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Subframe drop for R50


shift220
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Thanks for the info! Was going to try and leave the front diff in, but it looks as if there is no way around it :(

 

The front diff is easy to remove. Just unbolt the drive shafts, and a few mounting bolts and out it comes. 30 minutes max to remove it.

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Okay, but some people have suggested to put in the blocks just with bolts then weld in the blocks once you know you have no problems. I really dont want to pull the front diff twice in one weekend lol. Maybe I will just put locktite on the bolt and hope for the best.

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In America can you pretty much do any welding you want and still remain street legal? because I can think of I lot of things I would have done differently if I could weld on my truck but sadly it is very not legal.

 

I am just always worried about my strut spacers, I feel that this is the weakest part of the whole setup. Has anyone had any problems with these yet? I really wish we could get some coil-overs for the pathfinder.

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Id assume that you welded your strut spacers, Danak? How else would you make them?

 

One more quick question, how long are the brake lines needing to be for a 4in sfd with 2in coils?

 

Ha ha, nope my truck is just very well balanced. Yes I welded them but not too the body of my truck.

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To get to the driver's side engine block you need to drop the diff. You can leave the diff in the subframe, just drop it low enough to get at the engine block.

 

The tolerances might be to large with Alex's kit or the hardware is bad. With my blocks there is no need to do any welding. I think muddfildvaynes proved this very well with his wheeling pictures :aok:

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To get to the driver's side engine block you need to drop the diff. You can leave the diff in the subframe, just drop it low enough to get at the engine block.

 

The tolerances might be to large with Alex's kit or the hardware is bad. With my blocks there is no need to do any welding. I think muddfildvaynes proved this very well with his wheeling pictures :aok:

 

You don't HAVE to drop the diff, but it's a lot easier if you do. I never took the diff out of mine.

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Okay so I am possibly installing my sfd this weekend if we get around it it (other stuff like fabbing sliders and stingers comes first lol) I have written up a rough list or instruction set of sorts and im going to put it up here for those of you who have installed a SFD before to read over if you would :hugs: And any tips or missed steps that I left out post up what it is, or a different way of doing it :beer:

 

Prep

-Soak all bolts in PB the night prior to install

-Rent Coil Compressor for rear coils

-Get front diff fluid to change since its going to be pulled anyways (dont know what to get, suggestions?)

-Buy brake fluid to top off after bleeding brakes

-Get rear brake line made and remember to bring it lol

-Tube to extend the breathers in both the front and the rear?

 

Front SFD

-Jack up front end and place jackstands under the pathy, with the parking break on as well. Remove front wheels and tires

-Remove front driveshaft, cv's, and take out front axle, or drop it enough to access drivers side engine mount. *Probably just easier to remove it?*

-Unbolt and tie up the front struts, to prevent them from falling down

-Place jack with piece of wood on top under oil pan on engine and unbolt the engine mount bolts. (all while being extremely careful to not move the engine + or - 1 inch

-Place second jack under front subframe and unbolt the subframe and lca mount

-After securing the steering wheel with the seatbelt or string, unbolt the steering

-Carefully lower the subframe while watching to not stretch any lines or connections that may still be on

-Lower just enough to place blocks on the engine mount and subframe, and place the strut spacers on

-Install front steering extension and tighten down all bolts for the lift blocks and the struts

-Re-install front axle if it was taken out

-Replace front cv's and front driveshaft

-Untie steering wheel and lower all jacks supporting front end and jackstands

 

Rear

-Jack up back end and support with jackstands under pathy and also under rear axle

-Remove rear coils and shocks

-Disconnect spring for the lsv (disco the panhard rod?)

-Remove old brake line and replace with extended line

-Place new spring spacers and bolt down and weld them in place

-Replace springs and re install bump stops and shocks

 

Final Steps

-Make sure all bolts are still tight and turn wheels to make sure there is no binding

-After admiring in awe the sheer awesoemeness of the sfd take it for its first spin just around the block a few times to make sure everything feels good

-Recheck that all bolts are still tight and weld in the subframe blocks and steering extension

 

 

Thats my list so far, I think I covered everything. But I have a few questions yet.

-As far as the engine mounts go I think that once im sure everything in good im just going to try and tack weld the bolts on the passenger side mount to secure them, cause once everything is good I dont want to have to drop the axle again to tack the other side.

