QuasarDecimari
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Posts posted by QuasarDecimari
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Damm, enough left to extract the rest or will you have to.drill it out? I make it a point to put antiseize on every bolt I pull from under the truck. Dunno how many times ive had the front end apart but time spent has paid for itself many times over
It was a dumb mistake. When doing the SFD, a friend helped lift the diff up enough to get a jack under it, then we lifted it up until we could get the bolts to hold it on. The first bolt of course went in weird at an angle, and the others went in right. Went to use the impact and a torque stick (75 ft/lb) to restrict it, but ended up cross threading the hell out of it. We couldn’t get it to back out, and as we were trying, the head snapped off the bolt. I’m going to have to drill it out and make new threads for a slightly larger bolt.
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I busted one of the 8 bolts that holds the diff to the carriers, so it’ll be nice to do this anyways.
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This is super awesome, might have to throw some money at you myself if you're still selling this when I get my winch.
You mentioned earlier in the post about having a hidden snorkel?
I have been trying for a long time to come up with a design for one and I just can't seem to figure out something effective and hidden. I'm not a huge fan of the snorkel look on the pathfinder, and of course that's just preference, but a hidden one would be super cool. Any idea what you might do for that?
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So a slight development-
Hawairish and I have been digging into alternative options and after pressing out my diff bushings today the true size is around 48mm ish. Thats off my used bushing (not concentric) while the housing comes in around 47.2mm, allowing for preload. We think that the spec is for 50mm, which is used on the rear trailing arms ( upper and lower) and is relatively close using the true size I measured today( about 0.080-0.090" ) but cant confirm that as all bushing info references back to compatibility with Nissan part# 54730-0W002 without specifying a size. The listing for the correct rubber bushing specs 1.9" (48.26mm).
So, Hawairish found some 50mm Nolathane units that seem to be close enough. The overall length should be a little bigger but can easily be trimmed with a hack saw. It just needs the shoulder of the bushing to sit against the housing. If the true OD is too big, I can turn them down to size with a lathe but that makes this kit unusable for most people and we would be back at square one. The sleeve is spot on, 14.3 ID @ 60mm long. Exactly what the diff bushings run. We'll see how it all goes when the Nolathane units I ordered arrive.
This sounds awesome. I kind of wish I held out a bit longer before putting in an order for the replacement bushings, but I'm excited to see the outcome regardless.
What did you use to press the bushings out? Were they difficult? I won't have a press available when I do mine, so I'm just curious what you used. I have a control arm bushing installation/removal kit that should do the trick fine, but if you popped yours out easily, that'd be good to know.
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Did you ever source poly bushings for the diff mounting brackets? They are an oddball size, it seems. I had to replace the mounts on my rig when I installed the SFD, but I bought a set that was pulled from a wrecked R50. I still have the original brackets (sans bushings) for the eventuality that I install poly bushings.
I never found anything. Seems like they’re not an easy size to find. Maybe something you could fab up and weld, but for sale, I can’t find anything.
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Before? Where have you been for the past month? Lol...
Haha driving around in 2WD and drifting all over the place. Fun to do when expected, but if I’m trying to turn left on a busy road and I’m sitting on a patch of ice, it doesn’t go anywhere. I miss functioning 4WD
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So mine were shot. Drivers side was qprse off and almost seperated from the mount. Bushing size is odd ball. I plan on getting a set of the same poly universal units i used on my rear control arms and welding them in
Ah gotcha. Well, I guess I might order the ones off Amazon and try and get that done before the spring snows hit Colorado. Thanks for checking anyways!
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Another possibility is the headlight switch itself. You could always tap into some wiring and figure out if there’s power being sent from that switch when turned on.
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I wouldn’t QUITE rule out the chance that they burned out, even at the same time, but it’s still unlikely as you said. Of course, first check your fuses. That’ll be easiest. If the fuses are good, have a look at the bulbs. They’re wired separate from each other, not in series, so you can check just one bulb for the time being.
If the bulbs are fine, listen for the relay click. I believe the headlight relay will be in the engine bay. Take the fuse cover off, and start trying to switch them on and off. If you can’t hear a click, it might be the relay. If your high-beam relay is the same as your low-beam, try switching the relays to see if it functions. If there’s still nothing, you might have to break out the multimeter and some wiring diagrams.
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I actually had no idea that piece was secured by bushings and I was all up in there for my engine. I stripped the scrap out of one of the bolts that secures the diff to that piece. It’s nice knowing that whole piece can be replaced!!! Thank you!
