Mr. Pickles

Good point, I seem to remember them mainly as a Les Schwab (evil empire) brand.

Pics? The difference between aluminum vs. steel wheels is usually pretty obvious, generally steel being thinner and heavier than aluminum of similar size, of course..

Same here, 31 mounted on back, bumper moved up. But really, its better lifted... at least for arguing with cops... than is is at stock height. I'd still tell them to go to he!!... in a nice way.

I'd doublt the bulb would affect the angle/width of the beam much, unless it was an LED. I'd second the idea of running extra or auxilliary backup lights. There is another thread going on this, and 88 has suggested looking at tractor or farm (I think) lights as they put out a lot of light and are durable.

Yep, and it checked out a couple times, but didn't once, so that could be a problem too. Anyways, its a lot quicker to replace the relay and rule that out cause I need another one for another project anyways. But if I can't narrow it to the tranny switch, I'll probably just use a manual switch between the battery and relay anyways. Its really not the biggest deal to me, and I'd really like to be able to manually keep those rear on if I wanted. They're cheap APC lights, but each one has two 55watt bulbs, one in fog and the other in driving pattern. They're pretty seriously bright, although I still need to silicone the backs closed for submersion. But anyways, back to this guy's light questions....

Not sure with your wiring, as I'm also having issues with installing my set of backup lights. About the PIAA's up front, I've got a set of 40's I bought on eBay and they're great. I'd really steer away from putting nice expensive bulbs into the stock lights though. I think you'd see a much better result from putting a cheap bulb in a good housing like a PIAA, vs putting a nice PIAA bulb in a cheap or stock housing. A lot of the engineering of the light is in the reflector/housing, rather than the actual bulb. Oh, and I ran mine directly powered from the backup lights for a couple years. Yes, that was cheesy, but worked fine. My problems all began after finally putting in a relay to "do it right." All the wiring routing checks out, but the lights flicker or don't work at all when in reverse. I'm down to suspecting a bum relay, even though it was brand new. Grrrr.

Exactly. I've got both PIAA's and Pro Comps, and while PIAA's just "feel" a bit better in quality and such, the Pro Comps are really good in my book too, and the price can't be ignored. All of the above are with black housings, I can't vouch for the chrome ones if that's your thing, but also Pro Comp offer stainless steel for a couple bucks more. You might also look into Hella lights too, although most of their designs are more Euro fog lights, but they have some off road styles too. From the various searching I've done, you can find decent deals on PIAA's and Hella's on eBay, but Pro Comps less often since they're already pretty cheap brand new.

I vote for him trying to fill the quota or screw with you. They'll pull you over for some bs ticky tack thing, especially depending on where you're driving and your age, just to see who you are/what else might be wrong/etc. If you got a ticket, just go in with some basic info. showing 31's were a stock option, and I guarantee they'll throw it out in a sec. If not, I'll buy you a beer.

Have you considered Pro Comp lights? These 5", 55 watt off road lights, and are $17.99 each + shipping (unless you're near a 4wheelparts store), so that's about the same $40 or less than those Pilots you were looking at. Oooh, they've even on sale right now, and there a bunch of other kinds there to choose from. I have 4 of the Pro Comp 100 watt lights for the roof that, and their really bright, but usually a bit more. Scored all 4 on eBay for $60 and local pickup, plus 2 PIAA 40's for the brush guard for $50 out the door iirc. Shop around some. Try www.4wheelparts.com and www.summitracing.com among other sites. Any of the above would be better than the Pilots. I only bought those back in the day cause they were like $19.99 or something, and they died looooong ago.

Classic Mr. Jim Vid There's a better version out there, I just have yet to find it. Jim? sly

*standing up on my soapbox* It doesn't look so bad... Much cheaper than gas driving around on 33's...

Some guys will rip it out if its bad or just needs work, then claim a horsepower gain. I'd rather have freakin cold air on a hot day though.

Welcome back man, long time no see! Glad to hear things are finally coming back together for you. Ok, nobody asked the obvious. How is your Pathfinder doing?!

hahahaha... countless semi-flaming posts, yet nobody actually answered the question of what order to do things. I'd say all shocks first (and reinstall last), then: Front- ball joint first (popped loose AND the 4 bolts on top), then UCA at frame, dismantle spindle, etc. Rear- rear tires off and jack stands on rear frame, Ebrake cable guides, lower axle down with jack, then pull springs As far as front vs. back, it doesn't really matter. Re-install it in reverse order. Test drive, then check all your fasteners, etc.

Let me get this straight. You want to skip out on using safe jack stands on a solid concrete surface, and instead use some rims welded together so you can roll around in gravel?? And yes, the yards use them here, and no, you don't find me rolling around under them there either.

You're machining them for zerks? What's wrong with a drill and tap?

Fair enough, I'd have probably just left them and taken the spindles, but that's just me. Now you'll have 2 sets of stock UCA's filling your trash can. But at the same time, I totally feel you. Screwing around with those (more specifically, the busings) took way more time than the actual removal and reinstall. That was seriously irritating. Good luck!

You're over thinking this. Best bet would be to go back and read over the previous threads mentioned, and pick yourself up a Chilton's or Haynes repair manual. Those have explanations of parts, as well as some decent overall suspension system pics showing how things work together. What you need is FRONT coils from a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, not the rear coils. But, you'll be installing those coils in place of your REAR suspension coils. You don't have to get new shocks, but getting new longer ones will help your suspension flex all the way, which is of course why you're doing the lift in the first place (other than just for looks). The front does not use coil springs, the torsion bars are the "springs." Instead of a spring stretching and twisting up and down, the torsion bars use torsion, or twist, to extend and compress with the suspension. There is no way to lift the front without cranking up the torsion bars, there's just no way around it other than lots of fab work. Don't be afraid of cranking them up, re=indexing them, or getting stiffer aftermarket ones. Lots of us here have done it. The upper control arms are the A shaped arms behind your tires and around your front shocks. They connect from your upper ball joint behind your front tires, and up to 2 bolts at the frame (this is where shims are put on the bolts between the UCA and frame in order to correct the front alignment). The lower control arms are what the bottom of the shock and the front of your torsion bars all mount too, as well as to the frame and the lower ball joint behind your tire. The new UCA's don't give you lift, but they do correct the angles of suspension components (ball joints mainly) to ALLOW you to lift the front via the torsion bars. Ok then, off you go to read and read, don't be afraid to ask more questions though.

On another note, why would you pull stock UCA's? Even for trail spares...

WTF :o :X

LOL, a Clifford alarm system is no more stock than my Viper. They are aftermarket alarms, however there are kits and accessories that allow them to interface with factory systems (power locks, rear hatch, etc.). The immobilizer would be another accessory.

You call this "mocked"?!?! Looks like Mad Max on crack. Hopefully it will come together later, like your sick suspension flex pics.

I also have been running 2 factory hooks up front, along with a receiver hitch out back. I've pulled several rigs front and back, no worries. I can't comment on the limits, but I'd say they're pretty stout, as much as a Pathfinder should be attempting at least. There's no substitute for common sense.

That's kinda what I was thinking, actually. Or via a long strap and pull in a rig to tie off too when you have to remove sections.

You can buy disconnect pins/bolts to replace those on the swaybar. That being said, they're easy... but not cheap. I'd ditto what was said above. You could even just pull them for trail runs if you want to run them on the street. Its not hard, a few bolts each. If you disconnect them and leave them in, then you have to sort out a way to securely mount them up and out of the way. Linky