rgallant

The hi-lift is a handy tool for lots of things, other than holding a flat tire up. It can allow you to lift the flat high enough to get a bottle jack underneath, to get material underneath to get out of a bad rut. Or a as manual winch,that just takes forever but it does work I have used mine for all of these, only for winching on my pathy and only about 50 yards (snow and runts suck). Bluewulf73, just remember your cell stops being useful about 10 minutes before the trail head around these parts. So be self sufficient and prepared to walk if worst comes to worst, so far I have always driven home but stuff happens so be prepared.

I have seen this kind of behavior with toasted oil rings and good cats. Solid compression, no smoke except after a hot start and only for a few seconds. Heavy oil use with no apparent cause. Check your tail pipe for soot, fairly heavy deposits will be there if you have this type of issue. Given you engine type and my understanding the power valve screws could give you the same results.

Right there with you I mostly go out alone, literally. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders, if the snow ever leaves the high up you should come out this way and I can show the back route to Boston Bar, it is not a bad drive other than the bit by Harrison. (yahoo's not road)

Easy answer, how good a driver are you. The more capable the vehicle the more risk you take, the more risk you take the better the change of getting really stuck. I would say if your really feel the need for more ground clearance go SFD, the pros out weigh the cost. But I see you are in BC like me so think carefully about it, we have so much access to everything via FSR's most lifts are not really needed. I covered from Vancouver to Pentiction and back last Sept 3 days 1000+ Km and only touched pavement for about 100km - needed to fuel up and cross hiways. In fairness a lot of that was going up to and checking out small lakes for fishing and coming back down. But I rarely needed 4wd let alone a lift, other than getting into the smaller lakes and some bad uphill washboard. Every year and trip is different but I have found at least in my case a lift would be a waste of time, there are certainly places that I had to say not gonna make it and the odd clunk was heard in others but overall they are the exception. I would spend the money making sure you have good AT tires, solid suspension (OME or something better than stock springs), a well maintained vehicle, GPS, backroads maps hard copy and GPS and consider a ham course and radio. The other issue in BC is cellphones stop really quick, last year no cell coverage in Boston Bar and that is Hwy 1, a radio is kind of nice when you are in the middle of nowhere. You can almost always pickup the logging companies if not on the weekend during the week for sure. I saw very few vehicles other than close to Princeton And Pentiction, so you can be on your own if you do breakdown.

WOW you are getting gouged big time Rocky Road still shows them at 150 a pair - front or rear. I would suggest checking a border drop like letterlock or ship happens order from the US to the drop point and cross over and pick them up. Duty and tax might run you another 60 to 80 bucks so you have saved 400.00 That price is obscene

I hope that is installed, front and rear. Because the springs are not bad price wise but the install on the front end is the expensive part.

I agree with OME for springs, I load up pretty good for off roading and don't get much drop in back end. So for cargo use the OME are a solid choice.

I run 16 in Toyota Rims,they are lug centric with an abs spacer the spacer was tossed in but I doubt it makes any real difference, no noticeable vibration at any speed. If you are going to a heavier tire have your bearings checked, my right front was under tightened that vibrates like crazy.

I have literally a few 1000km off road in mine with zero complaints. 97 Standard open/open. As was mentioned good tires, THINK 1st Drive second helps alot. I have found no where I wanted to go that I could not go, but I have a lot of off road experience. Just know when to say nope not gonna do that, if you think you will get stuck or hung up, you probably will. If you have buddies with you who can unstick you give it a go, otherwise move on. Tires are tough because there are a lot of opinions and they are not cheap, my suggestion talk to guys where you live. Every off road environment is different, a good tire in New England might be a really bad choice out here on the West Coast. For example there is a lot of sharp rock, and smooth river rock around, mud unless you look for it is not so common. I prefer an aggressive AT, I run Discover S/T Maxx (http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Light-Truck/DISCOVERER-S-T-MAXX.aspx) they work well off road and are not too bad in the rain. My Pathy is my daily as well as fishing truck so MT's were not really a good option.

