Leaderboard

That was both odd and a huge bummer because we were using @hawairish truck to tour the state parks and ruins. Heard the noise after a relatively flat and smooth FS road around Sedona. Found the swaybar snapped clean and was dangling. There was a vastly different and unstable feeling at freeway speeds in turns. Upon leaving Sedona we hit 17 which is a couple hours from PHX and mostly downhill if I remember correctly. The initial lean isn't the concerning part, its the opposing "sway" the springs have which causes a back and forth motion compounded by driver input to correct it. Kinda like speed wobbles on a skateboard, except slower. I'm glad you have replaced it. I know a lot of folks like to take the rear sway bar off for supposed increase in rear axle articulation but that just isn't the case with these rigs. I have retained my sway bar as has @hawairish and I can flex as much as folks without it, if not more due to my extended rear trailing arms. For something that's used strictly on the trails there wouldn't be an issue but for anything that has to drive to the trails, let alone serves as a daily/only vehicle its a huge gamble and could have disastrous results. #GetYourSwayOn

Oh, quick other little update- I got rid of my 4 front facing lights in the lower bumper. They weren't improving light output, and I wasn't in love with the look. Here's a look at the "updated" front end from a fun little trail run yesterday evening. And a cool picture of the jeep and the terrain for good measure.

My 2001 LE CV Brand/PN: OReilly's Import Direct/NI8185 Markings: "KAI 025" on the outer cup band. Has a smooth round outer cup Strut Brand/PN: KYB-335032 & KYB-335033 Spacers: SFD w 4.75" strut spacers + OME HD coils Binding: 0 currently, had 2" spacers on top of the OME HD when I first lifted the truck before installing my SFD and broke 2 CV axles but never observed issues at full droop though there was likely some Pines to Spines 2003 LE "Gambler" CV Brand/PN: uknown Markings: none Strut Brand/PN: unkown Spacers: Pines to Spines 4" SFD Binding: 0 I currently have 3 sets of CV's to look at- My 2001 which has new units from ORielly's, a used set of what @02_Pathy thought were OEM and the set on the Gambler, which look identical to the assumed OEM set. The biggest difference I can tell right away is the entirely smooth and round outer cup on the OReilly part whereas the "OEM" units have a step in the casting. Assuming the 190K 2003 Gambler has never had a CV replaced and @02_Pathy really did replace OEM units I think this may be an identifying trait? Also worth noting- @02_Pathy installed a brand of CV I've never heard of and has had no issues since, although they have the same part number as the new OReilly units in my 2001 and could just be a re-branded part. He gave me the "OEM" units in their boxes

I'll start with these setups: CV Brand/PN: Cardone 66-6185 (New) Markings: "6185 20/04" (presuming date code of 04/2020) Strut Brand/PN: OME N145S/N146S Strut Spacers: 3" (w/ 3" SFD) Binding: 3-Severe CV Brand/PN: unknown Markings: none Strut Brand/PN: KYB 335032/335033 Spacers: 3" (w/ 3" SFD) Binding: 0-none

