shift220

There is nothing dangerous about them if you use them properly. They're made of aluminum and bolt to your hub just like any rim. Neither of them should ever wear out or break. If you do slip on, keep it less then 1/2" thick. Bolt-on is probably a minimum of 1.25" thick and I've used up to 3" thick. Most importantly, make sure you have enough thread engagement with whatever you use.

Just a warning but everyone should be careful when buying wheel spacers off of Ebay. My good friend used some on his truck and soon found out that the stud was not seated completely in the spacer (his torque wrench showed correct torque). Not a structural issue as he used the spacer afterwards just fine but it is something to check. http://stores.ebay.com/CompleteValue-Wheel-Spacers is the best seller that I have personally bought from and I know many others that have. I think 1.25" might be the minimum spacer to be able to bolt on (at least from him). I have purchased 3 sets including a 3" wide set that have been flawless. Good pricing also.

Well right now my CV's are only out of original alignment equivalent by about 1/2" of lift. It was the driveshaft to the front axle that was causing the binding. And since the SFD, was seeing slightly more extreme angles when rotating. I did think it was the CV's at first considering it was a random shimmy but those both got replaced as one of the first things I did to track this down! But I will take the advice and invest in some manual hubs.. mostly needed because my gas mileage is sucking lately.

Pretty sure I found the problem, see original post for details!

If you can find a donor vehicle then that would be the best way to go. Otherwise all custom is better then trying to piece stuff together. But everything comes with a price and for a decent setup your going to be in the hole at least 3-4 grand. I would think with the lack of tuning software for our ECM's (at least that I know of), you would have to go with a aftermarket ECM as well. But if you were to do it on a strict budget here's what you could do: - Build your own manifolds, one crosses over to the other side and they meet up to the turbo. Usually it crosses over to the pass side due to the steering arm. - Run a MSD or like timing module to retard timing while in boost - Get a EIC (extra injector controller) and mount a couple large injectors on the intake piping to compensate for fueling Things like the battery would have be to relocated inside the vehicle (using a AGM battery) to make room. You would probably lose most of your emission equipment which would also free up room. I would recommend finding a way to mount up an intercooler but meth injection could be used in place. The only thing I don't know about these engines is how they respond to boost and how much they can hold.

So my big question is, why does everything from a VG30ET need to be bolted to the 33 instead of just the exhaust manifolds? Sure you need to change things like the fuel pump, fuel injectors, ECM, intake piping, MAP sensor, etc but why do they switch the oil pan and stuff? Also does it mention what they did for engine management aka tuning? I guess it wouldn't be needed if everything else was kept stock.

I would disagree with the spacer with longer studs being stronger then a bolt on spacer.. but for our purposes, both are very adequate methods of pushing out the wheels

Awesome. Happy to see one of my kits finally installed! So your up 4" plus 2" from springs in the front? Looks nice and high for sure.

Probably has more to do with the angle of the picture. Looks wicked man. I had a look through your FB pics, it's a very sweet rig and towers over all the others one you had out

That's the beauty of the SFD. You can eliminate all these problems! If you use the stock springs, no topping out and no bad angles with the CV axles. The problem with selling a kit like this is the high initial price. But compared to a lot of lift kits, the price is very good. Considering this stuff is all custom made too. I know it took me a lot of time to order/run around to get all the parts.

The brake lines I had made up were custom made to the length. From what I could tell with the DOT-approved vs non is that the DOT ones have a clear rubber sleeve around the line. The only purpose being for abrasion reasons I guess. Non-DOT lines will work fine.

Sorry about the confusion guys. The drawings I posted are for 3.5" tall blocks yes. If you are going with a 4" SFD, then the measurements will be different. I used 2x4 in the front and 3x4 in the back for the kits I made. Muddfildvaynes, how did the blocks fit your Pathfinder in the front? I took down the link because that file didn't fit perfect. Here is an updated CAD file. Here is the plan I used for the 4" rear blocks The front blocks are exactly the same as the 3.5" lift but only 2" wide with the holes centered. And the rear shocks are from a Ford Superduty

Wow well hopefully that is the cause and not the result. My stock ones started to round out because of the shacking. I bought some monroe replacements and they are at least twice as thick in that area.

