Nefarious Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hey everyone. I installed my JGC springs today and when i dropped the rear back down to my dismay it was sitting uneven!!. i checked the front clearances and they are bang on at 8.5 inches from tire to roof of fender well. the rear i have 10 inches from top of tire to top of fender well on one side and 9 inches on the other. it is visibly off. can't tell from the front but can tell from the rear. are the 2 front jeep springs different spring rates ?? could they be this uneven if i made my cuts 1/16th of an inch off??? im confused here the 2 pigtails were exactly the same size after i cut them.... was thinking of swapping the springs side for side... to see what that does... maybe try that and see if maybe it's sitting lower cause of my spare tire on the one side in my trunk?? my truck has more weight on one side or something? maybe swap the springs side for side so the one thats higher has the spare tire weight over it and then cut the taller spring bit by bit until it sits level ? just throwing out my ideas !! thanks if anyone has any insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillybob Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Did you reuse the upper rubber spring isolator? And if so is it in properly seated, I had a semi difficult time getting mine to sit in the upper mount. And on the bottom there are grooves in the mount for the spring to sit in, did you turn the spring so the very end is at the end of the shallow groove? It was kind of difficult to see where the groove ended. The part that I fought was trying to turn the spring to get the lower part lined up without moving and folding the rubber isolator and the top of the spring. Are the springs positively the same diameter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) the springs are definitely same diameter i pulled them off a jeep and they still had the yellow paper tags with the part number on them and they were the same. hmm.. it seems to have levelled out slightly since driving it but its still off a bit. i believe the springs are seated properly i did line the bottoms of the springs up to where the oem springs where i could see the marks in the dirt lol so i put them back to the same spot on the bottoms... hmm one sec ill go double check the tops are seated the same... i noticed when i jacked up the rear to take them out one side flexed more than the other as in when my jack maxed out one tire was off the ground and the other was still touching and i could visibly see it was extendding the shock further.. the ebrake cable was tight but i could move it with my hands so it wasnt THAT tight i doubt it was holding the weight of that wheel off the ground... but the shock was extended more on the side that *didnt* lift off the ground. is there supposed to be more flex on the passenger side wheel? or am i just tripping and it was the ebrake cable holding the driver side rear wheel up off the ground...?? anyways the side that flexed more happens to be the side that is sitting higher if that matters.... **edit: i did reuse the upper spring isolator and i am running ford f350 rear shocks with much longer than stock extension travel** Edited January 9, 2012 by Nefarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Undo the Panhard Bar and see if that takes up some of the issue. it tend to pull the Pass Side down a little if you haven't got a drop down bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 also i remember in the junkyard the one spring was unloaded and sitting free and the other spring still had weight bearing on it from the shock being attached. maybe the one spring still needs to settle(the one that was unloaded) ? just a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 see thats the problem.... its the passenger side that is higher. by close to an inch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 dowser when you say undo the panhard bar. you mean undo it and then re tighten it right? lol will it shift position a little ? or is this just to diagnose...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 okay I just double checked the springs looked seated properly. the only thing i can tell that looks a little different on the two is this... The upper coil seems like it is squishing down more on the side thats lower... like it seems like it looks more like the bottom as in the coil is flattened more parallel to the upper spring mount. the side that is higher looks like the upper coil is on more of an angle and didnt flatten out as much? as in the end of the spring hasnt flattened to seat around the spring mount as much as the other side. the edge of of spring coil is kind of still angled up and pushing hard on a spot on the rubber. did the spring bind into the rubber isolator when i put the weight back down ? i would think it would still flatten out and adjust itself to where it should be ... hmm hard to describe ill see if i can get a picture of it that u can see what i mean.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsme1738 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31401 read this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsme1738 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 and watch the video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillybob Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I assume that's just to see if that is causing it to bind. And spring is sitting on the isolator seated in the mount? Could the spring be caught up on the inside lip on the upper mount that keeps the spring from falling out. I assumed the drop bracket was only to fix the side to side axle location? I wouldn't think (maybe that's where I'm going wrong) hsving/not having it would affect ride height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) the ride height is different from side to side by one full inch. heres some pics. drivers side sits lower. passenger side is higher. driver side measure 9 1/4 from top of tire to top of fender well. passenger side has 10 inches on the dot from top of tire to top of fender well. this is the side that is lower (looks seated nicely) this is the side thats higher, i can see it denting the rubber where the end of the spring sits high side. low side. maybe it's just an illusion but the coils seem compressed more on the low side? looks like its sitting more flush with the spring perch and the high side seems like its still going on an angle upwards and is denting into the rubber more, why is that? i think that is where my issue lies... Edited January 9, 2012 by Nefarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 this is normal right? the one side flexed more than the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 i also thought the panhard drop down bracket is to fix side to side location... not ride height...