This topic is probably going to have a lot of debate on it, but I'll cut to the point: not all R50 CVs are created equal, and one variation of them is prone to binding even in stock applications. I think this variation is undoubtedly the reason why there's such mixed opinions about the use of spacers and lift springs in regards to people busting CVs. Let's be clear up front on some things: Binding in this context is the inability for the CV to rotate smoothly, without restriction, when the suspension is at full droop (i.e., tire off the ground). We'll be talking about any severity of binding, as a CV shaft should always be able to rotate without binding. Without a doubt, spacers can contribute to binding because they move the wheel hub downward, causing the normal operating angle of the shaft to increase. There's obviously an upper limit to the amount of spacers that can be used. For the sake of argument, let's say 2" is maximum permissible spacer lift amount for a non-SFD truck. (@fleurys, please weigh in on your opinion here since you've probably sold hundreds of your spacers and will have more insight than anyone here.) No lift spring can cause binding, ever. The operating angle of a CV is strictly limited to the travel range of the wheel hub, which is directly limited to the compressed and extended lengths of the strut. The strut length is unaffected by a lift spring. I'm making the claim about CVs because we observed it first-hand over the weekend while working on @Rockit's and @R50JR's trucks. On Rockit's truck, we installed a 3" SFD and replaced OME MDs with HDs on OME struts. On R50JR's, we didn't change anything about his suspension, but he has OME HDs on KYB struts. Adding my truck to the mix, I have a 3" SFD with OME HDs on KYB struts. For apples-to-apples, @Stpickens's has the same exact setup as Rockit's. On Rockit's truck, we installed a pair of brand new Cardone 66-6185 (new, not remanufactured) CVs during the installation process. As we were starting to bolt everything back together, we noticed that both CVs were binding severely—guaranteed imminent failure. We debated whether it was the CV or the SFD, and I demonstrated that on my truck with a similar setup, I had no binding whatsoever. We eventually re-installed the original CVs and there was absolutely no binding. We also later confirmed that Stpicken's truck also had no binding. After taking a few measurements, we confirmed that the OME strut is about 1" longer than a KYB strut, which basically has the effect of having a 1" spacer. We then determined that the new Cardone CV would begin to bind at 19°, whereas the original CV reached 24° with no binding at the maximum droop. That 5° also equated to 1" of travel, since we also measured the distance between the rotor and the ground. On R50JR's truck, he had previously dealt with binding when he had a 1" spacer with the same KYB strut and OME HD spring. Even with the spacer removed, a very slight binding was still present. Coincidentally, the CV shaft shape looked exactly like the new Cardones. Neither of them looked like mine. This is definitive evidence that R50 CVs are definitely not the spec'd the same. I've speculated that it's related to the fact that early model R50s and QX4 (99 and earlier) had struts that were longer than later models (00 and after), and this is confirmed by several manufacturers (including OME and Rancho) producing struts of different lengths. However, the length change could simply be attributed to the two different strut mounts (aftermarket mounts include a spacer so the same mount can be used for either application.) If perhaps the longer struts on early models equated to a longer droop relative to the newer models with shorter struts, it would suggest that older CVs may have had a higher maximum operating angle than newer. As such, it would then be plausible that aftermarket manufacturers used the new CV dimensions and then applied the parts to the full 96-04 model range. That's my best guess at the moment. Also, we believe the issue is with the inner joint, not the outer because the binding occurred about every 120°, which coincides with the 3 bearing cups on the inner joint. As far as sensing binding, we put a screwdriver in the brake rotor slots and give it a slow turn. If there's binding, you'll feel it, but can also watch the front differential hangers shifting at the bushings. What does it mean for us? Well it means that, potentially, for all the people who have had binding or have broken CVs when using spacers up to 2" tall, the issue may have actually been the CVs the whole time. As noted, there's slight binding on R50JR's with KYB struts and no spacers...not factoring the lift he's getting from his springs, this is an extremely common OE replacement setup that should have absolutely no binding at droop. The main CV options are either OEM, aftermarket-new, or rebuilt. The problem here is that there's not usually any clear indicators of which is which, so there's not really good advice on which to buy. OEMs are presumably the best option to avoid this issue, but they can be very expensive ($550) though Nissan does have a "Value Advantage" part available ($150). Aftermarket ones are clearly less expensive, but if brand new Cardone ones aren't built to the same spec, you'd have to chance a rebuilt one being of one spec or another. At this point, we might need a lot of community input to see if we can determine who has, or had, binding with which CV and which setup before we can know which CVs to avoid. We may need to rely on physical appearance of parts since some brandings or p/ns might not be visible. I'm thinking it's best to list the following: CV brand and p/n (if known) Any markings on the shaft Your strut brand and p/n (stamped on the body) Spacer height (if any) Severity of binding on a 0-3 scale: 0 - no binding 1 - slight binding 2 - binding (can be overcome) 3 - severe binding (can be overcome with more force, or not at all) A picture of shaft Since strut p/ns vary by LH and RH side, it may help to include both if perhaps you've replaced struts and/or CVs separately and potentially have a mismatch (@notmeami). Copy/Paste template... CV Brand/PN: Markings: Strut Brand/PN: Spacers: Binding:

Drug the kid out of bed and drove up Logie Trail. Not a bad morning.

