Dowser

What I'm saying is that if you have a set amount of cash, I "Personally" think it is safer and more advisable to do the steering before the Suspension lift. I know lots of people run lifts with stock steering and that's fine. But you never know what the future holds, and you can count on having cash later to upgrade the steering but lets say something else happens, life takes you in a different direction, and you no longer have a bit of cash to throw into it. At that Point... I think its safer to have done the steering first. That's all I'm saying. It could be you end up driving around with a sloppy steering system for who knows how long on a lifted rig waiting on cash, instead of having a bomb proof steering set up waiting on some cash for a lift. Just my

Alright, I'll try and cover most of the questions you have with what I know from my experience. If you would eventually like to drive on 33's first thing I would do is check what your gearing is now. If your rig has 4.3 gears I would most likely stay away from 33's since in my experience you lose a lot of low end power. I'm guessing this is what my issue was with my First pathfinder when I lifted it before I knew anything about anything mechanical. I never even bothered to check the gear ratios and it was gutless on 33's. This 3rd Pathfinder I have has 4.6 gears, and I've just recently driven a rig with 33's and 4.6 gears in it and theres is plenty of pick up and go and thats with an Auto. So as far as I'm concerned, 33's are fine with the 4.6 gearing. You could also grab an xterra 3rd member with 4.9's and the front diff Ring and Pinion with 4.9's and have those installed as well on the cheaper side down the road. It doesn't matter which you install first. The wont affect each other during installation. The situation I was referring to, is the weak centerlink, and Idler arm. As you may have read elsewhere, the idler arm bends if not properly braced, but seeing as you have the brace already that doesn't need to be talked about, the centerlink is the other problem area and its due to the design. If you aren't sure what it looks like, think of a Cartoon Dog bone. On the ends, it uses a ball joint system for both the idler arm connection and the TRE connection on the passender side, and again the ball joint style for the Pitman arm, and TRE on the driver side. What ends up happening is when the steering gets shocked, like hitting a rock offroad or perhaps even hitting a curb very hard in a non offroad situation, the centerlink creates a great deal of torsional strain on the centerlink because it is allowed to move due to the ball joint connections. This excessive twisting eventually messes with your centerlink and makes your steering out of whack and more unpredictable. The Grassroots modified Centerlink does away with one of the ball joint connections on each end, the Idler/pitman arm side and adds grade 8, 5/8 bolts in its place. There is much less torsional forces with this design and the weak points become either the Idler arm itself, or the TRE's. Ultimately you'd like the weakest link to be the TRE's since they are the easiest and cheapest to repair on the trail. Before doing any Lift modifications, I would think about what you'd like to be doing as the end result, and tackle the steering accordingly. From personal experience now, I can tell you it is MUCH safer and better to go that route. From my lesson I'm just lucky I never lost control on snowy roads and killed myself, or someone else. For shocks, No it is not necessary. For TRE's, Ball joints and UCA installation, absolutely. You will absolutely need shims and most likely quite a few of them behind the spindles when lifting the front end. The T-Bars are easy to crank up and there is a lot of info on these boards on that, so after you install the UCA's, I would crank them yourself to the height you wish to have them at. Remember to leave some room between your bump stops and UCA's or you will have no uptravel, It will feel BRUTALLY jarring while going over even pot holes, and you will be putting your CV's at a strained operating angle. Once you have these adjusted, Go to the alignment shop, and tell them 2 things, 1) Do not touch the Torsion bars to adjust the alignment, do it all through the UCA spindles, and 2) Use Washer style shims that WONT fall out as soon as you go up a curb. It is advised to get longer spindle bolts and there is a write up about that on here too. I can't recall the exact measurements but grade 10.9, 14?x60mm comes to mind? Don't take my word on that. Hope that helps. And if I'm forgetting anything or have anything wrong, someone correct me please. I don't like to give bad advise.

I thought at first maybe it was a diesel because I've seen those go for outrageous amounts but an Gas powered XE...... that's funny.

Ball joint wear wont really be affected so long as you get some UCA's that correct the balljoint angle. The Centerlink wont be any more of an issue if you don't put bigger meats on your wheels and if you avoid offroading it too hard you shouldn't have an issue there with the factory steering system. The TRE's will be the only thing that may see more wear due to the more pronounced angle but I doubt it will be enough to start causing failure unless you are being harsh on the trails. You wont have a problem getting the new bushings on the spindles. A little bit of grease on them and they pop right in and right out again if need be. The reason you cant get the old ones out is because they are most likely ceased in do to age and wear. Its easiest to disconnect the Upper balljoint, the shock, and th8e spindle nuts and take the whole UCA assembly with the spindle attached out, and burn them out that way. They stink so make sure you have an area well ventilated. Once the Spindle is out, make sure no one puts it in water to cool it down for you to touch. That could possibly change the metallurgic properties, so it is a good idea to just let it cool down on its own naturally. Now....... If it were me, I'd address the steering situation first before putting bigger tires and lift on. Its just the more safer route to go in my opinion. Once your steering is out of whack, its like wrestling a bull ALL the time.

