hardwaretoad

LOL ! Yeah, but they're smaller, right? I can see where there was cause for concern. Your muffler looks an awful lot like the ones every Ricer wannabe that owns a Dodge Neon has on it over here...

In 16 years, the only time I ever rubbed on my flares with 31's was after I did this:

Welcome to the forums...

I know, I was just yankin' your chain... MY missing caps...

These'll do away with that annoying "CLUNK"...

Don't all Legos have missing centercaps? I didn't feel like "Dremel-ing" my centerholes out to fit my Warn hubs, so off they came... All important "SC" sticker too, I see ~ good for 5 HP... What strikes me as curious is that virtually every other '87-'89 I've seen has the same "Pathfinder" logo dual stripe down the beltline ~ except mine... Thanks for the look-see...

Not so much a spacer as it is an isolator... keeps the rattles down. You can install spacers there to gain lift though. Some lift kits do exactly that rather than going to the expense of manufacturing coils... :contract:

Just the BJ's. A couple of inches shouldn't adversely effect your tie rods too much unless your hitting the trails on a regular basis. The higher the lift, the more stress you'll be subjecting your parts to. That's why there's kits from Calmini and L & P to beef up the steering links, etc. Tire diameter can play into as well. Also depends on how hard you hit the trails. Some cruising on a backroad out to your fave waterhole for some fishin' isn't going to be as hard as trying to climb a 4.5 rated boulder-strewn trail... -thnkboutit- BTW, Moog makes fine parts, I've used them for years... I'm no "expert" (or profess to be), just a veritable sponge when it comes to researching what others have done or ran into...

Sounds good but hard to visualize, like to see the pics...

Welcome AS, great wheelin' story. BTW, you did go swimming... the water was just a "little" thick...

I'm sure the TD has a different sound to it than the ricers you normally see with those 4" mufflers. Still, like they say ~ "Chrome don't get you home". Nice work on your rig, though... You really ought to think about resizing those pics, pain in the a$$ to look at...

You shouldn't need to trim flares with the 31's ~ plenty of Pathys came factory equipped with them...

Looks good, E98. Have you thought about spacers for the struts to level it up some ?

As Far As I Know... delicate enough ?

Aftermarket UCA's create no lift, they only correct your BJ angles to prevent wear & tear. All lift in the front is done with either torsion bar adjusting and/or reindexing. Try cranking them first, if they max out before your desired amount of lift is reached, they've sagged too much. You'll have to reindex them first then crank 'em up. There's threads about both here, look at the "pinned" topics in the "Garage" section or just do a search using those 2 words in it... :type: There's nothing to worry about AFAIK that cranking them up a couple of inches will mess with any of your stock parts. Higher than that & you run into the Bj thing, extra wear on your other steering components, etc. Take your time, make sure it's level, get it re-alligned to avoid tire wear, and enjoy... I want to go the whole 9 yards on mine at one time. Calmini SL and steering kit, 3" BL, Thorley headers, 33's with new wheels, etc. I've had mine since it was 2 years old & it's served me well all those years being bone stock. It wasn't until I started frequenting this and other Nissan boards that I realized just how much more capable it could be. I'm not working right now due to some "family" problems, so it'll just have to wait. Not going to empty several thousand out of my SEP-IRA so I can send "ooh & ahh" pics of my killer mods, ya know? -thnkboutit-

The problem isn't with the CV's, it's the BJ angles once you crank it up, which the spacers are supposed to fix. 88 ran into problems when, by using them, it tore the sh!t out of one of his stock UCA's. Whether or not this was an isolated case is up for debate... Yes, you're increasing the working angles of the CV's when lifting, but not enough to cause excessive wear or binding on them. You're limited in lift (2-2 1/2" or so) by the stock UCA's ability to keep correct geometry on the bj's. From the things I've read, the spacers are not the way to go to correct this once you get up in the 3" range. Save for new UCA's ~ you can use the Superlift ones for the H/B truck, and they run around $260 or so I think. I'm surprised 88 didn't chime in about the spacers, he wrote about it on every Nissan board that I go to, including this one...

Welcome to NPORA... We need more 2-doors! Also, we need pics of your rig...

Run a search for something like "AC balljoint spacers ruined my..." posted by 88. It goes into detail as to what these can possibly do to your parts. Some people have had no problems with them, others are another story entirely. You'd be better off getting aftermarket UCA's to get things back to a resemblance of proper angles, than the spacers used in conjunction with your stock arms.

