hawairish
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Posts posted by hawairish
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You wanting to use different (shorter) hardware? Otherwise, I'd just remove the nuts, flip the spacer, and call it a day at this point.
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If you say so.
Shouldn't be any different than installing struts on a stock truck. You could also install the strut spacers to the truck first, then install the struts. The struts aren't any longer with HD springs than they are with stock springs.
But really...we're all just anxious to see this through!
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Yeah, might not help too much on the stance.
What do you need the spring compressors for? Are you changing out the strut mount bolts?
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Actually, the 80° is about right. Other posts put it closer to 8.5°, I measured about 9°. The angle is based off the angles of the strut mouth surfaces on unibody, and they actually slope about 11° towards the center of the vehicle; this is the result from a 4° decline from front-to-rear and 9° left-to-right...this latter number being the one that corrects camber.
Here's how you should think about this image from the other thread (http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/31584-my-pathy-project-lifting/)
This:
Is really this, when installed:
And the coils wouldn't affect this, btw. This is entirely related to the strut spacer, whether it's on wrong, or made wrong.
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Sounds like the mounting surfaces are oriented correctly, but are they also parallel? If the spacers are made or installed wrong, there's no amount of camber bolts that will fix it.
You could just put your 2" spacers back on. You've still got your OME springs on, right? At least until you figure out if you want more lift in the rear. Sucks to have to go this route and keep re-doing things, but sounds like the better route to save yourself from the headache for now.
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Ha, that's even more confusing. So are the mounting surfaces on the spacers even parallel? Are they in a different orientation to each other? If the answer is no, then they were made wrong. Have you been in touch with KrF through all this?
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So have you gotten things with the strut towers sorted out?
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Yeah, I had something like that in mind, too. I've been passing some other ideas at TownDawg, guess I should've posted some up here.
But yes, I had something like that in mind, with some random bends/curls so that whatever resin/epoxy approach would have something to fill around and create an anchor.
Another one that crossed my mind was an external panel, similar to how some Jeeps have diamond plate covers for their quarter panel and taillight areas. There's no reason I have to reinforce inside the body, and this gives a little exterior armor...well, if I think I need it anyway. Would have to do it to the driver's side too to be cool.
Currently, my thought has been on drilling holes directly to the inner metal panel. The OE reinforcement essential ties the quarter panel to an inner layer of steel. If I use longer bolts, I can anchor to both layers of steel, and could easily reach the hardware from the back side. I'd still use blind nuts, at least on the quarter panel; I'd have to check the angles of the interior panel. This approach might negate the need for any filler for the upper mount. I'd still fill the lower mount cavity regardless, since it needs to resist compression.
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Well, the mounting surfaces on the spacers are identical and symmetrical, so they can logically be mounted to either tower location. That's 4 possible mounting scenarios, assuming the lower mount doesn't contact the body for a particular orientation and the spacers are identical instead of mirrored. If they are mirrored, then there are 8 mounting scenarios. That said, there's a 12.5% to 25% chance of getting it right.
Weren't they supposed to be marked?
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Ignoring the angle for a moment, if the 3 upper holes on the strut spacer aren't directly over the lower 3 holes, the strut spacer must be installed wrong. And here's why: the SFD moves everything directly downward. If the subframe spacers do that, so must the strut spacers.
All four mounting surfaces on the strut spacers are identical, so in theory they can bolt to either side, in either orientation (presuming the angle doesn't cause one surface to hit the unibody at the bottom of the spacer).
I have my truck notebook with me while traveling this week. It's got all my sketches and measurements taken around the truck, including dimensions, angles, and orientation of the strut towers. I'll see if I can mock up something in SketchUp to illustrate my point.
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Yeah, I'd see about loosening that bracket and giving it some slack if possible. The steering rack clearly changed over the years, probably when the VG came around. May want to check with KrF to see how they addressed that. I built an extension bracket for mine...was pretty trivial, but again, the hoses/pipes are different.
I mentioned to Colin he may need to loosen brackets of the lines depending on how much the rack was rotated. Though, one thing to note is that all those items stay stationary, but you just want to make sure they're not stressed as-is.
The strut spacers are on wrong unfortunately. When mounted to the unibody, tube portion of the strut spacer should be vertical, not angled. When correct, the upper mounting holes will be directly above the lower holes. The purpose of the of the angles on the spacers is to make that mounting surface on the unibody drop linearly.
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Yep, that hose coming down at a 45...where does that even go? I don't think I have anything like that on mine.
