hawairish

Think of the SFD as a means to correct lift amounts beyond 2”, and for the front of the truck only. It’s literally to “drop” the suspension, driveline, and suspension to correct the effects of too much lift. You can do any amount of lift (by means of strut spacers or coils; struts by themselves don’t provide any lift) you’d like, but you just need an SFD to correct everything. That said, you’re looking at needing at least 4” of lift to reasonably clear 32” tires. To get 4” you can do stock springs on a 4” strut spacer, or 2” lift springs and 2” spacers. You’d then want a 4” SFD to “correct” the OE geometries. You can put 6” of lift on a 4” SFD...the truck will then have the geometries of a 2” lift, which is acceptable.

Well...there's one caveat: no one's making SFDs. But, perhaps that'll change soon... The problem is that 2"-3" is no-man's land. You can do 3" of lift without an SFD, but shouldn't. The issue is that after around the 2.5" mark, your suspension articulation can cause the CVs to bind due to higher angles, which will eventually lead to breakage. You could buy lifetime-replacement CVs if you enjoy the work, but the purpose of the SFD is to restore those CVs angles to acceptable specs. Same is true for the steering/alignment and suspension.

Yes, that'll work. At home, I just use a bottle degreaser, let it set a couple minutes, then just hose it off. At a spray-and-wash bay, I use the engine/tire degreaser and low pressure rinse. In both cases, I avoid any direct spray towards electrical parts and the air intake. Neither. Factory Service Manual. Unfortunately, I don't know if you'll be able to find a 1990 one online, but I know a 1993 one is available at https://nicoclub.com/archives/nissan-pathfinder-factory-service-manuals.html. It might get you closer than 3rd party manual even for the same year.

I really liked using that tray for the gauges, too. That was his idea, and I took it from there. I think I'll do something similar to relocate some items and put a double-DIN stereo back in. As for the Bilsteins, I like how they turned out overall, but that straight fitting concerns me. It's fine for everyday use and some trails, but a hard tuck could be really bad. I have an idea on how to correct that, and probably fix TownDawg's problem of too-long shocks. The sway bar links...we kind of forgot about this going into the project and needed to improvise. All I had was some square tube remnants from the side gate I replaced the other year (that gate is seriously the gift that keeps on giving!), and it was a perfect fit for the round stock of the OE links. I just cut them in half, ground down some flat spots to take a weld, and drilled some holes into the square tube to do a few fill welds. The OD of the bar was a perfect fit for the tube stock; so much that I used my floor press to fit them together to the right length. We extended them exactly 4". We kept the air bags mainly because it was already plumbed. When I had installed those previously on the truck, we had replaced the OE bumpstop with a round disc so the bag had a flat surface to compress against, but still used a 2" body spacer/puck to extend the contact surface (I have the same body puck on mine, but I'm using OE style bumpstop). After flexing a little, we also decided that keeping the bags filled a little might avoid contact between tire and shock hose. Using that space for a compressor...man, it took a LOT of thinking and bunch of adjustments. Having now done two R50 engine bay air compressor installs...that is seriously the last one. For his, the front-left brake line was bent a bit for clearance. Wires for two of the harnesses in that area were extended several inches. The mounting bracket over the strut tower was modified in a few ways. A support leg on the fuse box was cut off. I used the plasma cutter to make the brackets for the air compressor and for the fuse box. Just a lot of items, and fitment for everything else was tight. I kept telling him that the next time he needs an air compressor installed, I'm just mounting it in a toolbox! Oh yeah, and somewhere in between, we had to redo two of the rivnuts on the tire carrier latch. I think when you plan to do that, we may have to talk about necessary reinforcement.

Me too (and I know how they turned out!). He’s probably still recovering from the weekend! He got to experience firsthand the marathon workload his brother and I did the last time the truck was in my garage...despite having “only” three things to do this time around (shocks, springs, compressor), it was far from being simple installs. We put in some really long hours, I felt pretty bad with how long all the mods took, but the end result seems worth it and I think the community will be pleased by the work. I got some pics, but I’ll wait for him to show-and-tell!

My ears were burning, so I came to the thread to see all those mentions for me, lol. Yeah, the 9448s are great. Excellent support, excellent ride. I think the only issue I’m having is too much lift between those and the 2” spacers, I may take .5” off them. We may have to explore that option this weekend, too, again since he’s got an indentical suspension setup (sans shocks... I’m too poor for Bilsteins.) @RainGoat He’s actually coming in from Anaheim. Dude’s built like a tank and going to BYU next year to play football. Hoping we’ll sync up for some UT wheeling and maybe even get up there to watch him play.

