Leaderboard

Well shoot, I blame this forum. I read it from multiple people in many threads. Granted, mine were working just fine the way I had them, but I went ahead and swapped them around just because it would mess with my head now that you pointed out the upside down stickers lol I read into it a little more and it seems there’s a lot of opinions on this topic. Some people maintain that boots up keeps them out of the mud and water better, but others say boots down allows them to drain better, while some also say to take the boots off so they don’t trap dirt. Some also claim that the boots down orientation leaves the shock body vulnerable to damage from other suspension components while flexing, but the other side of the argument is that the body down orientation puts them at a greater puncture risk. I read that body down they might wear faster, or that there might be a dead spot in the first part of travel, or that it might be softer for some reason. So who knows honestly? Anyway, in addition to flipping them I went and drilled the upper mounts out and bolted with 14mm bolts so that they fit the rubber bushings nice and tight. I managed to get the drill in there without the 90* adapter with some maneuvering and a sharp step bit. I’m satisfied now. My switch panel also arrived from Australia on Sunday so I’ll be able to do the install when I get back to denver.

That's enough for me, I can't tolerate the KYBs anymore. If the OMEs don't reduce top out enough I'll go the strap route. I'll document what I can through the process to get some kind of facts known based on KYB vs OME with ACs. Off to talk to the better half about the OMEs. If you don't hear from me again it didn't go well

No sweat. It's a good topic to bring up and clarify, especially here. Every modification (or even repair, to some degree) is opportunity/risk to either improve or worsen the vehicle's capabilities, and in nearly every scenario—SFD or otherwise—upgrading one part usually means some other part is inherently "downgraded"...i.e., there's always a new weak link. An SFD is like any other lift in that it raises the center of gravity of the vehicle, which increases rollover risks. The fact that it moves the subframe away from the chassis also means some degree of flex is introduced, especially laterally in this case. If the install is done correctly, the truck can perform safely, but it's never without other risks. Something to also clarify, which was discussed in another thread and PM, is the introduction of driveline vibration and/or noise. Lowering the subframe does change the angle of the front driveshaft, but to date, we've not heard of any complaints related to that. However, the new angle can amplify vibrations if the bushings on the front axle support brackets are fatigued. For most of us who run manual hubs, this can be mitigated. In most cases, it's not a problem. As for the rear driveshaft, keep in mind the SFD has no impact on the rear suspension. If you exceed a certain amount of rear lift (let's say 5"), the driveshaft will be at a higher operating angle and may cause noise. On my truck, I run 6" of rear lift (9448s + 2" spacers) and I have an occasional buzz when I feather on or off the throttle due to a brief load-loss between the driveshaft and pinion at the u-joint. When load is applied between the two (99% of the time), I don't have any noise or vibration. But again, this is not a result of being SFD'd...it's a result of too much rear lift. Notably, we include a PHB Drop Bracket in our kits because it's presumed that if you need an SFD, you'll have an appreciable amount of rear lift that would benefit from a bracket (of course, this is something we can delete from the kit for those who already have a PHB bracket).

The cooling fan getting stuck on (failure of the centripetal clutch) is a common problem, and it sucks up a lot of power, which is noticeable at low RPMs. Over 20 years and 300,000 miles, I've had two of them fail on me. It's one of the first things that I check when I'm having sluggish performance.

I've been running a SFD on my truck in some shape or form for over 6 yrs, and I've wheeled it hard. Plenty of guys have had their own homebrew or even Krypton Fab kits for longer I'm sure. But, I'm not sure what long term assessment will help answer your question, though. SFDs have been around for well over a decade, and in a form that we've felt is inferior due to use of simple 4"x2" tube with high-radius edges. I'm not aware of any failure with a missing link installed. The failure I'm aware of was on a buddy's truck and it was without a missing link. I installed the SFD on it in 2015, and the truck was in excellent shape; SoCal, rust-free truck. The failure occurred in 2017. We (my buddy and I) believe the failure was directly due to a hard curb bump on the passenger tire, which caused the sheet metal layers on the chassis to flex a little or possibly a compromise of the weld on the subframe. Over time, it fatigued until failure. The missing link in this instance would have absolutely resisted that force initially and would have likely caused the LCA to buckle instead. Regardless, the ML is deemed required, and anyone running an ML would also greatly benefit from a skid plate, which also helps square up the frame further. To some extent, I'd say a mid-skid is required if running a missing link to ensure the link itself does not snag anything while wheeling. These are general things that become more and more important to have to best utilize the truck.

