Tad

2000 QX4 here with the smaller 3.3L motor. We tow a Coleman Concord (1,200lbs) regularly on 2,000 mile trips without issues. We do run an external trans cooler. 2 weekends ago the Q did a fine job rescuing this classic '74 Cherk out of NM. That's a flat tow of 4,600lbs thru very hilly southern NM. Wouldn't recommend doing that regularly but it got the job done.

Is that just the front piece? Replaces the X looking brace under the plastic thing? (Q is not here at the moment)

We didn't come across any KYB springs when we were looking. We went with the OME springs, KYB struts and Rancho shocks: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33480-2k-qx4-lift/ It's been over a year now with no issues. No sag, no top out, camber is adequate and we have had no issues with the CV angle. Even though the 3.3 is a little under powered we tow with it, ~1,300lb Coleman popup or our camp trailer at ~700lb and it does just fine. Day 1: PreLift & Tires Post Lift & Tires There is still a little rake to it unloaded but once packed it is pretty much what we wanted.

Thanks for the tip! Ever since we removed the front bumper/facia to do the timing belt and radiator we have held no illusions that any of that plastic would survive long term. We are both surprised some of it has not fallen off already.

Very nice Iceman. Love the sliders, I see no reason to make them removable either. Thanks for the pic's also, I have been looking for some that show what the fenders look like with the flares removed.

We have the All-Mode T-Case (2000 QX4) and Warn Premium hubs. I read through as many of those posts that I could find prior to installing them about a year ago. Many were not conclusive but there were enough folks running this way that we decided to go ahead and do it. The only issue we have is with the 4WD indicator light. In 2WD with the hubs unlocked the light comes on erratically. Sometimes after 5 miles, sometimes it's 75 miles, once it was almost 250, sometimes not al all. I don't think it's a pump issue but something is sensing something somewhere. Anyway, we have noticed no issues or damage but I am still keeping my eye open for a pre-99.5 case, just in case.

Agreed, it would take you longer than you will probably own the rig to realize any savings that might be felt in the wallet.

Very Nice!

We really like our OME springs (HD front, MD rear), gained 2 1/2" up front and 2 1/4" out back over factory sagged springs. I've never seen measurements for what would have been stock heights but it's not that much lift. I'm only 6' and I bang my head on the upper door opening getting in pretty frequently. It tows our Coleman camper just fine. Our rear bump stops looked ok last spring when we did the springs, looks are deceiving with older rubber. I have to go back in there and replace them as they are now coming apart in chunks.

It's been 8 months since we did the OME HD front, MD rear springs so I should probably remeasure. This is where we were at then. Front = 34.5" Rear = 35.25" That's on 255/70R16's that measure about 29.5" We should hook up and get some comparison shots side by side.

We pulled the hood and used a mirror on a magnet to get at #6, made life much easier. Same deal as mentioned above, OEM plug, never been changed in 11 years, it was burned down to almost nothing.

We didn't do the strut spacers but we are really happy with the OME lift. Here's ours: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33480-2k-qx4-lift/ X2 on the strut compressor, we were able to borrow a friends shop and use his for that in advance, even in the strut cage it can be a little creepy compressing the new springs. Only issue we did not plan for was a severely corroded front sway bar link, had to destroy the original and it took a few days to get a new ones here.

We went with 255/70R16 Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor w/Kevlar as we do a lot of highway miles to and from locations, but everyone I have talked to loves their DuraTrac's. Just a hair under 30" and have a slightly wider footprint for our AZ sand. This is on OME HD fronts and MD rears (RR shiped our parts very fast, like 4 days). Gained 2 1/2" up front and 2 1/4" out back over factory sagged springs. No rub anywhere and have about 3/4" clearance on the strut using the factory Tri-Spokes. It worked out to be a really good combo for those tight switchbacks and long climbs around Ouray, CO.