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Me either, I always thought it just bolted to the subframe. Guess it makes sense, since something has to balance the harmonics of the cvs and driveshaft
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Wow! Yeah, that's not supposed to do that. Smart deal with the Go-pro. Years ago I made a ghetto mount for a Flip camera that bolted on where my tow hook was to watch the front end and see if I could spot what was loose in my suspension, but it didn't give me a smoking gun like that.
I got lucky! Thankfully the GoPro has high frame rate options to really track things like that down. I always tie a string to the GoPro just to be safe in case it comes off of wherever it's mounted. The Control Arm mount areas on the subframe had just enough of a flat edge that I could clip the camera onto it and get a great view of the diff. The little guy's saved me in more situations than I know.
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Nissan sells them as a unit, with bushings installed for 75 a pop, and there is a driver/passenger side. I bet there is a poly alternative. I'll yank mine and pop the bushings out. If We can get the measurements im sure Energy Suspension or another vendor has something that will work.
If I can just pop the bushings out and replace them, I don't mind saving a few dollars instead of getting the whole mounts. The mounts are fine, just need new bushings is all. But the ply alternatives would be awesome, let us know what you find! Probably a good thing going here anyways, because I'm sure having better bushings would make things just that more secure on tougher trails.
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Damn. Mine felt soft a while ago when I did my Lokka but didnt have a frame of reference for how they should feel. I have my front end apart now so Im going to hit these. Are you replacing with OEM spec or is there a polyurethane option for the diff mounts?
Quite honestly, I can't find them anywhere in-store near me, but I found them on Amazon for $20 a bushing. I searched all over online, can't find polyurethane at all, which would have been awesome.
Here's the link to the amazon ones, but if anyone can find better ones, please let me know!
https://www.amazon.com/547300W002-Bushing-Differential-Nissan-Febest/dp/B00DMA7WJM
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Well, I got the GoPro under the vehicle, and guess what I found?
This may be the problem!
https://www.facebook.com/cortland.haefele/posts/420976951658625
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I am planning on placing my GoPro on the transmission crossmember to watch the differential at high FPS. My hopes are to slow down the video playback on my PC and see if I can see the differential moving. I'll likely try that before work tomorrow.
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I think you should check the splines inside your wheel hubs.
Also my wife’s MDX had a bad cv axel and it would shake the vehicle to pieces from 35-55mph. However if it was cold outside it wouldn’t shake at all. Also the moment you let off the gas the shaking would cease. So the shaking in our MDX was only under acceleration.
Also the next time it’s in the air take one of the wheels and turn it until the opposite wheel barely begins to turn, then turn it back until you feel resistance, then turn it forward again, this time let the opposite wheel turn a few inches. Keep going this way until you turn the wheel all the way around a few times. While your doing this pay close attention for a longer distance between when your start turning the wheel in your hands and when the opposite wheel starts turning. If you get to any “hard” spots or places where it’s harder to turn, or popping, or grinding then you may need to source a new front diff(junk yard).
Also I think you may be able to do this same thing to investigate the transfer case by engaging 4WD(locked), placing the transmission in neutral, and follow the same steps above and instead of looking at the opposite wheel up front, look at the rear wheels.
Hope you don’t find anything with the above procedure..
Maybe it’s worn out splines in one of those locking hubs!!! That’d be nice.
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- I pulled the hubs and cleaned the grease out, and cleaned them good. No metal shavings, and no damage to splines in the hubs. Still locking and disengaging great!
- I decided to put the GoPro on my bumper to watch my suspension and CVs, just to check their angles and see if there's anything noticeable. Thankfully, no. I did have some small suspicion with the Driver's side CV, which was just replaced a couple months ago. I decided to warranty it and swap it just to be safe. While the subtle clunk of the CV is gone, probably just defective from the factory, the problem still exists. With the SFD, The CVs will rotate still under full flex, but of course I have to be very slow if they're maxed out. At the angles during normal driving, including 4WD, they don't exceed operating angles that they're designed to operate under.
- Thankfully, the gears are all good. Everything rotates smooth, whether its by rotating the driveshaft, or the wheels. I describe the rest of that in the reply to Hawarish, just to not sound like a broken record.
Would have been nice if it were the hubs or something!
Thankfully, I was smart and stored the old drive flanges away in case I needed them later, so I threw them back on instead of the manual hubs, and the problem still exists. But, like all things, that's troubleshooting. At least it's getting narrowed down, slowly but surely!
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I feel like I've read this post a dozen times and I'm still totally baffled. But, I'll throw some ideas and other questions out there anyway...
You changed the t-case fluid...what fluid did you use, and presumably it got filled to the bottom of the fill hole?
How are your motor mounts, or transmission mount? Are the motor mount spacers secured properly?
Do you have a missing link? If not, entertain me by carefully inspecting the subframe just above the rear LCA bushings.
