hawairish

You'll also need the upper spring seats rubber seats (top and bottom). If you've not done it before, I'd remove and disassemble a strut first before assembling the new ones, even if you think you have all the pieces. It doesn't take much time to disassemble or assemble them. The FSM has all the torque settings and parts explosion. You'll need to torque the wheel bearing to spec (43-58 ft*lbs). The upper spring seat has markings that need to be aligned properly. Mine had a "W" that pointed toward the wheel, and a notch that aligned to the back of the strut body. You should be able to tell pretty quickly if the upper spring seat needs to be turned because it'll sit awkward on the threaded strut shaft. I can see the notch on the upper seat in Tad's picture, so I'd say that needs to be rotated 90°. (And if you don't believe me, it's in the FSM.) I did this the other week to install taller strut spacers and bolts. I had also never replaced struts before. I needed to disassemble the strut to do so because the heads of the bolts didn't clear the upper spring seat. Each took about <20 minutes to do with rental compressors (the basic threaded bar types) and sockets/ratchets. I had no problems compressing OME MD springs. I don't consider it difficult at all, just be aware of safety considerations. I wore thick leather gloves, eye protection, didn't put my hand anywhere inside the spring (palmed it flat on the concrete), pointed the spring ends away from anything that matters (face, kids, car), and worked carefully. Also, if you use the rental compressors, spread out the hooks as far as possible. I've seen a few guys complaining that they didn't work because they tried compressing only the inner wraps. I had them compressed in 1-2 mins with steady/alternating tightening. Also, a box wrench around a strut bolt on the upper mount prevents it from spinning while loosening/torquing the nut to the shaft. Otherwise, you can torque it after it's installed on the truck. The toughest part I had was keeping the wheel hub and LCA balanced enough to re-install the completed assembly back on the truck. I had to disconnect the sway bar on both sides so that I could move it up/down for clearance. I started by getting a nut on an upper stud so it could be suspended from the strut tower. You also have to be careful about the bottom of the strut resting on the CV boot, and careful about the wheel hub tilting outward as Bushnut mentioned.

My Wrangler had the same fading issues....very common on the flares and bumpers (and soft top). A lot of Jeepers recommended Back to Black. I used it and Armor All, and wasn't terribly impressed by either. The B2B worked best, but required a few coats and didn't last nearly as long as expected (probably because of the AZ sun/heat). I was tempted to try the heat gun, but applying heat to plastic didn't seem appealing enough, though the Youtube videos were pretty convincing. I gave up on keeping up in the end. So Pav, does WN leave some sort of residue or shell over the plastic or something? This is the stuff that works on headlights, too?

I was telling duke90 about these guys: http://www.jcroffroad.com/PLST.html. All Jeep stuff. They've got a line of DIY bumpers for $300-$400 shipped free. You just fold the pieces up, weld the seams, and finish it. I figure you could probably weld up everything except the bumper mounts, fab your own mounts for the R50 (or any vehicle really), and be done with it. They even have a winch version. I think the width is right for the XJ/MJ, but it isn't as tall of course so it probably shows some stuff.

Hey Jeff, I chatted with you on eBay a bit; sorry I've been so lousy about giving you a call. Glad you found the forum and posted up. I've been really satisfied with your spacers. The user whose pics are in your auction (borninabarn) is also on this forum and originally posted your information up here. I want to get an additional set of 1" or 1.5" struts spacers from you to add to the kit. I'll shoot you a PM later about that. I think we also chatted very briefly long ago about a particular modification, called a subframe drop (SFD) on R50 Pathfinders to get past the hurdle of more than 2" of strut spacers. You can see the results of my custom 2.5" SFD here. I currently have 2" of spacers (your 1.5" plus another .5"), but should have no problem at 3" and maybe 3.5". I plan to release a DIY version and information for the SFD to the community in the coming weeks. Both you and another member (fleurys) make a great product, and I'd like to reference both of you as part of it. (PS, you may want to reach out to the moderators about wanting/needing to post to the Vendors section). I'm sure a lot of the guys would like to see an updated price list if you've got one, too.

