jyeager

Besides a C clamp, it's easy. If you have ever changed pads before, the only thing that might be different about this vehicle compared to others is that the pads are not contained within the caliper, but are held by a bracket bolted to the knuckle. So you remove the caliper and support it off to the side then the pads are still held in place around the rotor and come out separately. Double check the sliding pins to make sure the pads are able to float side to side freely. If not, replace those while you are in there. (and my local auto parts store didn't have them, might need to be ordered from a parts supplier).

I have heard discussions of the optional rear LSD and how to identify it. But haven't heard anything about the front. So I am going to assume that either the front diff is always an LSD if the rear is, or the front was never an LSD. Which? Thanks.

That might depend on what light color you get. Blues might be a problem in the rain? So 8K even 6K might be a problem? I got 4500 and they are white, not blue or yellow. They work far better in the rain than I would have hoped.

It doesn't sound like you are experiencing the strut top out. It could be the sway bar bushings, so if you remove it you will know immediately. Detrimental? Depends on your perspective. You won't be able to swerve quickly on the road. If you do try to do a high speed swerve maneuver to miss a deer or dog or something, you might roll it. You will want to slow down more for turns and on/off ramps. If it's not your sway bar, a common cause of that is the strut bearing. It's the portion of the top hat assembly that allows the strut to turn with the steering. That's a common wear part.

The 4" SFD comes with a 4" strut spacer. I don't think you will want to be using (or even can?) use the new 4" spacer with your current 1" spacer. (unless that spacer is mid-mounted, under the top hat). But if you ditch the 1" spacer and replace it with the 4" spacer you will be IMPROVING your CV angle. It looks like you currently have 3" of front lift because 2" comes from the springs alone, right? So you would have a combined 6" lift in front (rather than 7") because of the loss of your current 1" spacer.

Right, but I'm wondering if that's the consensus based on concern for the boots, or if that's because it's actually reaching the working limit of the joint? If it's just the boots then I would consider it an issue that might be able to be mitigated. Are your spacers top spacers or mid spacers? If they are mid spacers (same as a spring lift) then you haven't actually increased the total possible downward travel of the suspension so would definitely NOT be reaching your joint's maximum angle.

Hello! Well, I'm new to the ins and outs of the R50. I've owned one for 6 years, but am just now beginning to think about retiring it from daily driving and turning it in to a toy. So, as I pour over the suspension modifications there are 3 options that seem to be all we have to choose from: 1) Spring/Spacer lift for about 2" 2) SFD for about 4" 3) Solid Axle Swap (SAS) I'm curious if anyone has investigated different options and ruled them out as viable? I have some ideas that only have their basis in my fuzzy mind. Here they are for comment: A) Adapt a different strut for more travel. Looking at Monroe's spec sheet I see a strut that seems to be compatible. The stock strut is spec'd for a height range of 16.6"-23.3" for a travel of 6.7". There is a strut listed as working with 1993-2001 Camry in the REAR that has the same body as our struts and it has a length of 16.3"-24.2" for a travel of 7.9". I would expect some tabs needing to be transferred over by tack welding (brake line tab for instance) but otherwise, it might be a great solution to top-out problems when used with lifting springs. A lifting solution that would solve the Camber adjustment issue as well as eliminate the need for wheel spacers...space the strut from the buttom. Perhaps the bottom hole in the strut can bolt to the top hole in the knuckle and a bracket can be made simply by cutting some 1/4 plate correctly to create a top mounting hole for the strut. For someone with a band saw or plasma cutter and a drill press, it could be made for pennies. C) Exactly how far can we extend our suspension travel before we reach the limits of operating angle with the CV axles? Does anyone know the maximum operating angle of our CV axles? Forget the boots, there's bound to be a reasonable solution to that problem. The hard failure would happen when the suspension droops past that limit and the axle instantly fails. There are companies that serve the racing community that make custom CV axles. One company makes CV axles that can operate at up to 70 degrees. D) What about wholesale adaptation of something like a Titan front suspension? Both A-arms, spindle, rotors, calipers... Just have to weld on upper and lower mounting brackets. And for the upper brackets and perhaps shock/spring mount, that would require a little new sub-frame creation with square tubing. The above-mentioned company could adapt the Titan CV axle's inner flange to the R50 differential. Am I crazy? Just uninformed of the realities of these ideas?

By unplugging the EGR valve you have disabled the EGR system. Its only purpose is to improve emissions. There is no harm in running around with it disconnected except to the environment.

Any more developments on this mystery failure?

? You didn't want to lift higher because you would have to replace more parts and trim wheel wells? I don't get it. You would be making MORE clearance in the wheel wells if you added a spring lift on top of this. And more parts to replace? Do you mean Camber alignment bolts and manual hubs? Or were you really speaking about what you would have to do to go with even larger TIRES? Just making sure I understand what you were referring to.