How are the bushings on the front differential brackets? Might be hard to see all of them, but give them a look.
I had similar thoughts about the front diff as onespiritbrain. His procedure would check for broken teeth on gears, but you probably would have found bits when changing the fluids. But, still worth checking. It's easier to just lock the hub, leave in 2wd, and lift the wheel off the ground. Spin the tire very slowly and watch the front driveshaft.
Could also try locking the hubs, engaging 4H, unlocking the hubs, then take it for a spin. Can also engage one hub at time (i.e., 3wd) and see if anything changes.
As for the t-case not disengaging, that seems independent of the shakes, and more likely to be fluid dependent. System won't know if the truck is turning left or right, just needs a moment to de-couple. You can test the disengagement sensitivity by leaving the truck in 4H when the lever is in 2H and then rotating a tire (hubs locked) or the front driveshaft (hubs unlocked) and seeing how little rotation in one direction will disengage the coupling sleeve in the t-case. Couple ways to get there, but basically, put it in 4H, drive straight forward until 4wd dash light is on, come to stop, then shift into 2H (yes, normally you wouldn't do this, but make an exception). At that point, the lever is in 2H, but truck is 4H...you can shut off the truck and return to the ON position, not-started. Don't forget there's also a switch that controls that light, so might be worth checking its signal (i.e., remove and check continuity).
- I did change, and flush the TCase fluid, using ATF as specified by the manufacturer recommendations. I'm a tech and parts retailer, so thankfully that's a simple thing for me.
- Motor mounts and transmission mounts were replaced when the SFD was done, for security, since it's oh-so-fun to get those off. Torqued to spec according to FSM.
- I do have the missing link, which was installed recently, no change before and after it was installed other than the other benefits of having it.
- I just removed every subframe bolt one by one and properly installed some washers on both sides of the blocks, as the bolts were going without washers. Torqued to spec as according to Fastenal.com. No change from before, or after, other than having eliminated creaking in the subframe when turning.
- The differential bushings are actually my next thing to check. A NORAC (Nissan Offroad Association of Colorado) member on Facebook messaged me with the solution to a similar problem, and gave me the links to the parts to order. Funny enough, when I was double checking the driveshaft U-Joints, I was putting the driveshaft back on and tightening the bolts, and as I was tightening it, the differential could move up and down quite easily. Essentially, it rotated toward the front of the vehicle. My thoughts are, that if there is that much play in those bushings, it's possible that under load, the rotation of the CVs on both sides, along with the driveshaft rotation, causes harmonics between those bushings. Then, the differential flops back and forth rapidly.
- Thankfully, differential gears are spotless, and everything's turning great. When hubs are unlocked, and the vehicle is in 4Hi, I can drive around easily at any speeds, and I tested up to 45mph, with no vibrations. This is also nice to know since that means the driveshaft and CVs are rotating at their angles naturally, and not binding or having any balance issues.
- I didn't think about the switch, but then again, when it's in 4WD, I do know because of the vibrations and inability to go any faster than 25mph without fear of damage. I have found, however, that it disengages when the lever is in 2WD when I take tight turns, either right or left. It just doesn't like to switch when I'm driving straight.
As always, Everyone's advice and expertise is so greatly appreciated! I never feel like I'm tackling these problems alone.
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Doesn't sound too bad, will definitely do the bushing on the steering rack, I like the sound of this though.
Well for a little update for the truck, I've been looking at wheels, wondering if I should go 15" or 16" maybe even keep the stock 16" rim, whatever is going to be easier to get cheaper mud terrains on and what not. I do have an old set of jeep 6x5.5 rims, only issue is that the inner bore is I think a quarter inch smaller, but I've heard of people enlarging a center bore, but that was for little 4 bolt rims going by millimeters, soo idk, will have to clean the rims up and research all the things.
Oh yea does anyone find the power steering pump to be really loud on these or is mine just going bad? It sounds like a supercharger. I checked the fluid and it was pretty black so I flushed it with the closest fluid to what Nissan recommended, which was the same atf I think, also when I did that the steering did feel noticeably smoother.
Definitely shouldn't be making that noise. Pump bearings are probably failing. If you have the 3.5L, have fun changing that pump.
I picked up some of these rims by Unique for $65 each. They look great, they're strong as need be, and wide enough for my 285/75/16s. If you're throwing on bigger tires, I recommend a small wheel spacer, like .5"-1" because wider tires like mine will usually rub against the struts otherwise.
Here's the link to the wheels if you want to check them out. They don't come with the hubcap, just so you know.
