hawairish

Ah yes, let me expand on that. This part of the project is one of the main reasons I became more willing to move forward on it. In short, I'll be using the R50 tone ring. I had a junk R50 spindle and hub laying around. Ring pops off with a little effort, and the ID is just barely large enough. The backside of the D44 hub will get machined down to about 1/8" thickness (about the thickness of the flat lip at the top). Since the H3 approach was already laid out at the time, I did look into using the GM ring initially. But it's 55-tooth vs. the R50's 48-tooth. Any mismatch would/should screw with the ABS and ECU. Tried to find suitable matching rings that could maybe be machined down to fit the rear axle shafts, but that sort of search proved difficult. One more notable about the brakes: whenever I've read about Nissan guys using the D44 brakes, they always need to jump to a larger brake booster and/or master cylinder. The D44 calipers are monster one-pots. I was stoked to see that the H3 rotors were the exact same thickness as the R50 rotors, and very similar diameters. Using the R50 calipers means not having to change anything about the system, which is huge. The next hope is that both the ABS and brake hose are long enough to support axle droop with my setup. It looks very promising considering that the lines snake around the strut and have a lot of slack. Thanks for the offer about the WD21 shaft dimensions. The FSMs have so far provided the base dimensions, except the slip distance. I was also really surprised to see in the FSM (and echoed by Nissan Nut) that the WD21 driveshaft also uses the oddball u-joints the R50 does. All the other trucks had the 1310 joints (same true for the rear shafts). What gives, Nissan?

A few teaser pics... The axle and springs, all rebuilt and mostly painted up. Outer hubs. Nice part about this axle is that it has the same 6x5.5 pattern. Uses these smaller 7/16" studs, though. If I changed nothing, I could just put my current M12x1.25 spacers on it to adapt the thread pitch, but I will be changing these to use M12x1.25 studs. You can also get an idea of how the rotor is attached to the backside of the hub (the wheel studs press into the rotor, which has a tall enough shoulder to also press fit into the hub. Backside of the hub and knuckle. No space to squeeze an ABS sensor in. This is the idea on how to incorporate ABS into the axle: These are parts by a guy/company called THOR Parts. Very clever solution where he modifies the backside of the hub to accept a tone ring, machines the hubs down so Hummer H3 rotors can fit over the hub (note the studs pressed into the hub first), and then adapter plates to hold H3 calipers and a GM ABS sensor. Again, I plan to keep the R50 caliper and hopefully the 45° angle on the ABS sensor leaves room. End result should be something like this: GM 1-ton TREs. Pic doesn't do justice on how fat these things are. The treaded ends are 7/8", compared to the R50's 14mm (9/16") threads. And these may still be the weak link in the steering! ARB and 5.13s installed, new bearings, slingers, shims, everything: Beefier diff cover, nice deal on it from a local guy. Mock-up of leaf placement: The perch width on the axle is almost perfectly the same width of the radiator crossmember, so the spring would reside almost perfectly under the wheel well skirt, directly under the subframe spacers so to speak. Notably, when using the narrow-track D44 I'm using, it wouldn't leave a lot of space for a conventional coil spring between the tire and wheel well, which is one reason I like the leaf spring approach (coilovers aren't cheap). Less of an issue running the wide-track version, though. I do plan to retain the sway bar and I have a pretty good idea on how I'll achieve that. Another downside to using leaves is the loss of clearance up front in small section. I'll likely lose a little departure angle unless I move the front hanger position back. With the low SAS, another issue is just exposure to the axle and steering. The tie rod will reside above the springs, but still be fully exposed in the center. I've hit plenty of obstacles with my skid grate, so it'll be a concern. Could go to full high-steer, but it's costly and doesn't do anything about the axle still be exposed. (Notably, these issues exist for any straight-axle truck, regardless of suspension type.) The rear mount will be interesting. The chassis starts to widen halfway between the rear subframe mount and where the leaf eyelet is, leaving mostly nothing directly above the eyelet. The transmission crossmember holes are still a good 12" past that, and there's no useful existing bolt holes and a bunch of overlapping sheet metal in that space (i.e., around where the OE jack pad is). I imagine I'll need to get a lot of that flattened out and cleaned up, then will probably weld in some sort of support plate. I'd like to tie it in with the cross member if possible. You can also see that my CV boot has given up the goods and slung grease. I don't want to deal with that any more.

