micahfelker

How is the road noise and gas mileage with them? Do they air-down well?

Didn't have the time today to tear apart everything yet, but I did try tightening the strut bolts (the center one). The driver side is as tight as it will go, but the passenger side (the side the noise is coming from) is spinning the whole inner part of the shock when I try to tighten it. Any ideas? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorta makes sense then. My piping (cats aside) is pretty much straight through, the mufflers are basically just spiral inserts. At cruising speed mine is almost silent and has absolutely no drone, but opens up and sounds amazing when you are on the throttle. I could record a sound clip if anyone is interested Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah okay that makes a lot of sense. I did still have my fender flares on but I had to take off the front mud flaps Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright well it looks like I'll be tearing my front end apart again tomorrow haha. I'm really annoyed that I have to redo everything, but I'm happy that I most likely have the solution finally. Thank you guys for all the help! It makes me question the PO's choice of mechanic though. When I put everything back together I did it exactly like the old struts were assembled. I should have watched a video and done more research before just assuming the old setup was the correct one before I assembled everything. Once I redo everything I'll check back in and let you guys know if the noise is gone. On another note, should I start a build thread? So far I've been putting most of my progress here, but the title isn't making sense anymore haha.

I definitely wouldn't get rid of it quite yet. I'd say you have two good options. 1. Make a list of everything that needs to be fixed on that car along with an estimated total of all the parts. Then decide whether you think it's worth it to fix everything or cheaper to just buy another r50 on Craigslist and go from there. 2. Buy a daily or another reliable r50 and take this one and cut the fenders, throw on some huge tires, weld the diffs, take off the doors, weld in a cage, cut off the roof, do whatever you want to it and wheel it like crazy without having to worry about it. I know how much cars can mean to people and how you can almost form a relationship with them, so I would definitely do everything you can to keep your rig.

Not sure why everyone thinks 31's are the biggest that will clear stock. I fit 32's (265/75r16) with no lift and no rubbing, and I did the same amount of trimming that's common for 31's. I had pretty blown struts too. I can send pictures of how they fit if you want.

I just had someone turn the wheel for me, and it looks like everything is spinning fine. Next I'll check the torque of those bolts. I'm really hoping that's the problem, because if it's not I have no more ideas.

Remus92, mine look exactly the same so I guess it's safe to assume that isn't my problem. The 3 strut bolts are definitely tight. TowndawgR50, uh oh. Does the diagram show the strut bearing on the bottom of the strut mount assembly? Like in between the spring top hat thing and the part that has the 3 studs pressed into it. When I pulled off my old struts, the bearing was on the inside, in between the part with the studs pressed in and the one that slides on top of it, so that's where I put the new one.

Yeah! That would be super helpful. The bottom bolt on mine appears to be pretty straight, but the top one is angled up quite a bit. Both bolts are torqued to spec though.

As far as the noise goes I'll definitely try that, but I don't know if it will do much. Both bolts appear to be tightened about the same and the noise only comes from the passenger side. I did replace my strut bearings when I installed my new struts, and I made sure they spun freely. I could check again, but I don't think that's what it is. The alignment place said it was because my tires were worn so unevenly because of all the negative camber I had on one wheel with my old blown struts. They rotated the front two tires and the steering doesn't want to pull as much anymore. I really hope it is that bolt that's making the noise though, as I did tighten them without load on them. It would be a very easy fix. What is the torque spec on those bolts?

I idle at like 500rpm in gear, and it's never been a problem

What exhaust setup are you running? I kid you not, it sounds EXACTLY like mine does. I love it!

Yeah they are as tight as the can possibly go. What do the angles look like on yours? The top bolt (one connecting to the strut) is angled up pretty steeply on mine. Looks like a slightly steeper angle on the passenger side, which is where the noise is coming from. Maybe I could just take the end links off and see if it goes away. I'm not sure though.

Bummer that you sold it. How did you like those TreadWrights? I've been thinking about getting those guards dogs (or maybe the claw) in 33's, but I'm kinda wary.

1) I ride pretty much completely level with the HD springs up front with KYB struts and no spacers 2) No, not unless you're getting bigger tires. In the case that you are, you can fit up to 265/75r16 (~32x10.5) without any problems. You'll want to trim a little bit of your plastic fender lining if you're running anything above 30" and don't want to rub while reversing or flexing. You can go for as tall of a tire as will fit, but nothing over 10.5" wide is going to clear the strut without wheel spacers. I would also recommend taking off your splash guards if you haven't already. Honestly for the extra ~$250 I would just get some cheap 16x8 steelies with less backspacing. It will save you having to get them later on, and it will improve the look of your rig 100x more than a lift will. Your bolt pattern is 6x5.5. Anything with 4" backspacing or less should be fine. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vsw-84h6883ns/overview/ 3) Absolutely anything except KYB bearings. I've heard they are terrible. I just got the cheapest replacement I could find on Amazon and they work great. Good luck with the install! I'd love to see some pictures when you get everything on.

Alright guys, after over a month my springs finally came and I've had everything installed for a couple weeks now, but I've been having some problems. I've had to get it aligned twice because even though I tightened them initially the alignment place for some reason thought it was a good idea to tighten them without also holding the other bolt on the back of the struts. Now the camber seems to be fine but my steering wheel seems to be pulling to the left when I let go of it, but sometimes it's perfectly straight. Alignment guy said it was my tires, but it never did that before. Also, whenever I go over a bump or turn the wheel too fast there is this awful popping/clunking noise coming from the passenger side front, but I don't know where. It doesn't sound the same as when the struts top out, and I thought it was the sway bar end link binding up or hitting on something so I ordered some new ones on amazon as well as sway bar bushings to see if the noise would go away. I just put the end links on today (Didn't feel like doing the bushings yet), and the noise is still there. However, my steering seems to not pull left as much lol, maybe it's just wishful thinking though. Anyway, do you guys have any ideas?

Bringing up an old thread but I'm in the Bay Area and want to meet up with local pathfinder owners

Gorgeous redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains on CA 236. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you still in the bay area? If so we should have a meet up!

I ordered all my parts and mostly everything has come except for the springs. I got the HD OME coils from rocky road, but I haven't received a shipping confirmation yet, and when I try to check the status of my order is, it says that they haven't received the payment, even though I was already charged. I sent them an email but no reply yet. Anyone have similar issues? What should I do?

Bringing up an old thread, but the site seems to have disappeared. I'm interested in buying the SFD and everything from you if you still have it available. Thanks!

Tire carrier looks great! Do you plan on relocating the licence plate? Might want to do that before you get pulled over haha. Also, are those Toyota wheels? They fit your car really well!

Dude that headlight tint looks AMAZING but I can't imagine they light up the road very well at night. How is the light output form them?

Yeah i expected so. I'm going to end up going with the 1" spacer in the front plus the springs. I'll post pics once I get them on, should have time over spring break