Wow. Same exact spot indeed.Thanks for the photos + advice. Replacement is sitting in the garage, just gotta work on some kind of extended link situation (and see if that creates a need for coil retainers) now!

Next time I’m at the ultra R50-populated JY I’ll try and check the CV shafts. If we could find enough “notched” axle shafts, perhaps we would be comfortable with deeming those the OEM axles? At the very least, it would seem the notched shaft + carved (not round) differential flanges is a good indicator of quality, as you and I have both had good success in Offroad/4x4/Front locker usage w/o spacers.

Awesome, @PathyDude17! I totally forgot about the round inner joint flanges; perhaps that's the easiest indicator of early model CVs. Am noticing your first CVs have the same style shaft as mine. Wish I knew if mine were OE or not...I only know the boots were replaced previously. I rebuilt one of mine the other month (and hated every minute of it), but can't seem to find the pics I took. I vowed to never rebuild another one, but with this discovery and the fact that I'm sitting on spare boots, I may need to face the music and rebuild the other. I've been wanting to keep a spare CV for off-road use, but I can't move forward on that until I have an answer about these. I may just end up bringing an angle finger to the JY and finding the right set.

Awesome! It’s always good to get math and crowdsourcing info on this topic, I know it’s been speculated before that different axles have worse tolerances. First Experience: CV Brand/PN: OEM I Assume. See pic Markings: BCM1085 on the shaft/differential side band of the outer boot (as opposed to the hub facing side of the outer boot) T82FA on inner boot. Strut Brand/PN: KYB. Couldn’t find a stamped part number, I assume they’re the facelift part number. Spacers: 2” Spacers Binding: I’d speculate 2-3. Sorry, Never tested by hand at full droop. However, the passenger side shaft would bind at full lock in parking lot scenarios and such. I occasionally could also feel the axles bind when under heavy acceleration and the front end would lift slightly. This, combined with the knowledge that my axles would have beyond-stock downtravel at full droop, made me switch to springs before going off road. 2nd Experience: By then, I had manual hubs, so I had much less time w/ axles engaged, no “by hand” testing: CV Brand/PN: Aforementioned Axles Markings: Aforementioned Axles Strut Brand/PN: Same KYB’s Spacers: None, just 2” AC coils Binding: 0. None observed under legitimate, wheel lifting type off road usage. I tend to be light on the throttle as I lose traction, but still, I never observed binding. 3rd experience: CV Brand/PN: Driver side- Unknown, pulled from JY. Passenger- same as previous 2 axles, assumed OEM. Markings: Driver- 7037 on snap ring of outer boot differential side. BT114 on inner boot. BT110 on outer boot. No distinguishable markings anywhere else. Passenger- GSP on outer boot hub side snap ring. CS-P on inner boot diff side snap ring. No other distinguishable markings, see pics. Strut Brand/PN: Same struts as before, KYB OEM spec Spacers: none, just 2” AC coils up front now Binding: 0. Tested off road, including use of a lokka, and just now in my driveway- No binding, full droop, full lock, both ways, forward and reverse. PICS The first two presumably OEM axles: Current Driver side Axle, Notice the entirely round inner flange: Current Passenger Side axle. The shaft isn’t notched the way the first two axles I had were, so it’s possibly just an OEM look alike or an earlier production model:

