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87 twin turbo sas 1 inch lift...


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Oh there was progress...

 

So all the original sas mounts on the front axle was stripped off. Went to another style of mounting setup that gives another 1.5 inches of uptravel.

 

This pic shows the track bar hiding behind the drag link and tie rod. They are lined up fairly well..

 

Sorry about the focus..

 

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The new setup drops the mounts down like a Jeep axle. The radius arms were close to hitting the frame so this gave the arms another inch of room to move up...

 

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The y-arm is now directly lined up with the radius arm. This one mount takes care of both joints..

 

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Just put this retention strap on this afternoon. This pic shows how tight all this stuff is packed together.

 

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Edited by AK9849cy
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Ok... the front end is back together.. Got an extra 1 1/2 up-travel after tinkering for a week or so.

 

It has 4 1/2 inches of up-travel and 7 1/2 down-travel for 12 inches total.

 

Now it needs to be pushed out of the shop so all the crap can be swept/cleaned up off the floor....

 

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On a new set of 35's this is how high the front fender body line is...

 

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Edited by AK9849cy
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With this style of setup.. the mount for the upper arm is also the bump stop..

This is just inside the spring in the pic...

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On the housing.. the truss was cut off for more clearance with the oil pan. The bead from the old truss can still be seen.

 

Taking this out gave around another inch and a half of up-travel. The truss must stay for a 3 link build...

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Edited by AK9849cy
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Those are some LONG Radius arms! And I Like how low it sits.

I guess radius arms are the only way to do a low sas.

 

Trent has a spring under setup on the front of his HB. It gets fairly close for the amount of work. However rigs drive smoother/nicer with a spring/track bar rig.

 

A 3 link would not need a truss on a steel housing (Spider 9, Diamond axle, etc) where the link mount would be welded on top of the non-cast steel axle housing. The third link still wants to be in the same place as the exhaust. Radius arms tend to go under..

 

This setup is very much like the Xterra Calmini design. It uses old school springs/shocks instead of coilovers and is not welded directly to cast on the driver side of the differential. It also uses Ford type Radius/Strut Arm Bushing instead of flex joints. With threaded/stud type flex joints the jam nuts always come loose (unless tack welded). Those old Ford bronco radius arms went for years without a problem...

 

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We reworked Alpinespirit's calmini setup a few years back. Changed how the arms mount to the axle and replaced the Waggy 44 with a 63 wide hp 44. It does really well now... He drives it daily down about 20 miles of washboard gravel to get to work. Not a problem...

 

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It makes those 36 inch Iroks look like 33's...

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======================

 

We also used radius arms on Creek's next gen... It drives daily to work too.

 

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Edited by AK9849cy
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Trent has a spring under setup on the front of his HB. It gets fairly close for the amount of work. However rigs drive smoother/nicer with a spring/track bar rig.

 

Troof. My springs are a little forward of most and I'm still about 3" higher than Ryan's pic below. My 37s measure out to 35.5" tall in front (worn) and his SSRs are probably a true 35", just to give an idea.

 

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Sick...... Absolutely sick.

 

I cant recall if it was creek or another X but I know one of the Next Gen X`s was SAS`d and his main priority was to make sure that when it was finished, that all the electronics were still working properly and not throwing codes. That is an enormous feat from what I understand. All you guys have so much freaking knowledge in the Nissan SAS, fabrication department. I`ve said it before a million times, and I`ll say it again. When its time for a SAS, I`m driving to Colorado. You guys need to start a company.

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I cant recall if it was creek or another X but I know one of the Next Gen X`s was SAS`d and his main priority was to make sure that when it was finished, that all the electronics were still working properly and not throwing codes.

 

We spent all last winter putting creeks together.. and yes no codes. After is was all figured out it took two weeks to complete the second truck. They were both at Moab last year.

 

 

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The Pathfinder got pushed out so the garage could be cleaned up..

 

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The rear wheelwell has not been cut out on this side..

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The rear will have a tube bumper with a receiver. The rear of the fenders are getting tucked up to match the profile of the single tube that will wrap around.

 

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The other side has been cut already... Remember this is setting on stock rear coils..

 

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Edited by AK9849cy
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you do some amazing work! I wish I could drive mine out there and have you do a sas!

 

I will be making parts that will work for an sas. Not sure there will ever be a kit though. Everyone has their own dreams when if comes to a modified rig.

 

However probably what you will see is a finished Xterra down the road. This Pathfinder I am working on is the seed to a few ideas.. The finalized parts will be on the X. As funny as it sounds, the frames are the same for the most part. So the parts being made will work on both.

 

The goal is to make the parts needed in order to keep the SAS reasonably priced. So if there is a vendor that makes a usable part at a good price.. or a junkyard part can be used... why make it? Spend my time on stuff folks need! This is good in two ways.. I have a full time job and a family.. so why waste the time, and someone can benefit from lower priced parts that are in a competitive market (Jeeps/Toyotas).

 

There will also be a build list showing the total cost of all parts. This way a person can call up "Rugged Rocks" or "Trail Gear" per say.. and order a list of parts at a known price that work for the build.

