PathyDude17

Those shocks will work fine without extending bumpstops. As for using F250 bumpstops, the perpetrator of that experiment would be me. I don’t know that I’ve quite bottomed out my rear suspesnion since putting those in, but they gave me another 2-3” of bumpstop. Typically, If you go to a shock longer than the 26” ones, you should extend bumpstops, as those shocks tend to compress at a longer length and may be the limiting factor in suspension uptravel, which they are not designed to do. Also worth noting is that the 26” shocks (2” lift shocks) should not require brake line/diff breather extension (from my understanding), but do check that on your own vehicle to make sure of that. It’s also worth noting in this discussion that pre-facelift and post facelift R50’s have different shock mounts. The info I just listed applies to my experience and the experience of others with post-facelift R50’s (1999.5-2004). @micahfelker put in 29” bilsteins and dropped a coil on the trail due to having higher shock mounts than me or @02_Pathy, who also run the 29/16 bilsteins.

Fine in terms of rattling the doors or pillars. only problems I’ve had was with rattle in the oem speaker mounts on the rear doors. Now, that being said, i run two twelve inch subwoofers in a portedd box in the back. That rattles the car at certain volumes, but I don’t think the door speakers or the tweeters have added any rattles. I turn up the volume to full blast and there’s no distortion or rattling. If they do somehow rattle just add a little sound deadening, wether it be cut up cloth in the speaker mount (my rear door lol), or something nice like dynamat

Good choice, this was my first upgrade. For fitment specs, crutchfield.com will be able to give you a list of all the speakers that fit in your car. I do not run an aftermarket amp, just aftermarket stereo. I bypassed the factory amps that come with the bose system. I have a set of rockford fosgate component speakers for my front doors and the tweeters on the pillars. The door and tweeter are connected with a crossover, etc etc. It sounds pretty good imo, although an amp would maybe get the most out of my system. Either way, I'm fine as is- its way better than stock.

It’s awesome that your SFD’s will now be an improvement on the standard design with changeable lift heights! On the topic of ground clearance, I think @deltaR50 has a 1” spacer and 4” strut spacers on a 4” SFD, so there’s clearly a lot of variance to be had in combining suspension lifts with different SFD’s depending on the desired height/affect.

@micahfelker @02_Pathy @hawairish @mjotrainbrain @TowndawgR50 @XPLORx4 @Bax03SE @RainGoat

Alright, we’ll try this one last time. After that someone else is gonna back me up or you can figure this out for yourself. If you already happen to have spacers on top of your struts and put blocks on your subframe, yes, that will change you suspension geometry back to spec. However, an SFD refers to the whole 9 yards- angled strut spacers, extended steering, and subframe blocks, etc. it’s almost impossible to put in a 2” SFD to compliment those spacers for the 2” lift. But, doing an actual SFD (all the blocks and spacers) at once, which is really the only way to do it, will not change any of your suspension. Your strut will be pushed down 4”, but your entire front subframe will be pushed down 4” so that your CV axle doesn’t blow up immediately, and sits exactly the way it did before the SFD. As for springs vs spacers, you need to understand how a MacPherson strut system works, or at the very least be willing to believe the testimonials of all the people with spacers who experience binding and even blowing up CV’s. It appears you’ve decided not to research very extensively, and not surprisingly no one else has been willing to weigh in on basic lift kit questions, because they’ve already been answered a thousand times. Sorry for trying to be helpful.

An SFD does not affect suspension geometry. It will not affect your halfshaft angled at all. It simply drops your strut assembly and subframe by 4” or whatever height your blocks are. As far as the 2” lift make sure you pick shocks and wheels correctly to get your rear suspension travel as long as possible

I swear I just answered all of this somewhere, but here we go again. SFD kits are in the works courtesy of @hawairish and @TowndawgR50, but nothing is for sale yet, it would be custom work for now. Again, an SFD will not fix your binding, a spring lift will. An SFD is a fancy term for a body lift in the front. It doesn’t affect suspension geometry at all.AC springs lift a minimum of 2”, individual results may vary. OME, as I stated above, is not suitable for giving a 2” lift. A spacer is required to attain that, and those spring have been noted to settle to lower lift heights as time progresses. Remember that OME spring are built to handle well, not necessarily lift high, as noted above and in many other threads, including my build thread. On 4x4parts.com, the $167 springs are OME, the $180 are 2” AC lift springs. A shop handled my front suspension install and alignment for $200, I think they cut down my extended length bolts from the spacers.