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Other than the custom steering link that can be ordered from Woodwards steering, not really. You'll have to rotate the steering rack itself to position the steering link from the gearbox correctly, or else it will bind. Getting the rack to stay in place while tightening it back down can be a bit of a challenge, as it will want to rotate back to its original position due to the hard pressure lines being where they are. While you're at it, though, it doesn't hurt to get ahold of the bushings that hold the steering rack and replace them while you're in there. It'll be more secure that way.I'm working on a guide, step by step, for how to put together the SFD, but it's going to take some time to put together. I'll send you a private link to the instructions I have created in a file in the meantime, until I make the guide.
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The welds look great, they'll hold up and that's what matters.
That's a unique paint/wrap job, never seen that before on an R50. I'm also using those exact same hubs, and they're awesome, they've held up for much more than I anticipated they would, and I was worried about the price being a little too forgiving as well. Grease them a bit, helps them stay in good shape.As far as the 4" lift goes, most anyone will be willing to help you out, but I recently did a 6" lift for my 2001 Pathy. I'll be more than willing to answer any questions you have, and give you any blueprints you'd need. I documented everything, from every bolt I ordered, to the designs of the parts. Since you can weld, you're already helping yourself out on the cost, but I'll tell you this now, it is NOT a cheap job to do a proper SFD and lift for these things.
That set aside, don't hesitate to message me for any questions, or just reply here. I'll help where I can!
You can also message me on Facebook, and check out my "Project Pathfinder" album in my photos if you want an idea of the process I went thru to build the SFD.-
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It's been a while, so I decided to update this topic with all the information I can give. Unfortunately, the issue is still here.It's a 2001 LE 4wd Pathfinder, 3.5L Automatic with manual-transfer shift (so no dial or actuators, just gears and chains).The problem I'm having at the moment is with my 4WD. When driving on the roads, whether wet, snowy, or dry, I get an extreme amount of vibration that shakes the entire vehicle at around 40+ mph. It does not vibrate the steering wheel, and the suspension doesn't wobble, it just feels like I'm driving on rumble-strips on a highway. There is a slight grind/binding sound coming from the driver's side, and the vehicle will constantly pull to the left a little while this is happening. Shift it into 2WD, and all is smooth as butter. The final issue with that, however, is that once it's in 4WD, it has a hell of a time getting out of it. I usually have to take a really good left-turn to get it to disengage, or put it in reverse and roll back several feet, for it to get back into 2WD. It seems to get stuck as soon as it's in 4WD, even after shoving the lever forward into 2WD.What have I done to try and fix the issue? To begin with, I pulled the front driveshaft and replaced the U-Joints, as most would point at this for the issue. Unfortunately, even with it reinstalled the same way it came off, with brand new joints, the vibration hasn't changed in the slightest.Another thing, I have manual locking hubs. No vibration with them unlocked, but even if they're locked and I'm in 2WD, there is no binding or vibration. This leads me to believe that, because the CV axles can rotate with the locked hubs without any issue in 2WD, even at high speeds of 75-80mph, the axles are not the problem.To help rule out any additional items you might advise I replace, here is a list of everything I have already replaced very recently:Ball joints, struts, springs, strut bearings, tie rod ends, inner/outer wheel bearings, wheel seals, CV axles, front-end bushings, front-driveshaft U-Joints, and all fluids.ANY and ALL help or recommendations is GREATLY appreciated, as I'm totally stuck trying to figure out what's wrong. She still does fantastic on the trails, but that's at low speeds, and usually in 4LO. When the ice hits here, I need 4WD occasionally to get around safely.Thanks everyone!
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Update: I pulled off the driveshaft, the upper u-joint was pretty worn (at the TCase), so I swapped both joints and cleaned it up and reinstalled it. Today the snow hit again, and I put it in 4WD, and its much better. 40mph and subtle vibrations, but nothing like the whole cars coming apart. Havent checked it yet on dry roads, but thankfully now I can actually depend on the 4WD without feeling like either the slick roads or my own car is going to kill me.
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Nice! Curious about the steering link...how'd you get that much rotation from the steering rack for a longer link?
My apologies, I had made a typo about the SFD. It's just a 4" SFD, but the strut spacers are 6", I accidentally typed 6" twice!
For that sort of modification, I can assume you'd have to bend some new pressure lines for the rack, and grind off a few pieces like the funnel-thing that Nissan put on it for the oil filter.
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Your rig looks huge! You got any closer up pics of it?
Update: I ran outside and took a picture, this is the most updated picture as of minutes ago.
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Oil leak.
in 96-2004 R50 Pathfinders
Posted
I wish I was a bit more familiar with the 3.3 L, but is there any seepage seeming to be coming from behind the Harmonic Balancer (Crank pulley)? I know on my 3.5 L, I had oil dripping down on my steering rack and it looked like it was coming from the oil filter, but it was actually coming from behind the front crankshaft seal.