We were able to run the 255/70R16 Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor w/Kevlar without rubbing too bad prior to the lift. They claim they are 30.1" and are close at about 29.5" with full weight on them. But they did rub in the rear when fully loaded on bumps or with the trailer hooked up. After the lift they are just about perfect. I actually think the tires cost more than the lift.

I think that is your thrust washer and you need to put it back. I think you are onto something there. He does have strut spacers but that distance looks to be more than 1" or so. Our R50 is in Flagstaff right now so I can't really measure anything.

Thanks for the link AZplinker, we'll check them out. devonianwalk, We do run an external cooler for the trans after the cooler in the rad. I think if it was heat related it would have been doing it before when we were in low range for several hours at a time. We are going to work through serviceable transmission items and simply keep an eye on things since I can't seem to duplicate that issue. I really wish there was a good explanation for the intermittent 4WD light.

Thanks, This is a '78 Coleman Concord, smallest of the line from back then, canvas is pretty worn on the rear side. It took us about a year to find this smaller version in so-so shape for under $900 and we looked at some in really poor shape. I've prowled for replacement canvas finding several outfits like this one: http://idahocanvas.com/id135.htm Most places are around $1K to replace so we are going to look into some local marine and RV shops before making a decision.

Mine was taken at ride height (sitting on ground with full weight). This is my first go around with a non-solid front axle so I don't have a lot of experience with these. I don't run the spacer so that explains a little of the extra angle shown but when you put all 3 pic's together something is defiantly different and it does almost look like the half-shaft came apart and went back together incorrectly. Even when mine was in the air, hanging by the strut is did not have that much angle.

Still looks like a lot of angle to me. Here's a shot of ours on new OME HD front springs with just over 2K on them since the install. They raised the front about 2.5". Getting a little weeping on the lower boot after this last trip but they are the originals and we have new ones to install.