Same with the SuperPro bushings I bought from them. Just came in plastic bags. Agreed, I've been pleased with their durability, even after the years of use. My take offs are still in the garage for a rainy day, I guess. AFAIK, the $167 price for any OME springs is pretty normal. The other thing is that OME marketed them for 15mm (0.59") of lift, but many have noted more...closer to 1.5"-2", and it totally depends on what all you're loaded up with. Straight from OME catalogs:

You stumbled across them on your other reply; basically, AC masks brand names. They sell OMEs (OME sets the retail price at around $167) for less than their house brand (I think they're the $180-something option), but you can't tell the difference, again, because of the brand name masking. I'm not a fan of it.

These are the OME springs, not AC springs. Those are the light-duty ones. Pass on those. Look at the SKU. SPOME921 = SPring OME 921 (aka p/n 2921)...923 (2923) is the MD spring, 928 (2928) is the HD spring. AC has always masked the brands for some dumb reason.

I’d pick OME over AC springs any day. Better ride, having used both MD and HD (current) options. They’re also cheaper than the AC springs, which have been reported and being too stiff and causing top-out. AC sells both (the ~$167 options are the OME), but in general you’d also be better off finding them elsewhere for the same price and free shipping.

As an FYI, part 2, I can also tell you almost anything you need to know about Duke90’s truck. I did all the suspension and SFD work on it, among other things. I don’t think he’s updated his EP thread recently, but I also know he doesn’t own the truck anymore...his brother @Jax99 does. The truck will actually be in my garage this weekend for OBA and LR 9448 installs. He’s got the same front setup as me (3” SFD and OME HD).

Well, we're coming up on 2 years of having done this project. Glad to say everything has been holding up really well, despite not putting many miles on the truck annually. Odometer now reads 185,100, so I've only seen about 7,800 miles on them so far. At last check, pads and rotors were holding up just fine. Funny thing is that I took the truck to the nearby Nissan dealership earlier this year for the airbag recall, and their maintenance report said they were wearing low...jackasses probably had no clue what they were looking at. Still haven't looked into my ABS light, again noting that it came on several months after doing the swap. I deem them unrelated. In other news, the torch has been passed to @TowndawgR50 to also do the swap! I had been sitting on a spare set of discs for a long while now, and just shipped them up to him last week. Looking forward to seeing his take on the project and expanding this thread in the coming months.

Yep, an oldie but goodie. They held up as well as expected. The mid skid, with its own share of scuffs and dings, is still alive and well on another truck.

No offense taken. We don't always know each other's experience level, so sometimes you'll get replies that are just meant to confirm you've done some basics. We just don't have enough information to know, and doing something multiple times doesn't imply knowledge of how to do it properly (not to say you're not doing it right). I have teams of people that I work with that are experts at that. So do you think the issue was introduced by the installation, or just coincidental? If you think it's a trailing arm bushing, shine a light up into the upper mount and check if the arm is centered in all directions around the inner sleeve of the bushing. Check for any marks on the steel where contact might occur. Push/pull the arms excessively to gauge any play.

I suppose you'd be able to reach the filter, but the there's just not much space to do anything with it...as mentioned earlier, the plate has to come off otherwise the oil will just pour onto the backside of the plate. The mid skid had a similar port, but I learned the hard way to not use it...its placement wasn't designed for the VQ. It looked like it was close, but it was way off.

No problem. I should make it clear that this deflection shouldn't be considered a defect by any means, and it's definitely not from a single event: Needless to say, I wheel my truck. Damage is expected. This took a beating and absolutely served its purpose.

This thing? I'm not sure it came on 01+ trucks, though I'm certain it fits. Nissan calls it an Engine Cradle Stay (54465-0W000, $15). When I got my truck, it only had fleurys' front and mid skids on it (the original style with the access ports), so it's possible the previous owner removed it if it came with the truck. Though, that brace is thin-walled tube and probably adds very little structurally, but I guess better than not having it.

By "just the bottom" you mean the primary surface? Adding sides bends would greatly improve structural integrity near the bend—the closer to 90° bends, the better—but any other flat parts of the plate are still prone to deflection. Here's what that deflection looks like on 1/4" aluminum: I went to 3/16" steel, but I really wish I had the means to bend things. In lieu of bends, the backside of my plate is ribbed with additional plate strips.