I used an old chisel with a sharp edge and my big hammer!

Although I don't have any play like that in my steering linkage, I may replace the inner tie rod ends on mine as well. I'm going to at least pull back the boot and see if there is anything obvious.

My headlights were still stock bulbs when I got the Pathfinder a couple years ago. The stock lights still lit up but I couldn't see a thing on the road at night. Took out the bulbs and they were so black I couldn't see through the glass. Not sure what happened but new ones really made a difference haha.

Yea that's why I asked if he had manual hubs, I don't and thought maybe the CVs or front DS had something to do with it. Do you have the numbers on the alignment? This random thing almost seems like a steering instability. Mine are.. (L/R) Front Caster: 3.5/3.6 Camber: 0.3/0.1 Toe: 0.05/0.05 Rear Camber: 0.1/-0.4 Toe: 0.0/0.35 Thrust Angle: -0.2

Is this like a steering wheel shimmy? If so, I'm experiencing the exact same problem... 1) Do you have manual hubs? 2) Possibly worn front control arms? 3) Does your steering rack move around at all when steering? 4) How is your rear axle alignment? 5) How much play in the rear link arms? 6) How sure are you about no play in the ball joints? I wish I could find mine, at least I know it was after my lift.

Thanks guys! I'm very happy how it turned out. I wish I could powder coat the whole truck

So after doing the SFD I was left without a front skid plate. The stock one was pretty useless anyway and so I looked to Fleurys 1/4" aluminum plate. He had no problem doing a SFD version and had it to me very quickly. Man this thing is beefy! And the great thing is that it's a lot lighter then any steel plate. The recessed bolt holes and stainless steel hardware work very well together! After some initial mockup, I powder coated the plate my favorite super durable gloss black and mounted it up! Looks incredible compared to have no plate and should offer some better gas mileage with better aerodynamics. Here is the link to his thread

Alright so I thought I would need a small spacer and a longer bolt but it turns out to get it tight enough you need bolt it down like stock. First I loosened and removed the steering linkage off the steering rack. This had to be shortened after rotating the rack anyway. I then took off the driver side bracket and loosened the passenger one to rotate the rack. I just wiggled it upwards how far it would go without really pushing it. Checked the linkage and it was nearly straight. Perfect. Then I did the wire trick and figured out that each ear on the bracket just needed to be angled more. You can see in the picture about how much. I just cranked the bracket in the vise and took a few good wacks at it. The white is the modified bracket. It needed to be bent roughly 10 degrees so the picture can be printed out and will help if you need it (check it on the vehicle too). What I did was hold it tight on the top bolt and make sure the square part hugged the bushing well. You'll notice that the bottom part is about 20mm above the stock mounting hole. This is where I figured I needed a spacer and a longer bolt but it turns out cranking down the stock one worked perfect and held it tight. Of course I forgot to take pictures of it but if I did now you wouldn't noticed much of a change except the rack pointing up more.

...I found a great way to rotate the steering rack using the stock bracket and a hammer. Thanks for the tip on using wire to get the shape! No cutting, grinding or welding required either

Steeevo can you comment on the reliability of these joints? I know similar joints that are open to the elements wear out very quickly when used on the street. I can only imagine the effect after going offroad through mud and sand. Are johnny joints better for this?

I figured it was bolt on since its a body on frame. Does it get welded to the inner fenders and stuff? I guess that would make it a lot tougher to pull from the junkyard too.. You might want to pick up some body working tools to help out. Its nice when you have different sizes and shapes to pick from.

I would stick with a single cooler to minimize the amount of connections and things to go wrong. If you want the best of both worlds, go with a smaller cooler with a dedicated fan mounted on it. Then it doesn't cool as much in the winter and in the summer you have plenty of cooling power at any speed. Does the stock cooler exchange heat with the radiator? If so, you should run them in series, cooler -> exchanger, and you should have your fluid at a good temp in all weather conditions. Maintenance will stop your stock cooler from clogging. Otherwise, put cardboard in front of your new cooler when the temperature drops.