lifting my pathfinder

[mcgee12934]

i have been hearing alot of information about lift kits on pathfinders. i have been looking up info for my pathfinder for the last 5 months and i have found out alot including a subframe drop. i am going to be using my pathfinder for offroading/ wheeling. i wanted to know why people are using a subframe drop on their lifted pathfinders. since im going to be in the mud/ woods alot i thinking that a subframe drop wouldnt be that good since my ground clearence would still be stock height. i have little experience with pathfinder lifts since i just got my pathfinder about 5 months ago and would appreciate as much information as possible as far as springs, shocks, lca, axles, etc.

[fleurys]

Welcome and have a look here for my spacers.

 

http://www.4x4design.com/r50-lift-kit.php

 

 

[APACHECHIEF13]

You can find spacers for your pathy on problem. Don't do a subframe lift do to being top heavy and where and tear on parts. Get bigger coil springs and longer shocks for a lift and run 31 or 33 on it. look up 4x4parts.com for a lift or make your own lift with parts you find off other rigs. I don't like body lifts on any rig if you ask me

[jyeager]

Well, in a nutshell, you are limited to a maximum lift of about 4" using springs/spacers.

No more than 2" from springs and then spacers to equal a max of 4".

 

The reason is that if you lift too far with springs then you are sitting on your suspension without any droop and your struts will regularly top out whenever the wheel goes to drop in to a depression causing a very loud and frightening thunk. It may or may not lead to damage of the strut, but no one likes it.

 

Also, after you have lifted more than around 2" there is a tendency for your CV axle boots to shred themselves fairly quickly...every year? Every 2-3? I don't know and it will depend on the kind of driving you do and whether or not you remove your full-time hubs and replace them with manual hubs that you can leave unlocked when not 4-wheeling.

 

If you want more lift than that, you must drop the sub-frame. You are right that this decreases your ground clearance over what you would get theoretically if you lifted 6" on the suspension....but you just plain can't. If you wanted 6" of lift you can try going with 2" of suspension lift and 4" from SFD. This way you did actually gain 2" of extra ground clearance at the subframe and 4" more for the rest of the vehicle. And the 6" of total lift now allows you to put a larger tire under your vehicle without hitting your fenders....so let's just say it's 6" larger in diameter, that itself lifts your spindles 3" higher above the ground.

 

So, with the tire size increase and the 2" of spring lift and 4" of SFD you just gained 5" of ground clearance to the subframe and 9" of clearance with the rest of the vehicle's underside. See? Pretty cool.

 

 

[APACHECHIEF13]

I have no problem with people doing sub lifts but that's not for me because then your top heavy. you should not need to go with that much of a lift unless your just doing it for looks. I have warn gold hubs and stock suspension but I welded the rear end and I still keep up with the lifted Rubicons. And for the springs topping out that should not happen if done right.

[mcgee12934]

Thanks jyeager,

 

All the talk about sub-frame drops was really causing me to scratch my head, so thanks for clarifying.

 

I'm not trying to jack my R50 up to the sky since the stock 8" of ground clearance is doable in the woods. But a couple more inches would be nice in some of the trails I regularly visit. I've also heard about the problems with the struts toping out with springs. My idea is to give it 1" of lift with springs and the other 3" with spacers but I haven't decided if that's what im going to do. I might just go with 2"/2". I currently am running 265/75/16 with stock height with no rubbing. I just had to remove my inner fenders. My goal is to run 35s on her so this is why I'm looking into the lift. So any more information or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

I really am stumped as to what I want to do to my R50. As of right now I'm planning on the lift with 35s replacing my alloys with steels and bead locks, front and rear bumper delete replaced by tube bumper in the back and a beefy custom job with a wench up front, on board air, either a spool or ARB air locker is undecided, different diff gearing (which I would also like some information on from experience), And maybe in the future a solid front axle swap and roll cage.

 

Definitely keep the information flowing!! Like I said I have no experience with pathfinders and I'm not too sure what we are capable of doing to them as far as modifications go. Ill be doing all the work myself so if anybody can share some ideas as to what they fabricated up for they're rigs will help my indecisive tendencies.

