinders is a little bit more in price from whatever reason. As well as harder to find. I am waiting for him to buy the new truck so I can start workin on it. I have been tryin to "Pimp" out my Maxima and ready to be back in a 4x4, I had a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 and I miss the heck out of it. So I am ready to get back into the 4x4 world. But if you have anymore ideas/recomendations PLEASE PLEASE let me know. Or if anyone has any spare parts for sale or anything, please let me know. Thanks everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The setup I have is simply a 3" Trailmaster body lift and Superlift UCA's in front with Sway-a-way torsion bars and modded Jeep Grand Cherokee .58" coils in the rear with 1.5" spacers.

 

The horror stories about bodies flying off are from old Jeeps and Chevys that had rusty bodies and too-small bolts holding them on. I've heard of several people hitting the front end hard on the ground with their Nissan and shifting the body forward from it, but no stories of a body lift causing a wreck by letting the body come OFF. Not even close.

 

Rough Country upper control arms and bushings: $160

Reindex stock torsion bars: free

Jeep Grand Cherokee .56"-.58" coil diameter front springs from a junkyard: $20-up($70 a pair new from Schucks, IIRC)

New shocks, stock length in front (suspension travel does not increase with an IFS lift) and 1.5-2" longer in rear: $40 each for Ranchos, you can get whatever you want though. 4WheelParts.com sells Pro-Comp ES3000's for $130 a set(for 4 shocks) when they're on sale, sometimes even with an included steering stabilizer, which is a real good thing to have.

 

Total for a 3" suspension lift kit:

Minimum of $310, possible max of $390 or so.

 

Body lift kit: $110-$130, depends on where you find it. 2" or 3" kits are available.

 

You'll also need an alignment after putting on a suspension lift, but not after a body lift. The best part about these lifts is that you can buy parts one at a time if need be and piece it all together. You don't HAVE to buy it all at once.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

and on the tbar crank...yea it will make u wear on the outside...but i believe if u do the crank then do an alignment they can correct it so its not as bad on wear (i havent hear of camber kits for our trucks)

anytime you change ride height on an independent suspension car/truck, your camber will change, which in turn will effect toe. weight in the vehicle will effect ride height, so any winches/bumpers/fat chicks added would warrant an alignment. cupping is from toe setting that is off or bad shocks. there is no reason for cupping on a properly maintained vehicle. however, if you have wear on the inside that is even and not cupped, this is from negative camber, which on a pathfinder, is adjustable. outside wear is generally from excessive positive camber or negative toe, and inside wear is generally from negative camber or positive toe, although a combination of angles or bad parts(loose tie rods, bad centerlink...) can show these conditions as well. hope this kinda helps there.

 

Dustin

your resident alignment tech.

 

BTW, anyone in the PNW can stop by and say hi anytime, I will align ANYTHING. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...