The owner seemingly built it with his specific hitch in mind, but it'd undoubtedly be adaptable to any Class 3+ hitch. The weakest link on that swing arm might be the pivot shaft, which appears to be a 50mm rod turned down to 35mm or the teflon bushings he's using...and I wouldn't consider either of those weak for this application. I doubt it'd flinch at 350 lbs. In all honesty, this is probably one of the finest designs you'll find for something like this. The level of detail by the owner is amazing; there's almost nothing I would second guess on it.

The mounting surfaces only support about 24” width. The body can go a bit wider, but judging by the pic I’d say it’s 24” uniform. That’s the width on mine, too. Just another instance of the R50 bastard syndrome...no support. When I used to take my truck to get oil changes, the guys never removed anything...they just bent the plastic to down. For the longest time, I just thought it was a poor design for the plastic skid plate, always seeing it sagging down, then I realized it was laziness. I started doing my own changes when I discovered that one of the jackasses ripped a nearby wire. Though, coming up with an access solution that doesn’t require any parts to be removed is pretty tough...need stuff like hinges, captive screws, latches, etc. Costs add up, and at least for skids of the nature discussed here, features like that become weak spots.

I like the idea of access holes, too, but I agree with fleurys that additional costs can be a tough sell. There’s a minor difference between the VG and VQ in terms of oil filter and drain plug locations, which means you’ve got to integrate larger openings to accommodate both engines, which means more labor and material to reinforce the openings. And because of where the oil filter is, you practically need the front skid off to work on it. Replace your drain plug with a Fujimoto valve and about 10” of tubing and you don’t even need to remove the mid skid, if so equipped.

The arms are welded directly to the side plates of his hitch.

@Slartibartfast The fuel tank skid rides a bit close to the tank, and while not terrible low, is susceptible to damage. I've got some scrapes on mine at least. However, I like the idea of some other open space, but I think our under-seat space is cluttered with all sorts of heat shields and other junk, like a massive muffler. Still, I was think that maybe some barb on the side of the tank might be a decent way to have something gravity-feed into the tank. Still, getting a filler in there is the pain. On LandCruisers that had factory aux tanks, there was a single filler that had a knob-activated splitter just below the neck: If only we had something like that... As for the water heater...I think the trick (at least for my application) is to have low water flow (maybe 1 GPM?) and make the pipe where the element is as narrow as reasonable. I like the heat exchangers, but the cost is too high. I like the portable propane tank ones, too, but I don't really need shower-quality water and I no longer bring a large propane tank with me. Coleman used to have a good one, but it's been replaced by a poor-review unit. Sometimes I think I just need to get a 1000W inverter and bring her Keurig...wife gets her coffee, kids get hot chocolate, I get hot water.

After mentioning it, I think I will make a basket that will hold two jerry cans where the spare was, and will use the OE hoist to raise and lower it. Yeah, water is life. I'm pretty frugal about its usage, too, and I usually end up bringing a lot home (case in point, I still had maybe 5 gallons of the 7 I took for the 3-day trip). Of course, it's supplemented by other drinks. I have an idea for on-demand hot water using a 12v water pump and 12v/300w heater element, but at that current draw, I may still need the engine running. Going back to the aux fuel discussion for a moment, I remembered another possible option, but it requires having a spare tire carrier and possibly some modification. AEV and Titan have spare tire carriers for Jeeps that mount between the carrier and the tire. AEVs are meant specifically for their aftermarket carriers, but the Titan are meant for stock Wrangler carriers. I don't think it'd be to bad to adapt one of those...but at $500 for 10gal, I'd pass. If I'm gonna pay that much for something, it probably won't be made of plastic. Titan also makes a fuel cell for full-sized trucks that mounts where the undermount spare is...$1700 for 30 gal, but it's also a complete kit (filler door, neck, pump, lines, etc.). Very cool product, but I think I'd sooner just strap an OE fuel tank to the roof.

Great insight, but bummer on the damage! As soon as you had mentioned the distribution strap, that's exactly what came to my mind...the lower support buckling. You absolutely had the right idea to distribute the load, but the problem is that so many spots on unibodies are simply made from thinner steel that is layered or laminated and not fully boxed/welded, and it's function is to be rigid, but also to collapse upon impact. The few spots that must bear excessive loads constantly (like the subframe, strut towers, and spring perches) use thicker gauge stamped steel. Be sure to post up some pics of that XROX bar if you get it. I think they're great looking bumpers, wish we had them here.