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jyeager

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Posts posted by jyeager

  1. This morning I discovered that the coolant in the coolant reservoir was 3" from overflowing, way past the max limit and the radiator is empty. I think that could be the reason why. I am gonna get that checked out this weekend. I will be buying premix coolant for the meantime.

     

    I think you will find that to be a bad radiator cap.

  2. Alex, great move putting the original coils back in.

    When you mentioned a new transmission, I was going to ask if that transmission went in when the new coils did because it could be the source of the vibration. But since you swapped your original coils back in, and the vibration is gone, that eliminates that possibility.

     

    Did you just change the springs or did you also change the front struts?

     

    I would like to ask the rest of the forum...does his 2004 have the automatic hubs? Such that they are engaged when he's in 4wd, but disengaged when in 2wd?

    That would explain why he has the vibration only in 4wd and not in 2wd.

     

     

  3. RoguePathy, yeah they're pretty strict with that kind of thing. I'm not too worried about it though because 1) I got it smogged last year so I have a couple more years until it needs to go in again, 2) by then it will probably have bigger issues I'll need to deal with, and 3) the part that came off was after the resonator so I don't think it changes much. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! ;)

     

    jyeager, thanks for the insight. I'll probably leave it like this for now then unless I find one at a scrap yard for a good deal. Was there an issue that came up after 6 months or is that just how long you waited to replace it?

     

    No issue. I just wanted to have it fixed. Trying to keep the old girl in good working order.

    FYI, the local muffler shop only wanted around $200 for an entirely new exhaust from the cats back. The place was empty when I stopped by and I only waited 30 minutes.

     

    But if you want to buy a bolt-on to do yourself, first make sure you won't have issues with rotted/seized bolts or flanges after the cats and buy the Walker system. Walker makes good stuff that fits right and is fairly priced.

  4. "Is there any reason that I should consider welding it back on or replacing it instead?"

     

    Only that dumping your exhaust out right there under the floor of your truck, paired with any holes in the floor of the truck, could lead to carbon monoxide in the cabin.

    Your truck looks clean enough that it probably won't have holes in the floor!

     

    You may smell your own exhaust when you are stopped and have your rear windows open.

     

    But I drove my truck like this for perhaps 6 months without issue.

  5. Didn't you replace your factory head unit for an aftermarket?

    If so, it will probably be putting out 25 watts per speaker.

    If you put in an aftermarket speaker bypassing the factory 'amps' they should work fine. But since they won't be amplified, and the rear speakers are, you will need to adjust your fader to even out the volume front to rear.

     

    But don't forget the tweeters in your A-Pillars. If you want to keep those working you will need to route the signal there too.

     

     

    But it really might be worth buying a set of used original amps. Just get a guarantee from the seller that they work!

  6. Yes, there is a tensioner and it's very easy to adjust.

    See if this video helps you. It's for a front wheel drive car, but the engine should be the same, just turned sideways.

     

    If that doesn't fix it, then the squealing is probably coming from the power steering pump. That's a separate belt you can only get to from the bottom and it adjusts separately, without a separate tensioner because it's the only thing on that belt.

     

    • Like 2
  7. Well, everything was good for a week. Since your symptoms were consistent with air in the system, let's assume that when you finally filled it that it was fixed. Now, a week later, it could just happen to be a new problem.

    I would consider the possibility that your radiator cap is bad. It should hold something like 14lbs of pressure before venting to the overflow tank. If that feature has failed, it would blow coolant out like you described.

    Either pressure test the cap, or buy a new one.

     

  8. The only experience I have is with engine oil stop-leak. Didn't work.

    But my son's truck has a blown head gasket and a head-gasket repair additive that he put in his anti-freeze sealed it up going on 3 years now.

     

    You may as well try it.

    Of course, you need to figure out if it's the transmission or the transfer case first! ;)

     

    • Like 1
  9. Like bushnut said...

    You shouldn't need to do anything. Put those tires on and go. I ran stock 15" rims with 31x10.5 without changing anything.

    The only rubbing I had was the corner of the tire's tread would rub the frame rail gently when I turned all the way to lock.

    If you have 1/8" clearance at the spring perch you are still fine.

  10. Like Jeff said, I would consider a vacuum leak in the emissions control.

     

    If it was just a full-time vacuum leak, your code-start idle would be really high, or else plain crappy.

    The EGR only begins to operate when warm. If you read the operating description for EGR, it will list all the conditions in which EGR is opened...if those conditions correspond to the conditions in which you have intermittently experiencing trouble, then it would be a pretty good indicator of where the problem is.

     

     

  11.  

    Perhaps the pigtail has some degree of progressiveness, but if Moog's calling it a constant rate spring, I'm treating it like a constant rate spring. All I'm saying is that my observations are more consistent with OME's numbers than with Moogs.

     

    Fair enough.

    Very interested in seeing the new swap approach you settle on (ie. specific part #s).

    Thanks.

  12.  

    It wouldn't surprise me if Moog's specs were wonky in more ways than one, but these are spec'd as constant rate.

     

    A pigtail isn't indicative of a variable rate spring, though. Steel hardness, coil diameter, coil thickness, and spring pitch are all factors of spring rates.

     

     

     

    Is pigtail not the right nomenclature? At that one end where the coil diameter comes down to roughly half of the 5" diameter...For the last couple of coils. That part of the spring just will not yield the same rate as the rest of the spring.

    If that entire section compresses under the vehicle's weight at that corner, then and only then does the spring become constant rate.

    But you can't look at the spring's specs and plug those in to a spring rate calculator and get the correct answer on spring rate. You either include the full height in your calculation and it gets thrown off because part of the spring isn't the 5" diameter you are inputting, or you measure height as the free height MINUS the necked down coils in which case you get a bad result too...

     

    Never the less, after test fitting and measuring spring height, then adding a known amount of weight to the spring and measuring again, you could then have an accurate rate.

    And the spec's spring rate may be accurate in this sense. You just can't use the spec'd spring rate + free height + corner weight to predict your ride height.

     

    Does any of that make sense?

  13. The gear set I found was front and rear. Maybe I was looking at the wrong ratios. But when i did the axle gear ratio calutator setup with 5.13 35" tire is completetly stock setup, Im not planning on running 35"s mostly 33-34 if I go with a super swamper.

    The gear sets I was seeing are in Japan, I would be ordering them from Japan. But gears are at the bottom of the list right now. Mainly Lift and tires then lokka.

    Thank you everyone for letting me in the new nissan scene. I look forward to many pics and lots of builds :)

     

    You probably did find those gears listed...and they probably do work for that front diff when it's in an Xterra...But the key difference for our trucks is that in our trucks, and only our trucks, the gears are reverse cut.

     

    Unfortunately a lot of sites will still list them as being for the R50 pathfinder because the model of differential is the same as the other applications, yet they don't work because they aren't reverse cut like ours have to be.

     

    You might be able to swap in a front diff from an Xterra though. I don't know if it's as simple as that, however...or all of us would have done it.

    • Like 2
  14. First comment: The 4Runner spring is a variable rate spring by virtue of the lower diameter coiling at the pigtail. That could explain the discrepancy you see between advertised spring rate and your experience....when you installed it and the vehicle weight compressed it, you were using that lower spring rate first. If you then tested the spring rate by adding weight above your axle, you might have seen something closer to spec.

     

    Second comment (actually question): Aren't there lift springs for the 4Runner you could simply swap in to this setup you have and get your desired lift?

     

  15. For the trailing arms, I'm going to try a set of OE lengths first. The purpose there is to have a stronger set of lower arms. But with the approach I'm taking, I'm also hoping to have an inexpensive answer to poly bushings. They will not use OE-size bushings.

     

    But custom length arms go beyond wheel centering. They're also for correcting driveshaft and pinion angles. Lengthening a pair, or even lengthening both (by same or different lengths) may not improve anything. Depends on the link setup.

     

    I've not crunched the numbers, but I think we would benefit most by only a longer length upper arm. This would effectively tilt the axle back, center the wheel, and make the pinion and driveshaft more inline with each other. On up-travel, axle would stay centered...doesnt seem like it would, but it's entirely related to where all the link mounts are as the axle travels.

     

    Yes I see...

    I only have 4" of lift and don't have any noticeable vibration from the change to pinion angle, but if you are going for 6+", you very well might. So correcting the pinion angle sounds like a very good idea.

     

    Most people think that you need to point the pinion at the transmission's tail shaft, but you actually want your pinion angle to cancel out your slip-yoke angle. If one is 10 degrees, the other should be -10 degrees.

  16. Ok, so my mind went nuts on this topic over the weekend. I'm moving things forward (as best as I can with weekly work travel for the near future, anyway), since some others have been PM'ing me.

     

    I ordered a pair Moog 80145 springs. $46 shipped from Amazon (Prime). They are for an 03-07 4Runner. OME coils shares fitment with 03-10 4Runners and all FJs, btw.

     

    These have a 190 lbs/in spring rate, same(ish) free height as stock (and OME), and ID of 5.34" (vs 5.06"). I plan to build a bolt-on "top hat" adapter that supports a lower spring isolator and clip to prevent coil fall-out. Since this may net about 6" of lift, I have a similar plan to use 2nd Gen 4R Moog springs for something more moderate (and spec'd near OE R50 spring rate).

     

    I also ordered a set of poly bushings as inexpensive option for use in beefier, custom-length trailing arms.

     

    And then, not to blow smoke up anyone's arse, I have a design for a lower strut adapter. It would net a little over 3", allow for camber adjustment, move the spring perch way up, and not prohibit use of lift springs or strut spacers. 7" of lift would not be out of the question. Of course, this means nothing without subframe spacers...and needless to say, I have a redesign that may make a 6" subframe spacer practical and provide necessary lateral support.

     

    Stay tuned, of course...

     

    Great. I'm interested in what you learn about the rear spring options.

     

    The bottom-design strut spacer is an idea that I played around with. It seems like it would be simple and effective. Good for you pressing forward with it.

     

    Question regarding your new trailing arms....Why? I mean, I understand that the tires will visually be moved forward once you lift, but when the suspension compresses it would move back to center giving the best clearance in the wheel wells...but if you lengthen the control arms to make it look centered at the lifted ride height, you will rub the rear of the fender openings when you compress the suspension...? Or do I not reason that correctly?

    Also, how far can you stretch it out before you need to have the driveshaft lengthened?

     

     

  17. I can't remember what they looked like when I swapped out the OEM for the bilsteins. Should the upper shock be pinched tight in between the mount? Mine can move front and back about 1/2", and i've been chasing a rattle lately that sounds like it is coming from that area exactly. Thinking about just adding some washers and tightening it down, but unsure if it is supposed to be able to float fore and aft....

     

    Thanks!

     

    If I'm understanding you correctly, the answer is no. There shouldn't be any movement. But you shouldn't seek to 'pinch' it tight between the mount with washers. Rather your bolt should match the inner diameter of the eyelet, or use a bushing to fill up the eyelet. (you did say fore/aft movement)

     

    But if you were referring to it being able to move side to side within the mount, sliding along the bolt...You probably could try to take up that slack with washers, but again, a properly designed bushing would do that for you too.

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