 

-As far as the axle goes, how would you just lower it? Its on brackets so how can you just lower the axle it looks to be like its either in or out

 

-Breather extension- what diam. tubing do I need to extend the breathers is there a breather in the front?

 

-last thing what did yall do with your lsv spring and is anyone using the stock panhard rod? I will probably wind up having to make a drop bracket of sorts cause I imagine that it wont fit to the stock location with the spacers.

 

Thats it, I would REALLY REALLY appreciate it if those who have experience with a sfd or the front axle to chimme in and tell me if I have got everything covered :hugs: This is not something I can afford to screw up on :ohmy:

Edited by 01silvapathy
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To get to the driver's side engine block you need to drop the diff. You can leave the diff in the subframe, just drop it low enough to get at the engine block.

 

The tolerances might be to large with Alex's kit or the hardware is bad. With my blocks there is no need to do any welding. I think muddfildvaynes proved this very well with his wheeling pictures :aok:

 

The SFD is handling all the beatings I have been able to throw at it, this weekemd that just passed was the only weekend i gave the pathy a break since installing the SFD.... I do not see the need to weld it, just torque the bolts after wheeling and you should be ok.

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Okay so I am possibly installing my sfd this weekend if we get around it it (other stuff like fabbing sliders and stingers comes first lol) I have written up a rough list or instruction set of sorts and im going to put it up here for those of you who have installed a SFD before to read over if you would :hugs: And any tips or missed steps that I left out post up what it is, or a different way of doing it :beer:

 

Prep

-Soak all bolts in PB the night prior to install

Probably a good idea and would move things along easier but i didnt do that

-Rent Coil Compressor for rear coils

I didnt have to get a coil compressor for the rear springs i just took the shocks off and jacked up one side at a time from the shock mounts and fully flexed the rear axle out and the springs should go in with a little help from a pry bar...

-Get front diff fluid to change since its going to be pulled anyways (dont know what to get, suggestions?)

-Buy brake fluid to top off after bleeding brakes

-Get rear brake line made and remember to bring it lol

-Tube to extend the breathers in both the front and the rear?

 

Front SFD

-Jack up front end and place jackstands under the pathy, with the parking break on as well. Remove front wheels and tires

-Remove front driveshaft, cv's, and take out front axle, or drop it enough to access drivers side engine mount. *Probably just easier to remove it?*

Its easier to just remove it and then use a jack to put it back in place

-Unbolt and tie up the front struts, to prevent them from falling down

I took my struts out and put the strut spacers on then put them back, its easier to tighten bolts when not confined to a small space.

-Place jack with piece of wood on top under oil pan on engine and unbolt the engine mount bolts. (all while being extremely careful to not move the engine + or - 1 inch

-Place second jack under front subframe and unbolt the subframe and lca mount

I found it easier to do one side at a time

-After securing the steering wheel with the seatbelt or string, unbolt the steering

-Carefully lower the subframe while watching to not stretch any lines or connections that may still be on

-Lower just enough to place blocks on the engine mount and subframe, and place the strut spacers on

-Install front steering extension and tighten down all bolts for the lift blocks and the struts

-Re-install front axle if it was taken out

-Replace front cv's and front driveshaft

-Untie steering wheel and lower all jacks supporting front end and jackstands

 

Rear

-Jack up back end and support with jackstands under pathy and also under rear axle

-Remove rear coils and shocks

Dont put jackstands under the axle just before the lower control arms

-Disconnect spring for the lsv (disco the panhard rod?)

-Remove old brake line and replace with extended line

You should clamp the soft line before replacing to keep brake fluid from spilling so much...

-Place new spring spacers and bolt down and weld them in place

-Replace springs and re install bump stops and shocks

 

Final Steps

-Make sure all bolts are still tight and turn wheels to make sure there is no binding

-After admiring in awe the sheer awesoemeness of the sfd take it for its first spin just around the block a few times to make sure everything feels good

-Recheck that all bolts are still tight and weld in the subframe blocks and steering extension

You shouldnt need to weld

 

 

Thats my list so far, I think I covered everything. But I have a few questions yet.

-As far as the engine mounts go I think that once im sure everything in good im just going to try and tack weld the bolts on the passenger side mount to secure them, cause once everything is good I dont want to have to drop the axle again to tack the other side.

