mjotrainbrain
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Posts posted by mjotrainbrain
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Well, I got some work done today! First I went to Advance Auto Parts and picked up some parts for fixing my CV boot. I got grease and a couple of clamps.
After picking that stuff up (which I will be installing tomorrow) I started digging into the rear end so I could finish my lift. After disconnecting the shock and sway bar link from the driver's side, I discovered that I still couldn't get the axle to move down far enough; I could get the coil out, but there was no way it was going back in with another 2" added to it! I decided to head down to Auto Zone and see what they had in the way of a spring compressor. Neither I nor my dad wanted to use one as we understood there was a reason they had earned the nickname of "widow-maker". It turned out Auto Zone has an awesome system where you can borrow tools! This was great, because it didn't cost me a dime to use a tool I will probably never need again.
This allowed us to finally get spacers in the rear! The lift was nearing completion; needless to say, I was getting excited!
After driving around with gangsta lean for a week, I was anxious for it to be level again.
You'd think that after doing the driver's side, where we figured out what we were doing and any parts/tools that needed to be gotten had been gotten, the passenger side should go quickly. We ran into one issue though; the sway link wouldn't come off! The darn bolt just spun. And yes, I was holding it on the other side with a wrench. Ended up just hacksawing it off. When the coil compressors were returned to Auto Zone, a Duralast link was purchased. Don't know when that will be installed; maybe tomorrow?
Of course, there was one last surprise in store. Nothing much, but it still counts as something. I lowered the axle too far and the differential breather tube popped off. Thankfully, my dad was watching and noticed; I may not have. Somehow we both forgot to watch hoses. At least it wasn't a brake line!
I will try to get pictures up of the full lift tomorrow. So far all of the pictures I've put on here have been cell phone pictures. The before/after shots were/are being done with a proper camera. I will also put my before/after numbers for height at wheel wells on this thread.
One last thing. Something in the back end is making a dinging sound, like a bicycle bell. Anyone know what it could be? It sounds too crisp and clear to be coming from inside the axle or something. My current hypothesis is that it is a part of the heat shielding (which was already falling off) that is touching the driveshaft or something. I haven't had the chance to look too closely yet and don't intend to until I wash it-everything has a nice flaky layer of clay on it. I wonder how that got there!
Also, I am finally on summer vacation, so hopefully I can spend some more time taking care of little details here and there. I'll probably end up getting really bored and detailing it a few times over the coming months.
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Check this guy out for how to replace your boots. If your axles are clicking it would be easier to buy a new axle. You can buy them pretty cheap off rock auto. Some people say that their products are not up to par but i've never had a problem with any of their things and i've ordered plenty of their parts. Good Luck!!
Thanks! That will be helpful. Hopefully I don't have to replace the whole boot, but there's lots of good information in that video.
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Also, I hope you all can forgive me for putting a picture of a Toyota on a Nissan forum!
In my honest opinion (although biased) I think our generation of Pathfinder is a better suited for offroad than his generation of 4Runner. Not that the '06 4Runner is any kind of a slouch, but its major negative to me is a rather low handing crossmember. Although 4Runners do have that awesome rear window... My friend's has a center locker and a V8, which is nice.
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Well, this update isn't all happy and cheery-there is some bad news.
However, there is also some fun stuff, so I'm going to cover that first. I have one day left of school, so I got together with a couple of friends to ride bikes. One thing led to another, and before we knew it we were offroad. (Yes, we did actually ride bikes; about 45 minutes. Lots of fun there!) Here are some pics. The other truck is my friend's new-to-him 2006 4Runner.
So that's all of the happy fun stuff. On the way home, I heard a scraping noise. Turned out it was this clip that had come disconnected...meaning it was no longer clamping the outside passenger CV boot on!
Of course, this was the mess it had left by the time I made it home!
I guess this is another thing to have to fix this weekend. It should be repairable with just some new grease and a new clip; less than $15, so I guess that's good. My theory as to why this happened is this: over the past few months, I had noticed some strange substance splattered onto the passenger side of the QX4. I just assumed it was some kind of nasty road stuff, but it continually returned. I hadn't thought anything of it until now. I think that the boot was already leaking, and when I was moving everything around during the installation of the lift, it just got make worse, and when I put the truck in 4wd and pushed power through the driveshaft, it popped off. That's just my theory though. Whatever happened, the fact is that it needs fixing.
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From what I have heard (and seen in a couple of threads) 31s fit no problem, 32s it depends on the particular tire and your wheels, 33s (which I've only seen fit once before, don't remember where any more) will fit if you're willing to hack up or altogether remove your wheel wells and do some fender trimming. Personally, I'm planning on getting 32s once I can afford them.