I'll make sure to clean any stains I might get on it before installation. ........ .................

Nice man. The only issue I can see is that the Pictures of the Tranny and transfer case weren't taken in your kitchen or living room. Can't wait to see how it turns out either.

I can't take all the glory I'm afraid. its a topic that's been talked about numerous times over the years, I just went ahead and sent you a PM since your back in a Pathfinder Project. And for everyone out there, AK9849cy didn't mess around for a minute. No sooner did I send him a PM about the issue and linking the thread I had started a while back about paying someone with fab skills to make a bracket, he got back to me with 4 replies, the 1st one being 7 and 1/2 hours later acknowledging me, and the 4th reply 14 hours after my PM to him with a 1st draft welded product. He's sent me a lot of great material on the changes to that design to improve upon and to make it truly a "Bolt On" application without any messing around. Right down to the tapered washers to deal with the misaligned holes the bolt goes thru. This Whole process from initial PM, reply, 1st draft to 4th was 8 days and he doesn't even have a rig that can benefit from this since his is a low COG moderate wheeler with 1" lift. On behalf of the Community I say thanks for taking the initiative and making it happen so FAST. I'll be providing a Step by Step along with a review for this application once it arrives.

Those bumpers are available to purchase.

Voltmeter, Transmission Temp, Engine Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Differentials Front and Rear temp, Fuel Pressure, etc There's lots of things to play around with.

I was thinking about those Tweeters too when I originally posted thinking I would be happy with a design with 2 pods, but thinking more clearer on the subject I could care less if those tweeters work or not so I'd be more then happy with a 3 pod design. I'm thinking if anything once we gather 20 people we could put it to a vote and go with the final decision based on that.

So this will be the Official Update Page for this project. If any of you are interested in seeing the most current status, this will be the place to find it. The price quote for the 3 gauge, no tweeter design is $54.99 The unit comes in standard black with the option for interior color matching for an additional $7.99 The Minimum order number is 20 and additional orders will not bring the price down. We have 23 people who have Committed to purchase and a total of 24 orders. Legend Orange - Members who have received their purchase, everything perfect. Green - Members waiting for their purchase to arrive. Purple - Members who have received their purchase but with problems. (wrong color, damage, etc.) Here are the 23 people who have Committed to purchase out of 28 original. A total of 24 orders. Project Contributors Precise - 2 (NPORA) - Products received Dowser - 1 (NPORA) Adamzan - 1 (NPORA) sewebster - 1 (NPORA) puckstoper9 - 1 (NPORA) alabama_lowlife - 1 (Infamous Nissan) tmoore4512 - 1 (NPORA) RedPath88 - 1 (NPORA) theexbrit (vegabond) - 1 (NPORA) scoobysmak - 1 (Infamous Nissan) dvdswan - 1 (Infamous Nissan) KENDIG (Infamous Nissan) SnailPowered - 1 (NPORA) Koveman - 1 (NPORA) teixeira - 1 (NPORA) lower byhalia - 1 (Infamous Nissan) calicraig - 1 (Infamous Nissan) Inyourface1650 - 1 (Nissan4wheelers) Bucket-List - 1 (Infamous Nissan) snowboard419 - 1 (NPORA) 4EyedTurd - 1 (Infamous Nissan) edicer2 - 1 (NPORA) Harbinger - 1 (NPORA) Interior Color Options Red - Already sent courtesy of alabama_lowlife from Infamous Nissan Light Grey - Already sent - courtesy of David29 from Infamous Nissan Dark Grey - Already sent - courtesy of alabama_lowlife from Infamous Nissan Dark Brownish Grey - Already sent - courtesy of David29 from Infamous Nissan Brownish Grey - Already sent - courtesy of David29 from Infamous Nissan Tan - Already sent - courtesy of David29 from Infamous Nissan Blue - Already sent - courtesy of alabama_lowlife from Infamous Nissan Light Blue - Already sent - courtesy of David29 from Infamous Nissan Black - Not needed, company makes in standard black The sample A-pillar piece for them to use for a mock up and to give us a more accurate quote has been sent in. (alabama_lowlife) Color Samples have been sent in. (alabama_lowlife and David29) Photos of the interior with the Pillar in place have been sent. (Dowser) Mock up trim piece with Pods attached has been sent to me for test fitting. It's been tweaked for proper positioning and angles and is packed up for return shipping. (Dowser) Money has been collected, payment sent to the company. (Dowser) Product is finished and being sent out to project contributors. (All of you! Nice work everyone We're all finished! Before you know it, a 3 Gauge Pod A-Pillar will show up at your door. Thanks again to the crews at NPORA, Infamous Nissan, and Nissan4wheelers for helping to make this a reality. It couldn't have been done without everyone's support, trust, and influence.

