GrandpaX

The TJ will start this winter. We will probably sell the wife's Xterra, drive her 06 Pathfinder into the ground, then she wants a 4 door JK. For me the HB is showing it's age and will probably be torn down when this 87 Pathy is complete. This engine got 35 mpg in the 300z so maybe I will see a little increase in mileage with this engine transplant. With Nistune I may be able to have different settings for different uses. Mileage/towing/wheeling... The TJ will basically take the best of the leftover parts.. Should be a fun little project and will sound completely wacked compared to the other wranglers out there. I wanted an early bronco but most of them have rust problems that I don't want to deal with. We found a TJ tub and frame with a title on craigslist awhile back. It should make a neat project and will sell better if I ever want to go another direction. The TJ will be a trailer queen... and will look something like this one with a few twists...

Do you like cages on a daily driver? LOL... just kidding ya! Not on this truck.. it is a daily driver first. The next project will have a cage... however being it is a TJ I doubt you guys will want to see it. It is a 99 tj tube.. With a VH45, Nissan 5 speed, NWF doubler with Calmini gears and an NP 205 for the rear case, Spider 9's, coil-overs, full hydro, triangulated 4 link front and rear, etc Most of the parts are already here... just need to take the time to put it together. I wish Nissan would put something new out there that would be fun to put these parts on... The newest Pathfinders (2013) lost their man card... I wonder how bad Nissan is going to mess up the next version of the Xterra. Sad day for me... my first rig (28 years ago) was a '74 620 Datsun truck. Guess it is time for a change....

out with the old... the steering wheel is like music to my eyes... now time to weave the newer harness back in this bucket!

Wow it is showing its age... Here is my beast of burden... With the placement I had to notch the frame out a little. All Pro springs front and rear. HB's have a really light rear end..... with the bed missing and a couple feet of frame cut away. So in order to get them to flex one has to get creative.

Hmmmm.....

http://www.auto-interior.com/moldedvinyl.htm

Thanks Fellas... someday it may even see the street... I love this car... Belongs to the same guy I built the Frontier for this spring.

The seats leaned back all the way. (Jacked with the hinges to make them lay back more.) Time to take the whole front interior apart again... 94 dash time...

Should lay down flat with a nice hot day.

It is something you wouldn't think of. When you start looking at the rigs out there... everyones is placed different. I'll take some pics of my HB later.. give you an idea where the placement ended up with Toyota springs. I had Waggy 44044's on my rig to begin with. After settling they ended up being a little long for where I placed the hanger/shackles. Toy springs (Mine are All Pro) are a little shorter and the centering pin is offset towards the front of the truck more. Not only did they save my bacon... they ended up shoving the tires ahead a little. Many Toyota and Nissan guys use Toyota rear springs on the front with good results. The Calmini truck used Rancho 44044's minus the largest leaf that can be removed. It goes on and on... thus making it hard to base someone elses placement to your build. You will find that a 1/4 inch makes a huge difference... so when the springs settle... the "F" word comes to mind.

Darnit... I wish i would have caught you before that hanger got welded home. It should only be tacked on to begin with. That way if your shackle angle is jacked up that crossmember can be moved easily in order to fine tune the problem. Looks good so far!!!

Now that RCV's, and Dana 50 gears can be installed (with a kit), the toy axle doesn't hold a candle to a Dana 44. A Dana 44 can honestly run 40's now.... The only weak link being premature ball joint wear. NAPA gold ball joints tend to last 3-4 years with very hard wheeling on 38's. The cheaper units last a season... maybe...

I haven't worked with a Waggy axle in a while. Most of my stuff is based on a "cut down" HP44 out of a Ford. You will hear me say Ford-4 or Ford-2 on build threads here and there. Not saying the Waggy axle is not a good score! However it tends to work best with the leaf spring setups like Calmini's. On a link setup the differential is offset a little too far toward the driver side. You end up loosing turning radius because the lower arm gets mounted closer to the tire causing less room for the tire to turn. Folks use these axles with links all the time without a problem. The Ford setup just turns better and has a high pinon.

I so agree... Cranking the tbars gives no more articulation. It removes down travel and increases up travel.

Good Deal! What is your plan?

The heims are only half the problem.. the bolts go straight through the knuckle without the taper... thus tend to get loose. They should work fine... just keep you eyes on them. BC Broncos makes these little gems... they tend to fix the loosening problem. However your arms are probably drilled for a bolt already. http://www.bcbroncos...inglinkage.html

Leaf Spring = High steer Coil spring = normal steering works fine. Full Hydro = heims for sure Heim vs One Ton.... I have used both. Went away from Heim and never looked back. The one tons have held up perfectly on 38's and hydro assist for 4 years now. Heim joints were a yearly change out.

Let it set in the hot sun for a couple days... let the vinyl find its home.

Sweet!

Maybe we can make a new thread on this subject. It could go on and on....

There are many ways to skin a cat when it comes to an SaS. Leaf springs, three link, four link, radius arms... there are many ways! All these setups have their advantages and disadvantages. Automotive manufactures have used most of these setups throughout the years. So looking at what they have done to get a vehicle safely on the road is always a good way to research what style a builder may want to tackle. The more I build rigs the less I want to tell a person what direction to go.. It is obvious I lean towards the radius arm setup for coils and I beat the life out of a Hard Body on leaf springs. However the way my rigs tend to be built is not the way everyone needs to setup their junk. The one thing to filter while researching a built is the person who basically demands their way of building is the shizzle! "Mine is this way and it is the best!" There is no best way.. There is a way that is works best for what you are after. This is not an easy path to get through. Thus why "built/lift kits" are the way most folks go! The problem.. who out there builds a complete Nissan kit with a proven track record.. Nobody!

New molded vinyl flooring...

I don't see why a guy couldn't. I wonder if the backrest padding could be removed. The backs to those seats would make a sweet lid to the area you are trying to gain. Heck the hinges etc.. are already there. I imagine those seats are not a big seller for the junk yards. Some sacrificial units could be picked up for possibly the cost of making something else.

Who should SaS.. I have seen some crazy stuff out there. Normally it is the fella bragging how his build cost 1200 bucks... Cutting corners is just that. I respect a guy trying to save some cash here and there. However one should never buy into the cheapest build game. Corners are normally cut that put innocent folks that are sharing the road with you in danger. There are numerous parts that if fail would send into oncoming traffic. Research... research.. research! A good start would be looking at builds from folks who have done more than a rig or two. Maybe take an introduction to welding class. Welding is fun! However one should probably take a class if it is new to them.