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Ride Height


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:wtf: I think I'm gunna have to lower them. Here's my issue now.....Put new bushings in the UCA's & the passengers side went together just fine, but the driver's side spindle assembly isn't rolling up to connect the ball joint to the UCA. I notice the outer half shaft boot is split. Could've the half shaft slipped out of place? I MUST get this fixed by tonight. Please Help!

 

What do you mean it isn't "rolling up"? You can't push the UCA up far enough to get the ball joint in place? If so... maybe push harder or use more lube???

 

The half shaft can't come out unless you remove the split ring on the end under the hub, but perhaps this is necessary to mess with the UCA. Anyway, if it came out, put it back in... no big deal. If the boot is cracked, that's because it is worn out, not because the half shaft moved a bit. Replacing the boot ASAP is a good idea if you want to save the shaft. Of course it doesn't even do anything if you aren't in 4wd and it will even work in 4wd until it wears out, so if you are in a rush you could leave it (though of course this would be a convenient time to deal with it since you have it all apart already...

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Ok,

 

If this ever happens to any others, the trick is to have bushings, ball joints, ect. done before you reindex your torsion bars. I had to loosen the torsion bars for the tension on the lower control arm to give so it would roll up for the upper ball joint & upper control arm to meet. If you don't want to do that, you can disconnect the tie-rod & sway bar to take tension off the side you are working on also. So, I did get everything back together & did lower the tension on the torsion bars so now I'm only 1/2" higher in the front. Going to give it a few days & see if the front gives & lowers a little before I even the front out with the rear.

 

Peace! :beer:

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Crunched on time, so I didn't get the upper ball joints on, but that's nothing. I did get the bushings in & everything reconnected. I have the front about a 1/2" higher & gunna give it some time to see if it settles at all. If not, lower it 1/2". I did get the alignment done & all new tires & matching spare. I ended up getting Bridgestone Dueler A/T's. For an alterain tire, they are kinda aggressive tread. Figured, I still have my swampers if I need to hit the really muddy areas. Pics to come.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been thinking about getting the calmini kit myself for my pathfinder but I'd love to know what the ride quality is like cause I don't want the front end to be to stiff and lose the comfort that the at has currently with them wound up..

 

What's your opinion on the ride quality on and offload?

 

Thanks

Sam

Edited by hoare85
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IF you like the way stock T-bars feel than keep them. Lots of people run lifts just fine with them... I like mine.

Cranking and re-indexing t-bars is essentially the same effect on your suspension feel as sliding spacers under your coil springs or a lift block under a leaf spring. It does not change spring rate.

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I really like the ride, but any lift can be bouncy & kind of rough if you index the torsion bars too much. U just need to make sure the front is as close to what the rear is lifted. To be honest, I kinda wish I would've listened to more people about saving the money & going with a cheaper lift. Even though, I bought this lift years ago when it was $750, now $950. Some of that money could've went towards other things. All you need is UCA's & rear springs. Keep your original torsion bars. They can be reindexed. New shocks & you are set. Good luck! :beer:

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  • 9 months later...
  • 7 months later...

I really like the ride, but any lift can be bouncy & kind of rough if you index the torsion bars too much. U just need to make sure the front is as close to what the rear is lifted. To be honest, I kinda wish I would've listened to more people about saving the money & going with a cheaper lift. Even though, I bought this lift years ago when it was $750, now $950. Some of that money could've went towards other things. All you need is UCA's & rear springs. Keep your original torsion bars. They can be reindexed. New shocks & you are set. Good luck! :beer:

 

94pathy, so the parts you got are these right?

 

https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=1&m=3&t=2&p=623&n=

https://www.calmini.com/detail.php?b=1&m=3&t=2&p=624&n=

 

Or did you get the whole kit?

 

I want to see if I can just get these with my Rancho RS5000's and be ok even though the Rancho's say they're only good to a 2.5" lift...... not sure if I really *need* a 3" lift but it'll look badass :)

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So the CALMINI kit rides rough if I understand correctly so does anybody have experience as far as ride quality with Rough & Country UCA or Automotive Customizers UCA as far as ride quality is concerned.

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The UCA itself will not affect the roughness of the ride quality. It's the spring rate of the torsion bars that do this. I'm not familiar with the Calmini torsion bars. You may be able to run your stock torsion bars with an aftermarket UCA for better ride quality. Keep in mind that as you crank your stock t-bar, the ride quality is still going to get stiffer.

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  • 5 months later...

this is a great article, especially the simplicity of how My1Path breaks it down from his post back in march 2010. Is there anyway somebody can throw in some pics of the bolts to measure for the front?

It sounds easy but when I crawl under the damn thing I see bolts everywhere and can't come up with measurements that make any sense.

 

thanks

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  • 1 month later...

The UCA itself will not affect the roughness of the ride quality. It's the spring rate of the torsion bars that do this. I'm not familiar with the Calmini torsion bars. You may be able to run your stock torsion bars with an aftermarket UCA for better ride quality. Keep in mind that as you crank your stock t-bar, the ride quality is still going to get stiffer.

 

People complain of roughness because they crank it as high as they can, and they run out of travel and ride on the bump stops. Been there, done that. Lifting the front does not allow for more articulation, that's why you can lift the front of the truck and not have to get longer shocks. From the factory there is only X" of travel up and down, I'm pretty sure it's even. When you lift it, you shorten the upward travel, but the down travel is then extended. If that makes sense?

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when you crank the bars a lot to gain more height you are limiting the amount the tire can move downward, as if you drove into a hole or something. Would this be considered downward travel? I would think so.

 

 

I never had a problem with my CV boots or joints when I had my old hardbody, I know everyone mentions the cv axles when cranking the bars, I did not have them cranked to the point where the UCA was sitting on the bumpstop though. My truck rode fine and always felt fine when off roading too.

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when you crank the bars a lot to gain more height you are limiting the amount the tire can move downward, as if you drove into a hole or something. Would this be considered downward travel? I would think so.

 

 

I never had a problem with my CV boots or joints when I had my old hardbody, I know everyone mentions the cv axles when cranking the bars, I did not have them cranked to the point where the UCA was sitting on the bumpstop though. My truck rode fine and always felt fine when off roading too.

 

You're right, I had it backwards. Same concept, wrong direction! That's why dips in the road are so harsh on a lifted truck because of instead of a squishy spring, you're hitting a bump stop.

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  • 10 months later...
  • 2 years later...

So I replaced my rear Stock height Springs three years ago and they are sagging badly. Four of the coils or about half of the rear spring in compressed together. I have a 1991 Pathfinder SE with the rear tire carrier and a rack up top, but no cargo load. I noticed tonight that as weak as my headlights are, they are pointed up due to the sag. I have only found one set available from MOOG. Is there another brand or a heavy duty set that I can get?

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