Beatup96

The lowers cause the wobble I believe , but I'd do both upper and lower . If one is gone can the other be far behind ? And you're already in there . Out of all the stuff I fixed on my '96 , the upper and lower rear bushings were the most bang for the buck .

I don't have pics but I ended up ripping off 2-3 of those things over the years . They're easy enough to find if I found them.... The best one was the one that had rotted enough to fall 1/2 way off when I hit a bump doing about 60 mph , I thought I dropped the whole exhaust it made such a racket dragging on the pavement .

After looking at your profile and seeing what you've done to the truck so far I'd go for the SFD . Being that it appears you'd do the labor yourself you'll still have $1000+ to apply towards 35's and you're already geared for them .

FWIW , I replaced the cable and the lock mechanism (not sure what its called) that the cable actuates . It works great , no more PITA....

Mine did the same , on mine it seemed that the cable got stretched over time and reached a point where it just wouldnt work anymore . I had the cable and latch replaced , parts were something around $90.00 . I'd contact this fella here for dealer parts at a good price.... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/user/3939-alkorahil/

Pretty much my experience . I bought new from Rockauto and had binding on the passenger side , changed that one out to a rebuilt Napa and most of the binding went away . My AC coils and spacers were also new , and I still got binding if I stepped on it in the snow . My coils seem to have settled now after 4000+ miles , the topping out went away unless it's a pretty big hole and when I goose it in mud there's no binding now .

The 2 times I've had to change a flat since I picked up my truck on 1/31/2000 , made putting up with the little inconveniences worthwhile . I could see myself on my back or knees struggling with rusted "whatevers" tying to drop one of those bottom mounted spares . When I picked out my truck it was the only one out of a dozen+ on the lot with the rear carrier , and it was a major selling point for me . Over the years the latch and wire mechanism needed replacement , but all the parts combined were about $100 and it works like new again . Had Nissan done away with the carrier when they introduced the R50 in '96 , a Pathfinder probably wouldn't have even made it onto my short list when I went looking for a 4x4 .

Forgive me if I'm breaking any NPORA rules , but this is a spammer .

On my '96 they were complete , no other parts needed .

Those are the ones I used , only one snowy winter and a few mud excursions (nothing too wild) so far but they've worked as expected .

Upper and lower control arm bushings . What a difference they made for me , lemme tell ya .

10.8 per gallon on a truck with low mileage and running well makes me wonder if the tires have been replaced with larger than the originals . If I calculate mileage for my '96 using the odometer , running 32's , it comes out to around 10+ . Using the mileage shown on my GPS it comes out to about 13+ . Just a WAG on my part but ya never know...

I don't doubt that many got removed over time when they had trouble with the latches and the pull wire . Mine stopped working about 3 years back , a 15 year lifespan ain't too bad though . For less than $100.00 I got all the parts needed to make it basically brand new . One thing with them though , is they're susceptible to practical jokers . A few months back I and a buddy drove over to the local Cabelas , walking through the lot I spied a baby's pacifier on the ground and said to him "dude , you dropped your binky" . I got the typical CT response of "Ah GFY" and we both chuckled . Getting back in the truck , he stops at the rear and starts tinkering with something . He's a real tin knocker so I never thought anything , he tells me that the rod that holds the swing away open was dangling and he put it back in and we drive away . Weeks go by and we're talking on the phone , Mr. Tin Knocker laughs and says "did you ever see what I did to your truck ?" . I go out and start looking , can't see anything after three/four roundyrounds , so I start brushing snow off the swing away and there it was.... He'd picked up that binky on the way out and slipped the rod through the handle , SOB had me driving around with a pacifier strapped to the back for 3 weeks ! Moral of the story , if you have a swing away , beware of binky's and practical jokers ! I have yet to get even but I will , revenge is sweet.....

Just as a referance point , I had 5 31x10.5x15's on stock steel wheels stuffed in my 96' with AC 2" springs and it felt like nothing back there at all . I figure they weighed around 350 lbs. . With the AC springs I'd have to wonder about having sensitive electronics back there though , they're kinda harsh .