I can't contribute huge info here since I don't have my rig in front of me anymore, but here's what I do remember 100%: CV Brand/PN: Cardone Markings: Can't check Strut Brand/PN: KYB Spacers: 1" Binding: 1 - you could turn the tire all the way around by hand and I never had a CV totally fail, but you could feel resistance every ~120° when the vehicle was jacked up. I know with Toyota's the OEM CV's are equally expensive, but are equally the way to go unless you go with a quality aftermarket, unfortunately not an option for R50's at this time. I have a CVJ CV on one side of my 4Runner and some random cheapo one on the other side, and the difference in smoothness of rotation at full droop with no spacers is astounding. CVJ rebuilds OEM Toyota CV's to very high specifications for a much cheaper price than OEM, maybe something similar can be arranged for R50's? The size of the market would make it hard though.

The WD21 paint is pretty resilient. I've still got the original black on my 1995 and it cleans up real well. Unless you live in some sweaty @!*% hole like Florida where the sun bakes it off lol.

What an epic build!!? Thanks for sharing so much info you've helped clarify heaps around the suspension issues I was facing here in NZ.? Was looking at the spacer line but that's a hassle here with certs. Got me seriously thinking about the locker now as well. I'll be watching your future upgrades and vids. Cheers ?

@notmeami In the scenario where you've got the front end off the ground, presumably with truck supported with jack stands, put your jack under the passenger LCA or ball joint and lift it a little. Does the binding persist? Do the shafts on both CVs look the same (paying attention to any contours on the shaft)? Over the weekend, @R50JR observed that not all CVs are same and there's a major difference in their operating angles. A brand new set of CVs binded completely, whereas the old set on the same suspension had no problem. My hunch is your CVs aren't the "same", but are for sure for your truck. I'm about to open a can of worms on the topic in a separate post.

Thanks! Original job somehow. Was lucky to get this 1 owner from a older lady who bought it new in 94 and has kept it in the garage. Still has the lighter blue pinstripes pretty well intact. Also helps to live in the Pacific Northwest. lol I believe its is Sapphire Blue, or Blue Jade. Navy blue to me lol

If your R50 is stock, neither left or right CV axle should be able to turn without the wheels turning. They use a splined drive flange bolted to the wheel hub. If you are wanting to unlock the axles from the wheels, you will need to replace the drive flanges with locking hubs from a WD21 Pathfinder, or V6 D21 pickup. First gen Xterra and Frontier are another possibility. Unless you get lucky, what you will find on these trucks are auto hubs. If you want manual, you will need to look to the aftermarket.

Forgot what day this was, Butt shot with the swapped over 02 Pathfinder LE cross bars ( Removed chrome roof rack cross bar in backround) and taillight guards.

Moving along here, day whatever it was ...Picked up a Rebar to fix that dent in the front bumper, quite simple task at hand. In the process went to Nissan and raided one of the nice techs i know tool box to replace all my rusted bolts and clips etc for both front and rear bumpers. Free is always good. It pays to have connections lol Before!!! AFTER!!

1 week update: So I finally got around to getting the alignment fixed. I gave the shop guy 4 camber bolts to work with and he only needed 2. The tires a little quieter now they aren't riding on the outside corner of the tread. Something I've noticed is that at highway speeds, I can hear a noise from what I think is the transfer case when the hubs are unlocked. The noise is similar to a worn out bearing or something. It's very faint and can't be heard unless passengers are quiet and the music is low/off. I can't hear it below 55 mph though. No 4x4 warning lights yet. So I took it wheeling on some moderate stuff nearby in Missouri. With the bigger tires and more ground clearance it took some of the excitement out of the easy stuff as it wasn't much different than driving a car down a dirt road. Struts didn't top out much and never dragged anything over rocks. I got a bit ambitious and tried to go up a steep, off camber hill with sloppy mud, peppered with embedded rocks and tight trees on either side. I almost made it to the top but ultimately got the tires hung on rocks and it crab walked about 6 inches sideways into a tree. I used a hi-lift jack as a winch to pull the rest of the way up. So the silver lining of that trip was, that I found the limits of the tires on mud... That's burned into my memory. I also found no issues with the suspension components and the cv axles held up on rocks just fine. Also, I carried an adult passenger, two kids and a bit of weight consisting of tools, spare cv axle, chains, coolers and drinks. The NRC9449s didn't even show they were doing double duty. I can now compare this ride to a stock xterra with the same exact tires and say this r50 is now superior as it sits higher therefore giving me about the same approach, departure and breakover angles. The r50 articulates better but the slightly longer wheelbase makes turns between tight trees a bit trickier when inches matter. The offset of the new wheels makes more vehicle to squeeze between trees but several times, the wide tires made an effective bumper which kept the tree an inch away from my fender flares as the tires stick out now. In a few days, I'm going to take it to an offroad park to get a better feel for it as there is more diverse difficulty and the density of the terrain is much better.

