mercury Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Mabuhay! everyone. Hello from the Philippines. I am thinking about buying an R50. I have 2 diesel WD21s lifted 2" with Bilsteins and Mercedes Benz coils known as the Terrano in our side of the world. The WD21s were sold here by Nissan until 2001 or 2002 and the R50 never reached our showrooms. The R50 is only available as an import here. I have had no difficulty lifting the WD21s but i am very unfamiliar with the macpherson struts of the r50 - it is macpherson right? We do not have strut lifts in my country so the lifts have to be DIY style. I just want to fit in 265/75/16 tires and fit in these nissan patrol rims. How reliable are these struts on and off road compared to the double wishbone of the WD21? Any difference in ride comfort and noise? I have been reading about the strut spacers - what are these and where do you put them? There are broken links in this site on strut spacer diagrams for fabrication - can any kind soul out there send me a working link? Is 1" the ideal spacer height? What about 2"? Can a 1" spacer level the height of the R50? Also, can i keep the original struts and just change the front coil springs for an additional lift - i think the rear would be easy to lift. I am not looking for a really high setup. I just want to fit in these rims and tires and not have them rub against the fender, chassis and pitman arms when i turn. I do not do any serious off roading. I only plan to cross flooded roads and go over uncemented rocky fire roads - that's it! - so i dont need any super suspension parts for trailing or exploring undriveable terrain or mud hole crossings. 2" is ideal but after reading a few threads, 2" causes severe CV joint angles. I am a big Nissan fan and would like to upgrade to an R50 if I can lift the rig a bit. Hope to hear from you. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 There is no available long travel struts for the R50. You will have to do lift springs and/or spacers to get a "cheap" lift in the front, subframe drop would give you a great amount of lift though. The R50 rides much more carlike than a WD21 b/c of the unibody, however that limits a lot of R50's to 2" lifts or expensive/time consuming mods to get more lift. Those rims look identical to the stock 03-04 LE rims in the US, except ours are 17" and have a much smaller center bore. I think one member, theCrow has those same wheels with 265/75R16, you should search for him and PM him about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180sx Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 (edited) Http://www.4x4parts.com That will get you a 2" lift with coils. Even get some new struts (not longer, just 'better') and rear shocks. That way you can fit your new tires no prob! I just don't know if they will ship to philipines. Edited May 7, 2009 by 180sx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Due to the front suspension design, the R50 is not easy to lift more than about 2" without fabricating custom drop-brackets at a substantial cost. So, the simplest way to get more ground clearance (and to fit larger tires) is to replace all 4 coil springs with stiffer ones. Though some people have also added 1" to 2" spacers between the top of the strut and where the strut mounts to the chassis, my personal opinion is that this is a bad idea. This is because there is increased risk of exceeding the CV joints' maximum operating angles and destroying them when a front wheel is in the air and turned fully left or right. Longer travel struts (which are not available anyway) would also result in the same problem. The main disadvantage of using only a 2" coil spring lift on the front struts is a phenomenon many refer to as "topping out". Topping out is the opposite of bottoming out, which is when the suspension fully compresses, such as during a hard landing after being airborne. Topping out occurs when the strut fully extends. The normal range of motion for the strut with stock suspension is somewhere around 4" up and 4" down. With stiffer 2" lift springs, the strut has 2" less extension, but now 6" compression. So, if you hit bumps, potholes, or uneven terrain that causes the suspension to extend beyond 2", then the strut will make a loud thunking sound as it reaches full extension and hits the internal bumpstop. Topping out is usually much more frequent just after the springs are installed. After a few months when the springs have "broken in" a little and settle, this won't happen as frequently. You generally don't need to replace the struts when installing 2" lift coil springs, but this is usually a good idea if the struts have many miles on them, due to the fact that labor to replace the springs is nearly the same as to replace the springs AND struts. However, if the struts are new or are in still in relatively good shape, you can reuse them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Dean, what do you think about mounting the strut spacer between the upper and lower strut mounts? Then the extension is limited by the struts, not the struts plus another inch sitting on top of it. Just wondering what your thoughts are on that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Tthat's how I have mine mounted...it is more work when compressing springs to mount it inside but overall you are right that the strut will only stretch so far then...staying inside the CV's woking geometery. This gives a boost to the spring, keeping you tall constantly, not adding to the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUELER Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 yes you will sit higher (better ground clearance) but high speed offroading will be negatively affected since you will have practially no down-travel left in your suspension.... only up-travel Its a good setup for some, bad for others, depends on what youre trying to do with your rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 and another way to further limit your IFS flex... Yea but you are sitting higher in the first place...I guess that's just the comprimise, lose some downward articulation but gain some ground clearance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fukinitupagain Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Stick with the badass-diesel WD21's big guy. No "cheap lift" other than a small 1" front strut spacer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Dean, what do you think about mounting the strut spacer between the upper and lower strut mounts? Then the extension is limited by the struts, not the struts plus another inch sitting on top of it. Just wondering what your thoughts are on that... I guess I don't see how that's any different than getting taller or stiffer springs... except it's more ghetto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercury Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Thank you all for your quick informative responses. So all i need are stiffer springs - or thicker ones to lift it 2" without stressing the cv joint angle? That sounds reasonable. I was worried that I would have to replace other parts as well. I am assuming that changing the coils would not change the camber of the wheels? If so, can it be easily fixed? Would any of you know if there are compatible springs from other Japanese vehicles that would do the trick? We do not have access to your parts over here, which are going to cost an arm and a leg to bring over here, and 90% of vehicles sold here are Japanese so we have an abundance of cheap Japanese parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Thank you all for your quick informative responses. So all i need are stiffer springs - or thicker ones to lift it 2" without stressing the cv joint angle? That sounds reasonable. I was worried that I would have to replace other parts as well. I am assuming that changing the coils would not change the camber of the wheels? If so, can it be easily fixed? Would any of you know if there are compatible springs from other Japanese vehicles that would do the trick? We do not have access to your parts over here, which are going to cost an arm and a leg to bring over here, and 90% of vehicles sold here are Japanese so we have an abundance of cheap Japanese parts. Changing the front coils may affect camber. On my lifted rig, for whatever reason, the camber is still in spec. Others have had different experiences, sometimes using one pair or two pairs of Ingalls camber adjustment bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 a strut spacer is ghetto regardless, imho. LOL. But not if that spacer is 4" tall and is accompanied by some other metal bits that bolt to the subframe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 LOL. But not if that spacer is 4" tall and is accompanied by some other metal bits that bolt to the subframe! Damn right. Custom fabrication should never be ghetto... Especially for a subframe drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now