When I bought mine in 2000 there were about a dozen used R50's on the Nissan dealers lot , most were '97 and '98 SE's that were loaded up pretty good . Mine was the only XE there and the only one with the tire carrier . I never did see a lot of XE's around here .

My '96 has the LSD , tire carrier , roof rack with wing , flares , power windows/locks/mirrors , CC . It came with a single disc CD AM/FM , small tires on 6.5 steel rims , cloth interior with kinda hard seats . There are spots on the dash that look as if switches for other options would go , stuff like adjustable suspension I'd guess .

One of the things I noticed right away with the AC springs was that the on road handling got much better . Virtually no "body lean" or whatever you'd call it , I can do corners even with the Cooper STT's at speeds that would have required a new pair of shorts with the old and beat down suspension . I'm sure the wider stance of 3.75" backspaced wheels , new shocks and struts add to it also but the coils have to be a large part of it . If I were to put some sticky road tires on this thing it would really surprise some people around corners..... The downside is the ride at speed over relatively minor stuff like sunken manhole covers is pretty harsh . I think I'll be looking into the limiting straps .

Friday will mark 14 years since I picked up my '96 in 2000 , she was all shiny.....

I have Rock Crawlers with 32" STT's on mine and it stops great , I've put about 2,500 miles on them so far and it was money well spent . Great pedal feel , doesn't take much to haul her down now . Anti-lock still works fine , I tested it a few times on snowy roads . I don't think my rear brakes have ever been touched , 150,000 give or take on them .

I used the Powerstop drilled and slotted rotors from Rockauto , I bought the kit that came with ceramic pads . Not sure how they'd be with different pads , but my truck stops on a dime now , better than it ever did in stock form . I did also put on new Cardone calipers at the same time , so I imagine that gave things a bit of extra "oomph" .

You SC guys get all our Woodies when we get a hard freeze.... Just got back from the goose pit , we did OK , 8 Canada's , 5 Mallards , 2 Gadwall and a hybrid Black for the 4 of us . The two on my spare were cherry picked from a PILE of Mallards , it's been a slam fest on them this year . If you look at my hitch we have the same problem . It worked with the stock 28" , need an extension now with the 32" . Good luck and shoot'em up !

Another duck hunter ! Where ya at and how's your season going ? A pic from last weekend ....

After doing the AC 2" all around with the AC 1" strut spacers (they advertise as giving you 1 1/2") , I'd have to say "good luck" in fitting 35's up front . 33's would be do-able but you'll be doing some trimming for sure , my 32's would have ripped off the mud flaps had I not removed them . Turning radius in forward gear is OK with the 3.75 backspace wheels , but in reverse it's still an issue with rubbing at about 1/2 lock . In the rear , going with 2" coils and 3" spacers for a total of 5" I think you'll probably have to add the panhard drop bracket or the rear axle may not be centered correctly left to right . You may also be looking at adjustable (longer) control arms to center the wheels in the wheel wells , mine are a bit forward from stock , better now that all the bushings are new but still a bit off center . I'm no mechanic , but I also wonder about driveshaft angle being a problem at 5" in the rear without a SFD . Now that my coils have settled a bit I'm considering a 1" spacer in the rear , from just eyeballing it I think it may work but I don't think I could go any higher . This is what you get from the 2" AC with the AC spacers and 32's on a '96 XE..... I also had trouble with the passenger side CV axle binding after installing a new EMPI part , switching it to a NAPA part on the passenger side cured it . This is the angle it's at , no problems so far but I haven't pushed it much yet.....

The bushings I see on www.autopartsway.ca look like OEM style , rubber inside a steel sleeve . From what I know (not a lot) you'd need to have those pressed in .

I had my upper and lower bushings replaced with the split ones from 4x4parts . The guy who did them charged me $150.00 but cussed me out a bit..... He said he chiseled out the old ones with the metal sleeve The new ones go in easy according to him . I couldn't move either the uppers or lowers by hand , but I had noises , swaying , and axle movement front to rear on braking and acceleration . Either would cause an audible clunk . After doing the AC lift with new shocks and struts I drove the truck for a week before the bushings were done , and the difference after the new bushings is incredible .