MichiganAve

Tyler took a sick flexing picture last night...

I'd replace the strut bearings while you have things taken apart as they are cheap and I've actually had one fail. Not necessary, but cheap. Changing the bushings in the control arms can be a pain. I just bought new control arms as then the bushings are already in and it saves time. Of course those are just stock bushings, if you want poly then you don't have a choice. If you are keeping on your sway bars you might want to think about changing the front link and the rear bushings. The strut mount may not need replacement, depends on your mileage. You are right though, most people say that you should get the Nissan for that not aftermarket. I wouldn't go with spacers up front as it will cause greater angle on the CVs. If you really need more height then you could do the subframe drop lift and have 4.5+ inches total lift. If you are just trying to get something more level you can run OME plus a spacer up front instead. You get the same front clearance but have less topping out of the struts. Personally, I like my current Bilstein shocks better than my previous Rancho 9000x.

Yeah. Actually I just looked it up and I did have the 300lb coils. Here is a picture.

I have not compared multiple stiffnesses in a Pathfinder, but I did compare rates from 200 to 350 on my last car (our club had nearly identical setups with stock to 300lb coils, so I did get to try them all), and decided on 250 for my coilovers. And that was a much lighter vehicle than the Pathfinder. So I do know what it feels like to go stiffer and I know what I like. Maybe 250 or 300 would be ideal for me in the Pathfinder, I don't know as I haven't tried it! But I do know that I would like coils stiffer than the AC coils I have now. They were an improvement over stock in stiffness, but that doesn't make them perfect. I also would have gotten higher valving on my rear shocks in retrospect, and I wish there were higher valved struts available too. Overall I feel my setup is superior to stock in every way except the topping-out issue, but I would change things if I could do it over again. I would definitely go with custom coils over AC that are stiffer, only 1" longer than stock in front, and 5" longer than stock in rear. And when my AC coils wear out, I probably will- but that will be a while.

I think 31s underneath, and you may have to air them down a little especially if you have a trailer hitch.

I think I'd prefer 200 in my coils honestly, not 160. And this is my daily driver and I want it pretty smooth. As far as difficulty, I installed the Prado. And I knew nothing before that and had no experience. So its not that hard. I only used hand tools.

Um, the AC springs are only 20% stiffer than stock and the OME springs are 10% stiffer. On my last car I ran springs 3x stiffer than these... This isn't that stiff. Considering your stockers are probably weak and saggy you will honestly get a smoother ride with new coils and shocks. You'll be surprised how much better it feels over bumps, dips, and in corners. Unless you top out, that's no fun.

Dude, look like 12 threads down on the front page and you'll see this: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=12729

Only because you are increasing the CV angles-- using strut spacers or coils do the same thing in that regard. I have AC coils with my Prado lift but purposely chose to get my strut spacers smaller than my subframe drop to maintain CV angles closer to stock. Both Max and Matt did AC coils with 4.5" strut spacers for a whopping 6.5inches lift up front with the same front crossmember clearance as somebody just running an AC lift. It is not really a property of the coils, if you had 6.5" strut spacers and stock coils with the Prado subframe drop you'd get the same clearance as an AC coil lift (not that anybody would do such a stupid thing lol). But you get the point. You can pick your goals.

Coils lifts don't give you increased clearance between the rear diff and the ground either, only bigger tires can do that.

Richard just has a great design eye, it looks very stock. This follows the lines of the body nicely. It does gives a few extra inches of clearance compared to stock (my exhaust pipes used to have 1/2cm clearance to my stock bumper). But the integrated receiver is a HUGE improvement over the hitch hanging down- that was as low as where the spare tire hangs right now. After I get the swing on I'll move the spare and I'll get my exhaust rerouted too, so it will be pretty significant. Not to mention I can carry a spare larger than 31" finally!

Oh, if by how much you meant pricing, you can read his thread here http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=10705 for more info. He has a style of sliders he makes often for weld-on on xterra but somebody recently got them on an R50. These he did custom for me (and I appreciate it Richard!!!)

Yeah, I asked for those outriggers to stick out. Should help keep the body further away from obstacles and give me something better to step on for roof access. I'll have to measure the exact distance from the inner rail for you later.

Progress on my rear bumper from Richard (frontier2k1). The tire swing still has some work before it is ready.

My new sliders from Richard (frontier2k1). They bolt to the stock location.

So I got the 5150 series Bilsteins which have an attached reservoir. AC sells them for like $125 but I got them for $99 shipped from some off road warehouse in san diego california. I got the lower valving but probably should have gone with the higher with all the armor I'm adding. You gotta note they are sold by length specs and mine are obviously much longer than you'd want without 5" lift. You can just talk with AC and they'll help you figure out which ones to get. I had to press my own bushings as they don't manufacture them to fit ours. But I think AC lists a Bilstein 5000 that will fit R50 and that's probably a good shock for you. The Rancho 9000x was good when I had it for a few weeks this fall, but certainly not on the same level as the Bilsteins.

You can order the rocky roads with the outrigger now too! And Dean has the sliderz, nice design.

THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS OF HER PEEING!!!!

Yes, the KYB work with either coils. The only issue is the strut length is the same regardless of stock coils, OME, or AC, so you get less downward travel range with greater lift you choose. That's why you "top out." You probably want some new rear shocks that are slightly longer than stock with either AC or OME. I had the Rancho 9000x from AC before, now I have Bilstein 5150's.

Personally, I have been insanely annoyed by my struts topping out with my AC lift coils. It got better after adding a 180lb front bumper, but I still hate it and wish I had gone with OME coils instead. I also sympathize with the CV angle issue as I can't disengage my manual hubs without throwing warning codes on the all-mode QX4 transfer case. The OME coils were designed to give better handling and lift than stock without causing problems. The AC coils give slightly more lift but at the cost of these issues. Obviously at the time that I bought my AC coils the Prado lift wasn't out yet, so I understand why everybody bought them before. But I am glad I am a tester and really think that anybody who wants more lift than the OME coils offers should skip past the AC coils and go with a Prado.

I replied back on AC's board and the coils they advertise as 1/2" are the same OME's that Rocky Road now calls 1.75" lift even though the specs are 1/2" lift. I have spoken with both companies about this before. I think that's an appropriate option for you, you'd clear your current tires and have less effect on your CV's than with AC's 2" coils. I don't think its fair to compare Tyler's project to L&P's. Tyler has actually gone through several working versions and has three test lifts. I'm enjoying my 5" of lift right now courtesy of Tyler and I've put over 500 miles on it. He wants to give Max and I time to test it out and I think that's the right thing to do. In polls on his forum most people have actually asked for more time for testing before release. It is totally up to Tyler, but I think targeting a few months from now is probably perfect, and still plenty of time before summer.

Got any more info Tyler? I'd love to find some pictures of that thing in action.

LOL.

I got in on the group deal too. I think it will just be easier to use this than to use my in-dash screen and computer for daily purposes. Just a few more orders til the next $5 price drop guys!

There are actually quite a few third party efforts at the nissan consult interface thanks to enthusiasts for the SR20 and Z32. They work on almost every Nissan minus some random functions that may be model specific. You can get both the connector and laptop software for under $130. http://www.plmsdevelopments.com/consult_if.shtml http://www.blazt.biz/ I have a carputer so I have pondered getting one of these packages. However I tend to use my GPS window or MP3 window up on my screen while driving, so even though I could embed this in my front end shell I probably wouldn't be using it for a speedo replacement and constant monitoring. I think the scangauge II might be better for daily usage purposes.