So after one day of this thread being started, we've had a great amount of interest in kits! We're trying to respond to everyone as quickly as possible. As a heads up, we should mention that we're going to try to fulfill requests for kits in batches. Right now, we're basically down to a partial kit from our original batch of 8 kits, and we're in touch with the guys who we can help in the near term. As for the next batch, we're looking into new material costs, kit interest by size, and our schedules to see what we can pull off in short order. Since we plan to have a bit more variety in kits, this should also allow us to keep a few other items in stock or sell components separately, since there's also been a good amount of interest in that. I also want to request you post up any questions you have about the kit here, so we can share answers with the community. We've already gotten a few really good questions in PM's...there's a lot to know about SFDs, that's for sure, and historically, this information has been scattered around for the past decade. We hope to consolidate all that information here. In the meantime, let me expand on a few of the required items/purchases that TowndawgR50 mentioned in the initial post. These are the parts that most guys may already have, or have access to (via other posts around the forum), that we've ultimately decided to not include with the kit. In most cases, we can help with source or fabricate the parts, but the parts just haven't been deemed "kitable" for one reason or another. Also, we've got an instruction guide that'll go into much more depth than here. If you need further clarification, let us know. Longer Brake Lines: The SFD requires longer front brake lines, simply because of the nature of the kit. Custom braided lines can be sourced from various retailers, but 2008-2017 Rogue brake lines (OEM or aftermarket) can also be used. I run Rogue lines on my truck, and TowndawgR50 runs custom braided. Same is true for the rear brake lines, though this is SFD-agnostic. 98-04 Frontier 4wd and 00-04 Xterra 4wd rear lines are a suitable replacement (also what I run). Power Steering Hardline Support: There's a high-pressure hard line that runs between the power steering pump and rack that has a mounting point on the crossmember. The hardline is actually a hardline that has a heavy duty hose crimped to it, and there's a factory bracket near the union of the two line types. When the SFD is installed, that bracket must be detached from the crossmember to allow for slack on the line when the subframe is dropped. We've chosen to not include a universal bracket for this because relocation of the line has been rather variable on all our installs. The length of the bracket doesn't correspond to the height of the SFD because the steering rack has to be rotated a few degrees, and the line may need to be hand-bent a tiny amount to either allow for slack or clear the bolts on the rack bracket so they can be accessed for high-torque tightening. In the end, the final relative position of the OE bracket can be 2"-4" from the crossmember, and may also move forward relative to the cross member another inch or so. Additionally, the racks between early and late model R50s were different, as were the lines, positions, and even the bracket itself. Ultimately, no single bracket would work in every situation, so it's best that the installer make a simple bracket once the installation is complete and the resting position is determined. The bracket can be as simple as a vise-bent strip of aluminum or other similar strapping with a pair of holes. No matter the approach, this line should be secured, as vibration in the line may cause stress at the banjo fitting. Extended Sway Bar Links: This applies to the rear suspension only. OE-length front sway bar links are fine, since the sway bar positions are relative to the subframe. We can provide extended rear sway bar links, but they are not included with the kit since they're based on the amount of rear lift (which isn't a factor for SFD installs). Missing Link: Most people know about these and have one installed in some shape or form. For those not familiar, we're calling it a structural device that reduces flexing on the subframe by linking the lower control arm rear mounting points. This was not a factory item, but this community has long agreed that it should've been one, if for nothing more than to stiffen up the front or mount skid plates to. However, we have deemed the ML as a required item that must be either purchased or fabricated because the nature of the install increases leverage on the chassis where the rear extensions of the subframe are mounted. And yes, we have seen a failure on an SFD-equipped truck that did not have a missing link installed. Notably, we don't have a specific ML product, but it's something we can fabricate. Skid Plates: These can't be reused because the mounting positions will have changed. I also want add notes on the following items: Existing Strut Spacers: most guys are already running static strut spacers, which means the OE strut mount has been modified to accommodate longer bolts. Our strut spacers are designed to use the OE studs on the mounts, which means that it may be necessary to disassemble the strut to remove the bolts. We are able to provide a set of bolts and nuts to replace those for a small fee. Alternatively, if the OE studs were retained, they can probably be reinstalled if the OE mount was not further modified (i.e., drilled, welded). Otherwise, new mounts may be purchased from Nissan dealers. Existing spacers should not be stacked with our strut spacers. Camber Adjustment: Our strut spacer do feature a slotted body that allows for some amount of camber adjustment. However, these are primarily used for gross adjustment only; it's highly unlikely that an alignment shop will touch these for service work. The use of camber bolts is highly recommended, and may be required to dial-in alignment. The guys in our initial group have not had any issues getting a shop to align their trucks with a single set of bolts (I want to say one of the trucks didn't use camber bolts at all). Our trucks use 14mm bolts. As stated above, we've got installation instructions, and all of the above points (and more) are covered in it more detail. We're considering breaking out some the topics into smaller sections (it's a long read as-is) before posting links to PDFs and such. But for now, we'll trickle out that information here so that it's a bit more public.

Yikes. We've not replied here for a while. We still need to get a dedicated SFD thread going, too! Despite the delay, we've actually stayed busy with various side projects and other personal priorities. We've been very passive about the SFD sales, but perhaps also deliberately to ensure the equipped trucks in the field continue to yield satisfactory results. Last fall, I spent a few days wheeling trails in Sedona with @Rockit, who's got one of our initial kits, and the results were great. He's put plenty of miles on his truck "commuting" between CA and AZ to visit periodically. We've sold additional kits from our initial batch, too. In fact, @Ravens794 is looking to install his this weekend (teaser: the orange powder coat looks great!). @jlduthie has unfortunately been waiting for the border to open to grab his kit and for the weather to warm up to get it installed. And we're still waiting to help @RainGoat to get his installed (lol). That said, we're excited to have gotten those out and are looking forward to the installs this year. Jake and I are in discussion for the next batch of kits, including component improvements/redesigns and production quantities. We've also had some interest lately for just the strut spacers, so we may offer that this year. We also just finished our first revision of proper installation instructions; if I'm being honest, it's the authoritative document on SFD installs...in small part because no one has ever compiled them that we're aware of... but mainly because of the level of detail we put into it. A true brain dump from the several installations we've done. It'll go a long way towards demystifying the process, as well as providing comprehensive information in preparation to the installs. It's the perfect companion for these kits. Anyway, despite the hiatus here, we're still around and working on things. With 2021 having a much more positive outlook than that 2020 bull@!*%, hopefully we'll see more progress. Thanks for the interest! At this point, I think we're beyond our test phase, but hopefully we'll have some options and more updates soon.