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Nice jacks. Doesn't look right, but I've only ever jacked mine up from the axle. Also, the whole truck's leaning a little, possibly because you've got a jack on the side there. That is quite the angle on the panhard. It's meant to do side-to-side, yeah, but it's meant to do it at stock height. Lifting without dropping the mount changes the geometry. The one spring looks a little bit off, but I'm betting the 1" lean is coming from the panhard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillybob Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 mine did the same thing when i lifted it up, the panhard bar keeps the left side of the axle from drooping as far as the right side with nothing to stop it but the front links hittting the bracket. both springs were installed the same direction? both cut ends facing up or down (i dont remember which way i did mine or if the spring options thread tells you which way they are supposed to go) in the pictures it looks like the side sitting high and the isolator being pinched is installed one way and the the side sitting lower and seated nicely is installed reverse with the factory spring end against the isolator. I can tell you that both of mine looked like your high side with the isolator being pinched pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) hmm. that's weird. When I looked at the pictures, I couldn't even tell. If I follow my eyes along the rear bumper from the drivers side to the pass. side, then it seems like I do see a slight slight increase slope. If I just look at it as a whole, then it looks perfectly level. It might be from the angle of the camera, but it looks like the driver's side corner if your bumper is bent up in a way. I don't know much about Pathy suspensions, but it may be that the driver's side wheel gets off the ground first because of the panhard bar. The bar is only exerting any kind of force on the driver's side. I read AK9849cy's thread about the panhard drop bracket and I also thought that the purpose of the panhard bar was to keep the rear axle in place and prevent it from moving side to side. Your pathy says SE, why does your mini-profile say XE? Try re-angling the panhard with a bracket or something else and see if that solves the problem. If it doesn't then I think you have to put it on a lift to eliminate error caused by the jacks or something like that. Edited January 9, 2012 by 1994SEV6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) lol previous owner backed it into a tree so it has an SE hatch on a XE truck. and yeah thanks for clearing it up i get that when the suspension is fully unloaded that the passenger wheel will droop more. but the truck does sit uneven when it is on the ground. both springs were installed in the same direction with the cut ends up. i used the uncut ends on the bottom as thats where i could line it up so they would both be the same. i do have my jack/spare tire on the side that is lower. do u think that is enough weight to throw it off that much ??? and that panhard angle is when the rear axle was unloaded fully so i could get the springs in and out, that is not ride height???. when its sitting on the ground it only has a slight pitch to it... should i have the cut ends pointing down and the uncut sides on the upper part ??? Edited January 9, 2012 by Nefarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) hmmm maybe i did do the lower side in reverse now you got me thinkin... i gunna double check... im pretty sure they are both going up, both of yours looked pinched eh? hmmm..... **edit: nope both uncut sides are down and seated into the lower part the same...** Edited January 9, 2012 by Nefarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillybob Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 i would have a hard time believing 30-40 lbs for a spare tire would make that much of a difference. 100 lbs yes i could see if making a difference but when i was installing mine and tried to compress that last 1/2 in to get it in place and it didnt move no matter how hard i pushed on it. so there is no reason a spare tire would make that much of a difference. maybe spin the isolator around and see if you can get it to seat like the other side did? might be far fetched but could it have something to do with the front? could one T-bar be cranked a little farther then the other cause it ride funny in the rear? but you said the front was spot on side to side so that theory doesnt really make sense.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 With my jeep springs I believe I had them cut side up, I think I still have them somewhere. Also, do you think it could just be your gravel driveway? Just throwin that out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 well i drove it to a parking lot and tried it there and it was still sitting uneven when i looked from the rear. hmm. i will try tomorrow to lift it back up and see if i can shift the spring around so it will sit even like the other side... when i was putting the new springs in i could barely compress it to get it back in the spot so i was also thinking 40-50 lbs of weight shouldnt matter on one side....i must have been pulling down at least 100 lbs of pressure just to get it to compress the half inch i needed to get it into the spring perch... it must be how the spring is sitting differently, i am also going to swap the springs side for side when i reseat them and see what happens and if the other side gets lifted up.... might as well give it a shot while i have it lifted up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillybob Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 thats the only semi reasonable answer i can come up with... haha put the longer spring on the drivers side so that when you sit in it the ride height will equal out like a BMW does right?? genius... i saw where you were goin with that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heloflyboy Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Try swapping springs. I have been fighting same problem and I have 4 link , so the panhard bar is not going to change any thing . I believe the problem is the jeep springs and the pigtail that will not let spring sit flat on upper perch the way stock spring's do. When I reinstalled my Cal-Mini springs back in, it sit's level . That is my theory . I ended up putting jeep spring's back in since they are 8" lift coils and ignoring lean since I tried everything else. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) ah yes! thanks for all the replies everyone. i am going to swap springs over tomorrow. i have a gut feeling it will work, i hope im right lol. i must say though my pathy rides MUCH nicer ON and OFF road with these springs. on the road it is more stable and soaks up bumps on the straight and mid corner better with less body roll (have no rear anti roll bar). off road i can go on average 10-15km/h faster with the same amount of control on a logging road up to a local trail i test my mods with. it soaked up the harsh potholes MUCH nicer and kept more control when hitting them at speed. pretty impressed for 50 bucks i gotta say. hopefully i can just get them level now and i will be a happy man. i did also replace the shocks with just monroe cheap replacements for a ford bronco II front and ford f350 rear. whatever rates they are, they compliment cranked t bars and jgc springs very nicely with the damping rates. my vehicles does not bounce at all, the bumps are damn near perfectly damped. pretty damn good ghetto setup. lol Edited January 9, 2012 by Nefarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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