Exactly what I put into mine, save I run a different rear shock. Works great I covered about 1500Km on logging roads and goat tracks this September with no issues at all. In fairness I tend to travel alone with about 500lbs in the back, but the back end does not drop much. The back end does bounce a bit more on washboard, but I am open on both ends. Popping in 4wd sorts that out pretty quick. If you are an overlander type of guy it should work good for you.

I replaced mine with the Dorman OEM style, they went a year later. In fairness I blew out a shock bushing completely, which likely was a big contributor to the failure. After that I went to Poly, I wheel a lot but flex is not really an issue I prefer the stiffer feel and better durability.

Keep a spare,my bumper hit a rock hard from below and snapped one. Easy enough to replace even on the trail.

Hey there, I have the OME on my Pathfinder and works good for most of what you will find here in BC. Good solid springs and give excellent support if you have a load in the back. If you are looking for more lift you should look at the sub frame drop.

I would like to see some pics too, I have a line on a used one for cheap.

Routine maintenance, just keep that up and if you hear or feel weird stuff get it checked out. I have literally a couple of 1000 of offroad KMs on my 97 and have had no major failures. But, make sure you have: a properly inflated spare, some duct tape, seals all self tapping screws A couple of small pieces of light wieght sheet metal spare oil With the stuff above you can wrap up a cut CV boot, seal a small hole in a fuel tank or oil pan, big problems are much harder to deal with and require a lot of gear. Have a sleeping bag and a couple of days of food and water and a small camping stove Lastly have a trip plan and make sure some one reliable has it. With all that in place you are pretty much ok. And go with good karma, stop to see if people who are broken down need a hand, can't hurt and it may work out for you if you break down.

No to plus +1 the 245/75/16 are a nice fit and plenty wide enough. I am up in BC so mostly rock and creek crossings, wider does not really help that much. Besides either taller or wider means some kind of additional lift, those just clear the struts at the back. I am a firm believer in where cattails grow stay away, same with mud. Of course up here, I am about an hour out of Vancouver, 30 minutes from home just hitting dirt there is no cell service. I do have a VHF radio, but that gets spotty in the hills. So getting really stuck or breaking something can be along hike home, in my case 60 to 100 miles. I mostly travel alone too so care matters. Besides I learned to 4x4 with the armed forces reserve, jeeps, really skinny tires with little 4 bangers. You get pretty good at picking ground and routes after awhile.

Here you 97 R50 OME, medium duty springs all round, shocks and struts about 1 yr old. Rims are 16 in Toyota 4 runner they were free and fit, original rims were trashed.

I run the 245/75/16's with no issues anywhere. Cooper Discovery S/T

Just to chime in there is something seriously wrong there, not only the vertical angle but side to side as well. I would strongly suggest tearing it down before it fails. One question does the driver side look the same as far angles etc ?

Well there you go, less than 1 year and the bushings on all 4 arms have separated. Anyone have any problems with a machine shop pressing the old bushings out and the new in. I am going for warranty replacement but not holding my breath. So I am thinking poly all round.

Well it has my Mechanic confused, the R50 goes in on Friday for a complete check. But his experience is the same as mine it seems like a failing trailing arm when it happens but it is very inconsistent. So it happens one time and not the next 5. I don't have time right now to pull them off and inspect so it he going to do a front to back check of all the bushing etc. Will report back on Friday.

I will let you know what I figure out.

Yup frozen shock bushing not control arms

Mostly because I would rather not replace 3 good arms if only one is bad, at 80 bucks an arm it is a waste of money, $240.00. And I really don't need 3 spares.

Hi All, Just to start off my trailing arms are only about a year old, may be 5000K, but recently I have noticed a bit of a back end shimmy when I come off the gas at anything over 60K (40mph) and under 100k (60mph). Just to be clear this only occurs when I come off the gas. The shimmy is momentary and seems to be coming from the rear, just a few seconds but a little disconcerting. I just replaced the rear shocks and the left rear upper bushing was was seized, need heating to even turn it. Cut the rubber out, it was badly torn and heated the bushing to remove it (a good 20 minutes of cursing). My question is could that have tanked one of my trailing arms, they seem pretty tight none of them seems to have significant play Or could the panhard bar cause the same issue ? Any other suggestions ? Any other good tests to check out the trailing arms.