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Reasons to convert your rig to solid axle.

 

To be cool?

Need more than 2.5 inches of suspension lift..

Tired of fixing the factory steering setup..

Have a burning desire to be champ of the RTI ramp...

 

 

This list could go on and on and on! Thinking back to what drove me into this madness this biggest factor was probably the OEM steering setup. This system holds up fairly well until the front control arms get changed from the factory angles. Then all hell breaks loose!

 

There are a ton of "patches" for this system to be purchased. However they don't fix the problem as much as make the system hold up for a little longer.

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Another problem is the ball joint on the upper control arm wears prematurely. Our Xterra is IFS lifted with the 3 inch arms (honestly about 2 1/2 inches of lift) so I still have to deal with this.

 

It ends up scrubbing the inside edge of the front tires. Being nice tires are not cheap to replace, I end up changing these upper joints out about once every six months with daily use.

 

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I need to collect some pics... work on this more later.

Edited by GrandpaX
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Does someone have a pic of their IFS bent and wheels pointed in or tires worn out on the inside edge..

Edited by GrandpaX
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ha! i was there when that happened.....i heleped him put in the spares in the rain, good times!!!

 

and i seperated my front ds 4 trucks behind him :blush: i believe it was called the squeeze

Edited by itsme1738
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i did alot of research before i sased,this was 4 to 5 years ago.....i saw that the largest problem with a 3 in sl lift was steering.....there was fixes but,they were indeed tempoary.speending another grand,i could skip the sl and,go sas,sooooo around 2-2500 bux i skipped the sl and,with the help of ryan and,bill..got it done in a little over a weekend,its my dd for over 4 years now and,i never looked back....im no crawler for sure but its suits my purpose!

 

88 pathy,sas,soa,513s----DD

 

hope this helps your cause ryan!

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This thread is open to whoever... the more info the better!

 

More damaged IFS pics are welcome.... Bring it on!

Edited by GrandpaX
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Never, ever broke any IFS parts on mine. I'm sure there were factory pieces as well since none had zerks on them.

 

The reason I converted? I hated the vg30e/slush box. Plus mud and rivers/ponds are the only terrain within 150 miles.

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I grew up in the Midwest... D44's on the old farm trucks were fine. Never enough traction to hurt anything. Can you say MUD!

 

In snow I have found the VG30 to work awesome! They never overheat (like the V8's) and they can be wound up all day long... Put it to the floor and leave it there..

Edited by GrandpaX
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Awesome. This is a good idea... The reason I started my WD21 swap is because of all of the carnage to the factory IFS, as well as the limited flex that the front end provided. This is my DD, and I intend on keeping it for some time... However I do a lot of camping and other "off road" adventures... I have yet to take it to any major rocks, and dont really know if I will. But if I wanted to, she will be ready...

 

As for the factory IFS steering...

Even after completely upgrading it with every thing I could, (HooHaa, Dummy box, 1 ton TRE's, UCA's, longer UCA bolts) I still had alignment and excessive wear issues. Not to mention it rode like a haywagon with the torsion bars cranked up.

 

At least with the other two SAS projects I have completed they rode BETTER than they did before...

 

I have some video of my front end messing up...as well as some pictures...

 

The video, for some reason couldnt get it to embed... There she is.

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

jackedfrontend1.jpg

Edited by tmoore4512
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Coils are the way to go. They take up less room and ride much nicer. As far as the steering goes, the weakest spot of the Pathfinder IFS is actually the tension rods and tension rod bushings. They are the ones that screw up your steering big time, especially with heavy angles. The idler arm and center link are problem spots too but they are significantly amplified by the poor design of the tension rods. SAS would be superior here because it would eliminate the need for those damn things.

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I thought coil overs would be expensive. There is a guy that lives not too far from me that does all kind of custom work on trucks out of his garage and I noticed all the trucks he builds have coil overs, so far I have seen a brand new Ford crew cab running 2.5 ton military axles and custom aluminum semi wheels with very large tires, the same truck has the largest Mickey Thompson tires available on it sometimes, 54's ?? I've also seen a custom "C" channel frame built S-10 in the driveway, again running 2.5 ton military's and big tractor tires over there. They do all their own tube bending and fab in the garage. I ran into the owner of the ford one day at the auto parts and he told me the guy is a Cummins mechanic. I was parked next to the Ford in my sentra and could see straight under the truck sitting in the car !! From what I've seen he does excellent work.

 

sorry back on topic

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Why SAS...?

 

why not...?

 

I decided to go with a straight axle swap after breaking down while on numerous wheeling trips ...IA, TRE, Ball joints, and bent Center link...also i have ripped the CV boots twice...all of this keeps adding up more and more money..

 

Cranking the TB's do lift the front but it feels like there is zero flex, even without my sway bar.

 

Probably the main reason is that once you have broke down multiple times wheeling you began to loose confidence in your trucks ability. last thing you want to worry about or think about before you try to concur an optical is whats going to break this time.? lol

 

Ground clearance and running bigger tires is another reason i am doing the swap.

 

This is my 5th pathfinder (all WD21 by the way :aok:) and i have never SASed any of them...all the others were my DD and this one is now mainly going to be my trail and hunting rig...something i am going to hammer down on every chance i get P...