Yes, your A arm angle is extreme. And one other possibility is that at full droop your suspension arm goes so low as to bind your CV axles. Do that while moving and they would immediately break. (I'm not sure about that, but it's a possibility you should check in to). You won't be able to make your camber alignment with 5 inches of lift either without the help of some custom fabrication in the area of the lower strut mount I would think. If you drop the sub-frame 2.5 inches, you will then have a 2.5 inch suspension lift. That might work out OK. You would be on the edge of obtainable camber angle, but with 2 sets of camber adjustment bolts per side or camber bolts plus some enlarging/relieving of the top strut hole you can probably obtain that. Not sure of the accuracy of all that I just said, so I would appreciate a second opinion.

Hey, thanks for mentioning the Bladerunner. Is that a universal device? Or a full bike rack solution? It looks like I could just use my 1Up bike rack with it. I have been wondering what to do about my bike rack if I choose to go with a rear tire carrier because the roof rack isn't as convenient for thru-axle bikes and I will probably eventually want my roof for gear or a tent or something other than bikes.

good. You have most likely ruled that out then. But it could possibly still get stuck open on occasion, so to completely rule it out, disconnect the electrical plug to it and see if you can recreate the problem. If so, EGR definitely ruled out. It could also be ignition related. Sometimes the coil can be going bad gradually such that it only fails when it's hot or when it's cold. You could also have a bad wire or cap and the spark arcs to ground when the engine compartment gets wet. Was it raining out when you had these problems?

Does this mean you have a 3" suspension lift in the front? Everything cool with your camber, axle boots, bump steer??

Sorry! I just checked it out and it's publically viewable and works for me (without being authenticated) on 4 different browsers.... Are you on a business network that has blocked youtube by any chance?

EGR valve.

Hey, a few weeks ago I tried to take my 12 year old to a wet trail in the woods for his first off-road excursion. I even put him behind the wheel and had him get us stuck (in 2wd). Then I had him put it in 4wd to continue on...as soon as he did, without even beginning to give it gas, the hub flange bolts sheered off and the hub began to spin. We were stuck! After getting it fixed, we went for a 2nd try and I even got out and let him drive all by his lonesome. Check out the video. http://youtu.be/iZ_YpMtES7U7

It depends on what you ultimately expect to accomplish and how long your process of transformation will be. You can start with 31" AT tires and just stop there...

Also, when all was said and done, how much longer was your strut over the stock strut? And what is the travel? Was that changed at all? I would guess it was less than stock because the insert was designed to lower a vehicle, so the body must be shorter than the stock strut body? My '97 stock struts apparently have a compressed length 16.625" and extended length 23.375". According to the Monroe Spec sheet another strut has the same body type (B10) and compressed length 16.310", extended 24.210", travel 7.900" (part 71680/71681). Could that be readily adapted for our use? It's OEM from a 93-01 Camry on the rear. If that could be adapted readily, then it would accommodate a longer spring, presumably without topping out, plus gives longer travel (which when used with bigger tires would still require the use of a top spacer).

Rocky, let me ask this. Your Koni solution gave you a better damping strut than stock, but the lengthening part of that equation could also have been solved by using a spacer above the top hat of the strut, right? (Not your topping out problem of course....but you could have kept the stock spring and gotten lift with the top spacer and saved $ and trouble, right?)

I have the same problem, but haven't looked at it yet. Let me know what you find because I'll probably be doing the same thing.

My stock rims are 6.5" (LE), what are yours? I was under the impression that I couldn't fit the tires I want on 6.5" rims.

Looks like these wheels are available in a 4" backspacing but not 3.75". That won't hit the Strut perch on the front? http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...mp;autoview=sku I will also try to hunt down a local 4x4 board to look for used wheels. Thanks.

So 15x8 with 4" backspacing will rub a little, but 3.75" backspacing won't rub...just stick out an extra quarter inch? I don't mind it sticking out further and would love to put on fender flares anyway (for the legality). So were those wheels available in those backspacings.... I'll look. Arcano, I want mine to look like yours! (mine is even white). Is that an entire bumper, or just a brushguard on the front? Where can I get one, and where can I get the rear bumper? Thanks all for your help...especially posting pics.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...rt=USW-84-5760L Will these rims fit my stock '97 Pathfinder? I plan to mount 31x10.50R15 tires on them. My truck has no lift. Is this the right rim (backspace, bolt pattern, size)? Will that size tire fit well? Will the tire/rim combo rub or interfere anywhere with my stock suspension? Is there a better deal anywhere on black steel rims? Thanks for your help.