I liked that one also. Seems beefier than the aftermarket one. Good looking trucks, both of them. And yes, nice garage CDN_S4.

Why is there a wad of grass up there anyway? Woodchuck nest? Seems like that area might have made solid contact with a hill or ditch at some point judging by how well packed it looks. I'd pull that out and inspect the crossmember and t-bar anchor just in case. The tension rod bracket does look a little shifted, too; the bottom doesn't sit square like the passenger side. Does the tension rod or lower control arm look bent at all? I'd still crawl under and see if there are some reference points you can measure from my other post with the body alignment points. It's free (albeit free-zing out there in IL). Got any better pics of the tension rod and bracket?

My bad, I overlooked that. Since you've done all the big items, I'd be looking for something trivial and cheap: If you went with OEM bushings on the arms (front and rear), were the bolts torqued when the vehicle was on the ground? Replace the steering rack bushings if you have those available. It's not too difficult to replace them, just need a 21mm socket and a breaker bar to get things started; 4 bolts. Probably wouldn't hurt to shake a few things to check for play. Also wouldn't hurt to go around and give all the bolts you see a good torque-to-spec. If you haven't replaced the struts, see if you can get a friend to follow beside you on a road and watch your tires. A worn shock (and/or unbalanced tire) can show up-down bouncing while driving. I see it all the time on vehicles; on an axle (real or absent), one tire is bouncing away while the opposite tire is riding steady. Lastly, as fixinto was alluding to, the vibration could originate from somewhere else. A bad (or loose) mount (tranny or motor) could cause excess vibration; the steering system would likely be the most susceptible to it.

I had a bad shake as you described, and at those same speeds. Aside from the SFD, the only change to my front suspension recently was changing the LCA bushings from rubber to poly. No vibrations, even with Duratracs (which I'll stop blaming for the wobble), and I haven't even gotten it aligned yet. I'd try to get a look at the LCA bushings...in particular the front ones, and see if you spot any cracking on the rubber or if the inner metal sleeve looks a little off center. If you see any cracks in the rubber, the bushing is likely already shot.

Yeah, those look pretty sweet.

I might try to talk you out of the 1.5" SFD, btw. The subframe spacers are fine, it's the motor mount spacers to think about—not because of the discussion above, but because the two studs on the motor mount that attach to the subframe are too tall to allow for additional bolts underneath them. You'd have to consider cutting down all 4 of the studs a little, or consider drilling a hole in the subframe between the two existing holes and using a single bolt. However, I think welding a nut to a round tube to a bolt would make a perfect twist-on spacer. If we talk in the spring, I may have a nice solution by then.

Oh, and she rides great. Ride in the rear is much firmer than before...I think part of this is the shocks (I'd prefer to have kept my OMEs), but much of it is the poly bushings all around. She's definitely more truck-like now; does feel a bit of the bumps, but handles corners and accelerating/stopping well. It's definitely exposed some new plastic rattles! Some of the OEM bushing sleeves pressed out too easily; they bushings were trash. I think I may eventually do the panhard rod bushings, too, since I'll need to drop that anyway. The interesting thing is that my steering vibration around 50-60mph on my Duratracs is gone, too; must've been the front bushings. I still need to get an alignment (very minimal camber), but will wait until I up the strut spacer stack.

And finally... Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Sorry some of the pics are kinda dark. My house is 10-stories tall. The driveway has a slight pitch to it, but there is a little rake on it now. I will be swapping out my .5" front spacers with at least 1" spacers; that'll bring the front spacer pack to 2.5" to match the subframe spacers.