 

[bushnut]

35s will not fit unless you do a sub frame drop. under compression your tires will rip the fenders to shreds. Even then big wide tires won't fit under the strut spring perch unless you run huge wheel spacers or massively offset rims. the issue with the R50 is the strut style front suspension.

 

2 inches is the most you can lift with either a spacer or lift springs. anything more will over stress the front CV joints and they will bind. the reason for the SFD is that it lowers the front drive line thereby keeping the CV angles within spec.

 

lifting the rear more than 2 inches also adds its own complications. as you push the rear axle down (usually with longer springs) it moves slightly forward, shortening your wheel base and changing the handling characteristics of the vehicle. to keep the rear axle centred you will have to fit adjustable control arms as well as longer shocks to allow the negative (down) travel to be in line with the up.

 

the top out issue is cause by lift springs keeping the front struts at almost maximum extension all the time. when a wheel falls into a hole the spring pushes the strut to maximum extension faster than the oil inside can control it thereby making that loud "clunk" sound which over time wrecks the strut.

the only solution is to fit a longer travel strut, unfortunately as far as we know nobody makes one.

 

spend some time in the R50 section or Members Rigs to find some Ideas of what is possible...

there is also a section called max tire size vs. lift

you'll be surprised just how capable this truck is even in stock form with good tires!

 

 

 

[linkinpark]

First off a lot of the comments on this are strange to hear. Almost no of the information is true.

 

More than a one inch spacer in the front is bad. If you want 35 then either cut your fenders or do the sub frame drop with the ac Springs. That's what I am running with 35s and room to spare. As for making it top heavy that is also wrong. Because my stance is at least 4 inches wider I am more stable than I used to be. I sit as high as a stock xterra does. But clear 35s.

 

I run kyb struts and rancho rs9000 in the back. Have the 4 inch sfd, 2 inch ac lift, and a 1.5 spacer in the back to sit level. Still handles like stock. Love it.

[bushnut]

First off a lot of the comments on this are strange to hear. Almost no of the information is true.

 

More than a one inch spacer in the front is bad. If you want 35 then either cut your fenders or do the sub frame drop with the ac Springs. That's what I am running with 35s and room to spare. As for making it top heavy that is also wrong. Because my stance is at least 4 inches wider I am more stable than I used to be. I sit as high as a stock xterra does. But clear 35s.

 

I run kyb struts and rancho rs9000 in the back. Have the 4 inch sfd, 2 inch ac lift, and a 1.5 spacer in the back to sit level. Still handles like stock. Love it.

 

 

what comments do you feel are untrue?

I agree some of the afore mentioned posts have some major inaccuracies.

1.a SFD does not get you better ground clearance. It does allow you to run bigger tires that will give you better clearance. though with just a SFD break over angle will be greater, but overall ground clearance will be the same.

2.The problem with the increased lift with just spacers and or springs is the wear on CV boots. somewhat true. The wear is also in the joints and will lead to failure.very expensive.

 

For your truck you've already done both AC spring lift and SFD to keep the drive line within spec, as well as longer shocks in the rear to deal with longer/ stiffer springs and spacers. both of which I recommend to fit 35s.

 

a 2 inch spacer with stock springs works out to the same as no spacer and 2inch longer springs.

 

you've only done 3.5 inches out back with both springs and a spacer so it might not be that bad of a forward axle push and will be less in time as the springs settle out to make much difference in the handling.

 

I also recommended trimming fenders to fit 35s

the top heavy thing I do agree with.

how did you clear the strut perch without wheel spacers or off set rims? my 29inch tires were less than a 1/2 inch from the perch, now a little more since I installed 1.25 spacers. (pics on my build thread)

 

the largest tire I've seen installed on an AC lift is 235/85/16 (32")with 1.25" spacers on stock wheels.

to run anything larger than that a SFD is necessary along with off set wheels and/or spacers.

Edited April 8, 2014 by bushnut

[Rick13]

Easy on the SFD. I definitely didn't spend 10 hours tearing apart my front end and putting back together "for looks".

 

Does 01Silvapathy have a build thread. If he does that'd be a good one to reference since he fit 33's on the 2" AC lift. I think I remember him having a video showing what he had to trim. Mcgee, I think you should search for that just to get an idea of what folks have done. Silva's pathy has changed quite a bit since I joined NPORA.