For the 5 of the last 10 years we have been going to Ouray, CO in mid-late July with a group of friends. Normally we are in the big rig as this is the annual FSJ (full size jeep) Invasion. This year we took the Q and it did very well. Usually we camp 2 nights on the road up and back from Tucson, AZ, it's about 720 miles the way we go up the AZ/NM border, it's a little more desolate and I really don't like interstate driving when towing. This time things changed, sitting at the turn to El Morro (about 25 miles south of Gallup, NM) we were staring into a huge rainstorm coming. Not wanting to setup in the rain we made the call to push north and see what was on the other side of the storm. Colorado: Em' posted on FB where we were and some friends that live in Mancos, CO (about 70 miles north of the state line) called and said come on in, we were grateful for the place to crash after 13 hours on the road. Setting up camp in Ouray, CO took about 3 hours in between rain storms. The pop-up has some areas of marginal canvas so we decided to tarp everything, as Em' says "always bring protection". Tuesday we woke feeling pretty rested and enjoyed a nice breakfast of BBQuray cooked pork chops and eggs, awesome. Knowing we were running on the 12 year old (non-servicable) factory half-shafts and u-joints I had called ahead to the Montrose O'reillys and ordered them, everything was there except for the front driveshaft u-joints which would come in later that night from SLC. We decided to go ahead and run without the front spares. We bagged around Sliverton Tuesday morning enjoying some ice cream and expresso while wait for another group to finish Mineral Creek and then headed out with a group of 7-8 rigs to do Corkscrew. Here we are chasing our friend Ronnie and his Mutt out to the trail. Ronnie likes to do things a bit differently. It's amazing how he can drive that thing backwards so well. It rained on and off for most of the early part getting up to Corkscrew. The top was beautiful and we had some downtime when a front u-joint spit out of a rig taking with it the front stub shaft. That got removed very quickly as I think all of us had pulled several over the years and made it just a simple task. Like clockwork some of our NC friends developed fuel issues just after the top of Corkscrew, getting off the mountain involved lots of strapping and put us at the bottom around 8pm. Heading back to camp on 550 we find the road closed for construction, closed all night. Two options, drive all the way back through Silverton and around (probably 6 hours) or take on Ophir pass in the dark. Over in the dark we went. We are now on the trail/road for over 9 hours, didn't really pack for this amount of time. Having been over Ophir before (it's not a bad road) hungry, tired and with my sucky night vision I'm getting pretty cranky. My apologies to anyone I snapped at. We make it back to camp after mid-night, total time on road/trail about 13 hours. Wednesday is a wash, tired, beat, we decide to not run. Had some good lunch in Montrose, picked up the front u-joints, relaxed and chatted the rest of the day enjoying the beer and the people. Thursday brings on Imogene. We take the shortcut by the mansion, it's quicker but has a few steps to be concerned about. I take the hard line for the most part but try to keep the front wheels out of any holes. I don't want to change a half-shaft on the trail if we can help it. Temp's climb even in the Q so here we are resting just before the last obstacle to the trail and the top. Again, like clockwork a rig needs to be strapped over the top. We take the hard line with the Q over the last obstacle to avoid being trapped behind the rig being strapped and we simply pop up on top. A little poser shot just to give a size comparison. The views are great from the top of Imogene. http://i149.photobuc.../Qpics/view.jpg Here is what the Q looks like from the top of Imogene coming up. http://i149.photobuc...cs/P1000945.jpg Friday is another wash. Heading up to Clear Lake on the switchbacks I think I feel issues with the Q's transmission. After a mile or two climbing in low range I notice what I think is the trans not shifting from 1-2-D. We pop onto a flat spot and let some rigs pass, temps are normal but the hood feels hot so Bob and I (Em' stayed back at camp) let the Q cool for about 10 minutes. Put the Q back in high and try the next section, seems to shift fine. Try it in low range, seems fine, I call it quits based on a trans with 200K and not knowing much about this type of trans. Back on level ground at the bottom we check fluid (good) test run at some higher speeds, everything seems fine. Knowing we have 720 miles to drive/tow on Saturday and not wanting to break something to prove a point we head back to camp for lunch, relax and start organizing for the long haul back. The Q ran great and for the grand total of $3,500.00 (including yet installed parts) I think it's a keeper. ....... Three Questions: 1. We have the All Mode (sp?) transfer case with manual locking hubs. I've done some reading here and found a few references to the 4WD light coming on in 2WD mode with the hubs unlocked. This happened for most of the trip. It's totally unpredictable as to frequency, temperature and engine load. First time was 45 miles out on I-10, the 3 miles after a stop, then again after 70 miles. then it went almost 300 miles without coming on. I quit keeping track as it seems to have no effect on performance, handling and makes no noises. Are we doing damage running this way? 2. Transfer Case Pump. As I understand it there is an electric front pump for the transfer case. I drained and refilled (Dex/Merc) the transfer case prior to leaving, the fluid was black. No real particles in it, I am assuming it has never been serviced. We have had this rig in 4Hi and 4Lo before and I had never heard the pump. After the first day of trails (around 7 hours in 4Lo) I can now hear the pump anytime it's put into 4WD, it does it in Lo or Hi and makes about the same noise as the AC compressor. Anyone experience this? Is this pump going south? 3. The transmission not up shifting in 4Lo. It only did that once, it did not repeat, although we did not push it hard after that. I have to assume that the trans has never been serviced either. I'm sure there is a procedure for service in the manual and we are fairly confident working on our rigs. Is this something that can/should be done by us? TIA, Tad & Em' (sorry about the links, ran out of image space apparently)

We just finished a 1,700 mile trip to Ouray, CO towing an older Coleman pop-up on brand new OME springs, MD rear and HD front, lift gained was about 2.5" front and 2.25" rear over saggy 200K mile factory springs. The Coleman is pretty light, 900lbs dry, probably 1,200lbs for this trip. With a 120lb tongue weight the trailer makes the QX4 squat about .5". I don't think a 300lb tongue weight would double that squat but it might be close to it. The OME rear springs are stiffer than factory but not that stiff, I wish they made a HD rear spring.