 

-As far as the axle goes, how would you just lower it? Its on brackets so how can you just lower the axle it looks to be like its either in or out

 

-Breather extension- what diam. tubing do I need to extend the breathers is there a breather in the front?

 

-last thing what did yall do with your lsv spring and is anyone using the stock panhard rod? I will probably wind up having to make a drop bracket of sorts cause I imagine that it wont fit to the stock location with the spacers.

 

Thats it, I would REALLY REALLY appreciate it if those who have experience with a sfd or the front axle to chimme in and tell me if I have got everything covered :hugs: This is not something I can afford to screw up on :ohmy:

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The welding is required so the subframe blocks dont "move around". Even with them torqued and i've had them move around even with the holes drilled straight on. What happened on my white pathfinder is the factory nuts that the factory bolts- bolt into inside the unibody the welds broke after some hardcore offroading so you couldn't just retorque them. I had to cut an access port inside the brake and remove them and replace them with new nuts so I could tighten them again. I don't know if anyone else ran into that problem but I also ran into that problem on my black pathfinder with the newest style SFD. I say just weld it for good measure and strength. If you take it off just cut the welds, It only needs to be a couple of short beads, not the whole thing. With that said you should have a solid bulletproof SFD. I never had problems with it on the black or white pathy and I ran moab rim unlocked way back in the day.

 

Its cool to see people finally modding the crap out of their R50s. Makes me start to kindof miss mine lol. Props to everyone here. Miss the forum but titan ftw imo.

 

 

Welp back to my cave lol. I don't like this new NPORA interface. Maybe take some getting used to.

 

cheers.

Edited by nissandoms47
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Okay so I am possibly installing my sfd this weekend if we get around it it (other stuff like fabbing sliders and stingers comes first lol) I have written up a rough list or instruction set of sorts and im going to put it up here for those of you who have installed a SFD before to read over if you would :hugs: And any tips or missed steps that I left out post up what it is, or a different way of doing it :beer:

 

Prep

-Soak all bolts in PB the night prior to install

-Rent Coil Compressor for rear coils - i didn't need one

-Get front diff fluid to change since its going to be pulled anyways (dont know what to get, suggestions?) - I think I used Syntech 75W90 synthetic

-Buy brake fluid to top off after bleeding brakes

-Get rear brake line made and remember to bring it lol

-Tube to extend the breathers in both the front and the rear? - yes, both front and rear, i think it's 1/4" tubing

 

Front SFD

-Jack up front end and place jackstands under the pathy, with the parking break on as well. Remove front wheels and tires

-Remove front driveshaft, cv's, and take out front axle, or drop it enough to access drivers side engine mount. *Probably just easier to remove it?* - Yes, unbolt the drive shaft and then unbolt the cv's - with your hubs locked and brakes on it makes cracking the bolts loose easy. Then place a jack under the axle and remove the 8 bolts(4 per side) that hold the axle in place, then lower it down, easy.

-Unbolt and tie up the front struts, to prevent them from falling down - I fully removed them, then attached the spacers to the top of the struts before re-installing.

-Place jack with piece of wood on top under oil pan on engine and unbolt the engine mount bolts. (all while being extremely careful to not move the engine + or - 1 inch - just keep the engine level/0.5in up.

-Place second jack under front subframe and unbolt the subframe and lca mount - not sure what you mean LCA mount, just unbolt front and rear subframe mounting points.

-After securing the steering wheel with the seatbelt or string, unbolt the steering

-Carefully lower the subframe while watching to not stretch any lines or connections that may still be on - I had to remove 1 electrical connector from the steering rack and unbolt one small mounting bracket from the steering rack and also unbolt one small bracket from the driver's side that holds a hose going up to steering fluid resevior - 3 things to unbolt/unplug total.

-Lower just enough to place blocks on the engine mount and subframe, and place the strut spacers on

-Install front steering extension and tighten down all bolts for the lift blocks and the struts - you have easy accesss to the steering after everything is done, so you could do it after if needed.

-Re-install front axle if it was taken out

-Re-install struts while the cv's are still unbolted so don't have to worry about over-extending them.

