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XPLORx4

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Everything posted by XPLORx4

  1. I believe the inner joint is easier to service than the outer. Once you remove the CV axle, you'll see that the inner joint has a cap to seal the grease in. You can pop it off by tapping on the cup to get the axle and roller bearings to press against the seal. Once the cap is off and you clean the grease out, there's a snap ring holding the bearings on the axle shaft. Remove that, and the inner boot can be removed and reinstalled. It'll be very messy, so wear some decent nitrile gloves and have plenty of shop rags to wipe up the grease. Pro tip: to remove the CV axle, unbolt the lower control arm from the subframe. A 1/2" impact driver makes short work of it; it's way easier than unbolting the strut from the knuckle.
  2. Sounds like it's the starter. If it does start after several attempts and the engine cranks quickly, meaning the battery is well-charged, it's likely the starter solenoid. I had a similar problem a few years ago. I would try to start the engine, but it would just click. After two or three quick twists of the key, it would finally start. I replaced the starter and all is back to normal.
  3. Yeah, it could be the sensor. I had low brake fluid at one time, and the BRAKE light illuminated. I added brake fluid, but the light didn't go out. I checked the reservoir again and noticed that the little white float sensor had become stuck and wasn't floating to the surface. I jiggled it around to let it rise to the surface, and the BRAKE light extinguished.
  4. As mentioned above, the warning light says "BRAKE" not "PARKING BRAKE". This light does not glow when you simply depress the brake pedal, nor does it glow if the brake switch is stuck (which would keep the rear brake lights on all the time.) The warning light indicates that something regarding the braking system needs attention, whether it's the parking brake being engaged or low brake fluid level, which lowers as the brake pads become more worn. Don't just top off the brake fluid; check your front brake pads, too. They may be due for replacement soon.
  5. Does this happen on all long drives at between 60-70mph, or only on certain sections of the road? It is possible that the road grade is just barely steep enough to cause the TC to unlock and lock. Do you have oversized tires? Does it also happen when you lighten up on the accelerator or only when under low load?
  6. I have manual hubs on my Pathfinder, and I have had it towed backwards (by a tow truck) before without any issues. You just need to be sure to lock the steering wheel and install magnetic tail lights on the hood of the Pathfinder while it's being towed.
  7. Go with KYB struts. You can purchase the rubber isolators separately from various online Nissan parts dealers. Replace the strut bearings and bump stop/boots as well. The correct Bilstein shock for a 2" lifted Pathfinder is 13-185552. With a 16" or 17" wheel with the correct offset, you can fit a 32" tire after some trimming or heat-remolding of the front plastic liners. You won't need to trim sheet metal, but you may need to remove or trim mud flaps. I have Ultra 175 Rogue wheels, 16x8 with 10mm offset. I was able to fit 265/75R16 tires with minor rubbing after trimming plastic wheel well liner. Tires cleared the strut tower as well. Camber bolts may be a good mod if you notice positive camber after lifting it. Manual locking hubs do prevent excessive wear and tear on the front CV boots while driving in 2WD. I have owned my 97 LE for 23 years. It has over 210K miles now. It's been lifted for 22 of those years. Ran 31x10.50R15 tires from 1999-2003, 32x11.50R15 tires from 2003-2006, 265/75-16's from 2006-2017. 285/75R16 tires 2017-present.
  8. When I upgraded my audio system, I replaced the Bose head unit, speakers, and amp. I wasn’t looking for a competition sound system, just something a little better than stock. I did add a subwoofer. In order to save money and avoid losing cargo room, I shoehorned an Alpine MRP-F450 amp into the cavity where the OEM Bose amp used to live. I have the amp powering the front speakers, with the rear channel bridged to power the subwoofer, a JL Audio Stealthbox. The head unit powers the rear speakers. As far as I’m aware, the stock Bose amp cannot be bridged to power a subwoofer. Besides, the Bose system is kinda strange anyway. The front speakers are amped in each door, and the rear speakers are driven by the amp behind the cargo panel. The head unit has no line-level output.
  9. The only difference between the steering racks on the early model R50s (XE/LE vs SE) is the turning radius. XE and LE originally came with 235/70R15 tires and SE came with 265/70R15. The XE/LE racks allowed for more steering angle at full lock left or right. To avoid rubbing with larger tires, the SE rack has a slightly reduced steering angle. So, if you have an XE or LE, you can install a rack from any model and if you happen to get an SE rack, you’ll just have a slightly increased turning radius. If you have an SE and you install an XE/LE rack, you might get some increased rubbing, especially on the fuel line cover at the rear of the right front wheel well. I have a 97 LE, and with 32x11.50R15 tires, 15x8 wheels and 2” of lift, I had persistent rubbing at full right steering, so I would just back off a bit to reduce the rubbing. I now have 6” of lift, and with 285/75R16 tires on 16x8 wheels, I don’t have rubbing at full right steering lock.
  10. If something in front is worn or loose, it’ll potentially induce a steering movement without your input. This could result in slight side to side body roll that feels the same as rear sway.
