AK9849cy

It provides room for the receiver that will be installed and also makes for a nice step in case a roof rack ends up on top. If there is a tire carrier... it will plug into the receiver and maybe a D-ring anchor point. Thus making the unit removable...

Got the main tube bent... now it has to wait til the steel yard is open. Some receiver material, some plate, and some 3 inch tubing for another project are on the shopping list.

Thanks fellas... I will just keep plugging.. hopefully some neat stuff can be provided down the road.

I will be making parts that will work for an sas. Not sure there will ever be a kit though. Everyone has their own dreams when if comes to a modified rig. However probably what you will see is a finished Xterra down the road. This Pathfinder I am working on is the seed to a few ideas.. The finalized parts will be on the X. As funny as it sounds, the frames are the same for the most part. So the parts being made will work on both. The goal is to make the parts needed in order to keep the SAS reasonably priced. So if there is a vendor that makes a usable part at a good price.. or a junkyard part can be used... why make it? Spend my time on stuff folks need! This is good in two ways.. I have a full time job and a family.. so why waste the time, and someone can benefit from lower priced parts that are in a competitive market (Jeeps/Toyotas). There will also be a build list showing the total cost of all parts. This way a person can call up "Rugged Rocks" or "Trail Gear" per say.. and order a list of parts at a known price that work for the build. While planning an SAS what normally happens to folks is they forget the small stuff.. or discount how much it really cost to modify the rear end after the front... It nickle and dimes someone to death. The focus will be to leave the rear end alone.. thus saving some coin! For example.. a builder can go out and get a rear differential out of a auto tranny Xterra with 4.90's. Swap out the carrier to the 31 spline pathy unit.. why change spend cash by modding the rear? Leave it alone and concentrate on the front end.. These differentials can be located on car-part.com for a reasonable price! Another example.. The standard Xterra owner at Gone Moab has a 2 inch body lift, a 3 inch suspension, and 33's. The most reasonable build for a rig of the sort would be to leave the rear end alone, keep the body lift, and mount a front axle under it somehow.. (The same wheels are tires could also be used.) When it comes to solid axle swaps a body lift is basically a frame lowering kit. They make a ton of sense when a guy is sporting IFS being it raises the wheel wells without changing the suspension geometry. However with a sas the amount of lift is up to you.. 3..5..10.. you name it! So why have the frame lower? Maybe a person likes to get high centered.. however I would like the extra 2 inches of clearance. This is why the quest for up travel has been my main goal with the Pathy build. If an Xterra owner wants to SAS and leave stuff alone like mentioned above. The frame is 2 inches lower than normal (body lift) so the amount of up travel is limited 2 inches. Thus here I am picking away at the axle mounts etc.. trying to find an extra 1/4 inch here and there to make this feasible. The Pathy build used to incorporate a truss? Well it and the oil pan liked being in the same place.. etc etc etc.. Hope that explains the idea.

Tinkering again....

We spent all last winter putting creeks together.. and yes no codes. After is was all figured out it took two weeks to complete the second truck. They were both at Moab last year. ============================================================================================================ The Pathfinder got pushed out so the garage could be cleaned up.. The rear wheelwell has not been cut out on this side.. The rear will have a tube bumper with a receiver. The rear of the fenders are getting tucked up to match the profile of the single tube that will wrap around. The other side has been cut already... Remember this is setting on stock rear coils..

Trent has a spring under setup on the front of his HB. It gets fairly close for the amount of work. However rigs drive smoother/nicer with a spring/track bar rig. A 3 link would not need a truss on a steel housing (Spider 9, Diamond axle, etc) where the link mount would be welded on top of the non-cast steel axle housing. The third link still wants to be in the same place as the exhaust. Radius arms tend to go under.. This setup is very much like the Xterra Calmini design. It uses old school springs/shocks instead of coilovers and is not welded directly to cast on the driver side of the differential. It also uses Ford type Radius/Strut Arm Bushing instead of flex joints. With threaded/stud type flex joints the jam nuts always come loose (unless tack welded). Those old Ford bronco radius arms went for years without a problem... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We reworked Alpinespirit's calmini setup a few years back. Changed how the arms mount to the axle and replaced the Waggy 44 with a 63 wide hp 44. It does really well now... He drives it daily down about 20 miles of washboard gravel to get to work. Not a problem... It makes those 36 inch Iroks look like 33's... ====================== We also used radius arms on Creek's next gen... It drives daily to work too.

With this style of setup.. the mount for the upper arm is also the bump stop.. This is just inside the spring in the pic... On the housing.. the truss was cut off for more clearance with the oil pan. The bead from the old truss can still be seen. Taking this out gave around another inch and a half of up-travel. The truss must stay for a 3 link build...

For now they are $50 + the ride. Ends up being $55 to the door...

Like the video hints... the rear end tends to wag back and forth. This is noticed the most when speed bumps are hit at a medium speed. Also the more angle on the panhard the more it pulls the axle to the passenger side of the vehicle. Thus the tire sticks out more on the passenger side of the rig...

LOL.. Been there! I now weld a 3/4 inch bolt to the bush... then smack downwards on the end of the bolt sticking out with a sledge hammer.. Pops it out like a playing a game of Tiddlywinks...

Ok... the front end is back together.. Got an extra 1 1/2 up-travel after tinkering for a week or so. It has 4 1/2 inches of up-travel and 7 1/2 down-travel for 12 inches total. Now it needs to be pushed out of the shop so all the crap can be swept/cleaned up off the floor.... On a new set of 35's this is how high the front fender body line is...

Sorry... not enough time to read this whole thread. Maybe someone has brought this up already. However there is a bushing in the crank for the auto tranny. It is a huge mofo (it is probably 1 1/4 inches across and 3/8 an inch thick)that looks like part of the crank itself. It needs to be removed so the manual "much smaller" bushing can be inserted in the crank. The two bushings are totally different animals...

Sorry Guys.. haven't had time to get the ebay store running yet.. Just PM me for now! Until the Ebay is up and running they will be $50 plus the ride. They fit in the small $5 flat rate box for the U.S. folks. The ride to Canada is around 13 dollars.. They will be $69 on Ebay..

Doesn't work... Many folks have used a pathy tank back there... The SAS Xterra folks love them....

Oh there was progress... So all the original sas mounts on the front axle was stripped off. Went to another style of mounting setup that gives another 1.5 inches of uptravel. This pic shows the track bar hiding behind the drag link and tie rod. They are lined up fairly well.. Sorry about the focus.. The new setup drops the mounts down like a Jeep axle. The radius arms were close to hitting the frame so this gave the arms another inch of room to move up... The y-arm is now directly lined up with the radius arm. This one mount takes care of both joints.. Just put this retention strap on this afternoon. This pic shows how tight all this stuff is packed together.

Triangulated front... you must be thinking full hydro steering. My first rig was a 73 620. Love the old bullet nose trucks!

The machinist I use will not punch out the block without each individual piston for this same exact reason. The pistons then come home numbered with it's hole made to size.

1/4 Inch Plate..

I bought a roll of flare material for this rig.. cut out the wheel wells about 2 1/2 inches. clicky

Bare steel.. $15 each or 2 for $25 shipped U.S. PM me..

No, He sent the measurements... have to drill the frame. Not sure there are any holes in the area that would work. If any of my vehicles still had IFS .

He doesn't know anything... . . . . . . . . . . .

Made a new bottle opener..

Thanks Kevin! You guys going to be at Moab again next year?