torsion bar sag

[87pathy]

I own a 2000 frontier crew cab 4x4 ( i know this is a Pathfinder forum) and the right front end is sagging lower than the left. It also seams that my fontier has sagged in the whole front end. I only have 55,000 miles on it and i don't abuse it. I use it as a truck to haul crap and drive up in the mountains. I took it back to the dealer since its still under factory waranty and spent 3 hours waiting while they used up all my gas on a road test. i went in with 3 problems and this is what i got in response.

 

1) right front sag... they said i need an alignment but i told them they are full of S**t ( you can see that the lower a-arms are not at the same angle and the anchor points aren't even close to being the same in adjustment)

 

2) split second stall of engine at highway speeds... they said i put bad gas in it.. again they are full of S**t I run only texaco or shell premium.

 

3) drive line vibrations... They fixed it.

 

Can you guys give me any insite to how i can get them to fix this darn problem. I also asked them why 90% of the Nissan pickups on the road have the same sag problem and the guy said " I don't know"

 

I've owned 3 Nissan pickups and they all had the same sag problem

 

also i want to lift the front about 1 inch as my new tires rub on the mud flaps on the backside of the tire.. will this give me futre alignment problems

 

anyway can you guys provide any help?

[88pathoffroad]

Very simple answer: Crank the torsion bars up. You'll easily get an inch out of stock bars, and you probably won't even need a realignment for a 1" lift and leveling. I cranked mine up almost all the way and didn't align it for two years, no unusual tire wear or other problems.

 

Torsion bars sag over time because they're designed differently from leafs and coils, obviously. They simply sag over time. You don't really see the same problem with Chevys and Ford IFS setups because they use stiffer bars, I believe. Nissan didn't use stiff enough bars, which is trading ride quality for long-term durability and stability. Cranking up the t-bars(or replacing them entirely with aftermarket ones) is pretty much the only answer. Nothing lasts forever...

[87pathy]

Thanks 88 i've read alot of your posts and you seam quite knowledgeable. I am going to crank up the torsion bars regardless as i did it on my 87 before the SAS. I'm just a little po'ed about Nissan service, i always had good luck with our local dealer but they moved and are under new managment and now... -argue-

 

What do you think about the surge or stalling problem?

 

Thanks again

[Pathy]

Really, cranking the torsion bars didnt effect your chamber or wear pattern, ive heard that it does from a lot of people thats why u would need those aftermarket a-arms or is that just something extra AC is trying to make money off of.

[88pathoffroad]

Maybe my alignment was off before I cranked them, I dunno. Maybe I'm just lucky?

 

I really don't know on the stalling problem, 87pathy. It could be any number of things that they didn't want to take the time to check into and find out, probably. Mine did that for a while because the timing was off and my air filter was beyond clogged, you wouldn't believe how much sand and dust came out of the K&N when I took it out and cleaned it. Do you have new(er) fuel filter, air filter, plugs wires, cap and rotor? Try a tune-up if it hasn't been looked at for a while...

[Diesel Boy]

I had abit of time to reflect on T bars.

I decided to keep the stock one as they were softer and alowed easier artic in the front. The after market heavier oes were just ti stiff in the vehicles i've seen. But im sure mine have sagged since i got my lift springs in the back and it set up level. Who knows, i give up with the bloody things!!!!

[87pathy]

the stalling thing is kinda odd, but i spoke to my brother inlaw who has the exact same frontier as me and his has done the same thing. I'm going to give it a tune up next week, (even though the manufacturer says it isn't necessary for another 35 k miles) and see if it helps.

 

Thanks for the imput guys

[Mr. Pickles]

I replaced my Tbars with ones from AC (they ended up being made by Swayaway). Got them dialed in perfectly level in maybe 10 minutes. I've been happy with them, they flex when needed but are stiffer in general around town. They eliminated a lot of dive under hard braking too.

[MatterHorn]

87Pathy - I would love to see some pics of your SAS... and is the a bronco axel and control arm setup?

[87pathy]

you could go to my web site and see all the details that i have done so far but they are lacking explanation..

 

1) front end is from a 72 ford F100 Yes full width

 

2) Spring buckets and cups are from a 78? F150

 

3) Radius arms are from same 72 ford

 

4) I have made custom cross member, frame extension, and radius arm anchor points.

 

5) Coil springs in photo are 3.5" wildhorse rockcrawlers for a U100 but they are going to the back and 5.5" will be installed in the front

 

6) rear axle is a ford 9" full width from same 72 ford and i'm in work on a triangulated 4 link

 

My web site is

 

homegrown4x4

 

Enjoy