paint corners of rear bumper in my 97 ??? final result!

Gwin had an interview where he said he clears $1M per year including endorsements. But if you think about it, he's getting paid less than he deserves (being the fastest rider on earth) considering how much he puts on the line. But DH is not a popular sport, so there. Here's Gwin on your actual bike... he rode it like he stole it... lol!

Mine snapped back in Feb, just like that, when @TowndawgR50 had the truck. He can probably attest to the usefulness of it coming down the mountain on the curvy sections of I-17.

When i bought the truck the seats on both sides were torn typical on our year models. So i just quickly fixed them. Before and Afters. Sorry for the bad photos these were dealer photos thought i took some of my own but don't see them? Passenger Driver

The service tool is not required, but it really only does 3 of the 5 mains steps needed to completely disassemble the axle shaft: Pull the ABS tone ring (does) Remove the axle nut (does) Pull the bearing cup assembly (does) Pull the 2nd bearing cone off the axle shaft (doesn't) Remove the bearing race from the bearing up (doesn't) I use a floor press for all steps except 2, which can be done with a chisel or screwdriver and a hammer (I've made my own axle nut wrenches). Toyota axles are very similar to ours (but let it be known they are still punier than the mighty H233B!). The most notable difference is the use of a double-cone tapered bearing instead of single row sealed ball bearing shown in the video. The bearing difference is what may be the most problematic, because if you were to do all the steps in the video, one of the tapered bearing cones would still be on the axle shaft (step 4 above). You could technically use a bearing splitter to move it a little bit at a time, but you'd have to keep putting some shims behind the splitter in order to slide the bearing almost an 1.5" off the shaft (although, you could put a notch in the cone and crack it with a chisel...I've had to do that before on a diff bearing). Would the video work? Technically, yes, but it'd absolutely suck. I couldn't possibly recommend it. In case it helps, this is the only pic I have handy of all the pieces of the axle shaft, in their order on the shaft: L to R: ABS tone ring, axle nut, lock nut, washer, inner bearing, bearing race, outer bearing, bearing cup, grease seal. The brake backing plate and mounting studs are not shown, but those fit over the bearing cup on the wheel hub side.

Thanks guys! I went ahead and got my 3rd member off, rusty studs holding it nice and tight. But I got it off without marking up the housing bad and yeah the new 3rd member fits right in and the driveshaft bolts up. Should be wrapping this up with a test drive in an hour or so. Oh yeah that's right, the fancy R200 pathy stuff, they don't seem tooooo bad to take out, I did find a couple pre-facelift pathys with the 4.6 gears so that will be the next mission. And also while my truck is tucked in the backyard I'm gonna be doing more rust repair, fun stuff, I'll have to update my build thread soon.