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hawairish, your points are very valid and I think I am certainly leaning more towards leaving it on. On road handling is very important for something that spends 90%+ of its life on pavement. And as you mentioned, articulation from the rear axle seems plenty adequate even with the sway bar in place.
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Just to keep y'all updated, here's what's going on: I am planning to install the back half of the lift this Saturday, the 11th. That's a good thing, since I just cut my head on the trunk.
6 foot 3 problems I guess. The Cali-lean is kind of annoying, as is the awful alignment. I can't wait to have those both fixed up! -
Hmm, I hadn't considered the issue of 'emergency scenarios'. I had just been thinking about how the truck would handle under normal driving conditions. I think just because of the occasional emergency, it would be nice to have the swaybar in place.
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That's what we were thinking when we did the front first. We figured it would be best to get the hard/time consuming part out of the way first.
Thanks for the kind words everyone!
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MICHIGAN: There are some pretty fun "unimproved county roads" around/in Yankee Springs Recreation Area in Barry County, Michigan. I can put a map with the 'roads' highlighted on here if anyone wants. I can do most of them in my stock QX4. That being said, there are some spots where I was probably pushing my luck, and quite a few mud holes I went around when I went after it had rained. The only things you need to go on is a Parks and Recreation Pass.
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Haha, I guess that makes the decision easy! Does it really make no noticeable difference? I'm just a little cautious about removing the rear swaybar because the highways near my house have a couple of nasty S-curves. I could always just take it a little slower I suppose... I guess I'll just decide once it's all apart.
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pepperjack26, thanks for those instructions! That's more or less how I was planning to do it, but I had forgotten about the panhard bar. Also, thanks for the warning about brake lines-those would be a disaster if they broke! I'm still torn on whether or not I want to remove my rear swaybar. I intentionally left the front because at full extension the CVs bind and I don't want that to happen while flexing on a big obstacle. The rear on the other hand will probably just be determined based upon how hard it is to remove.
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This is how she sits with only the front half of the lift installed. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to be driving around with some minor Cali-lean for the next few days.
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Well, lift things started happening yesterday! Seeing as this is the first major wrenching I've ever done, I had both my dad and an experienced mechanic with me to help get tough bolts loose (I need to work out apparently
) and provide instruction. Also, we were able to drive over to the mechanic's shop that he work at to use their wall-mounted strut compressor. Somehow just the front took almost 5 hours, so we called it a night at 9:00. Still not sure when I'll have a chance to do the rear so the lift can be finished-hopefully soon!Regretfully, this is the only picture I've gotten so far.
The hardest part for this part was wrestling the struts into/out of position without causing damage to the brake lines, CV boots, etc. It was awfully cramped near the bottom! It looks like the sun is starting to come out (it was storming this morning) so I'll go try to get some pictures of how the truck looks with half of a lift.
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New tires look good! What size are they?
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It depends on the condition of your original parts. If the shocks and struts need replacing, then I say do that. If you're just looking for a way to spend money on the truck, I would get upgraded things such as the Warn hubs.
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Looks like fun! Glad to see someone else got in the mud over the holiday.
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I agree with Enjoi408, I'm surprised no one else commented! That's a nice looking Pathy you've got. Is the brush guard the stock one? Where did you get yours?
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I like the 4x4 badge! It fits in really well. I'm going to have to see if I can find one for my R50 now.
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The request for lots of pictures has been noted; I'll do the best I can! The front might be a little harder to get pictures of, as I may need to take it to a shop so the coils can be compressed. Memorial Day weekend couldn't work out better, because now I have 3 days in case something goes wrong!
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Honestly, I would fix it. If it doesn't last the year you want it to, then what? I'd prefer to be safe then sorry. Plus, it will resell for a lot more if it's not (at least not as obviously) on its last legs.
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Kudos to fleurys for the fast shipping!
My lift spacers and stickers have arrived and look great, can't wait to install them this weekend! 
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Yeah, that's my biggest problem with black. It's either gotta be squeaky clean or muddy, and I don't like to leave mud for too long!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Thanks for helping to clear this up guys! I had the knowledge about 4 wheel drive and Ackerman steering and whatnot, but for some reason my mind got a little too excited and convinced myself that I had a front locker.
Would have been cool if I did, but anyways, thank you to all of you for helping me to clear up this issue. I guess that's one more thing to add to the ever-growing list of future upgrades!
Interesting day...
in 96-2004 R50 Pathfinders
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Dang, that really sucks! At least you got it fixed. Now I'm going to have to double check my lug nuts!