87 Pathfinder Suspension Tune-Up

[87BeachCruiser]

*&^%$#@!. Just wrote a whole ten paragraph post and accidentally hit the back button. Bummer.

 

Ok, start again....

 

I just got my new (to me) 87 Pathfinder on the road Friday. After driving a bit this weekend, I think I need to have some work done before I take it off-road. I plan to drive this vehicle on the beach mostly, but I'd like it to be able to handle some light trail work as well. Either way, if I have to have the park rangers tow me off the beach it will cost a small fortune, so I'd like to make sure I don't have any suspension/steering linkage/other failures while I'm out there. So I'm looking to you guys for a basic list of everything I should have checked and replaced before I go off-road. My thanks in advance.

 

I'm getting a lot of ugly noises up front, especially when turning. I had the vehicle up on the lift and there's significant play with the front wheels, I guess I need new ball joints. Upper/lower/both? How do you tell?

 

I'd think checking and replacing the tension rod bushings is a good idea. My front end sits noticeably lower than the rear- should I have the bars adjusted? Seems like a simple operation.

 

I also think I'm experiencing this problem:

 

"Front End Clunking/Squealing Noise When Turned To Lock

 

Steering stops keep the front wheels from being turned past a certain point. The steering stops are built with plastic caps, which can fall off or wear out. When they do disappear you have metal-to-metal contact between moving parts. The result is when going over bumps, with the steering turned to lock, such as when turning across curbs, you get a nasty sounding and feeling squealing/clunking. The solution is to grease the stops and contact areas, or to replace the plastic caps. There are four of them, two in front of your front wheels and two behind your front wheels. They are easy to find and grease without raising the vehicle.

 

Another source of front end squeals or noises are the front differential crossmember bolts. Over time, the bolts can loosen, allowing the crossmember to shift slightly every now and then, causing noise from the front end...sometimes alarmingly nasty sounding. The fix is to re-torque the crossmember bolts. There are four bolts to re-torque, two on each side of the front crossmember. They are easily accessible from the front of the vehicle without jacking it up. I don't have the exact torque figures on hand, but simply cranking the bolts tight with a 1/2" drive ratchet worked for me."

 

Hopefully this will be obvious when I get the vehicle in the air. I plan on taking it to the mechanic this week and go over the underside of the vehicle with him looking for trouble. In addition to what's mentioned above, any other items I need to inspect/replace? Anything you'd just go ahead and have done on a vehicle with 170K miles? Shocks are good (according to the bounce test, anyway). As you may have guessed, I'm not much of a mechanic once you get past basic tune-ups, etc. Plus I have no garage or driveway (city livin') and lack more advanced tools (like a press), so I'm somewhat at the mercy of my mechanic (he's a good guy, though) and I'd prefer to get everything done at once. Thanks again.