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Yep, the beauty of the SFD...keeps the same ride qualities. Angles look good in the pics.
Welcome to the SFD club!
Bumper tuck looks good too. Looks like he was able to take a few inches out, no? Or maybe he was able to mount the push bar farther out than he was able to tuck the rest of the bumper?
Think you can get a close up of the power steering hose that has the bracket connected to the middle of the cross member under the steering rack? The bracket is different than on mine, but I think you'll want to put a piece of metal plate/strap to between it and the cross member looks like it might be under some stress.
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Any word from Hilltop? Inquiring minds wanna know!
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Right on, man. That looks like a fun project! For something like that, what does the window end up getting fastened to after you've removed the material between the panels? Is there some sort of insert, then the window fits into it, or is it just one piece?
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I rebuilt the LSDs over the weekend...a few times actually...and my 1st go-around produced 137 ft-lbs. Not bad I suppose; a bit above my projected amount. But when I built the 2nd one, I only got 80 ft-lbs. These were presumably supposed to be identical, but it's possible I put one additional new friction disc into the first one. After re-shuffling the discs around, I got more even numbers of 103 and 97...this time being (more) certain of the parity.
I feel like I want more, maybe around 150. I tried cross-ref'ing side gear shims, but it's a crap-shot finding something with the right ID/OD. Best hope would be checking my open diff, but I'm not ready to pull it from the truck yet.
I'm wondering if adding another spring plate (3 per side instead of 2) and pulling a friction disc to keep the nominal stack height would give me some extra clamping force, though I'd lose some friction surface. I'm kicking myself for not trying it earlier, but it'll have to wait a while a couple weeks. There's not an OE setup like that, presumably for a reason. Think it would exert too much extra force on the spiders? I can't imagine it being any more stressful than simply having a much higher break-away force with an OE configuration. Thoughts?
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Yep, got the PM and replied.
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Yeah, and I'm not trying to knock AC, btw. I've not tried them. Like NovaPath said, I don't think you can go wrong with either in terms of towing.
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No, shouldn't be any noticeable difference in steering. Did he rotate the steering rack? That's a must, otherwise the steering link will bind. Per Woodward, ideal angle is <20 degs; max is 32 degs. For mine, I was already close to max. After rotating, I ended up around 22 degs, I think.
If the TREs are more level now (which they should be), then there's really no other source for hard steering.
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The shop didn't take apart the strut, did they? Again, SFD can't cause this. Articulation is entirely strut related.
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Makes sense.
Well, can't attest for AC springs, but my impression from numerous threads is that the AC springs will give a truer 2" lift in the rear, which should hold firmly for your towing needs. Seems their front springs tend to introduce top-out on the strut, or an otherwise harsher ("truck-like") ride, though.
I estimate the OMEs I have (front MD springs, struts, and rear springs; rear shocks are boxed up) have seen about 30K. I know the previous owner put them to work, and they still feel great to me.
The other way I see it is that OME specializes in off-road suspension components. I'm certain that the AC springs are made by a 3rd party supplier that might specialize in springs, and I'm certain they've put the springs to the test. But, I can't say I've ever seen a negative comment about OME's Pathfinder components.
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Wouldn't think so, but that would mean your struts are at the very end of their travel. Did you notice this before dropping it off? The SFD wouldn't affect this.
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Hell yeah. The camera angle is just off enough where I can't tell if it's sitting level or not, but it probably still needs to settle up front anyway.
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You thinking all 4 corners, or just the rears?
CDN_S4 build thread
in 96-2004 R50 Pathfinders
Posted · Edited by hawairish
If you extend your bumpstops, then lengthening the arms to re-center the axle shouldn't be a problem (i.e., it can't "get there"). But you should extend them when you put larger tires or spacers on anyway. My rules of thumb have been to lengthen the bumpstop 1" for every 2" of tire size increase, or 1" for every 1" of spacer lift. This generally ensures there won't be rubbing at the top of the wheel well, which (with longer control arms) would also prevent the tire from swinging too far back (er, up?) to hit the rear of the wheel well.
You may also need to be mindful of the extendable length of the driveshaft if going with longer control arms...but nothing a small driveshaft spacer can't resolve if the driveshaft is too short.
I used 2" body lift spacers (Performance Accessories BB02), a longer bolt (8mm x 1.25 x 70mm), and a nylock nut (to secure the bolt to OE bumpstop, center the spacer, and so I could just twist them on by hand) when I added spacers: