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andreus009

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Posts posted by andreus009

  1. We have the one of the nation's lowest gas rates and the worst paved roads to prove it! I basically live on the SC/NC border. It is always ten cents higher (average) in North Cakalak than on my side of the border. You'd probably be amazed as an outsider to see the number of gas stations located on our side of the state line. We also have an abundance of firecracker stores as they are illegal in NC. I feel like a rebel!! :lol:

    I'll second that on the roads...usually stay in the left land on interstates just to keep from beating the hell out of the vehicle.

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    I'm going to add my 3 cents worth here. I've had my transmission out 3 times, so that means I've had to reset my torsion bars at least 3 times. After trying all the match marking and stuff as described the first time, I realized it wasn't much of a benefit. What matters is the ride height (also evidenced by the angle of the lower control arm). As long as this is the same (side to side) you are pretty much guaranteed that the torsion bars are loaded like they need be. However there is a catch. In the original write up in step 11 it says "until the anchor is mostly sucked up into the crossmember" If you look at Slartibartfast's post (12 posts before this one) you see a picture of his Driver's side rear anchor. The anchor is some what protruding below the cross-member. While, this may be okay from a torsion bar preload standpoint ( assume all is level side-to-side) it can be a problem when off-roading if you drag the bottom of the rig over rocks or other solid objects. The protrusion of the anchor/bolt head will hit first and get bent/damaged. Experience has taught me this; therefore when you are done adjusting you really want these tucked up fully in the cross-member. If you don't wheel, or if you only wheel in sand/mud this probably will never be a problem, but if you like rocks then you gonna want to make sure the anchors are tucked. So how do I get them there? Trial and error with a bit of experience. With the truck up on jackstands, I'll set the two rear anchors where I think they need to be (rotation angle on torsion bar) and tighten up the anchor bolts till I have pretty good preload on the bars. Then I drop the truck, bounce the suspension and see where my ride height is at. I'll look how much more I have to go to get the anchors tucked compared to where I am in the travel of the control arms (i.e. ride height). If my height is pretty close, but I still have a ways to go to get the anchors tucked I lift the truck again, unload everything, rotate the anchors a spline or two (judgement call), re-tighten anchor bolts, drop the truck, bounce the suspension, and re-check everything. Repeat as necessary.

     

    Will they be tucked the same amount. Not necessarily. My passenger side is a little more tucked then the driver's side (to get vehicle level side to side). Honestly, i think this is due to the passenger side of the vehicle being heavier; therefore a little more preload is needed to get it to the level point. How do I know the passenger side is heavier? When I jack dead center the driver side comes up first and it tilts passenger side. I have to place my jack a little passenger side of center to get it to come up evenly. This probably due to battery and AC components being more to that side??? Maybe.

  3. Yeah, 1/16th per sleeve would seem about right, given that the total gap looks to be 1/8th. I'll have to give this a shot. Unfortunately, no lathe handy for me so miter box and hacksaw it will be. We have a saying where I work "cut to suit, beat to fit, paint to match"

  4. So who has any experience with these bushings? I recently changed all the front bushings to Energy Suspension Polyurethane. When i first put it back on the road it had a terrible pull to the left so I had to adjust the driver side caster like double what it was when I took it apart. Also, I noticed when I jack the truck all the way up so that the front wheels are off the ground there is a gap between the bushing and the A-arm on one end. It happens on both the passenger and driver side. Both sides (driver and passenger) gap about the same. The gap appears toward the front bushings (of the A-Arm), but you can slide the A-arm so that the gap is at the rear bushing.

     

    Here is a pictures of the passenger side.

     

    null_zps99ea15fe.jpg

     

    null_zpsfe033c28.jpg

     

    When its on the ground the gap closes up so everything 'looks' normal. I know the metal sleeve in the center of the bushings is bottom so I can't really crank down the nut anymore with damaging something. Are these supposed to be cut-to-suit bushings? Seems like that shouldn't be the case.

     

    I drove the Pathy to work yesterday and the handling just didn't feel right. I'm not sure if its related to the bushings or not. I suspect so with the gap, even though it closes when sitting on the tires.

     

    I suspect that the bushings aren't compressed at all and that there could be front-back movement of the A-arm at this location due to compression of the bushings while under road loading.

     

    Any thoughts?

     

     

  5. I've mostly used it in the transmission and the transfer case and not nearly as much as the bottle recommends. Haven't had any issues yet. I have run it in the engine oil on occassion, but only like a 1/4 of quart. I'll probably stop that all together. Thanks for the feedback.

  6. I believe there are two versions of the Warn hubs for the pathfinder. One is the standard and then one is the premium. I don't remember all the differences but I opted for the premium.

     

    In regard to the auto locking hubs. Depending on how hard you are gonna wheel it they will hold up pretty good. I finally broke one (and the end of the cv shaft) when I was trying to get up an obstacle. Basically, one front wheel was lifting and getting a lot of wheel spin then coming down on solid rock with good traction. Basically going from maybe 15mph to 0 on that well in a split second. After pulling the auto hubs apart (to get the pieces out so I could drive home) I was amazed at how much abuse they took without breaking before. The Warn hubs are definitely more stout, but like I said the autos seem to handle a lot and it depends on how you wheel it.

  7. Well, here we go.

     

    I think the Warns are solidly built, but the studs they send with them are crap. Mine snapped well below torque rating when I was installing them. I swapped out, as many have, to bolts but found that these were regularly coming loose. In fact because of them becoming loose I actually broke a few bolts. So it got to the point that I was re-tightening every time I wheeled. I tried loctite, but it didn't seem to hold. Of course, I probably needed to clean the threads better. There is another downside to the bolts. The shoulder section of the bolt isn't long enough to engage the unthreaded portion in the hub of the wheel. What this does is leave the threads of the bolt open to bending loads if the Locking hubs slip relative to the wheel hub. I pretty sure this is what caused my broken bolts, especially once they loosened.

     

    Recently I switched back to studs (purchased online), and using nord-loc washers. I cleaned the internal threads as best I could and loctited with permanent loctite. We will see how this set-up holds up.

     

    BTW, my opinion of Warn support is.....MEH! I contacted them about the broken studs (years after it happened) and asked if they had an improved stud. They acted like they weren't aware of an issue, but I've heard many other have similar experience. I wasn't even looking for free replacement. I just wanted better studs.

     

    Anyway, many have used grade 8 bolts with much success, but if you go that route be sure to clean internal threads good and thread lock with at least high strength loctite. I'd avoid permanent loctite in the bolt case because you have to get the bolts out to take the hub off.

     

    In my case I used Dorman 675-334 studs, with M8 // 5/16 Nord-Lock washers, and a grade 8 or better nut. You don't necessarily have to use the nord lock. Probably could get away with and ordinary springs washer.

  8. 1) I would assume the exhaust manifold bolt issue would have been dealt with already when the for sure put in new exhaust to race it. Just double check/ask.

     

    2) Looks to me based on the pictures it is still running stock size tires on basically stock sized suspension (i.e. no extra travel)? I could be wrong, but just from the looks of it doesn't seem like much has been changed there.

     

    3) My biggest concern, personally, would be the stock steering set-up. I won't say that it is weak per se, but it does develop some slop/looseness in the steering box with age. it's not terrible but something to be aware. Maybe it has already been upgraded.

     

    Well, that's my 2cents. Love the roll cage. Wish I had one. Not that i race, but I do sometimes get myself in hairy situations.

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