More talk on the 4.6's... I now have over 400 miles on them, including one full fill up of mixed driving (without going off road). That tank yeilded 14.8 MPG with a mostly moderate or mildly lead-footed driving style. Keep in mind I also have 32x11.5 R15 tires that come in at 56 lbs a piece. 14.8 was a very typical mileage for mixed driving on the 4.3's as well. So, how do the 4.6's drive? Honestly, I thought daily driving would be the noticeable downside of this setup, but in most aspects I prefer DD'ing on the 4.6's. It feel's like there's more power behnind the pedal. The vehicle is more responsive to small adjustments in the gas pedal and just seems more eager and willing to pull. On hills or during highway passing manuevers, the vehicle holds top gear/OD much better and doesn't search for gears- Previously, highway passing manuevers would also initiate a downshift, and then the vehicle would only upshift after letting all the way off the throttle. This doesn't happen anymore. That being said, rev's are definitely up over what they previously were on the 4.3's. 3k RPM will currently get me to about 78-80 MPH, which is up a good 200-300 RPM over what the 4.3's would do @ 80MPH (not accounting for tire size on the 4.3's). A 4.6 gear swap and a 29" to 32" tire swap is almost a perfect match of factory ratio's, so all the rotation based measurements of the vehicle are quite accurate compared to an R50 that hasn't been regeared. Offroad: I now have two tests under my belt (The lokka is still doing great! Makes quick work on alot of terrain that used to require intentional line picking). The 4.6's...... pull the vehicle forward? I don't know what to say, the vehicle handle's good, and "crawls" about as well as I could expect it too. A few times I found myself hung up and in need of some extra throttle to get over rocks - at least with the 4.6's while in 4LO, I could pretty smoothly push the rev's past 2k and start to inch over the obstacle. The throttle wasn't jerky or anything funny.... seems like everything performs like it should. This is also helped by the presence of the lokka, since I'm not worried about wheel slippage as I apply throttle. Makes for an acceptably smooth approach onto and over obstacles.

Slap a second heater core in there and make a warming oven! Hot burritos anywhere.

In 2007, I was looking for a Jeep Cherokee and kept coming up short. Asking prices were too high, AC didn't work, and they weren't comfortable for someone over 6 feet tall. On the way home one evening after I was out looking, I came across this 2001 Pathfinder for sale and bought it that night. I drove it for 9 years, did a bunch of off roading, put nearly 100,000 miles on it, and then regrettably sold it, stupidly thinking I didn't need it anymore. I never was able to make it into what I wanted it to be, but it was always extremely reliable, comfortable, and I got a ton of use out of the cargo space in it. Earlier this year, I was bored and browsing Craigslist and found this 02 for sale nearby for $2800. 150k miles, super clean other than some small cosmetic issues and a little bit of interior wear. It has a factory LSD too! I bought it and spent the next few weeks hitting every junkyard in the area to fix all the little issues. I even found the factory Bose radio for it with a working 6 disc changer and tape deck. With the help of NPORA, I bought all the parts to lift it and overhauled the suspension. It's now sitting on OME springs (MD rear, HD front), KYB shocks/struts, and 265/70/16 Duratracs. It has a WD21 transfer case skid plate underneath and I installed Warn hubs, a CB radio, and a Yakima Load Warrior. I'd much prefer one of the lower profile roof racks in the pictures here, can anyone point me in the right direction to get one? I'm glad to have a good overlanding vehicle again. It's been a lot of fun putting it together. I've been a total lurker up to this point, but thank you all for the mountains of info I was able to dig through to get it to where it is now. Next mods are probably more skid plates and some rock sliders. I also have a buddy selling his 93 XE...so pretty soon I may have two Pathfinders!

Went and picked up my new (junkyard) fender and put it on!!

Thank you everyone for your help. The shop called this afternoon and said that it needed u-joints. Mr_Reverse, you were right on the money. I had some broken wheel studs so I had them do all of it while they had the truck. Picked it up and it drives perfectly. I was so happy that I even washed it. The fender is at my friends shop, I will pick it up next week and go about figuring how to put it on. I still have some work today, but the big things are done!!

AC coils are in! Sitting at 36.5” in the front after driving home, so as of right now my rig is completely level. Also, I forgot to mention this, but I complained to AC about their shipping and got refunded $18 lol. Also, old spacer kit is up for sale, 2.5” front 3” rear. Pm for details.