Rota

Thanks! I've got one now and it seems to be pretty decent quality. Just need a step drill bit for the holes. I see you mentioned the ones from Harbor Freight. Did you use the one that's just a smooth cone that's essentially "stepless" or one with coarse steps to drill the holes in the body?

Hey all, the rivnut tool that is commonly recommended in these threads has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Anyone have one still lying around that they'd be willing to sell? Or is there another tool that has been used successfully?

Great to hear on both the rear cups and the grease. I ordered the premade new cups linked above and once they get here I'm going to take a whack at this. Really appreciate everyone's help. Next on the list is shocks all around, re-indexing the torsion bars, and changing out the siezed AC compressor. Really not looking forward to the last one but it would be a HUGE quality of life upgrade once done...

I'm definitely leaning towards the cups linked above for the exact reason you mentioned: they're probably easier to weld, especially with a MIG welder. I've done a test fit of the new rods/sleeves/bushings into the current wallowed out holes and with the new sleeves, they center up just fine and don't have any play. Also, the rear cups, despite there being a little bit of rust, are all there and don't seem to have any issues. Do you think that just welding new front cups will be sufficient? Based on the design of the suspension, it looks like the front cups take the majority of the forces. For what it's worth, I went with poly bushings to replace the stock rubber ones. I'm not sure if that will stress the cups more or be the same as stock. Thank you both so much for your advice on this!

Thanks so much for the link! I may pick those up just to have everything on hand and make the job go smoothly. Good to know that a stick welder will work. I'll keep reaching out to see if I can find someone locally with one. Can't wait to see how it feels once these aren't flopping around anymore!

I recently picked up a pretty clean WD21 from a friend of mine for cheap. It had a suspension clunk that I tracked down to the tension rods which look like they never had their bushings replaced. Unfortunately, it has the classic WD21 tension rod brace issue where the front two bushing cups have rotted away and the holes in the frame brackets have been wallowed out. I've got new rods, bushings, and hardware but I don't have a welder. I'm considering buying one of these Harbor Freight Specials or renting one from Home Depot but I'm not sure if either will be enough to weld a bearing race in place of the original cups. I could run a stick welder pretty well over a decade ago but have very little experience with MIG welders. This guide seems to be the most comprehensive I've found so far: http://www.infamousnissan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42684 Am I missing anything here? Anyone else that has done this job, do you have any advice or suggestions, especially on the welders I linked above? Also, if anyone is in the Phoenix area and has done this job before and has the equipment, I'd be glad to pay you for your time, gas, and materials to help me do it right. It would be worth it to me for the peace of mind. Also, any suggestions on local shops that you trust would be much appreciated. Thanks!

In 2007, I was looking for a Jeep Cherokee and kept coming up short. Asking prices were too high, AC didn't work, and they weren't comfortable for someone over 6 feet tall. On the way home one evening after I was out looking, I came across this 2001 Pathfinder for sale and bought it that night. I drove it for 9 years, did a bunch of off roading, put nearly 100,000 miles on it, and then regrettably sold it, stupidly thinking I didn't need it anymore. I never was able to make it into what I wanted it to be, but it was always extremely reliable, comfortable, and I got a ton of use out of the cargo space in it. Earlier this year, I was bored and browsing Craigslist and found this 02 for sale nearby for $2800. 150k miles, super clean other than some small cosmetic issues and a little bit of interior wear. It has a factory LSD too! I bought it and spent the next few weeks hitting every junkyard in the area to fix all the little issues. I even found the factory Bose radio for it with a working 6 disc changer and tape deck. With the help of NPORA, I bought all the parts to lift it and overhauled the suspension. It's now sitting on OME springs (MD rear, HD front), KYB shocks/struts, and 265/70/16 Duratracs. It has a WD21 transfer case skid plate underneath and I installed Warn hubs, a CB radio, and a Yakima Load Warrior. I'd much prefer one of the lower profile roof racks in the pictures here, can anyone point me in the right direction to get one? I'm glad to have a good overlanding vehicle again. It's been a lot of fun putting it together. I've been a total lurker up to this point, but thank you all for the mountains of info I was able to dig through to get it to where it is now. Next mods are probably more skid plates and some rock sliders. I also have a buddy selling his 93 XE...so pretty soon I may have two Pathfinders!