 

 

GREAT THREAD.!

Edited by stalker
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OK... so we have a few pics of busted up oem parts... It is obvious some folks have problems with these parts.

 

Probably the best setup for a fella wanting to modify the ifs setup is to leave the suspension alone. Throw on a 2 or 3 inch body lift and run 32's or small 33's. This keeps the steering system at the angles it was designed to handle and allows the suspension to have a nice amount of up and down travel.

 

Cranking the torsion bars increases the up travel but takes away from the down travel. It also increases the angle on the CV axle/boots causing some havoc there. However cranking the tbars is a cheap and easy way to get a little lift. If an owner is wanting to fit one size bigger meats and has a couple hours on the weekend to crank it up and get it aligned... hey I can't say it is wrong in any way.

 

Ok... something we have not brought up yet is wear and tear... How much can someone drop into replacing the worn out IFS. To really do it correctly new Tbars, joints, steering, bushings, etc...

 

Here is the strut rod off my blue pathfinder... anything alarming?????

 

The rod was hammered and the hole in the frame-side mount looked like an egg. YIKES!

 

100_1715800x600.jpg

 

 

 

The point here being... the cost of fixing this stuff is not cheap. This money could go towards a big chunk of an SaS conversion.

Edited by GrandpaX
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Why is there not a kit....

 

Sorry fellas... but we are the few and the proud. There is enough interest.. however.. not enough money. When I go wheeling in Colorado, the trails are owned by Jeeps. It is unbelievable how many 65 year old men dump a chunk of their nest-egg into this childhood fantasy. Not that it is wrong in any way, but they all dream of Jeeps! Someone would be hard pressed to find an retired guy with a burning desire to dump 20K worth of modifications into an 87 Pathfinder. It is just not there!

 

Do these guys bicker over shipping on a $99 part? No, they can't wait to bolt it on to their prize. So manufactures like these folks.

 

Calmini. ya they tried to help us out... however we required a lot more customer support than a Jeep dude with the same parts his whole club has installed. As far as I know they have lost interest in Nissan... basically living out the life of the few parts they still manufacture. Who knows... hopefully I am wrong! But nothing indicates anything new coming out there door anytime soon. (Fingers crossed I am wrong!)

 

Future SAS setups... I know Steevo is working on a few ideas. It is not a small task making a setup that the normal Joe can understand and install. If/when he does produce something! We need to be a big part of his customer support system. Producing, supporting, selling, this stuff takes a ton of time! Unlike me, this is his only income!

 

I do need to say this!!!

 

I like this thread so far!

 

We need to be constructive in nature. Sometimes forums get caught up with "Who is right" not "What is right". If we keep our heads pointed at common goal, we could possibly make this experience better for the next guy. We will be and have been there.. all of us!

Edited by GrandpaX
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Staangs fab is making a kit for R50's and that is what I'm going to use it's on it's way hope I get it next week sometime..

My mods are going to be:

SAS

Waggy Dana 44

5.13's

lockers

37x12.50x15 Swamper IROCS

15x10 mickey thomspon fake bead locks (maybe switch to 15x8 real beadlocks in the future)

More protection (skids)

Hopefully exo skeleton

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I could not agree more with the cost aspect. In repairing the steering, and replacing utterly destroyed parts I could have built my 44 with chromolies!! As of right now, the upgrades I have in the front end are great for light off the trail stuff, but anything more advanced I would be afraid to venture too far from a trailer...

 

Ultimately if you are just utilizing the vehicle as a road warrior, the PML will work.

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Leafs vs Coils? Leafs, cheap to use and they can ride just as well as coils and will flex just as good if not better then coils.

 

Building big dumb mud trucks are easy, People act like building a frame is a mystery or something when most are built in garages by regular (not chip foose or stacy david) people.

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Next time I see this guy outside I'm going to stop and ask if I can take some pics, the trucks I've seen that he has built are definitely not big dumb mud trucks.

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Dumb as in being built for 1 thing. There is defently some work going into those trucks but there still built for only one terrain. I have been around them for far too long to be really thrown by something. (buddys got a 84 bronco with a f150 cab and clip riding on 44s with dana 70 axles and a 540ish BBF) Theres no joke probly hundreds of trucks with 60 inch tractor tires on custom 48" wheels in mn.

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Tell me about it, like down here in the swamp state, check out these links lot's of pictures of trucks, 4x4 cars with tracks, and southern woman as well:

 

http://www.stroid.net/

 

http://billpruittpho...hy.smugmug.com/

 

just noticed this pic, check the truck in the front:

 

http://www.stroid.net/Linden/imagepages/Linden%2C%20Fl60.htm

Edited by ahardb0dy
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Who should SaS..

 

I have seen some crazy stuff out there. Normally it is the fella bragging how his build cost 1200 bucks...

 

Cutting corners is just that. I respect a guy trying to save some cash here and there. However one should never buy into the cheapest build game. Corners are normally cut that put innocent folks that are sharing the road with you in danger. There are numerous parts that if fail would send into oncoming traffic.

 

Research... research.. research! A good start would be looking at builds from folks who have done more than a rig or two.

 

Maybe take an introduction to welding class. Welding is fun! However one should probably take a class if it is new to them.

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