Been a fan of the 5000's for over 10 years on the big rig, just started running them on the Q and I like them just as well there.

I do it every July, amazing country there. Not worth the $$ for just another 1/2" right now. When these tires wear a bit we might rethink that. You are most welcome, probably how they should have come from the factory. I used a spreadsheet that I created from several sources on the web years ago. We use an EB1 mount at the bottom and a EB1 mount with a sleeve at the top, pretty much what older FSJ's use without the sleeve (I think they may call this an L1 mount now). The spreadsheet gives the lengths (compressed and extended) and the corresponding part numbers for the Rancho 9K and 5K series shocks, from that a good parts person can find comparable shocks for most brands. A little OT but from what I have heard ProComp is making all the Rancho and Monroe shocks now (that may not be recent news).

Been collecting stuff for awhile now and took this weekend and today to hit it hard as we have our annual Ouray road trip coming up in 3 weeks. OME Front Springs = 2928 HD (Rocky Road) OME Rear Springs = 2922 MD (Rocky Road) KYB GR2 Struts = KYB Part # 335030 - right, KYB Part # 335031 - left (Amazon) Rancho Shocks = RS 5010 - 26.8" extended, 15.8 compressed, static = 21.5" (Desert Rat) Warn Premium Hubs = 29021 (Amazon) Strut Bearings = 54325-5V000 (Nissan) I don't recall all the prices as we have been collecting since last August but I do encourage folks to shop around, we found a wide range of prices on most items. We already went up to a 255/70R16 tire size with the Wrangler Silent Armor w/Kevlar tires so the following measurements will be off from pre to post lift if running a stock tire size. These tires measure 29.5" fully loaded. Pre-Lift: (measuring at the lip of the wheel well for the most part) Front = 32" Rear = 33" Rear Shock Distance = 19.25" Camber = Dead on at 0* CV Shaft = 4* Post Lift: Front = 34.5" Rear = 35.25" Rear Shock Distance = 21.5" Camber = 89* (in at bottom now) CV Shaft = 18* (I'll remeasure this with wheels in the air to see how close to 32* it is) I have to say right off that a tool like the one below makes this a whole lot easier. I messed with my HF strut tool for about 15 min, decided I like most of my body parts (and want to keep them) then called my friend Casey who works in a shop. Makes quick work of this. I'm a fan of the Rancho 5000's and these fit fine but are a bit sloppy. The install kit does not include the proper sleeve for the top bushing but I had some left over from another set (probably my D21). Top shock mount is a little wide so I just tweaked it together a bit more than normal. I don't like that lower shock bracket much. I may redesign that for some better clearance when I have more time. The studs that came with the Warn hubs look longer but when installed actually bottom out deeper and wound up even shorter. I also broke one just tightening it by hand. Took the warn studs out, cleaned up the old ones and reinstalled those. They fit perfectly through the QX4 Tri-Spoke rims. What I don't have is a good set of before and after pic's. I got what I got but I should have thought ahead and tried to capture the same angles. This is with the rear done and the front on my floor jack to where I was hoping it would wind up. Prior to this I could only get about 3 fingers in between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel well. Here we are done. Here was when the larger tires went on (no lift). Here it is from Day 1 when we picked it up, Stock height, stock bald tires. Waiting on Nissan to get my replacement sway bar links here from LA, one was so badly corroded I had to destroy it to get the front apart. Then it's off to the alignment shop to make sure everything is in spec, or close enough, not sure how much adjustment there actually is camber wise. I don't post much here but I read a lot. I really want to thank the members here for there documentation efforts, without that I doubt I would have even bothered looking into this lift. I hope this helps some folks decide if they want to lift and/or how much. Thanks, Tad

I like that a lot!