Seems to me I read somewhere that the ones for the H/B trucks could be used. Not sure if it was for the Z24i or the KA24E motor or how much ghetto fabbing would be required, though... Anybody else heard of this? :confused:

I think alot of people do take 'em offroad, but there's even less upgrades suspension-wise for your new ones than there is for our older rigs. I'm not flaming anyone for having a newer Pathy here, there's just a huge difference in the way the two are engineered & put together. You need to take it a little easier than I do. 1. Frame/Unibody ~ Frame has better structural rigidity, ease of mods if needed/wanted. It's just more utilitarian by design. 2. Shocks/struts ~ MacPherson struts will self-destruct long before a shock will, no if, ands, or buts. 3. Approach/departure angles ~ This goes to the early ones. Pg. 2 of Runnerman's pics shows what happens to big plastic bumpers low to the ground... 4. Overall weight ~ Not sure, but I'll bet your's is heavier than mine. 5. Power ~ Handsdown, this one goes to the new ones. I'd love to have a 3.3/3.5... 6. Creature comforts ~ Goes to you, too. But all that "stuff" adds weight and complexity...good thing you've got that bigger motor. More to break, too. Basically the Pathy's have gone the way of all Japanese SUV's ~ they've grown overweight and softly sprung. In a word, they've become "Americanized". Same thing with the 4Runner, look at the early ones compared to those of today. Tell me, which one do you think would do better offroad ? The huge advantage is having a newer (sometimes much newer) rig with less miles on it, and fewer (if any) previous owners, too. If it was me, I think I'd keep the newer one for regular driving, then try and pick up a good solid early one if you can afford it, to take offroad. I plan on getting a newer one here one of these days myself, but you can bet that my '87 is the one that keeps hitting the trails. Once again, just my opinion. Enjoy the forums, see what other newer Pathy owners are doing to their rigs to make them more trailworthy, and ask away! There's some really nice newer Pathys represented here. You've found a great bunch of people that have the same passion for Pathy's as you do. Welcome... "Your opinion may vary"... :gossip:

*Bold highlight mine By this do you mean that it like backfired & started running crappy, or "up and bam" as in it was just a sudden event? Did it "cough" or anything? Possibly you've jumped a cog on your timing belt if it did, how many miles on yours? I'm just trying to think outside the bad fuel or plugs/wires boxes. Sounded like you've already checked those things... Have you checked the distributor? Cracked cap, loose adjustment clamp, things like that. 88's right, 91 won't do anything for you... mine's lived most of it's life in Nv. on 85 octane with no detrimental effects, but that's another story... -study- Let us know how you fare... :type:

Glad I could help. Take the time & 20 bucks (remember, I saved you some sssh ) to get a Haynes, Clymer, or a Chilton's repair manual for your appropriate year. It'll give you an idea as to where to start, or even help you to reference different topics going on here in the threads. -study-

Sure sounds like a dead coppertop. Is it a Pimp Boy's battery? Probably lucky it lasted 8 months... :oops: Have you done a volt & ammeter check? Is it a sealed battery where you can't check the specific gravity of the cells? At 8 months old, at the very least it should be under warrantee & a replacement given to you prorated. Take it back & have them test it... while you're there see if they'll check your alternator and the rest of your charging system, too. -thnkboutit- It'll run with it disconnected....

I guess I've been spoiled by living my whole life in the wide-open West, it always seems strange to me that people have to pay to use a park to go out wheeling... Does look like a nice facility, though. Have fun, be safe, and take pics....

Pretty easy, actually. There's like 6 or 7 screws holding the cluster face on, then 4 more holding the cluster itself in. When you get it loose, tilt it towards you & reach around to disconnect the various electrical connections. Be careful!! The cable is a press fit & should come loose when you pull the whole cluster out. If it broke in half, you'll have to take it loose at the tranny as well, just unscrew it. Lube up the new one with graphite & feed it in from the speedo side. When it gets down to the tranny hook it into the drive gear and retighten the collar. Offer up the guages slipping the end into it's receptacle on the back, hook your wires back up, a few screws later & your on your way... Just take your time, no need to hurry when you could mess up alot of stuff on the back of the guages. Plus, it's all plastic ~ don't force anything & you'll be fine... Get any burned out lights while your in there, too... -thnkboutit-