He does not have wheel spacers or an SFD. Just a .5” spacer in the front as noted above

I talk to Micah every day. He did in fact newly install 9448’s in place of his 9447’s.

I’m on 9449’s as is @02_Pathy. We both love them. While you’re in there changing out springs, we would both recommend extending brake lines, bump stops, and diff breather so you can run some nice long bilsteins.

Do more research. My AC coils have never and will never bind up my cv axles under any conditions, where as my spacers would have. A strut spacer means you’re lifting on top of your strut, which means your strut assembly is now pushed down, as opposed to a spring lift which lifts inside of the travel limited by the strut (hence experiencing top out with a coil lift but not with a spacer lift). You will never bind a shaft with a coil lift, period. It simply isn’t possible, the halfshaft is always operating within its designed travel. Just ask @XPLORx4. His 18 years on AC coils going throughout Moab and whatnot can attest to that lift. To the people who have busted multiple CV’s on spacers, @TowndawgR50 and @system_f can attest to that. As far as the SFD goes, understand an SFD is usually run with a 2” lift in conjunction with it (4” body lift with 2” suspension lift with SFD). If you just do an SFD with no spring lift your ground clearance doesn’t change at all in the front, except by half of your increase in tire size. A 6” SFD on 33” tires has .5” more ground clearance than a properly set up 2” lift on 32’s that can tuck tires correctly. And honestly, if you’re serious about your rig you’ll find more and more reasons to go with a spring lift. It improves handling and load capacity, which is important for taking turns on a lifted vehicle. It also helps give your suspension more downward force in increasing articulation and keeping traction.

well documented instructions on how to install basically any rear spring/spacer. This is what I followed and is similar to what you said. Refer to page 7 for all known springs and resulting lift heights (thread won’t embed, search Land Rover rear lift spring install)

For brake lines, buy a model year 2000 frontier/Xterra brakeline. They’re like $12 at advance auto, direct fit into a pathfinder. At least for the rear.

More OHV fun on a day off

Is there anywhere we can see this land cruiser? Sounds like a cool project, and I’m always interested in the rides that people are working on. Pathfinder or not it’s the same passion.

Between it being 2WD and having fully independent suspension, I’d give up now and find something else. A decent R50 is in the 3-7k range. Seems like throwing off-road gear in a 2WD with minivan suspension would be a poor investment

Bilstiens are on, part no. 33185569, same as @02_Pathy. Thanks for the help!

the search button is your friend

It would suck to replace the boots only to have your CV fail anyway, and common consensus is to just replace the the entire axle, which by the way, may take some time to fail. I've been on torn boots for about 5 or 6 months, seeing dust, dirt, snow, and mud, and 4WD still works fine.

Ya, I think they’re a priority if these are the kind of trails I’m going to continue to frequent. I mean, it’s a cheap vehicle and the damage this time was pretty minimal, but I like the protection and functionality of sliders. I also figured out that the roof rack makes for a good place to hang on when getting back in the vehicle on sidehills.

Good news today! I have a FREE OHV park 30 minutes from my house, miles of desert/canyon trails of all difficulties. Lots of motorcycles around, but I saw people with trailered jeeps too. Also, my bilsteins are scheduled to arrive Tuesday. As suspected, the limitations on this vehicle’s capability are now a matter of armor and lockers. Ground clearance and suspension travel were sufficient for what I encountered today, but, as seen above, I had a “rock sliders would sure be nice” moment. I’m also thinking a front locker would be useful. All in all though, a good day, and it looks like there’s a lot more to be explored!

3rd gen 4runner or another R50. I’ve had both and loved both

Fun in the fog