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Land Rover rear lift spring install


Bax03SE
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I think the general consensus around here is the KYB struts are good, but the strut bearing and top plate are sketchy. I played it safe and went genuine nissan as most people recommend. I think for camber bolts I have specialty products 81260. No complaints

I will look at the top plate and may just re-use it and then order new bearings as they are not too expensive.

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Yup, avoid the KYB bearing and top plate. The ones Micah Felker had totally failed, and mine are a little clunky, although still tight (fingers crossed). OEM Nissan is the way to go. It's like the carb on a 3.3; pay for the right part, and never worry again.

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3c7f0713ef5035f17af04c5a4ce65b01.jpg

 

Loaded up for first towing trip with the LR springs. The trailer weighs about 2500 as it sits, and maybe another 200lbs in the trunk. I measured the height at the hitch before and after and it dropped exactly an inch loaded up, which places it pretty much level front to back.

 

 

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3c7f0713ef5035f17af04c5a4ce65b01.jpg

 

Loaded up for first towing trip with the LR springs. The trailer weighs about 2500 as it sits, and maybe another 200lbs in the trunk. I measured the height at the hitch before and after and it dropped exactly an inch loaded up, which places it pretty much level front to back.

Nice!! Any idea how much tounge weight with your trailer? Seems similar to the loads I anticipate w 4 dogs and gear in back plus my toy hauler. Hows it feel going down the road loded?

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Its a bit of a guess based on how I loaded it, but Id say 150-200lbs tongue weight right now. With that, full trunk, and 3 kids across the back seat it still sits nice and level, maybe 1.5 inch drop overall. Im very happy not to see it sagging. It was only about an hour trip, mostly highway, but it rode nice and smooth. Actually feels a little smoother loaded than when empty since the springs are pretty stiff.

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I think I'm the first one to have the 9447's installed (although I could be wrong) but everyone who ordered hoping for 2" of lift is gonna be in for a surprise haha, mine gave me about 4" from where I was sitting before. We'll see how much more it settles but so far I'm pretty stoked with how it sits. I posted more pics on my thread if anyone wants to see.

 

 

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Micah what do you have on the front?

 

I bet this Landrover parts dealer is wondering why so many people are ordering so many sets of 1 side from the us!! Lol

 

Edit: i need to do this soon! But it'll probably have to wait until after my camping trip to big bend in March

Edited by Remus92
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Micah what do you have on the front?

 

I bet this Landrover parts dealer is wondering why so many people are ordering so many sets of 1 side from the us!! Lol

 

 

Lmao that's so true. I have HD OME springs in the front

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Micah

That looks bad ass. When you get a chance can you send us measurements comparing front and rear. Right now my front is sagging really bad and I have 2" of rake from back to front. Yours looks good, just wondering the difference.

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Micah

That looks bad ass. When you get a chance can you send us measurements comparing front and rear. Right now my front is sagging really bad and I have 2" of rake from back to front. Yours looks good, just wondering the difference.

 

Looks Great Micah! We'll need your tire sizes too!

 

Did Kyle help you with it, your picture kind of looks like his place?

If so, I would have loved to come by and help and I imagine TowndawgR50 would have been game as well.

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Micah

That looks bad ass. When you get a chance can you send us measurements comparing front and rear. Right now my front is sagging really bad and I have 2" of rake from back to front. Yours looks good, just wondering the difference.

 

Looks Great Micah! We'll need your tire sizes too!

 

Did Kyle help you with it, your picture kind of looks like his place?

If so, I would have loved to come by and help and I imagine TowndawgR50 would have been game as well.

 

Thanks guys I really appreciate the compliments!

 

I just went out and took pictures of the measurements, but the wifi is being finicky and they won't load so I'll just list them.

 

Front: Ground to bottom of fender flare measures 35" on both sides

Back: Ground to bottom of fender flare measures 37" on driver side and a over 37.5" on the passenger side, but the driveway isn't 100% level so that's probably why.

 

My tires are 32's.

 

The numbers make it sound like it has a ton of rake, but I'm a huge fan of how it actually looks (it really doesn't look like it has that much). I have more pics on my build/adventure thread if you guys want to see, I just don't want to fill up someone else's thread with pics of my car haha

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Thank you bro! It goes in between looking good and looking too raked depending on how the car is parked haha, I'm considering adding a 1.5" spacer to level it out a little bit more. I really hate spacers but it might be worth it to not lean forward quite as much.

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Kent, to answer your question which I didn't see before, I currently only have the OME springs up front. Like I said though I'm really thinking about going for it to take off an inch or so of the rake, but I'm sort of concerned about the angle of the cv axles. I know people have run a 1" spacer on top of AC springs before, which seem to be way taller than mine to begin with but I'm still on the fence. What do you guys think?

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Kent, to answer your question which I didn't see before, I currently only have the OME springs up front. Like I said though I'm really thinking about going for it to take off an inch or so of the rake, but I'm sort of concerned about the angle of the cv axles. I know people have run a 1" spacer on top of AC springs before, which seem to be way taller than mine to begin with but I'm still on the fence. What do you guys think?