Pics of the rear install... Extended the bump stops using 2" body lift spacers. (Yes, that pumpkin needs cleaning.) Used Monroe Reflex shocks for a 2002-ish Ford F250 RWD. Good for another 3" of length. Seems a few people have just mounted them upside down...don't. On my application, I pressed out the lower bushing and sleeve, replaced with poly bushings (shown installed) and re-used the sleeve in the upper bushing. Perfect fit for the 12mm upper bolt and 16mm lower bolt. The bushings are narrower than stock (36mm vs 42mm) so a 5/16"ID thick SAE washer (3/16" thick, shown installed) makes for a perfect fit at each end. Just have to remember that because there's no longer a metal sleeve in the lower bushing, you don't torque it to spec. Just needs to be snug. 2" coil spacer from this guy but I got mine from him off eBay (2" rear, 1.5" strut spacers). Can't really see it too well here, but another thick washer use not the upper shock mount. Everything installed on driver's side. Sans shock on passenger side: And apparently, I didn't get a picture as proof that my extended brake line (5" longer) fit perfectly.

Agreed. Not sure how the auto parts industry is there. I also find many OEM parts on eBay for a fair price. The p/n is 37126-01G26, listed around $75 US. The front driveshaft takes 2 of them. While you've got the driveshaft out, you can probably take it apart before buying anything and see if you can rebuild one or both. It'd probably be best to replace both, budget permitting. But if you've got 4 good journal bearings and a good journal, you should be able to rebuild one. Give them a clean-up and check for play/wear before greasing them up.

I'm nearly done....all that's left is replacing the bushings with poly on the rear-driver's trailing arms and re-installing them. Rear spacers (2"), rear brake line (+5"), extended bump stops, and F-250 shocks are installed. Also need to change out the fuel filter while I'm under there. And looks like I'll need the panhard drop bracket, but I may have a non-KRFabs solution. Judging by how the truck is sitting right now (the rear axle is still on jacks, but with the tires on, they're just barely off the ground), there will be some rake, so I may increase my front spacer height from 2" to 2.5" or 3". I don't think I'll run into any alignment issues. For those interested in a "kit", here's how I've decided to approach this: I will not be producing a kit, per se. Instead, I will be detailing all parts, materials, designs, hardware specs, where to get everything, install instructions, and my other little hacks (longer brake lines, rear bump stops, etc.) on a separate website that I've been working on for the past couple weeks. You will have everything you need to know about making and installing your own bolt-on SFD for less than KRFabs 4" kit...and this includes lifting the rear, extended brake lines (front and rear), and keeping your skid plate (and more)! I will sell a full kit if someone wants (probably beneficial for those living outside of US/NA to consolidate shipping), but ideally I would just sell the subframe spacers for anyone without access to a drill press, metal saw, or welding (if you want welded spacers). I'll sell you anything you want, but my intention is to make this a budget friendly, community-driven kit. So, why this approach? Well, mainly because my interest in contributing to the Nissan community exceeds my interest in turning a profit. We're an overlooked bunch of owners, and it sucks. When a product does happen to exist, it tends to have a premium price tag, which decreases demand and gives vendors, including self-proclaimed Nissan "enthusiasts", an excuse to not support us. Well, consider this your first product not driven by profit. I'll have more details about the website in the coming days/weeks, but shoot me a PM if you want any details. I'll also post up some pictures of the finished truck soon.

If it's anything like mine, the fan housing might have some cracks. If the A/C guy mentioned it needed replacing, it might just have been a casual observation by him.

The u-joint is labelled as "journal" in that picture. The journal bearings and snap rings are also part of the u-joint assembly to replace. The u-joints are not adjustable. The grease point is for the small (very small) movements the propeller shaft tube's yoke will make within the rear of the tube while driving. Since the front diff is in a near-static position, it doesn't see nearly as much movement as your rear driveshaft does. But because both the diff and tranny/t-case are on rubber bushings and mounts, it has to allow for some play. I'd definitely give Fleurys suggestion a try. It takes about 5 mins to pull the driveshaft. 14mm wrench should do it.

Excellent idea.

