Mr. Pickles Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Finally, we're looking at a relatively dry and somewhat warm (mid-50's) weekend, so its time to play. Surely there will be numerous questions to follow... And for my next trick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaritimeMan Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Sweet, lemme know how that goes. Might be joining the body lift club here before too long. Heck, might even want to take a pic or two and do a write up when you're all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earth1 Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I just did mine last weekend. Everything went pretty much as expected. I did bust one of the body mount nuts loose from it's weld up inside. I guess I'll have to try to reach it by drilling an access hole through the floor in the cab. Total process took 2 days. I had help the first day. Couldn't find a longer high pressure hose for the power steering, so I just moved the whole thing down. Believe me guys, If I can do this, anybody can. I haven't had a chance to take pics yet, but I'll post them in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikuz Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 You can just use some of that generic rubber hose (fuel line I guess it is) for your power steering. I have been for about a year now and it doesn't have any problems; I'm not sure if its super high pressure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 The butterflies are setting in. I've done suspension stuff so far, and it isn't bad at all. I've worked top to bottom, front to back on various things, and I've pulled motors and done most anything on various vehicles. But the idea that I'll be separating my truck into 2 parts should be fun. We'll see. At least I have 2 full days, and I only work a short bus ride away if something doesn't go right. Wish me luck, and who knows, I may be back here soon enough for advice. Hopefully this will be practice for one day being able to afford a muscle car worth of a resto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeytattoo Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 let us know how it turns out I've been holding off doing mine for about a month or so .I don't realy know any handy people in columbus to help out if I mess up.After all it is my only form of transportation and I can understsnd the butterflys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 Lunch break/update time. I rolled under the Pathy at 9:30 am, its now 12:30. I've followed the steps and am cruising along. I have all the lines unclipped (I think!- of course I'm going to go back and triple check), brackets pulled, shifter boots pulled, just got the bumper off. Everything is coming apart super easy, and I've barely even touched the PB Blaster. That's because she was mildly wrecked last Jan, so most front end parts are new or were taken apart then and haven't had a chance to rust up. So, next step (after one last check for anything I may have missed) is to start uncovering the body mounting bolts, cut the fuel filler hose, etc. etc. and get ready to lift her! I'm sure that's going to be much more involved that what I've done so far, cause those bolts haven't been disturbed before. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikuz Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Good luck! Good luck getting the front bumper back on when you're done, too. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 (edited) Well, its gone from great to completely screwed. The very last mount on the driver's side at the tailpipe is siezed completely with no sign of moving anywhere. Its soaked in PB Blast for 2 hours with multiple sprays and won't even budge. I broke a ratchet on it, and the socket slipped off and stripped the head. Now what? I have all the mounts on the driver's side off, and the passenger side has all at least broken loose. This is exactly the crap I was afraid was going to happen. I'm off to the store not to buy a torch and hopefully heat it up without catching the Blaster on fire. Other than that, I don't know what to do? Buy a chisel and tap set, then try to somehow cut the head off, drill it out and then tap it? Talk about a pain and a ton of time gone. Edited January 29, 2005 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikuz Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 I had almost the same problem with the passenger rearmost mount... finally had to borrow a bigger ratchet (maybe a 1/2" drive or something) and a breaker bar from my neighbor. That finally did the trick, all it needed was just a little more leverage. Sounds like you've already tried wrenching on it as hard as possible, so I don't know what to tell you. =( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 I had almost the same problem with the passenger rearmost mount... finally had to borrow a bigger ratchet (maybe a 1/2" drive or something) and a breaker bar from my neighbor. That finally did the trick, all it needed was just a little more leverage. Sounds like you've already tried wrenching on it as hard as possible, so I don't know what to tell you. =( I tried it with an old don'tgiveadamn ratchet and a 3' section of steel/jack handle, and it just laughed at me and busted the ratchet. I've picked up some additional toys tonight to play with it, including an 18" breaker bar (plus a cheater, of course), a set of Bob Vila's proud extractor thingy's, and if that doesn't do the job, I'm gonna go McGyver on that isht tomorrow. If I don't finish tomorrow, good thing I work close by and I can catch a bus doorstep to doorstep pretty much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 (edited) By the way, I'd like to thank Statikuz for the insight on your lift. The thread you started and the questions you asked helped me out a bit. I quickly had answers to several WTF?!? type things from the initial install and incredibly vague directions that were included. At the same time, I'd like to give a simultaneous award to the authors of the AC/Performance Accessories instructions and the Haynes manual for their outstanding effort at providing completely worthless information and a pathetic attempt at providing directions and instructions on how to perform the intended work on a Pathfinder. Were these written by the same person?! It would take some serious stones to print up those pages on a publisher's ink when you must know that whoever tries to follow your instructions is going to be asking "what was this guy smoking."" I'll adjust credit to the lift instructions, as they are only printed on 1 page so you can't expect much. One example was something to the effect of "remove bolt from shaft near steering box, mark splines before removing shaft." I'm in a fog, so I go to the book, and find something like "remove bolt, mark splines and remove shaft (see illustrations)" and I swear, there are no illustrations AT ALL that are relevant. The closest they have for a tear down is a 1980 Datsun with manual steering, and after that is a hand drawn sketch of something close to a mid-80's hardbody. So, happy times and thanks to those that helped. To the rest including the instructions, you can go to h3LL. pssd But, a quick glance the the body lift thread revealed knowledge of the loosening and adjustment of the steering shaft that was golden from Cuong Nguyen and Matterhorn that I hope to employ tomorrow. Edited January 30, 2005 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 Well, if I'm not able to drill this sucker out, how stable to you think she'd be with 9 out of 10 mounts? -alcohol- The head snapped off, so its time for more fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disturbed1 Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 wow :-\ ... sounds like fun, GL with the rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 There's money and beer to the person who can come and check out this mess, and suggest a better solution. :secret: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 Ok, I give on the last body bolt. I'm pretty convinced that busted bolt is beyond me, so I'm gonna continue on for now and skip that one mount. I know, ghetto! But my plan is to talk to the body shop up the street and see if they can do it. Hopefully I can limp her up there when everything else is done and let a pro fix that mess. Next issue. The steering shaft. Statikuz and Cuong said they were able to just loosen it and it would slide and adjust to fit. Well, I tried this and got a nice *thunk* while lifting the body. This was the shaft falling out from the top. The bottom is seated tight, even though its loosened, and the slide thing in the middle doesn't want to move after much PB Blaster. Any suggestions on this? Is there a way to break it loose to pull out, other than prying it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikuz Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I pulled up that little rubber boot that covers the joint, shot WD-40 (PB) in that little hole and all around the joint. I ended up getting a small sledgehammer and giving the joint some whacking while I had someone else jack up the body... worked out well enough for me. Don't expect some serious lengthening... if I remember right mine went out about 1/4" MAX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 I discovered some random stuff along the way. There is no bolt in the top of the steering shaft, its just empty. That helped in it falling out. Why, I'm not sure. The rear mount across from the broken one refuses to line up, so that will be fun. The others lined up perfectly, so that I just dropped the bolt and it went straight. So, she's sitting on the front 8 of 10 blocks and is looking good. The 31's seem tiny, but they're almost bald so that should change. But I'm dead in the water now. I rolled the dice and decided to do it here at home (townhouse with a carport) because I know the tools I have, and I wanted to keep it close. Now its Sunday night, I'm nowhere near done, the neighbors are whining, and I have no light. So its pretty much gonna sit till next weekend. I'll get the bumper figured out and close to mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 If the head's broken off the last bolt, why don't you pull it out from the top and just put the new one in? Any other questions? The power steering hose can be regular fuel line. Think about it...if you take the power steering cap off while it's running it doesn't spray everywhere. That's just your reservoir. The high-pressure hoses are the big ones bolted to the steering gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) Well, the last bolts in the rear are the metric ones that go in from the bottom and screw through the frame into the body with no top access. It may have been different for the 2 doors. Its frozen not only in to the threads, but also the the metal sleeve/bushing and the stock rubber mount around that. I'm thinking that with it lifted up, a body shop or somebody with the right equipment could cut it off at the body, then drill and tap it from there. There's no way to do it with normal tools, as you'd be drilling out 5" or so of bolt. If you could cut it off and get in there with some air tools, you may have a chance. Maybe its time to weld in a some steel there instead of the lift block and call it permanent if nothing else. Has anybody heard of something like this? Just a thought. No problems with the power steering lines, as I haven't gotten to mounting the reservoir in its new location yet. Edited January 31, 2005 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 OOOOOHHHHHHH I see. Maybe try jacking the body up more in the rear and hacksawing the bolt off, then taking out the body isolator so you can grab the whole thing with vise-grips and unscrew it? I dunno. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted February 2, 2005 Author Share Posted February 2, 2005 Thanks for the support on this mess. Hopefully, I'm not going to have to worry about that last mount. When I've finished off the rest of the lift, I'm looking at limping it to a trusted shop to have it dealt with, as I don't have the time or tools to deal with it. I think it should be ok to leave the mounts exposed on the driver's side (the side with the broken bolt) in case we have to drop it back down. I'm gonna get the rest ready to go, as I've taken Friday off on top of Saturday since I obviously can't work on it Sunday afternoon (Superbowl). I was counting on a quick install, and honestly, other than this stupid mount, it really has been fine. Most everything has been straight forward, with just the normal B.S. popping up. But at this point, I'm doing it in the carport in front of my townhouse, and the neighbors are starting to bitch. I can't wait to sell this place and buy a house! Then its time for a proper shop. sly So, barring anything stupid coming up, which I doubt, it should be fine. I've had some issues with rust and such on other areas of my truck, so it isn't a total suprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest REV TERRANO Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Hey Mr.Pickles props to you for tackling this feat on your own. I know how hard it is to work on cars and try to have them done on a certain time limit, but stuff always pops up always happens to me. I am planning to do the same thing to my 93 pathy maybe this weekend, have my 3" suspension on and need the extra lift to clear my 33"s im installing. I was just thinking about soaking all of the body mount bolts in pb blaster and just keep spraying them everyday till this weekend and hope fully this will help me with braking all of them all lose with out a hitch. I will most likely go to each bolt and make sure they can break lose with out a hitch before I really get into it. I have access to air tools at my house so if any stubborn bolts arise I will be sure to bring out the big guns on them. Keep us updated on this and best of luck with the last rear bolt. By the way how do you like the body lift kit you got was it pretty complete, I am still undecided which one to get, and if one brand comes with more complete parts than others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abomb1 Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Sorry to read about your problems installing the lift, that seems to pretty much be what happens to me anytime I try working on something that seems easy enough for me to tackle on my own. Unfortunately I don't have any more ideas to give you on removing that bolt. I remember the two bolts in the back being the hardest for me to get out also, but eventually they moved with a torch. Good luck with the rest of the install and post some pics when you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted February 4, 2005 Author Share Posted February 4, 2005 Ok, I've come to the joy of the bumper brackets as I'm trying to get that ready to go. Has anybody done these on a 94 or 95? I hear the bumper changed design after 93. Near as I can tell, its gonna take some bending of the brackets somehow, and/or some washers as spacers, to get these brackets to even align and bolt up with the bumper, let alone mount to the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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