alexrex20

it doesn't help if you're trying to remove that wheel though lol

looks like another one of those questions that you're going to answer yourself...

why ask the question, if you're going to answer it yourself? regardless, the article you quoted says that "experienced mechanics" set their plug gap at the minimum or maximum recommended specification. they're setting it within the factory allowed specification, so what makes you think it's not important?

i lift off my ARB up front, the sliders on the side, or the bare frame on the rear (no bumper). with factory bumpers front and rear, i guess your only option would be to lift off the sliders, if you had them. in your case, you should be perfectly fine lifting off your sliders; they look more than strong enough to do the job!

johnm, i've pulled many trailers many times (from a pop-up camper to loaded flatbeds to enclosed trailers to jetskis and another Pathfinder on a dolly) with my VG Pathy. the 170hp left you a bit wanting on the hills and freeway on-ramps, but it stopped it just fine with no trailer brakes; and it was very stable if you kept it within reasonable speeds for the load/wind/road condition. nissandoms is right about the trailer brakes making it much easier and safer, but it all depends on how badly you want to go through the trouble of custom rigging it to your vehicle. i'd venture to say that an 1800lb trailer is a lightweight that i'd feel safe to pull in even a mid-size sedan.

you don't need trailer brakes to tow 1800lbs.

i don't remember if you have manual shift or All-Mode 4WD, but what you described is correct for the manual shift tcase. the drain plug faces forward, the fill plug faces rearward, and they are both on the driver's side. the capacity should be 2-3/8 quarts, so 1/2qt does sound a bit low. but if you filled it up to the brim of the fill hole, then i wouldn't worry about it. all it means is that you weren't able to drain out all of it; but at least you filled it back up to spec.

that's why you have to not worry about body damage.

it won't affect tire-to-strut clearance, but it will affect tire-to-fender clearance. there's a reason why you don't see any R50s with 34in tires. they don't fit. our wheel wells simply aren't large enough.

i'm still on stock coils with KYB GR2 struts and Bilstein 7100 rear shocks. tires are 265/70/16 which is a 31in diameter. yes, to each their own. from what i've seen of CV trail breaks, it's because the driver had the steering wheel cranked and they were WOT. a loaded tire with that much angle with that much power going to it... something is going to give. i'm not trying to scare people away from strut spacers, just educate them that the suspension will be hyperextended at full droop. if you think about it, the tire will probably in the air if it's at full droop, so you shouldn't have an issue with CV breaks. the opposite CV angle is another story, though...

he did a little trimming to the thread to clean up some unnecessary posts.

you can't fit a 32in tire without a lift, unless you want to do some major cutting and trimming to your fenders.

if you want to keep the CV angles safe, don't get strut spacers. at full droop the control arm will be hyperextended in relation to factory spec. at that point you're approaching the workable limit of the CV angle, and you definitely don't want to be cranked on the steering wheel and heavy on the skinny pedal.

i'm not giving you tire advice. i'm simply making an observation that my tires aren't the same tires that you used to have. whatever performance you did or did not get out of your tires, has absolutely nothing to do with the performance of my tires. they're different tires. duh. yes, i sunk my pathy in that deep mud hole. i had no business trying to drive through it and i'm not ashamed to admit it. but if you think you would've made it through with your extra 2in of clearance and 1in taller mud tires, you're sadly mistaken. so stick to your graded dirt roads because you don't have "the only QX4 to ever see a dirt road."

yes, i DID catch that. you obviously did NOT catch the sarcasm in my post. now go ask your mom what tires she wants to put on "your" pathfinder; also, ask her the definition of hypocrite.

well, maybe you can't read, but i have the LTX A/T2 so i don't see what it has to do with the crap tires that came on your R50. my R50 has still gone more places on its michelins than yours has gone on its ATs and MTs. no offense, but you don't need BFG MTs to drive on a graded dirt road in the desert.

actually, i run michelin LTX A/T2 which is a highway-oriented all-terrain tire. you obviously missed the sarcasm in my post; the goodyear MTR and toyo MT are awesome off-road tires, while still being streetable. as for not being a dick to people, shut the fskc up you hypocrite.

those are both street tires as well.

no it doesn't.

BFGoodrich makes some good off road tires, except for the Mud Terrain KM2. I heard it's a street tire.

ya, it's the same concept as adjusting the steering link, but you have to do both sides independently; on a W/D21 you just square everything up with the center link, then align the steering wheel by adjusting the steering link. there a lot of ways to mess up an alignment on any vehicle, despite how easy it is. if you forget to put the vehicle on its weight before making adjustments, or if you don't unlock the wheel pads that the tires rest on (which allow low-friction movement of the tire, even with full weight on it), or if the steering wheel was just secured in the wrong position, you will ultimately have an incorrect alignment spec. it is a very easy fix, but it is also very easily prevented, assuming the mechanic did everything correctly except center the steering wheel.

vanuatoo, you should not have accepted the vehicle until he centered the steering wheel. the steering rack is not adjustable on any vehicle. it is not designed to move, nor is it capable of moving laterally. indeed, it's time to replace the bushings and/or mounts if you have lateral movement in the rack. (this lateral movement could account for an off-center steering wheel.) our vehicles do not come from the factory with a camber adjustment. the only way to adjust camber is to replace the lower strut mount bolts with cam bolts. caster is not adjustable; if caster is out of spec, then something is bent in your suspension. the only real adjustment on the front of your Pathfinder is the toe, which is adjusted via the steering tie-rod ends. adjustment is pretty simple, you turn the rod in either direction so that it points the tire in the proper direction, then tighten it with a lock nut. if the steering wheel is just that bit off during alignment, then that is the position that everything will be aligned to. it's possible that you have a perfect wheel alignment, but the steering wheel is just slightly off-center. if the vehicle does not pull to either side, and there's no obvious visual difference from the left to the right, then you might just deal with it, if the mechanic refuses to fix it. it won't harm anything to drive on it, other than the annoyance of driving straight with your steering wheel pointed to the field to the right.

our R50s neither have pitman arms, nor can the steering wheel be re-indexed. they are keyed onto the shaft and can only be installed in one spot at one angle. if you did the wheel alignment yourself, then you need to redo it all over again and be sure to secure the steering wheel so it does not move as you wrench on the suspension. they have specialty tools that act as a spreader between the seat and the bottom of the steering wheel; they apply pressure and secure the steering wheel from moving. or you could just improvise with bungee cords, ropes, bricks, poles, or whatever. if you had the alignment done at a shop, take it back and tell them to do it right.

sell me the whole kit. i can pay you near to full new price. or i can help you with your SFD install (i'm sure you'd welcome some competent hands; i can remove strut mount bolts by myself ), as well as install your coils on my pathy.

no, are YOU being stupid? if you drop the diff and the struts by the same amount, your CV angle will be EXACTLY the same as it is now. the reason Thunderbolt has zero angle on his CV axles, is because he does not have lift coils. if you add lift coils (or in your case, do not remove them), then you will still have the issue of severe CV angle.