mws

How's the battery and the connections? A machine gun clicking relay means it is getting enough voltage to trip, then not enough, then enough, then not enough. If the battery is weak, it may be right on the edge. Has just enough to trip it, but then with things start turning on and pulling current, the voltage drops just enough to not be able to keep the relay coil energized so it opens back up. Once the draw is gone, battery voltage comes back up, relay coil energizes and the cycle repeats. If you are getting clean and steady 12 volts to the relay coil, then the relay needs to be replaced.

That's a very good point. Maybe it will be OK for many miles in most vehicles, and the problems don't start getting fatal until the vehicle is old enough that the owners it affects are already too wise to bring to dealer for repair, so the dealer cowboy is dealing with is honestly clueless?

Did you extend the steering shaft enough? It was very difficult to extend on little red. I eventually had to remove it and "work" it in my vise.

What is the proper toe in spec for an '88 WD? 4 wd, of course. Couldn't find in Chilton or Haynes... 1/8" feels good with all brand new bushings and wear items, but curious what the factory said.

What wedding was that? I don't think I saw it.... Sorry - couldn't resist. Probably shoulda.

I have found all sound clips to be annoyingly inaccurate... Probably because my speakers are NOT hi-fi. Anyway, I can heartily endorse the Dynomax - for performance, durability, and sound. I have installed 4 in the last 3 years - two on pathys, and 2 on big-A V8's in tow vehicles. All sound excellent. And as inexpensive as they are, you can try it and if you don't like (not likely!) you can throw away and try another.

It's one of those things. 99 times out of 100, you will get away with it. But every now and then, you can induce a voltage spike that will pop something. Usually something expensive. Disconnecting the battery and unplugging the connectors to the ECU or other critical components drop the risk even further. Your time, your money, your call! I left all connected when welding the cups and got away with it. But I also keep a spare ECU laying around so if I fried it, I wouldn't have cared.

TREE SAW??? :eek:

Ima gonna do it.... I'll be ordering up a 3' piece to play with. I was considering it for the cost and just what you pointed out - it may have a scosche of give - which may be a good thing. Stock it came with rubber doughnuts. Those are probably harder than the UHMWPE by now. How was it to drill?

Ahhhh, nice discussion and proof of Einstein's theories of relativity! What I find trivial and easy to do IS feared and considered crazy by 99% of vehicle owners. OK, maybe that's not what Einstein meant, but the fact remains: what is trivial and what is scary is VERY relative based on the experience and confidence of the person considering it. For me, with regards to a disk brake swap, I would rather swap in a component designed by the Nissan engineers for a Pathfinder and proven to be functional than to use a kit designed by some aftermarket company with effectively unknown design, engineering, material selection, or manufacturing skills. I can look at NHTSA vehicle recall info to see if there is any history or design flaws. I can only wish about reliability of aftermarket - or do my own analysis.

First off, make the boxes as big as you can. Even then, the boxes will likely be smaller than the optimal size for a 6x9, so stuff the box with the fiberfill. The fiber will lower the resonant frequency, making the box act like it is bigger. And seal it well.

Not matching your symptoms exactly, but just in case: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=7466

Doesn't have to be too expensive for better ride. Little gray came to me equipped with a set of Sears Roadtamer shocks. I'm guessing a private labeled Monroe? Any way, even after 80k+ miles, they are an excellent shock - great ride, good control. After that many miles, they were marginal in controlling the 31's on steelies on rough washboard roads, but still excellent with 30's on alloys. They're still there on the front.

Funny that there is still a perception and marketing claims that holes will cool better. All of the objective side by side testing I have ever seen concluded there is NO difference in cooling OR wet performance. The main reasons holes are still cut are: 1) Styling 2) Weight reduction 3) Pad cleaning (slots do equally well with fewer problems) And drilled rotors are still prone to cracking. Punched are less prone. Best prevention for warping? When using brakes harder where they get hot (like coming to a complete stop from 80 mph), do NOT come to a complete stop and leave the pads clamped without any movement. The pad is an insulator. The section of rotor under the pads stays ripping hot while the rest of the rotor is cooling rapidly. Once you come to a stop, let the vehicle creep forward or back a few inches every 10 seconds or so to let the hot spot be exposed and cooled. Since starting to do this, I have never had any warped rotors, even when towing heavy loads in the Sierras...

If you have really heavy wheels (31+ on steelies), they are OK. But with smaller tires or alloys, ehh. Little red had them, I threw them away and replaced with Heckethorns. But many folks love them, so there you go... It really depends on how YOU think a vehicle should ride. In my mind, the Ranchos are from the mid '80's Trans Am school of damping. Some call it tight and controlled, I call it harsh. Myself, I am from the BMW M3 or Acura NSX school of damping. Or 2007 Baja trophy truck. This probably comes about from my time on the track with my Triumph. Too harsh is just as bad as too soft. I want the wheel to be absolutely in control, but there needs to be enough compliance to follow the road as well. A tire in the air does nothing. I also do not want to feel every little bump... That requires a far more complicated shock, which will cost more to build.

