Precise1

I'd go with the bags. It gives you the most flexability and redundancy of the two choices and they seem to work out well/be perfectly durable. This is what has been discussed here... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/37190-air-lift-1000-leveling-air-bags/ B

Few rules apply apparently... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/20182-wd21-owners-what-drive-trainmodel-trim-do-you-have/?mode=show I'd really go by the placard in the engine compartment and not make any guesses. Maybe call a local dealership and see if there was more than one gear ratio even available for a 1990 2 door 5sp z24 with r180/h233b. They might be able to run the VIN as well, Alkorahil in Texas can... B

The only thing I will point out is that Pathfinders were available with both 235/75/15 tires on 6" steel wheels and 31x10.5x15 tires on 7" aluminum rims, but there are no differences in part numbers for things like ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. This strongly indicates that the suspension and drive train is engineered for tires of at least 31" size. Yes, I do believe 33" tires, especially 12.5" wide, put extra wear on stock components, but a lot of people have upgraded other components as well just to be able to run them so it seems to work out ok. I run 31" tires, best of all worlds for a daily driver version of this model for me. B

Thanks, working on it... The fan blade unit for a 1995 WD21 is just under 17" across the flats, 8 bladed clockwise, 1.75" thick, with a 6.25x.75" deep mounting well for the fan clutch, with what looks like a 144-145mm X 4 bolt circle. Standard 10mm heads, so I'm guessing M6x1.0 threads/clearance? Do you need that checked as well? PM me if so... B

Yes, correct. Sorry I failed to see that you have an R50, so my friends WD21 anecdote doesn't really apply. Let me try to make up for it... We have a R50 SE with Yokohama AT/S 265/70/15 tires (29.5x10.5") on the stock aluminum rims. I mounted some BFG AT/KO 31x10.5x15" on steel 7" Cragar Soft 8s that weighed 8 or 12 lbs more? (can't recall but I know I posted it here) Mileage and acceleration around town went down, as well as ride comfort. The 70 mph cruise dropped to about 2,300 rpm IIRC (will try to find the info) which was nice for the flats and turning off the OD on hills. The R50 is a 1999.0 automatic with 4.63 gears... The Yokohamas went back on and I'll use the others for my WD21 as daily driver meats B

No problem, I wasn't mad or anything, just stating my experience. I see you clarified your statement in your next post; I missed it somehow, so my bad. WD21 UCAs are the same as Hardbody UCAs... Gee, thanks for the opportunity! That is my first Pathy when I was stripping it, this is the current one... The fan is sitting in the garage, I'll get you those dimensions as soon as the cat lets me get up... B

I'd say it depends more on the driving you do. A friend of mine has 30" tires on his 1992 and thinks they are perfect; he uses it as a work truck/daily driver and doesn't go off road. Another thing to consider is RPM at cruising speed, you want to be under 3,000 rpm as that is generally where the mileage begins to drop off... B

SKF is a quality brand as well, but at $76 for one side, yeah, return them if you can afford to wait. Again, check them first, and you'll need a rear seal if you replace them; the only to remove the old one is destructive. So, wheel bearing... I question if there hasn't been a write up... Jack up the vehicle, one side at a time. Grab the wheel at 3 and 9 O'clock and wiggle it back and forth, do the same at 12 and 6 O'clock. If the wheel bearings are loose, you should feel a little movement, almost like the lug nuts are loose; more play will be felt in the first position due to the steering components. If there is wheel bearing play, you might need to properly set them before the next test applies. Wheel bearings generally fail for 3 reasons: loose and brinelled, tight and overheated and age/corrosion/lack of maintenence. I've had wheel bearings last for over 200k miles, and replaced the ones on my WD21 at 95k miles because they had been neglected. Brinelling is when the bearing race surfaces are not completely smooth any more, either by harmonic load effect or impact. Ok, spin the wheel. Can you feel any grinding or vibration? If you can, the bearings have issues. Clean, repack and tension properly, and spin the wheel. Can you feel any grinding or vibration? If not, great, you just got some more life out of them! If so, replace them, you have no choice... As for installing them, yes it can be done with simple tools. I replaced mine in my driveway and used drifts, deadblows, C-clamps and misc bits of wood/metal to do it. For a novice, I would recommend taking the housings and races to a shop to have them properly pressed in, you can do the rest. I really don't know if one is better than the other, but I have never had any issue with Timken. From what I understand the bearing world is tightly controled, meaning there are industry specs and then manufacturing specs. Bearing specs either meet/excede the requirements or they can't be used. That said, I know how much material sceince, arc seconds, microns tolerances and surface finish can affect long term function of critical components, so there must be some sort of difference... B

You are welcome. 2WD? Well, that is OK then! Yes and no, depends on the realistic application. Let me try to explain it as best as I know: A coil spring is just a straight lever spring that is twisted. (forget that coil springs are made of round material (read easier/cheaper) and lever springs are square or rectangular in cross section (better control of characteristics). A lever/coil spring made from rod really only has 3 defining characteristics; the material properties, the diameter and the length. The length is the significant determining factor in the spring rate. If you want to lower your Honda so you cut 2" off of a 8" coil, yes, it is 2" lower but not just 25% stiffer. I don't have the equasion on hand (I'm sure the internet does) but it will be more like 40% stiffer. This is why you see lowered Hondas going down the road riding like they have I-beam leaf springs... So, if you start with a old/sagged stock pathfinder spring, it is already 1-1.5" lower and has a lower spring rate due to metal fatigue. By cutting another 1-2" (IIRC the stock spring is about 14", the info is here somewhere), you will lower the vehicle that much and return the spring closer to the stock spring rate, hopefully not too much stiffer. Even if it is a little stiffer, it will help you from bottoming out with the loss of travel. By this model, you would have a Pathfinder that is lowered 2-3.5". It is a crude guess, but I think you should see what I mean. I'm sure there are spring rate calculators you can access to be more precise... B

