shift220

Took a quick measurement of the compressed rear spring. It has a height of 6.5" and using the stock spring rate of 115 lb/in and 14.375" free height, that puts it at about 900 lbs on a spring. 2000 lbs on the rear is probably very close!

Anybody know the approximate weight on the rear axle of our pathfinders? I need it to design some rear lift springs. Thanks

I tried the AC cans on my pathfinder and it didn't work at all. I'm not sure if I did it right or what but my system was empty when I started. Only $100 for a full recharge and it works great now. Those cans and adapters aren't that cheap either.

I read the article and while the author has some points, some are missed also. Open the hood of your truck with the stock fan. You'll never see it disengaged. It's always spinning. So while idling your engine is working hard to turn a stock fan when an electric one wouldn't even be on. When do you burn the most fuel? While accelerating. So even during your initial acceleration, it is still turning the stock fan. The difference is very noticeable when switching to an efan. Second, the weight difference. If you have ever picked up a stock fan, it is quite heavy compared to an efan. Everyone knows spinning something heavy takes way more power then something light. Another bonus is that you take the weight off of the water pump shaft and the bearings will last longer. The author's logic for the 17 hp claim makes no sense. If an electric fan draws 15 amps, then that equates to 180 watts or 0.241 HP (@ 100% efficiency). His idea is replacing the stock fan with an electric one that uses up the same HP.

I think a lot are using the AC springs in combo with the SFD. I myself just used the stock springs for a 4" lift. I say properly made because the strut spacers have to offset to correct the angles for both caster and camber. If this is done then there shouldn't be a need for camber bolts. Yea, you will need camber bolts with the front lift springs regardless of a SFD or not. One could actually design the strut spacers for additional offset when using lift springs and eliminate the need for camber bolts. I don't think the spacer would clear the body though!

A properly made SFD kit will not need camber bolts. So if he doesn't have them now, he shouldn't need them after.

Its actually funny that you post this now as I'm replacing a dead pump on my Sonoma as we speak. Not the stock one, but a higher flowing one I replaced it with. I did the same thing to check voltages and found the 5V wire which is for the fuel level sensor. I thought of you finding the 5v wire and it came together. Mine died nicely though, jumping the relay did nothing but bring power to the pump. Are you sure you got pins 30 and 87?

You can stick a short wire with stripped ends in the slots where the relay sits. Put it in slot 30 and 87. This will bypass the relay and give power directly to the pump. If the pump works then you know its in the switch circuit (which the computer controls).

Where did you measure the voltages from? If the relay pin 30 is getting 12v and its only getting 5v at the pump then it lies in the wiring on the way to the pump. I'm going to say its a bad pump (perhaps shorting out on the inside and killing voltage). Even if the pump was getting 5v, you would hear it slightly whining. Check the ohms across the pump, if its shorting out then you'll know right away bad pump. I'm not sure the range it would be if it's still ok.

The pump runs off of 12v. Try replacing the fuel pump relay in the fuse box with another relay (from a/c or something that fits) and try it then. Could just be a bad relay.

To get to the driver's side engine block you need to drop the diff. You can leave the diff in the subframe, just drop it low enough to get at the engine block. The tolerances might be to large with Alex's kit or the hardware is bad. With my blocks there is no need to do any welding. I think muddfildvaynes proved this very well with his wheeling pictures

If I told you to be worried, would you do anything differently? Just hope that nothing fell down there, replace the oil and everything should be fine!

I'm actually working on a brace for the steering rack as we speak. I hope to have a "prototype" out very soon to try on my own. I believe it is because of the steering rack moving in the bushings. And with bigger tires, new bushings won't hold it in place (for me anyway!).

Nice! Looks like a great job with the parts and sick looking pathfinder! Awesome to see all these SFD'ed R50s in the works

I have to disagree. An electric fan will never pull as much air as the stock fan. The reason for swapping is usually only to free up otherwise wasted horsepower. You are probably correct in providing adequate cooling though, depending on the model.

I prefer the probe in the fin because it is isolated from the coolant system and easy to maintain. If you set the controller to turn on at 180 for example, that's what it will do. It doesn't matter the accuracy that the probe has because you don't set the controller at 180, you simply set the controller to turn on when your truck is at 180. The probe might actually read only 170. I personally used one for over two years in everywhere from -30 to +35 and it was always dead on. I wouldn't say it's very necessary to wire in the A/C (extra relay and wiring) but it does help with our small A/C systems. Usually the A/C condenser will heat up quick enough to activate the fans at lower speeds and at high speeds you don't need it running. You can always add in it later though. The nice thing with the Taurus fan is that it is already shrouded and is more then enough for the 3.3L with A/C. But I now run the flex-a-lite syclone fan in my Sonoma (turbocharged 4.3 with A/C) due to space restrictions and it has been very good as well. My buddy has the Taurus one in his Blazer now.

Cheapest route is the Ford Taurus fan with a thermostat switch. Should be between $50-60 all said and done. A new fan alone will set you back much further.

I posted in the services forum that I can get custom lines made but I don't think many people look in there.. If a few people want to order lines we can always get a group buy going? I can't remember the stock rear line length but I think it was something like 18". The ones I got made up for my kits were 26" But to answer the original poster, I did the same thing with zip ties to hold the lines on the strut.

No, the sensor is feed a constant 5v and outputs between 0-5 depending on the airflow going through the sensor. This is why I mention the tunes being off because the at the same voltage, different amounts of air are flowing past the sensors. So the ECM is not getting the correct airflow reading if you use a different MAF with the ECM.

Is this idling with the VG30 and the VG33 respectively? Or both MAF's on your same engine?

It's on my list to do. I was thinking Titan would be a good candidate but parts are hard to come by around here. Now i'm thinking 1/2 ton Chevy rear discs and some custom made brackets

Well it doesn't know that the displacement is different but it does see the difference in air coming into the engine by the MAF. The reason why I say it can be off is calibrations on the MAF's. If the MAF on the 33 is much bigger then the 30 then most likely the calibrations will be different between the two. But if the AFR's are good and it's not detonating then nothing to worry about!

I'm not sure about the extent of your modifications but I read that you are using the VG30 ECM to run the 33. Once you start changing the combination on the motor and especially when switching engine sizes without changing ECM's, your tune is going to be way out of wack. Chances are you are going to see less power, mileage and reliability. If the MAF's are different, then so are the tunes within the ECM's. With the lack of tuning available for these computers, I would recommend keeping everything consistent with the ECM's for the best combination.