Thanks. Guess I never gave it much thought. Still curious to hear Bruce's description of the sound. Would a bad u-joint make an unbearable noise? I'd expect vibration more than anything, maybe a hum (the u-joint basically oscillates on the bearings, so I'd expect an oscillating noise). The type of noise really matters here; I'm a little skeptical that it's a u-joint without getting more info.

Can't just replace the front shaft's u-joint (assuming that's the problem)? It's an inexpensive, off-the-shelf part here in the US. Doubt it's different in Taiwan. Does the front shaft even spin while not in 4wd or during auto mode (depending on how your truck is equipped)? Sure it's not the rear driveshaft u-joint or a wheel bearing? How would you describe the noise: hum, screech, scrape, grind, other? Whatever the noise is, you should probably crawl around and start shaking or inspecting things. Noises are bad. Something rotating at speed and making louder noise is really bad. If it's a u-joint, and it grenades while driving, you may end up buying a new driveshaft anyway.

And now, for the real stuff. I finished up the skid plate spacer tonight: I It bolts to the radiator support crossmember using 4 unused M12 holes. I tapped the spacer for the M10 bolts, but I'll probably go with blind nuts instead. The enlarged holes on the bottom allow for a 17mm socket (dia. <1"), and are then covered by skid plate, but I need to cut a groove through each hole or something to allow water to drain. I probably won't seal up the ends, but I do need to pull it down to give it some paint. Might even put a few more holes through the face to save some weight. And here are just a bunch of other pictures of the finished work! (Finally!) Passenger front spacer: Passenger rear spacer; if you go with a 5.75" long spacer, you don't need the beveled cut to avoid the brake line shield or subframe gusset. Everything cleaned up. New brake lines are 3" longer overall, but only 1.25" longer where it matters (between strut tab and fender mount), which is still plenty. The brake lines weren't necessary, but noticed my original lines from strut tab to caliper seemed stressed. Installed new shock boots instead of the normal strut boot...almost $20 cheaper and just need little trimming. 1.5" strut spacer stacked on a NX4 1" spacers that the previous owner had milled down to .5" for whatever reason; so 2" of spacers. Under-chassis clearance. The LCAs are basically flat, so that ball joint is angled exactly how it should be. Clearance was reduced to about 9.25" at the skid plates, as expected. But, no binding, and full range of movement. That's what an SFD is for. You'd think I'd post an 'after' picture here, but not gonna (yet). After driving it around, it's leveled to about exactly 2" of lift, which is expected. No more rubbing on the wheel well liners. The camber isn't bad, almost not even noticeable, but a set of camber bolts will probably help anyway. I could probably go up to 2.5"-3" of strut spacers and be in good shape. If you want any other specific pics, let me know.

Ok, some pics, finally. The red line is where the passenger mount is cut. The passenger spacer is 2" deep (yellow line) The drivers spacer is 3" deep (orange line). The green lines are the angled parts that will oppose each other. The driver's green line is 2.5" long (the piece started as a 2.5" cubic piece); the passenger green line is a little over 1.25". The blue lines are parallel when installed. The blue line to spacer edge facing motor is .5" The foot print of the passenger spacer fits within a 3"x2" rectangle Passenger mount: (By the way, these cuts turned out razor sharp. That little scruff you see inside the spacer is the interior weld when the tube was formed. HF miter saw, HF router speed controller, and a metal-cutting blade.) This is the design I went away from (ignore all the lines for now): .120" simple tube was where I started. Not enough clearance as-is unless I rotated it a little; that was the original plan anyway. So, I just cut it in half; these are what were replaced. I'm sure this approach would be fine with .188" or .250". Going forward, I'll probably just cut .188" tube at 22.5° so that it it makes a parallelogram that fits within a 3"x2" footprint, as sketched on the last pic.