I would like to see this come about... B

Looks good! Hard to get a reference for the back bracing, and I haven't looked at that part of the car, so I don't have any good suggestions... B

Perhaps not that much for the R50 since it is fairly stand alone, but there have been things like bumpers, lights, etc. There are plenty of things that can be swapped out with the WD21s, so I don't really agree with your statement. B

Test the output of the temperature sensor with a multi meter, and then wiggle the wires/connectors for the MAF, TPS, temp sensor, etc with the engine running and see if something changes. I'll bet it is feed back sensor related. B

I doubt it, but there really isn't any technical info there to go by either. They might even be stiffer, having the progressive coils... What I would do is ask around for an old stock set of springs that have sagged and are being replaced, then cut an inch or two off of them. This will lower the truck, and stiffen up the spring a little as well. That said, I hope your Pathfinder is a 2x4, lowered 4x4s annoy me. B

There is a pinned thread in this section that has links to get a free Factory Service Manual. It will have that information, and so much more... B

In all reality, most bearings are of a standard quality. You should probably check them before you just go replacing them, it isn't hard at all. If you do need to replace them, just get a set of Timken bearings, races and two rear seals. They are available from Autozone, Rock Auto, Summit Racing, Amazon, etc and there will be no need to swap them out. B Upon looking, Rock Auto has Beck Arnley bearing sets for about $60 for all 4, Timken would be about $40.

Last time I had it done, it cost $60. A new torque wrench cost $80, so AHB is basically right. You can do a crude test though, have someone with a known good torque wrench torque a few bolts, and you mark them with a sharpie, then chase the torque, meaning start a bit lower than what ever torque they used, and keep increasing until the bolt/nut moves before you click/beam point. At whatever torque the bolt/nut moves that your registers - 5% is about where your wrench is. Crude, but it will tell you if you are in the ballpark. There are torque wrench cal tools as well, so you might want to ask around for who has one and would let you give it a try for a 6 pack... http://www.grainger.com/category/ecatalog/N-1z0dfya Should have known! That isn't even a word, you know... (pet peave) LOL But good call on the bottoming out, quite possible, and I never thought of that. See above, you just need to know it is close, but don't assume at this point. B

LOL What is "the german torque spec" ? B

^good point, similar metals have a greater propensity to gall. Avoid any tightening by impact. Do a firm snug in the air, beat with a deadblow, rubber mallet, then firm snug again. Lower and go to full torque in a criss-cross pattern (always when tightening) Spec for 1998 is 87-108 ft/lb. Do you know that your torque wrench is properly calibrated? Try going with 90 ft/lbs and see what happens. Check torque after 10-50 miles of driving. Being removed by impact can be part of the problem, the heat/friction from the speed makes things more likely to gall even though that alone shouldn't cause it. Try removing them by hand... Again, you are torqued on the high side, and could be far more depending on the equipment. Verify this... Oil or grease should not be applied, it creates a greater torque. I imagine anti sieze would do the same, but might have it's place where rust/corrosion is prevalent but I'd imagine you have to adjust for it. I've never needed to, so I'm not sure. I'd imagine you'd torque light, and you could try it on 1 lug to test. B

Are you putting the nuts on dry or with oil/grease? Do you start them by hand, and to what torque do you seat them? With what do you remove the lug nuts? There is something basic that is being missed here, I have only ever broken/replaced one stud... ever. B

Yeah, you might have the wrong gear in your case... B

Anything set up for checking oil temp is fine, it doesn't matter what it is called. The only things that matter is that the gauge fits where ever you want it, and that the set up is in the right range of temperature, 100-250F (40-120c) is the most that should be needed. B

Yow! If that didn't have a 'head' on it, it might have wound up inside your tire! Try going to the smaller, privately owned shops.. B

Yep, I really like dealing with Discount tire, and the tires on 3 of our vehicles were purchased there. I got the hazzard insurance on my BFG KM2 since it wasn't terribly expensive, and as the customer rep advised it 'since these are off road tires and you will be in the rocks and such'. He said it doesn't matter where/how the damage occurred, just if and with their other policies, I believe it. Last I knew they were, but maybe they are the patch/plug hybrid Nunya is talking aboot or by state as you suggested. Been a while I've asked about it myself. Around here, I recall plugging being prevalent until mid 90's and then shops switching to patching. Maybe some type of legislation, but I was always able to buy the same self vulcanizing strip type plugs. That is what I want and what I carry as well. B

^Agreed. Most setups like that have an automatic pressure sensor since there are always possibilities of small leaks, especially under load or towing, which is exactly when you don't want your suspension to sag. Sounds like it is working as it should, and good thing that you pulled the fuse, it would have happily run until it burned it's self out... B