Sort of. They'll be plate and I've started a few designs, but stopped short a while ago. Buddy of mine with a Q had a custom rear bumper done that I'd like to mimic to some degree in terms of having dual swing outs (tire + a pannier box for a motorcycle), integrated hitch, and drop down tables. High quality build. I didn't want to trek too far ahead on the front because I want to make sure it doesn't interfere with whatever mounting I need to do for the leaf hanger.

One more thing. Driveshaft: TBD, kind of. The pinion flange on the axle straps directly to a common Spicer 1310 u-joint. The R50 driveshaft uses an uncommon joint so I can't mate them, but the driveshafts in D21 Hardbodies and 1st and 2nd Gen Frontiers and Xterras did use 1310s. The D21, D22, and WD22 all run TX10s so they'll mate up perfectly, and the TX15 on D40 and N40 trucks has an output flange with the same pattern. I suspect the older driveshafts will be too short (I think they're about 1" shorter than the R50's), but the 2nd Gens are about 6" longer. Presuming they have enough slip on them, they might be perfect donors. Also, this is where the SUA has benefit. Hopefully, I won't need a truly custom driveshaft or a double-cardan joint since this will sit relatively lower than a SOA setup. This should also minimize the amount of clearance needed on the transmission crossmember, though I think the 2nd Gen driveshafts have a larger diameter than the 1st Gens.