 

I run a 1" spacer with my OME springs no issue. Of course mine are compressed more from the weight of the bumper, but it shouldn't be an issue anyways, since at full droop the CV's will still be at less angle than they are with people who run 2" spacers. Of course regular operating angle is what will wear them out, but you can rest easy knowing that they won't be able to bind at droop. I'd do at least an inch if I were you, it would still have good rake and sit real nice.

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I run a 1" spacer with my OME springs no issue. Of course mine are compressed more from the weight of the bumper, but it shouldn't be an issue anyways, since at full droop the CV's will still be at less angle than they are with people who run 2" spacers.

 

That's actually a really good point that I totally didn't think of. My cv's are actually pretty level right now surprisingly, especially compared to some I've seen. The main setback is still that I hate taking apart the strut. I wish you could just slide a spacer on top of the strut assembly without having to undo everything to put longer bolts in. I might just wait it out and get used to how it is so that I don't need to do all that again. Three times has been more than enough already haha

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That's actually a really good point that I totally didn't think of. My cv's are actually pretty level right now surprisingly, especially compared to some I've seen. The main setback is still that I hate taking apart the strut. I wish you could just slide a spacer on top of the strut assembly without having to undo everything to put longer bolts in. I might just wait it out and get used to how it is so that I don't need to do all that again. Three times has been more than enough already haha

 

Yeah, I hate that too. I've been wondering if there's necessarily anything wrong with running the bolts from the top so you don't have to take the strut apart to switch bolts?

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Ive seen it done that way before with the bolts running through from the top. I dont see how it would have any effect on the end result, either way its still just a bolt with a nut on it. When I did my strut spacers I didnt really know anything about how the strut mount and bearing was supposed to go together, but I just did what I always do which is take pictures along the way and put everything back the way it came.

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I hear your pain. It is pretty inconvenient to have to disassemble the strut to install longer bolts. But imagine if Nissan had designed it so that the strut mount bolts were welded on the chassis pointing down with just holes in the strut mount. That would be terrible, because then you'd be stuck with STOCK LENGTH studs instead of being able to replace them with longer bolts!

 

Plus, consider how hard it would be to tighten the nut closest to the engine if the bolts pointed downwards. That'd be a huge pain. Currently, it's hard enough to just fit a small box wrench in there to keep the bolt from spinning while you tighten the top nut.

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Yeah I was thinking about just trying to install with the bolts upside down, but tightening that inner bolt without a good access point didn't cross my mind. I honestly really still don't like the idea of using spacers anyway, they seem like the cheap and easy way out, and that's not something I really want to do with my rig.

 

The more I think of it, the more I realize that the use of spacers would do absolutely nothing to help my performance on or off road, and would probably be reducing both on and off road drivability and reliability. For something that the sole purpose of it is purely aesthetic (making the car look more level) and actually inhibits my rig from its full potential, it really isn't something I want on my Pathy, or to spend my time and money on right now haha

 

The more I drive it and the more I look at it, the more I really love how it sits right now. Like I was saying earlier, I do think our r50's look good with a bit of frontward rake. After all, that's how it was from the factory.

 

Moving back to the original topic (sorry for the thread jack), I'm loving these new rear springs guys. They ride and handle SO WELL. The spring rate is perfect. Firmer and more sturdy than factory, but not harsh or bouncy at all. With my old worn out stock springs and shocks, my death wobble was getting pretty bad, which is mostly the fault of my trailing arm bushings, but heavily amplified by the worn out suspension. With the new setup of LR coils and OME shocks, the wobble has gotten so much better. My mom was riding with me earlier today to meet my dad for lunch, and she didn't even notice it when I asked if she felt it, even though I could a tiny bit. Now when I go over speed bumps I can just glide right over them without the back end slamming down (no matter how slow I go) and bouncing after. The ride goes PERFECTLY with the HD OME coils up front. I'm still amazed at how much better it handles corners, bumps, and even just flat ground. I feel so much more confident in the rear end now than I did before, and it looks fantastic. I haven't had the opportunity to test them off road quite yet, but that time will come very soon. I definitely recommend this route for rear springs to every single person reading this, although if you're pairing it with a 2" lift in the front I would probably go for a shorter or lower SR option of the LR springs. If anybody has any questions or requests I'd be happy to answer!

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723b63a97c3ce7ee8eb67b86f3529393.jpg

 

I think I'm the first one to have the 9447's installed (although I could be wrong) but everyone who ordered hoping for 2" of lift is gonna be in for a surprise haha, mine gave me about 4" from where I was sitting before. We'll see how much more it settles but so far I'm pretty stoked with how it sits. I posted more pics on my thread if anyone wants to see.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

ugh, i have too many datsuns...

 

-Kyle

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Going to lift the weekend after this. Wondering if there are any tips for installing these springs such as what to look out for and what needs out of the way. I do have a mechanic helping me but he probably has never put Land Rover front springs on a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder rear before. I am also putting Bilstein 5125s on the back and know there are a few tricks for those.

Tips and hints for the front would also be helpful. (KYB with 1 1/2" spacer for a 2" lift on front.) Do have Camber bolts.

One thing I am getting mixed messages on is torque. "Flurry" give 29 ft lbs much lower than Nissan Specs. and so on. Torque for Camber bolts would be helpful also.

I Do not want to highjack this post and will start a build thread of my own, just had those thoughts on my mind.

Thanks

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