 

While planning an SAS what normally happens to folks is they forget the small stuff.. or discount how much it really cost to modify the rear end after the front... It nickle and dimes someone to death. The focus will be to leave the rear end alone.. thus saving some coin!

 

For example.. a builder can go out and get a rear differential out of a auto tranny Xterra with 4.90's. Swap out the carrier to the 31 spline pathy unit.. why change spend cash by modding the rear? Leave it alone and concentrate on the front end.. These differentials can be located on car-part.com for a reasonable price!

 

Another example.. The standard Xterra owner at Gone Moab has a 2 inch body lift, a 3 inch suspension, and 33's. The most reasonable build for a rig of the sort would be to leave the rear end alone, keep the body lift, and mount a front axle under it somehow.. (The same wheels are tires could also be used.)

 

When it comes to solid axle swaps a body lift is basically a frame lowering kit. They make a ton of sense when a guy is sporting IFS being it raises the wheel wells without changing the suspension geometry. However with a sas the amount of lift is up to you.. 3..5..10.. you name it! So why have the frame lower? Maybe a person likes to get high centered.. however I would like the extra 2 inches of clearance.

 

This is why the quest for up travel has been my main goal with the Pathy build. If an Xterra owner wants to SAS and leave stuff alone like mentioned above. The frame is 2 inches lower than normal (body lift) so the amount of up travel is limited 2 inches. Thus here I am picking away at the axle mounts etc.. trying to find an extra 1/4 inch here and there to make this feasible. The Pathy build used to incorporate a truss? Well it and the oil pan liked being in the same place.. etc etc etc.. Hope that explains the idea.

Edited by AK9849cy
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Put the radiator in the bumper... giving more room for the intercooler..

 

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The intercooler will set where the radiator once did. No pics mounted yet, however it is a "two in one out" type cooler with a homebrew aluminum shroud and two 1200 cfm fans. These fans will kick on at 3psi..

 

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Build looks great.Radiator looks very clean in that bumper.

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I will be making parts that will work for an sas. Not sure there will ever be a kit though. Everyone has their own dreams when if comes to a modified rig.

 

However probably what you will see is a finished Xterra down the road. This Pathfinder I am working on is the seed to a few ideas.. The finalized parts will be on the X. As funny as it sounds, the frames are the same for the most part. So the parts being made will work on both.

 

The goal is to make the parts needed in order to keep the SAS reasonably priced. So if there is a vendor that makes a usable part at a good price.. or a junkyard part can be used... why make it? Spend my time on stuff folks need! This is good in two ways.. I have a full time job and a family.. so why waste the time, and someone can benefit from lower priced parts that are in a competitive market (Jeeps/Toyotas).

 

There will also be a build list showing the total cost of all parts. This way a person can call up "Rugged Rocks" or "Trail Gear" per say.. and order a list of parts at a known price that work for the build.

 

While planning an SAS what normally happens to folks is they forget the small stuff.. or discount how much it really cost to modify the rear end after the front... It nickle and dimes someone to death. The focus will be to leave the rear end alone.. thus saving some coin!

 

For example.. a builder can go out and get a rear differential out of a auto tranny Xterra with 4.90's. Swap out the carrier to the 31 spline pathy unit.. why change spend cash by modding the rear? Leave it alone and concentrate on the front end.. These differentials can be located on car-part.com for a reasonable price!

 

Another example.. The standard Xterra owner at Gone Moab has a 2 inch body lift, a 3 inch suspension, and 33's. The most reasonable build for an rig of the sort would be to leave the rear end alone, keep the body lift, and mount a front axle under it somehow.. (The same wheels are tires could also be used.)

 

When it comes to solid axle swaps a body lift is basically a frame lowering kit. They make a ton of sense when a guy is sporting IFS being it raises the wheel wells without changing the suspension geometry. However with a sas the amount of lift is up to you.. 3..5..10.. you name it! So why have the frame lower? Maybe a person likes to get high centered.. however I would like the extra 2 inches of clearance.

 

This is why the quest for up travel has been my main goal with the Pathy build. If an Xterra owner wants to SAS and leave stuff alone like mentioned above. The frame is 2 inches lower than normal (body lift) so the amount of up travel is limited 2 inches. Thus here I am picking away at the axle mounts etc.. trying to find an extra 1/4 inch here and there to make this feasible. The Pathy build used to incorporate a truss? Well it and the oil pan liked being in the same place.. etc etc etc.. Hope that explains the idea.

Very informative.You build some nice stuff.Keep info coming :goodpost:

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I really like that rear bumper with the kickout at the back. Is that to add a tire carrier later?

 

It provides room for the receiver that will be installed and also makes for a nice step in case a roof rack ends up on top.

 

 

If there is a tire carrier... it will plug into the receiver and maybe a D-ring anchor point. Thus making the unit removable...

Edited by AK9849cy
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So after cutting it the way you want you just massage the inner fender up to meet the outer and weld it back together?

James

 

Yes, So basically the wheel well comes straight out to the rear fender rather than dipping back down to the fender lip like it once did. The paint around the edge gets burn by tack welding it back together. However it gets covered by the fender flare material so you can't tell it has been painted again.

 

This is also the reason a 2 door was used this time. In order to cut this deep into the fender on a 4 door a person would have to mess with the door.

Edited by AK9849cy
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