I think the thinner C-shaped spacers would be fine for supporting, just not if the faces are facing each other, which is how I had them. I'd think they'd could waffle over like \ \ or / /. If they were turned 90-deg, though, the only way they'd collapse is if the engine moved significantly to the front or rear of the vehicle, and this is where the tranny mount would actually help. The best approach would be for the faces (and by faces, the cups of the C shape) to both face towards the center of the vehicle some where. The resists shifting/collapsing in all directions. But again, it's that shorter passenger subframe pad that screws things up. But yes, I think .188" or thicker would be best if the spacer is to be cut like any C-shape. In the pic, the old ones; and not sure I follow about long edge. The angle is like this (from top/bottom perspective): New: --Front--- /-motor-\ Old: --Front-- |-motor-|

The short answers: Tooling space. The difference between a 4"-tall and 2.5"-tall spacer is huge when it's the difference between being able to use sockets, wobbles, and extensions to tighten things up, versus only being able to use a wrench. The subframe pad's side supports, and the gap between the studs of the mount and the heads of the lower bolts, made it impossible for me to use anything other than a wrench, without buying other tools (like a good set of ratcheting wrenches!). Tubing size. If I could find 3"x 2.5" tubing, that would have been golden. Otherwise, I'd need to butcher and weld pieces together, which is what I wanted to avoid because I don't weld, and it's a lot more work. Tubing direction. If the opening of the tube opened to the front/rear, I couldn't get a wrench up on at least one of the nuts on the motor mount. If turned 90 (opened to engine/wheels), not enough interior width to get a wrench on the nuts. A slight rotation opens up the width (i.e., the length of a side vs the length of the hypotenuse.) The passenger side subframe pad is not nearly as deep as the driver's side. The max depth from hole-centers is 1.5", whereas on the driver's side, I didn't even need to measure. I needed to make another cut on the just the passenger side if it was going to be rotated. The angle cuts are so that I had some structure of the spacers opposing each other to deal with the torque from the engine. Tube spacers would've been fine if it weren't for the mess above. The 2nd attempt (the ones I removed), ended up cutting the spacer into two C shapes, but because the walls ran parallel to each other when installed, there was nothing to prevent the motor from shifting, or even collapsing. I don't have a good way to judge forces here, but took the safer-than-sorry approach because I don't trust the transmission mount to be any saving grace (it's designed to support the transmission vertically, not control torquing from the engine). I could've upped to .188" steel, but I just didn't like the approach. The angle cuts all allow for tool access. Again, things are really confined up there. The spacers need to open towards the engine...my 14mm offset wrench barely worked on the passenger side to clear some tubing and the bottom of the engine. The real goal, aside from preventing the motor from being somewhere it shouldn't be, is that if I'm to kit anything up, I need a simple solution. Going forward, the solution is simpler than I made it (I went with the Super Beef edition for peace of mind, but I also didn't have enough material to do it this time around). If I cut a 2.5" tube at angles, that will give me tool access, a 3" x 2.5" dimensions, and opposing forces. I know, this is one of the truly worthless posts without pictures. I'll probably just sketch something up. I also need a better way to host pictures. Google is pissing me off. The bottom line is that there are far more constraints for a 2.5" spacer than a 4" spacer. A 2" SFD amplifies the problem, and a 3" SFD is pushes the need for angled strut spacers (which I don't want to produce)...2.5" is the middle of the road.

So, I know that the OP got the issue sorted out, but I realized tonight that my understanding of the strut mount hardware for an R50 is incorrect (largely based on reading other threads, and some experience on other struts). The only cause of the high positive-camber result is putting the angled strut spacers on the wrong sides of the truck. The tubing on them should be vertical. (This is specific to KRFabs kit.) I disassembled my OME struts to install longer upper bolts for an additional strut spacer. All of the upper mounting brackets, insulators, seat springs--everything--is identical from side to side. The only side-specific part is the strut. Nissan parts diagrams confirm this. Also, my truck doesn't have camber bolts either, which I was certain it did. In fact, the FSM says camber and caster are not adjustable. (Is this normal for MacPherson struts systems? Guess I've never noticed before.) The only adjustable component is toe, unless you get camber bolts. Anyway, sorry for the misinformation.