Time to give this subforum some love... In a couple weeks, I will have owned my Pathfinder for 10 years. I bought it as a birthday present to myself, having traded in a 2008 Wrangler 2-door several months prior for an SUV that could actually fit two baby seats (unlike a 2-door Wrangler). My kids just turned 10 and 11 the other day, so I'd say we're way past that point. Time flies. I purchased the truck with just under 166K miles, and in another 400 miles it'll reach 200K. It just turn 20 yrs old. Some milestones here. You could say I've done a few things to the truck over the years. As it sits today, it's got front and rear air lockers plus 3.97:1 crawler gears, among other things. I've finally sorted a few gremlins that have plagued me for the last year-plus. Sold the bumpers a few months ago; need to build new ones. But right now, I've been hankering for something significant, and if I don't spill it here, it may never happen. So, here goes! I think it's time to SAS my truck. I've been stewing on this for a long while. In August 2021, I bought an incomplete SAS project from a guy that included a Dana 44 axle, a bunch of new parts including matching gears for both the D44 and H233B diffs, an Xterra TX10, and even the 2000 Frontier everything was destined for. I mainly bought the SAS parts for $1000, but the truck with a blown headgasket was only another $700 so I bought everything. The axle was rebuilt (sorta). The truck overall was disgusting, but at some point I at least considering repairing the truck and possibly completing the SAS on it. I literally gutted the interior to clean out layers of filth in the form of dog hair and caked-in dirt to clean everything, but in the end, I didn't need a 3rd truck and sold it to a buddy. But, here I am with all the SAS parts still...and then some. Since then, I have properly rebuilt the Dana and bought and sold a few other parts towards the project. I've not officially started it yet, but I plan to soon especially since a few suspension and steering parts are already due for repair and replacements. At a very high-level, these are my project goals/objectives: Keep costs low. To date, I'm already in $2500 in parts (factors parts bought and sold), and another $500 in tools/consumables. I expect to spend another $1000-$1500 in parts and tools, but also probably recoup another $1200 in parts. $5K seems like a reasonable cap. I am tracking all my transactions. I've also bought several parts either on clearance, or from others who've abandoned their SAS projects. Restore gearing. I swapped in 4.63s long ago, but as we know, this is the end of the line for R50 owners. SAS opens up gearing options, and this might be the number one reason for me. Keep the ride reasonable. I am not doing this to go overboard on lift or tire sizes. In fact, I expect and want to end up a little higher than where I am (currently about 5" of lift between OME HD and 3" SFD up front, and 9448s and 2" spacers in rear for 6" lift). I do not ever expect, nor want, to run more than 35" tires, and I have plenty of life left on my 33" tires. Build confidence in parts. I've never had trail failure with CVs, TREs, shocks, springs, bearings, hubs, etc., which is great. But...I'm also at my max comfort limit. Without any beefier steering and suspension part options available, it may just be a matter of time. The axle, suspension, and steering options I have in mind will give me a ton more confidence. Not regress on things. I expect everything I install will be better than what it's replacing, though probably the most debatable part might be my choice of leaf springs vs. IFS in terms of ride comfort. But going to a straight axle will inherently change the ride comfort, regardless of the suspension type chosen. Breakdown of components: Axle: The D44 I have is from a 1981 Jeep Wagoneer SJ. It's the "narrow-track" version with a WMS-WMS width of 60.75". According to my notes, I measured 62.25" WMS-WMS on my current stance, but can't recall if that includes the 3" worth of wheels spacers I use (I don't think it does). So, this should be pretty close, and if I have to run spacers again, no sweat. It's also a low-pinion axle; the high-pinion R200A is preferable here, but the slightly larger D44 gears might make it an even trade-off. Suspension: The axle is set up for spring-under-axle (SUA) using leaf springs, and that is the approach I plan to take. I mulled over all the other suspension types, and while something like a linked or radius arm setup seems great, it's simply out of budget. I've read no shortage of past and current comments about how dumb leaf springs are, how dumb they are on a truck/unibody with 4-link rear, how old-tech they are...blah blah blah. I'm not trying to ignore such advice and comments, but realistically, it's how I want to allocate my money and effort, and it aligns wonderfully with what I want out of a finished truck. That said, the SUA approach greatly simplifies a lot of things for me and that's why I like it. I plan to use OE leaf springs for the Wagoneer (I have new Dorman units). With an offset center pin, they should allow me to move the axle about 3" forward from the current driveline. Instead of shackles, I will use leaf spring sliders. Mounting everything will be a challenge. I intend to make a subframe that uses the existing subframe mount points and has the provisions for the front leaf eyelets. The rear sliders may be incorporated into a new or modified transmission crossmember. Plan to make everything from scratch to keep costs down...plus I have a CNC plasma table and small press brake, so there's that. I will also not do a traditional u-bolt setup to attach the axle to the leaves. Instead, planning to make a u-bolt eliminator kit to minimize parts hang-down under the perches. I'd love to do a RA or linked setup, but the decision alone instantly adds $1K-1.5K to the budget between joints, coils/coilovers, and material. There are savings here and there, but it's not significant. I've also considered going to a spring-over-axle (SOA) setup, but this will also greatly introduce costs, namely needing to buy a high-steer knuckle, potentially needing to "cut-and-turn the C's" to correct pinion and caster angles, and also adding about 5" more lift than what I want. Gearing: I will be going to 5.13 gears. On 33's, it'll be about -3% over-geared, but on 35's, it'll be about +1%. The axle originally came with 5.89's installed and in-box for the H233B, but I sold those. Too much for my needs. Differential: I already run an ARB in the R200A, so of course I'm locking this one. Axle came with a Spartan lunchbox locker, but I sold it and bought an ARB instead. In between, I bought an Auburn eLocker/LSD combo (LSD when it's not locked), but it arrived with all sorts of damage so I returned it. Hubs: Axle came with old Warn Premium hubs, but bought some new Mile Markers on the cheap from Amazon Warehouse. Warns will serve as backups. Brakes: The axle came with all new/rebuilt brake parts, which is great. They're beefy. However, this setup means defeating ABS braking since this is axle is 40+ years old. Many people won't care and just plan to delete or omit ABS, but I don't like defeating or ignoring systems, especially not considering how pleased I am with the braking performance on my truck with the rear discs. Plus, I think the speedometer factors vehicle speed by the wheel sensors, since there isn't a speedometer pinion on the t-case. To get around this, I'm going to mimic a setup a guy uses where he machines down the Dana hub to accept a tone ring and use Hummer H3 rotors and calipers on it. A new caliper bracket adds the provision for the wheel sensor, and it's a perfect a solution. In my case, I would do pretty much the same, except I will keep the R50 calipers. Comes to find out, an H3 rotor is the same thickness as the R50 front rotor, and the diameters are very similar (H3 315mm vs R50 300mm) to the point I can just move the caliper out a little. Also worth noting is that on the Dana hub setup, the rotor is mounted behind the hub, kind of like our R50 setup. In taking this approach, the rotor will install over the hub, which will increase the WMS a small amount (about 1/2") and make rotor changes easier. Steering: The axle came with a 3/4" Heim steering kit, which is pretty beefy. But, I didn't like that it was essentially going to be a straight bolt in a tapered hole on the knuckle. No way that won't wallow out in time, and it seems most people suggested modifying the knuckle to make it double-sheer. Instead, I'm going with a GM 1-ton tie rods. These are beefy, too, and I have less worries about shearing. I will have to ream out the knuckles and pitman to get things to work, but I have the reamer. The kit also included 1.5" OD x .25" wall DOM tubing, and although the previous owner already got the tie-rod to the perfect length for the setup, I'll need to cut off the ends to weld on new bungs for the GM setup. For the steering box, I'm planning to use a one from a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ) 2wd. This will sit inside the chassis rail. Would've been nice to stick with Nissan and use a Frontier or Xterra gearbox, but those sit outside the their frames and I didn't feel like cutting through the wheel well. Fortunately, these WJs use metric fittings, so hopefully adapting the lines won't be difficult. Shocks: TBD. I have three pairs of shocks once fitted to R50s, including the last two longer sets from my own truck while lifted. I plan to use them if possible to keep costs down. Mounting them will be a challenge. Easiest approach would be making new plates that mount where the strut does, but I think it'll be too high up from the axle. I don't want to make the mounting tabs from it extend too low, but I have other ideas in mind. Subframe/Motor Mounts: This will be the most complicated part. Won't know my exact approach until the OE subframe and everything else is out. I also plan to make some new motor mounts using poly bushings I have around. ... Right now, I'm waiting for an engine support bar to get delivered sometime next week. I may start pulling things off the truck and get this going very soon.

Here I am 9 months later and I think I've finally sorted the issue. Last straw was it getting too warm the other night while it was 40F and rainy outside and driving freeway speeds. I mentioned previously there's a vent tube at the back of the engine. In the past, I felt I've followed the FSM well enough to bleed air out, but this time I went a slightly different route. Rather than just open the port and warm it up hoping all the air would come out before coolant started to, I instead attached a clear vinyl hose to it and kept it elevated a bit before looping it down into a water bottle (acting as a catch can). Started up the truck and let it idle to temp. Some coolant filled into the tube a few inches, and there was a steady stream of big bubbles, before smaller streams of bubbles every few seconds. Cycled the heat a few times, revved a few times and prolonged at 2K RPM, and bubbles seemed to stop for a while. Let it cool down for an hour or so, then idled it back up. Couple more bubbles, but nothing major and eventually bubble-free. Buttoned it up and drove it around today. Seemed fine, but on my next longer drive I'll hook my laptop up and do some data logging to confirm it's finally resolved.

I had a set of 2x 6-gallon "Trail'd" tanks that are designed to be hoisted up in that space, but I personally never got around to using them. However, my buddy does use them on his QX4. The hoist plate opening is intended for slightly-larger Toyota applications, and the factory hoist plate will work fine, but I did make an aluminum adapter plate that increased the hoist's footprint a little for some piece of mind. Other notable here is that if you have a considerable amount of lift (my buddy's truck has 4" of rear lift, while I have 6"), then the chain is too short to lower the tanks fully to the ground. You can carry around some 4x4 blocks to lower the tanks onto them so you can work the hoist plate through, but keep in mind these sort of tanks when full weigh about 50 lbs each....bit hard to lift both and manipulate the hoist plate through if the tanks aren't fully on the ground. In this particular case, I took the chain from another Nissan hoist and used it to extend the existing chain. The chain size isn't common, hence another Nissan donor. To extend the chain, I made a cut in the end link, twisted it to open the link, put it through the other end link, twisted it back, and welded it closed. Plenty of chain now to lower to the ground and drag it out from under the truck for better access. I did once try to mock up some sort of dual jerry can tray that would use the hoist mechanism. It's tight space, but seemed like just enough.

You do have to have the CV fully removed. It's supposed to be in tight, so putting up a fight isn't unexpected. Most of the time, I will resort to the following processes, in this order: 1. Loosen the nut, but leave it in place at the bottom of the stud. Smack the knuckle with a sledge hammer a couple times, then smack the bottom of the nut upward. Repeat. 2. Ball joint tool on the joint, tightened up so that there's tension on the joint, then sledge hammer to the knuckle. Joint tends to pop here. 3. Pickle fork. People seem to dislike them, but I've never had it not work, it's just usually a little more aggressive. 4. Heat the knuckle for a little bit, then do #1. Smacking the knuckle a few times is key. Just changed my passenger ball joint a few days ago. #1 was all I needed, but I'm fortunate to live in a dry region.

According to ARB, the R230 and H233B use the same 33-spline (both in spline count and axle shaft diameter). That front Patrol unit won't work because it's 31-spline. It's possible the 33-spline unit would fit an R230 carrier, given how close dimensionally they might be, but even if it does the R51 stub shafts use retaining clips to stay in place and it's unknown if it would clear the Lokka's side gears, or if the edges are chamfered to aide installation or removal, among other potential issues. Air locker options exist. ARB (RD137) or a cheaper TRE 4x4 (TR137), assuming you have 3.54 or higher numerically gears.

I tabled them here:

So you had to hold the button when starting the truck in lieu of depressing the clutch? On the Taco I mentioned, I think you just pressed it but didn’t have to hold it. It reset before next start attempt.

Right on. The 4.9s came in the latter years, I think just 03-04. The other two ratios were always available for the entire 00-04 run. Ratio depended on trim, engine, and transmission.

First time I'd heard of and used an interlock switch was in a 99 or 00 Tacoma 4wd 5MT, can't recall. Momentary switch that allowed one-time use to start the truck without the clutch pedal depressed. Particularly useful if on an incline and needing to start the truck with the foot on the brake. I'm happy to see this feature existed long before I saw it in a Taco, but I'll presume the WD21 acted like the above.

Not necessarily. Photo wouldn't help unless it was of the stamping on the ring gear. The tooth counts are too similar to see a difference. 48 ring teeth : 11 pinion teeth = 4.363 51:11 = 4.636 49:10 = 4.9 If the front and rear were mismatched, you'd feel driveline binding when in 4wd. 2001 Xterra didn't have 4.9. If it came from an automatic or an SE, it's 4.636; if manual, 4.363

Some were. 4.363, 4.636, and 4.9 were available. The ratio is stamped on the ring gear.

Now that you mention it, there were timing chain guide issues in early 2nd Gen Xterras, but not sure if it bled into Frontiers and Pathfinders, but seemingly plausible. The guides wore prematurely and caused rattle noises. Don’t recall seeing much about them manifesting into timing issues, since the noise was fairly obvious of an issue. Personally, I go the scanner route. Mine supports live data, but also shows pending codes. Presuming they all do.

I'm inclined to say yes since there's instructions in the FSM to do it on the 3.5L; same process as you'd expect with the #1 coil. However, even if you know the timing, I feel like the nature of the VQ prevents you from making any sort of adjustments. Notably, a decent OBDII scan tool can return the timing advance value if it supports Live Data views. I've been face down in my scanner dealing with BS on my R50 lately and have been monitoring that, among many other things.

They were standard at some point; 2002 sounds about right. There are two switches on the door, actually. One for the rear hatch glass, and another for the fuel door. You'd also need the hatch latch mechanism and all the wiring. Not worth the hassle, IMO. It's a nice to have, I'll say that much.

That void is where my hoist was, but there are the bumpers.

Those are the bumper pads that get sandwiched between the spare tire and chassis. Need new push clips to install them.

I think I've seen a stripped one on a buddy's R50 before, so I guess it happens. And yes, applying a dry torque spec to a wet fastener results in more torque being applied.

Right? It appears it used the same switch as the WD21, which apparently was in use from 1994-1999, but I don't see any mention of it in 97+ FSMs. Interesting feature in a rather feature-less R50 platform. There were some other oddball features that existed, like rear heated seats, TPMS, and dropdown monitors + VCR systems. Add adjustable shocks to the list.

I didn't realize the adjustable shocks existed on R50s. But, your comment prompted me to look at the FSM, and sure enough, they did. Neat! Check out Amayama.com, looks like they may still be able to find them in Japan or UAE. Per NissanPartsDeal.com, for struts "F/Suspension w/ADJ Shock Absorber" I see the following p/n's per stamping on strut body: Stamped --> Old P/N --> New P/N LH#1: 54303-0W010 --> 54303-0W026 --> 54303-0W087 LH#2: 54303-0W011 --> 54303-0W028 --> 54303-0W088 RH#1: 54302-0W010 --> 54302-0W026 --> 54302-0W087 RH#2: 54302-0W011 --> 54302-0W028 --> 54302-0W088 They don't come cheap (>$200 + $96 S&H), and hopefully you need the #1 ones since those appear to be available. It's not clear what the difference is on those. Have you tried checking if the actuator (54397-0W000, 54397-0W010) is bad on them? The procedure is in the FSM, Front Axle and Suspension chapter.

Gotcha. Yeah, looked somewhat SW/desert-ish, thought I’d ask because I could help out if you were out this way.

You in AZ?