 

I'm too lazy to make a build thread.

[linkinpark]

I have 15x10 wheels with a 3.67 bs. Running 35x12.5x15 bfg km2s. The reason I disagree with the top heavy comment is because of my setup. The wider you go the lower your center of gravity gets. Mine is either the same as stock or maybe even lower because of my width.

[bushnut]

Easy on the SFD. I definitely didn't spend 10 hours tearing apart my front end and putting back together "for looks".

 

Does 01Silvapathy have a build thread. If he does that'd be a good one to reference since he fit 33's on the 2" AC lift. I think I remember him having a video showing what he had to trim. Mcgee, I think you should search for that just to get an idea of what folks have done. Silva's pathy has changed quite a bit since I joined NPORA.

 

I'm too lazy to make a build thread.

 

not knocking the SFD bro.

just not always necessary for moderate wheeling.

 

O1Silverpathy fitted 33s on stock wheels but with 1.5in spacers up front. and ya the video is on Youtube.

Edited April 8, 2014 by bushnut

[Rick13]

No offense taken Bushnut, my comment really wasn't meant for you but to the topic as a whole. I want to make sure it is clear that the SFD has functionality (to fit larger tires easily, get MUCH better belly clearance, and allow a really good coil spring lift out back...where all the flex is anyways IMHO). It's actually the only way I've been able to run trails rated up to 6-7 in my state and up to an 8 rated trail in Moab (scale of 1-10 for reference). Without it I'd be winching/dragging over way too many obstacles.

 

So my real point was just to make sure someone wasn't pointed away from a SFD when it might be work really well for their purpose.

 

I still think back to my 2" AC lift on 31" AT's (265/70/16) - I had a ton of fun with that setup and ran up to moderate trails around Colorado and even some in Moab.

 

Agreed, spend some time in the Tire/Lift section and some others.

[linkinpark]

What kind of wheeling are you really wanting to do? If 35s are your goal you have 3 options. Sas swap. Lots of time and money. 2 inch lift and cutting the crap out of your fenders. And third 2 inch lift and the sfd.

[dustinp]

If you don't like how high the sub frame drop is i could give you the dimensions for a 2" sfd then you could add some AC springs or fluery spacers. You'd be able to fit 33s or maybe even 35s depending off you got both. And also not to poke the fire but the subframe drop is awesome for offroading, and maintains the correct angles for most things. No-one regrets a sfd

[TutorN1]

Don't mean to get off subject, but could you make some extension for your struts to take out the top out?

 

I've got my old set of struts, & have thought about making a set that would just screw on to the top to add the extra hight.

 

Has anyone ever tried it?

[bushnut]

yup! search koni strut insert somewhere here on the site.

[Rebelord]

yup! search koni strut insert somewhere here on the site.

I remember that thread. Didn't they end up braking on him? Might be good for road use but off road they cant take the abuse?

As to the person that made a 2" subframe drop. PM me. As I would like a subtle drop. But dont need a full 4" sub drop.

 

Sent from my Moto X

 

 

[TutorN1]

Took a look at that thread, there was good info there too.

 

I had wondered about the lateral force on the threads. Didn't think it would have that much, but...

 

Was a post about some struts for an early model Camry that would be longer to keep from topping out. Goin to check the numbers.

[bushnut]

in my research I did find an Australian company that made longer stroke struts for the R50 but they were way to expensive...can't for the life of me remember the company right now I'll have to think on it awhile (this is what happens when you get old)

[APACHECHIEF13]

After all this talk I hope he uploads some pic of he's work. Before and after pic would be nice

[Rebelord]

in my research I did find an Australian company that made longer stroke struts for the R50 but they were way to expensive...can't for the life of me remember the company right now I'll have to think on it awhile (this is what happens when you get old)

I think its snake racing. Or they are the distributer of em. Possibly King struts out there. Either way. Same thing. I made phone calls to Aus about parts. The actual parts cost isnt bad. It's the shipping cost of $3-400 that sucks. Unless your in good with a import/export guy.

 

Sent from my Moto X