If comfort is a factor, steer away from Rancho. They tend to have way too much compression damping. I prefer Heckethorns from Rough Country.

Expanding on the felt idea, try some moleskin from the pharmacy (sold to cover blisters). It uses longer fibers so should last much longer before wearing through.

I received my camber gauge last week and started playing. conclusion 1) Simple to use, quick. Why didn't I get one of these sooner? I've probably spent $400 in wheel alignments in my life.... I could have bought a lot more tools for that! conclusion 2) The alignment tech was right, the flash bang computerized system wasn't that accurate! Using the string method, I found about 1/8" toe OUT. I reset to 1/16" toe in and she handles sooo much better. conclusion 3) I wouldn't recommend buying the toe in checking adapters for the camber gauge. Using string and a couple jackstands doesn't take too much longer, and if done correctly and carefully, it would be more accurate and aligns the wheels to the rear wheels as well (thrust alignment) conclusion 4) My front wheels are about 3/4" offset to the side relative to the rear wheels. Likely due to suspension lift with stock panhard. That made the string method a touch more challenging, but still pretty easy to do. I am still playing with getting my camber exactly where I want it (1/4 to 1/2 degree on right, 0 on left for a little road crown compensation) so I will take some pictures the next time I play.

It will be a more plush ride without the bars. Just keep in mind it will react to rapid steering inputs in a rather unsettling way (some would say dangerous way). Take it somewhere safe and practice a few higher speed evasive manuevers so you know what to expect the next time some moronic groper pulls out in front of you... And make sure anybody else who's going to drive your rig do the same. Having them freak out when it leans over during an evasion could result in panic and doing the wrong thing - creaming your truck and maybe themselves.

Another option you (Slick) are qualified to attempt is to move the ball joint out on the UCA. Use a round file to elongate the holes, and then a spot of welding to fill the holes back in so the BJ can't slip back and.... Voila! I'm going to be doing that tonight (in the opposite direction) as I dropped the suspension back down an inch after having another CV joint tear, so I'll be down to about 1.5" susp lift. With the RC UCA's, I now have tops leaning out a bit. Moving the holes about 1/8" oughta do me dandy.....

Absolutely the plate (B&M et al) style. Advantages: - Less flow restriction (parallel passages instead of serial) - More cooling per square inch of cooler (more fluid to metal surface area) - Tougher, less prone to insect/rock damage Disadvantages: - Cost more to make, so more expensive - Are not self burping, so you need to mount outlet to the high side to let air bubbles escape - Not as many size options I should mention, a fluid to fluid (like stock cooler in the radiator) would be the ultimate in high efficiency, lowest restriction heat extraction from the trans fluid. Of course, then it needs a large fluid to air cooler to cool the cooling fluid. If the current dual B&M's do not cut it, I am thinking about a custom super cooler for my tow van - mount the old (replaced with 4 core) stock radiator under the chassis, seal inlet and outlet, and fill with a fluid with high heat transfer coefficient - like straight distilled water or ammonia. Since it is only cooling trans fluid and the fluid will transfer heat twice as fast as coolant, it would be able to extract and expel a huge amount of BTU's.

Yes, many cutting boards are made from it! As are some of the best skid plates... But I won't be doing them for others - yet.... I am very averse to letting others be my guinea pig! Also, I estimate there are a lot of things that make going up to 4" pretty difficult and likely not worth the effort. Many linkages, lines, and hoses are already stretched to their safe and functional limit at 3". In addition, I think some triangulation is needed to avoid "racking", as some have had issues at 3"

I need to fab up another set of body lift spacers, about 1.75". I was going to use nylon, when I noticed UHMWPE is less than 1/2 price. I believe it machines pretty well? So why not use it? Any thoughts?

Personally, I'm tired of knuckle dragging professionals F-in up my truck. On the previous alignment, the moron used a big-A impact wrench on the T-Bar adjusters without loosening the lock nuts and stripped the threads. And I've yet to see any of them properly torque the UCA spindle bolts - they just set the impact on kill and ram them in there.

Aren't their two engine temp sensors - one for gauge/light and one for ECU? If the ECU sensor is disconnected, it will definitely trip the SES light as the ECU is getting grossly conflicting information and can not figure out the proper amount of fuel to inject. It will make it's best guesstimate to compensate, but that is a compromise. In general, the SES light comes on: - when any of the sensors the ECU needs to make accurate decisions is providing readings outside of the programmed allowable parameters - when O2 sensor is detecting levels outside of allowable parameters - when other sensors related to emissions (fuel tank vacuum) are giving readings outside of allowable parameter - Other causes as defined by ECU programmer.... Is this the '87 or '95?