Where do I sign....

*raises hand* I KNOW! But I'm not telling.

You didn't read the whole thread did you........................ Second link I posted, Post #5 mentions what their company provides for which springs, And if you do a little bit of and study you will be more informed then having someone just tell you everything. Good luck.

Yes. That, combined with the 2" suspension lift will give you 6 inches of lift overall. Which at this time, is the best option available without compromising too much of the vehicles reliability. Again, you must understand the whole picture as well. Adding the suspension and sfd lifts and utilizing larger tires, you will also be in need of changing out other components as changes to one thing affect other things. Its a snowball effect so make sure you do your homework before just jumping in. To get a reliable ride, with that much lift, it can get a bit pricey. Start asking some of the other members here with the SFD lifts what the total cost has been from them, take all of their answers, and average it out. that will give you a ballpark.

Here you go. All this can be found on the site. You just need to spend some time with the Search function. This is from the Vendors section. Link

Read this thread. Yes I know its long. Yes I know it will take you forever to get thru it. But when You're done, if you still have questions you will have more understanding as to what we are saying. Link

*edit* Phanotm01Pathfinder beat me to the Post button while I was typing. No. Not exactly. You don't have a frame to lift the body up off of. Your Pathfinder is a Unibody construction, meaning the frame is part of the body. What that kit is, is a Sub Frame Drop kit. It allows you to lower the subframe, Which is what is used to hold your front differential and suspension in place, By lowering the Front subframe, you allow yourself more clearance for Tires, a bit more front suspension travel, and a bit better belly clearance. IFS (independent front suspension) rarely yields more then 2-3 inches of lift due to the fact that other components, mainly CV's, are outside of their operable limitations. This is about the best thing you can do without swapping a Solid axle under your rig, which is highly technical, expensive and requires a lot of custom fabrication.

How did you determine the direction of the mounts when welding the final section to the frame. In the final picture you've got it so they are facing what looks like straight down. I haven't got the Pathfinder here right now to go and take a look at the factory mount to see if you just mounted it the same way as factory, or if you are mounting it that way to maximize down travel, or for some other reason I haven't a clue about. One other question. Once you get it all sorted out, and get a feel for it, could you give us some feedback on how it feels driving as a daily driver. How it responds with the changes vs stock, and how it compares to your original Red 4 door design with the Raised spring mount and long arm system. I've been planning to do something like that since your original write up with the only worry being highway handling. I thought I read somewhere that you said that it was always more comfortable at 5 mph then 55. I'd be happy with less travel so long as I could get my family around in it safely. Kick ass work as always, and great write ups.

If you buy another stock centerlink, and do even moderate wheeling, you have a good chance of damaging the new one as well. Especially with larger tires. The stock design is terrible and uses a balljoint style system on both the Idler/pitman arms, and tie rods. The issue is that it allows for a large degree of twisting and ends up messing up the centerlink. Grassroots, as you can see replaces the Idler/Pitman arm side to take a bolt, and I have not heard of any issues with the new design ever having a problem once being replaced. With less torsional twisting in the steering, It basically moves the weak point to another area. In this case it would most likely be the Idler Arm. That can be strengthened with an Idler arm brace, and adding some metal bracing to the Idler arm itself. This can be applied to the Pitman arm as well.(there are lots of topics here on that, search) Doing that shifts the weakest link to the Tie Rods where it should be. Bring spares already set to the exact lengths of the currents for both sides, and You wont have a huge issue out on the trail. Don't waste your money on the factory centerlinks.

How dare you post all this information without even a single photo! That's just criminal! Sounds like a great rig! I haven't got any info on the intercooler I'm afraid since being from North America they aren't too common, but I just couldn't let this thread go by without yelling at you for Pictures. Good luck with the future mods.

Oh Tungston........ I'm gonna buy you a shirt somewhere that has a picture of a foot in a mouth. Perhaps you've never seen anything that Ryan has ever built before. He's a Family man, Well versed in making anything and everything work and work better then most actual manufacturers come up with. His designs change as function needs, and lastly...... Do you really think that he would just pop a handle like that on a stock a pillar of a Totally built up 4x4 truck without thinking perhaps that it wouldn't be safe? Nevermind.... not my argument..... just thought I'd mention that it would have been better to ask if its going to secure enough then claim he's doing it wrong. Just sayin. By the way.... kick ass handle. Love the addition of the cap opener for the Passenger to use.

To be honest? For the extra cost, and it is excessive for studs, I'd go with the dealer Z studs. Its tested, proven to work, right size, and you'll have piece of mind later that the new ones wont break. Just my

count me in for 2 then hahah

Well it wouldn't matter what year so long as you're not driving a 96+ which I see you're not. And as for the fact they no longer carry them, that could be true. Interesting.