DanAK

After I posted yesterday I went and looked at my truck again. This dose not seem like an easy thing at all, there is almost zero room between the top of the engine and the hood. Also while the passenger side strut is very clean, the drivers side has the break cylinder, the air intake, and the fuse box in the way. At first it just looks impossible but I think it might work if you make a mount so that the bar over shoots the strut and mounts up farther away from the engine (hard to explain). I really do thing that almost nothing can pass over the engine without the engine being dropped down an inch.

Well I felt like I was thread jacking so I wanted to start a new post about the topic of a strut brace. There seemed to be a lot of interest in this over in the "Jackson's Missing Link" topic. I love my pathfinder, and I think its wonderful to drive on the street and its fast and powerful in the desert, but I am always worried about the frame and body flex. I know its there because I can feel the whole car twist when I crest a dune at an angle, also when ever I get stuck and my rear axle is fully flexed I can not close my rear hatch door because the latch will not line up properly. One of the ways to reduce these effects (at least to reduce the effects of this in the front engine compartment) and improve strength and handling is to use a strut brace. But in the pathfinder (I am talking the VQ35 as I have no experience with the VG33) there is no room to run a brace over the engine and to run it anywhere else has its problems as well. So I am just looking for thoughts and ideas on how to make a strut brace for the Pathfinder. Here is an example of a strut brace I am just thinking now that with my SFD I might be able to make some new shorter engine blocks and also drop my transmission bracket down an inch or two (lowering the whole engine). After that it might be possible to fit in an over engine strut brace. Opinions? -Dan

Yeah, I know its not an easy thing to do, I have seen someone try and fail. That's why I need some one to make one I can just buy and install If you have make any progress let me know, I and VERY interested. I am just thinking now that with my SFD I might be able to make some new shorter engine blocks and also drop my transmission bracket down an inch or two (lowering the whole engine). After that it might be possible to fit in an over engine strut brace. Opinions?

desperately want a strut brace, NX4 industries website still says they are making one, but I emailed them/him about it and never heard anything back. So John Jackson what do you say, is pathfinder strut brace in the works over at Jackson AutoSport?

2003. 115,000 miles

Very nice! looks better than the one from the store. Have you tested its effectiveness yet?

I don't think it seals tight, but yes I removed all that stuff long ago.

Here are mine, got a set of used Micky Thompson s for cheap and powder coated them matte black. I love them!

Here is mine, all heat shielded aluminum with an AEM no oil filter. I got this done for about $100 but I don't know if there are people in America that will do it that cheap. Anyway I am happy with it.

Your break calipers might be loose, that's what my noise was for a long time. Its just one bolt to tighten them down.

Pretty sure you don't have an amp on the base line system (outside of your head unit that is). Anyway I thought mine was the bottom of the line, I don't even have tweeters. You can always run new wire if you have to.

If you want to know exactly the size of the tire I was running it was a Michellin LTX M/S 275/70R16 at 11.1in Wide and 31.3in tall. If your tires are that size or smaller you can make it fit. Maybe you can go bigger but I wouldn't know. You can see how much it sicks out in this photo.

I don't know what size that is exactly but you should be just fine. I ran (and am still running since I have yest to get a place to store a spare 33in) a 275/70R16 in the original spot for 3 years now with no problems. It sticks out a bit but I have found that to be a bonus as it has saved my rear bumper on multiple occasions.

Thanks You Tyler! That was all the info I needed, I think now I will just try to switch out my front diff just like you said and I will try to find a 4.6 rear diff with a LSD and modify that one or just leave it the same, I have heard that the pre-2002 LSDs are tighter than my 2003 (anyone confirm that?). Thanks again. I will post back when its done.

Well I did my SFD, I put on big tires and just now I am finding out that I think I have 4.3 gears. Please let me know if I am correct in assuming this? My gear info is on this plate I believe. HG43 I would like to go ahead and change to some 4.6 gears and I have already found a few different sets, but I would like to know what is the best way of doing this? Should I just change the both diffs? or just the ring and pinion? I am thinking to just change the ring and pinion but and also tighten up my LSD at the same time. But I would like to know what problems I might run into doing it like this. All the gears I am finding are from older 3.3 models, are older gears more likely to break? Or will they cause noise issue's if mated into my newer diff? Forgive me if anything I have said is overly stupid, this was not a mod I had planed on and I just don't know much about it or what the consequences are.

okay thanks, I guess I will put away my wallet. There is no rain here anyway.

It was basically the start of an engine cage for a pathfinder, but it is limited by the class of racing the guy dose. Anyway I am just saying that the strut mounting location is not the strongest in the world and that bracing the strut spacers to the body might help even out the stress. Most of us probably are not ready to put in roll cages and engine cages, I would love to but I can't. Oh! and by the way a pathfinder came in second this year in the UAE Desert Challenge (a five day desert race) driven by the french team.

Do wind deflectors reduce wind noise in a vehicle? If not what is their purpose or is it just an aesthetic choice? If they do reduce wind noise I will buy some tomorrow! -dan

If it was legal to weld on the body and frame here in the UAE i would have welded my blocks in with small welds. I also would have test driven my spacers for a week or so and then weld in steel braces from the bottom of the strut spacer into the body at different angles around the spacer. I really wish I could do that now but its against the law here, it would help the body handle the off angle stress that the spacers produce. A colleague of mine who rallies a pathfinder did a jump that pushed his racing coil-over up through the body and folded it in toward the engine. I don't drive my pathy like that but its just to say that those strut mounts are not overly strong. Here is a little of what he did to correct the problem. These braces were added after he already reinforced the mounts with a second layer of metal. And the braces are welded to the pathys full role cage. Its not pretty but it also wasn't finished. I didn't get any other photos and the car was sold a week later to a guy from Saudi Arabia. I am also planing a 10-12mm solid aluminum bash plate to add some extra strength to the sub-frame. I just need to find the aluminum.

I have had a horrible time with my steering in the past, I replaced the whole system 3 times before I added a steering fluid cooler from a 2008 nissan patrol. No problems since then but for awhile it was the most frustrating thing in the world

Ha ha, nope my truck is just very well balanced. Yes I welded them but not too the body of my truck.

In America can you pretty much do any welding you want and still remain street legal? because I can think of I lot of things I would have done differently if I could weld on my truck but sadly it is very not legal. I am just always worried about my strut spacers, I feel that this is the weakest part of the whole setup. Has anyone had any problems with these yet? I really wish we could get some coil-overs for the pathfinder.

I personally would never take off anything that would reduce the stability of my truck, but I do a different kind of off-roading than most. I am pretty sure some people have done it before and thought is was good. I would say just try it, its an easy on and off.

that is just too bad, I have never driven an older pathfinder. But I guess that my pathfinder doesn't have a speed limiter because I can get up to 117 mph.

What do you mean "hit the limiter"? in what gear? I can get up to the limiter in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and maybe 4th. Can you hit it in your top gear, and if so what speed are you going. I was happy to find out that I can still spin my tires even though they are 33s now. I don't know what my top speed is now with the bigger tires, but with 31s I could go 195kph. Anyway the VQ35DE is a wicked awesome engine!