-Replace front cv's and front driveshaft

-Untie steering wheel and lower all jacks supporting front end and jackstands

 

Rear

-Jack up back end and support with jackstands under pathy and also under rear axle

-Remove rear coils and shocks

-Disconnect spring for the lsv (disco the panhard rod?) - Yes, disconnect panhard where it mounts to frame, this makes flexing the rear end easy

-Remove old brake line and replace with extended line

-Place new spring spacers and bolt down and weld them in place

-Replace springs and re install bump stops and shocks

-I did the rear before the front, that way when I was working on the front the rear was sitting nice and high so I had extra room to work under the truck. I used 2 jacks, one under the axle and another to jack up one side, forcing the other side down (to get springs in/out).

 

Final Steps

-Make sure all bolts are still tight and turn wheels to make sure there is no binding

-After admiring in awe the sheer awesoemeness of the sfd take it for its first spin just around the block a few times to make sure everything feels good

-Recheck that all bolts are still tight and weld in the subframe blocks and steering extension

 

 

Thats my list so far, I think I covered everything. But I have a few questions yet.

-As far as the engine mounts go I think that once im sure everything in good im just going to try and tack weld the bolts on the passenger side mount to secure them, cause once everything is good I dont want to have to drop the axle again to tack the other side.

 

-As far as the axle goes, how would you just lower it? Its on brackets so how can you just lower the axle it looks to be like its either in or out

- You might as well just remove it and get it out of the way.

-Breather extension- what diam. tubing do I need to extend the breathers is there a breather in the front? - Yes there is a breather on the front, I think they're 1/4", not sure though.

 

-last thing what did yall do with your lsv spring and is anyone using the stock panhard rod? I will probably wind up having to make a drop bracket of sorts cause I imagine that it wont fit to the stock location with the spacers. - I actually drilled a hole in the sheet metal that is used to stop the spare tire from moving too far forward and re-attached the spring, this keeps the spring pulled upward and gives the rear more braking, you could just zip tie the lsv to keep it in the position needed. I have a drop bracket for the panhard and it looks like it's going to work great.

 

Thats it, I would REALLY REALLY appreciate it if those who have experience with a sfd or the front axle to chimme in and tell me if I have got everything covered :hugs: This is not something I can afford to screw up on :ohmy:

 

-I just did my SFD this past long weekend, not done yet, still some finishing touches, but I'm going out of town for a couple weeks so I'll finish when I get back. Thanks Shift220, great kit. Also, custom rear springs are sweet! The rear end is done and looks badass.

Edited by HitTheTrails
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Taking out the axle was actually one of the easy parts. Generally dealing with rusted bolts was the tough part. I had to cut off both sway bar links, from the sway bar ends and the strut ends cause they were so bad. Many other bolts had to use lots of leverage, even after soaking with penetrant. I'm replacing all 4 of the knuckle to strut bolts as they are in such bad shape, rusted out and wrecked threads..

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Taking out the axle was actually one of the easy parts. Generally dealing with rusted bolts was the tough part. I had to cut off both sway bar links, from the sway bar ends and the strut ends cause they were so bad. Many other bolts had to use lots of leverage, even after soaking with penetrant. I'm replacing all 4 of the knuckle to strut bolts as they are in such bad shape, rusted out and wrecked threads..

 

You'll need to replace 2 of them with adjustable camber bolts anyways to do the alignment.

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When I did mine i just used a ratchet and a 6" (i think, maybe longer) extension. Just rotate the axle. What I did was I had my hubs off so I could freely rotate it ( i dont have locking hubs). I just used a screw driver in the brake rotor to keep it from spinning when I was loosening. Easy as counting to 1,000 6 times. :lol:

 

Jose

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When I did mine i just used a ratchet and a 6" (i think, maybe longer) extension. Just rotate the axle. What I did was I had my hubs off so I could freely rotate it ( i dont have locking hubs). I just used a screw driver in the brake rotor to keep it from spinning when I was loosening. Easy as counting to 1,000 6 times. :lol:

 

Jose

 

Im talkin about the bolts holding on the front axle/diff not the cv shafts I have taken those out before.

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Yeah, so I was looking under the pathy a few minutes ago and what kinda tool exactly are yall using to break lose the axle bolts? Just a normal ratchet, or a impact with a universal joint?

 

When I did mine I already had the struts out so I used an an impact and a long extension(no u-joint needed). If you remove the axle before removing the struts then an impact probably won't work and you'll have use a breaker bar to crack them loose and use the air rachet to spin them out.