  11. The "roll over" sway is generally caused by bad lower control arm bushings. The upper links do less to locate the axle forward/aft, they primarily keep the axle from "wrapping" during acceleration or braking. The lower links do more to keep both sides of the axle in the same relative position beneath the car. If you're convinced the front suspension is OK, I would revisit the condition of the bushings in the rear lower links. It is possible that they're bad or were damaged during installation. You can check to see if the rear axle moves fore/aft when applying throttle by chocking the front wheels and checking for movement of the lower links at either end of the mounts when an assistant shifts the transmission into R or D and applies light throttle. You can also check to see if the tires move fore/aft when this happens. If either the left or right wheel moves fore/aft when throttle is applied, the bushings are bad. I recommend installing polyurethane bushings as the best countermeasure to deter the death wobble.
  12. By "rear sway" I assume that you mean that you feel a steering movement caused by the rear axle shifting under certain throttle positions while driving in straight line. If you mean that the rear end tends to sway or lean more than you desire during cornering maneuvers, it does seem like you covered the bases, except for replacing the springs, which I assume are stock. If you are still experiencing a steering motion after overhauling the rear suspension, I would suggest investigating the front suspension components, such as lower control arm bushings, tie rod ends, and ball joints. What shocks did you install?
  13. Check rear pan hard rod bushings and front lower control arm bushings. How's your tire wear and alignment?
  14. If your main reason for installing coil-overs is to improve rear load capacity while towing, you'd probably have better success installing AirLift helper bags inside the rear coil springs. I would be concerned that any kind of weight-bearing component installed on the factory upper shock mount will put too much stress on the shock mount and cause it to fail.
  15. What would be the advantage of installing coil-over shocks in the rear? Where would they mount?
  16. Use the img /img tag (add brackets around "img" and "/img"). Put the url of the jpg source between the tags.
  17. LOL. That's a photo I took the first time I had to replace my struts, sometime around 2000-2001. It was the first and the last time I used those spring compressors! Shortly afterwards, I bought a used Strut Tamer.
  18. Here’s a tip for the strut replacement. Loosen the nut on top of the strut shaft before removing the strut. It’s much harder to break that but loose after the strut is removed. Camber bolts, if used, should be installed on the top strut/knuckle bolt hole. When replacing the rear springs, you do not have to remove the pan hard rod, but it is very helpful to unbolt the sway bar mounts from the axle so that the sway bar doesn’t interfere with flexing the axle during installation. Also, unbolt the rear brake manifold on top of the diff to prevent overstretching the rubber brake line while you manipulate the rear axle. I would also suggest extending the rear differential breather tube to a higher location or possibly up into the cabin through one of the grommets on either side behind the wheel wells. (I routed my breather tube to the fuel filler neck area.)
  19. Preinstall the bolts. The shop may or may not be willing to touch them since they are not original equipment. Their alignment machine tells them that only toe is adjustable
  20. If you install the 2" spacers, you could potentially have binding issues with the front CV axles while the wheels are off the ground. This side-effect seems to be influenced by the particular brand of CV axle on your vehicle. The best way to confirm whether you have binding or not is to install the spacers, then rotate the front wheels (with hubs locked) by hand and feel for any resistance or binding in the inner or outer CV joints. If there isn't, you're probably OK. If there is binding, you may damage the CV axles on any type of terrain that might cause either front wheel to max out the suspension travel. Therefore, avoid such terrain. Also, another common side-effect of 2" spacers is extreme positive camber, which may be correctable with camber bolts. After installation of the spacers, you'll need an alignment.
  21. How far off is the steering wheel after you perform this procedure?If it's off by more than 12 degrees, you can adjust the link indexing by one spline. If it's off by less than 12 degrees, you'll need to adjust the tie rod ends to center the steering wheel.
  22. The "danger" of not running sway-bars is subjective. Everyone has different comfort levels with the way a vehicle handles. If it concerns you, drive with it installed. If it doesn't concern you or you feel comfortable with the change in body roll and handling, then leave it off. I was comfortable with mine removed, driving from Utah to California without it, so I left it off. I eventually reinstalled it because I started driving twisty paved mountain roads with rear-seat passengers more frequently than I was taking weekend off-road trips, and the exaggerated body lean started to give passengers motion sickness. I haven't tried driving with the front swaybar removed after installing the subframe drop, so I don't know how it'll handle.
  23. You could certainly try them and they might be fine. But, if they don’t work, then you’ll have spent 125% on new shocks.
  24. I have driven with no sway bars with a 2” lift. There is more body roll, and you need to be cautious about making abrupt lane-change maneuvers and be more aware of a tendency to oversteer. You need to slow down more on freeway exit and entrance ramps. I never felt fearful of losing control while driving normally. The enhanced front wheel travel was a huge off-road performance improvement, and entering steep driveways at an angle was also much more comfortable. I would suggest removing the rear sway bar and drive it for a week or two to see how it feels. Then remove the front and do the same. Be sure to drive over surfaces that tend to flex the suspension. I currently do not have a rear sway bar at all. It broke over 10 years ago. With a 6” lift and 33” tires, my Pathy drives fine.
  25. They will probably be very very stiff. Why not go with the 255/70?
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