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Okay so I am possibly installing my sfd this weekend if we get around it it (other stuff like fabbing sliders and stingers comes first lol) I have written up a rough list or instruction set of sorts and im going to put it up here for those of you who have installed a SFD before to read over if you would :hugs: And any tips or missed steps that I left out post up what it is, or a different way of doing it :beer:

 

Prep

-Soak all bolts in PB the night prior to install - Make sure to have a 18-24" breaker bar handy

-Rent Coil Compressor for rear coils

-Get front diff fluid to change since its going to be pulled anyways (dont know what to get, suggestions?) - check manual? Nothing fancy needed

-Buy brake fluid to top off after bleeding brakes

-Get rear brake line made and remember to bring it lol

-Tube to extend the breathers in both the front and the rear? - I just adjusted mine but extending them is always good

 

Front SFD

-Jack up front end and place jackstands under the pathy, with the parking break on as well. Remove front wheels and tires

-Remove front driveshaft, cv's, and take out front axle, or drop it enough to access drivers side engine mount. *Probably just easier to remove it?* - I let mine sit in the subframe (Cv's held it in)

-Unbolt and tie up the front struts, to prevent them from falling down - Take completely out

-Place jack with piece of wood on top under oil pan on engine and unbolt the engine mount bolts. (all while being extremely careful to not move the engine + or - 1 inch

-Place second jack under front subframe and unbolt the subframe and lca mount - I used a jack on each side

-After securing the steering wheel with the seatbelt or string, unbolt the steering

-Carefully lower the subframe while watching to not stretch any lines or connections that may still be on - unplug steering rack pressure sensor, watch power steering lines, remove securing bolts as necessary

-Lower just enough to place blocks on the engine mount and subframe, and place the strut spacers on

-Install front steering extension and tighten down all bolts for the lift blocks and the struts

-Re-install front axle if it was taken out

-Replace front cv's and front driveshaft

-Untie steering wheel and lower all jacks supporting front end and jackstands

 

Rear

-Jack up back end and support with jackstands under pathy and also under rear axle

-Remove rear coils and shocks

-Disconnect spring for the lsv (disco the panhard rod?) - I disconnected mine I believe. Easier to wrestle in the springs

-Remove old brake line and replace with extended line

-Place new spring spacers and bolt down and weld them in place

-Replace springs and re install bump stops and shocks

 

Final Steps

-Make sure all bolts are still tight and turn wheels to make sure there is no binding

-After admiring in awe the sheer awesoemeness of the sfd take it for its first spin just around the block a few times to make sure everything feels good - Mandatory

-Recheck that all bolts are still tight and weld in the subframe blocks and steering extension

 

 

Thats my list so far, I think I covered everything. But I have a few questions yet.

-As far as the engine mounts go I think that once im sure everything in good im just going to try and tack weld the bolts on the passenger side mount to secure them, cause once everything is good I dont want to have to drop the axle again to tack the other side. - Really unneccesary to tack weld the bolts. Locklite, lock washer and proper torquing will be adequate

 

-As far as the axle goes, how would you just lower it? Its on brackets so how can you just lower the axle it looks to be like its either in or out - I unbolted the actual axle from the brackets and lowered that down. You can't unbolt the brackets

 

-Breather extension- what diam. tubing do I need to extend the breathers is there a breather in the front? - I would guess 3/8" is standard but check for sure

 

-last thing what did yall do with your lsv spring and is anyone using the stock panhard rod? I will probably wind up having to make a drop bracket of sorts cause I imagine that it wont fit to the stock location with the spacers. I left my LSV spring and noticed no difference in performance. I made a panhard bar drop bracket to put the bar back in the stock geometry. It makes driveability better.

 

Thats it, I would REALLY REALLY appreciate it if those who have experience with a sfd or the front axle to chimme in and tell me if I have got everything covered :hugs: This is not something I can afford to screw up on :ohmy:You'll be fine! I can't say much about fitment of the kit you got but the install is pretty straight forward. Even nicer if you have help! (I did it alone)

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Sweet, im probably just going to invest in a good air ratchet before install, to help get into small places that the impact cant get to, as well as a new jack, my buddy one has one. Thanks for the tips as always guys!

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You'll need to replace 2 of them with adjustable camber bolts anyways to do the alignment.

A properly made SFD kit will not need camber bolts. So if he doesn't have them now, he shouldn't need them after.

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