2002 Pathfinder LE - lift / tires upgrade

[dSaint]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2002 LE which is currently stock. I'm taking it to a local 4x4 place on Thursday to start a discussion on added a lift and some tires. They recommended a BDS or Old Man Emu lift over the phone, but will have a look at the vehicle before coming up with a plan. I am looking at Toyo R/T's (size TBD - based on lift).

 

My question for the group is what kind of lift/suspension would the group recommend? I haven't looked at BDS yet, but the OME webpage doesn't have an option for a 2002 R50 - so maybe I am doing to BDS? 

 

Any suggestions on specific kits to look at? My preference is quality over price (within reason) - The truck is very well maintained, and I want to keep it that way by installing good products. Once I've completed suspension and tires, I'll be replacing front and back bumpers with units from coastaloffroad.com. 

 

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

 

[Jotegir]

OME's website sucks ass but I can assure you their lifts are good (and real!) A lot of us run the OME heavy duty springs out front, often paired with KYB struts and OEM strut bearings. More commonly you'll now see landrover springs out back because they're largely considered both superior and cheaper to most of the other offerings out there.  Most of us did our lifts ourselves and assembled the parts collections on our own (and with the forum's help of course!) as there weren't/aren't really aftermarket "kits" available per se. 

 

Can't comment on BDS stuff. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by Jotegir

[dSaint]

Thanks for the response, @Jotegir. Is there a particular Old Man Emu product you would recommend for my 2002 LE? Same applies for the KYB struts you mentioned. 

 

A final question: you mentioned "OEM strut bearings". Was that a typo (supposed to read OME) or do you actually mean Nissan "OEM"?

 

Thanks again

[Jotegir]

Hey no problem!

 

I am running the OME Heavy Duty front springs. I think they are OME 2928. I wouldn't recommend the medium or light duty, you won't get as much lift and will lose more height when the vehicle is loaded. The KYB struts are just the ""excel-g" fairly basic strut for the vehicle. It's what most people run. OME has/had more expensive struts available with a bit more suspension stroke on them, but as far as we can tell they are currently discontinued/COVID restricted. When they were available user reviews were positive. OEM was not a typo! Aftermarket strut bearings are a known failure point on these vehicles - search the forum and you'll find several examples of them all going on lifted examples. One of mine gave up the ghost after less than 1000 KM post lift! Took the strut with it too - OEM bearings are quite a bit more expensive, but a lot less expensive than your time or someone else's time is worth for a stupid part failure. 

 

I do not have experience with the OME rear springs because I, like many others, run land rover springs.

 

 

[dSaint]

This gives me oodles to go with. Thanks for the guidance. I'll post more when the local 4x4 guys have their own take. They have a great reputation, but they likely do more Toyota's than Nissan's so hope to vet their recommendations with the team here...

 

Regards,

d 

[PathyDude17]

Found this thread late, but BDS doesn't seem to support anything Nissan, based on their website. They don't make lifts for the R50 either. @Jotegir's advice above is great.

 

Old Man Emu makes suspension, the aforementioned 2928 is a great part number. Dobinson also makes good stuff. Ironman4x4 and Automotive Customizers also makes springs for these. If you snoop around here you should be able to find builds that utilize these different options. I had AC coils, but I'm also a big proponent of the OME and the Dobinson equipment. 

 

Here's a really nice build that you might take some inspiration from:

 

 

If you're not familiar with Land Rover coils as an option, those also work nicely in the rear. That's what the above build features.

 

See what your shop likes, but if they're mostly familiar with Toyota's, our front end is not built the same way a 4runner or Tacoma works, ours is much closer to a typical sedan. 

 

You'll probably need camber bolts to get your front end alignment dialed.

 

Here's my personal analysis of a lot of the front end coils:

 

[BCangler99]

Hello where in Canada did you purchase your lift kit? Could you please send a link.

 

Thanks

[dSaint]

Hi BCangler99; I live in Victoria and I haven't yet moved forward with this project. All the suspension guys here in town seem to know a lot about Toyota's, but nothing about Nissans. I have an appointment with Westshore Spring on June 13th to come up with a final plan - hopefully i will know more after that appointment. I am not all that hopeful as they were asking me what kind of coils and shocks would work with my R50, and I am not mechanically minded... 

[dSaint]

 @PathyDude17 @Jotegir

Because my local shop doesn't know what kind of suspension/coils/shocks/struts to use, and I am not mechanically minded can I ask for some additional help to come up with a parts list to bring to my mechanic? I have a stock 2002 Pathfinder LE, and would like to get a lift, new suspension and new larger tires for better clearance. Could you provide a list of brand/parts to help me get going? Apologies in advance for asking for this extra level of hand-holding - it's a function of my own mechanical limitations as well as not having anyone in town who works on Nissan's for overlanding....

Edited May 31, 2023 by dSaint

[CamperDan]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:47 AM, dSaint said:

 @PathyDude17 @Jotegir

Because my local shop doesn't know what kind of suspension/coils/shocks/struts to use, and I am not mechanically minded can I ask for some additional help to come up with a parts list to bring to my mechanic? I have a stock 2002 Pathfinder LE, and would like to get a lift, new suspension and new larger tires for better clearance. Could you provide a list of brand/parts to help me get going? Apologies in advance for asking for this extra level of hand-holding - it's a function of my own mechanical limitations as well as not having anyone in town who works on Nissan's for overlanding....

Hello dSaint, just type R50 Lift in the search feature as this topic has been covered extensively in the past. I think you will be hard pressed to find a shop that knows the first thing about lifting your R50. I do recommend doing some research before you start buying any parts, and more importantly take your R50 out and test it to see where its lacking.

 

Chris. 

[Jotegir]

The video provided by 208Tyler should cover the springs themselves. He says the part names and then putting the part name into google should get you the rest of the way.

 

I am personally running OME 2928 HD springs in the front and Landrover LR 9447 in the rear. I also replaced the following when I did my lift:

 

- strut bearing (NISSAN OEM)

- strut bellows (KYB)

- strut  (KYB)

- rear shock - I am running KYB but others run OME, or modified Bilstein's for more travel. 

- rear bumpstop - I had to order these from Australian e-bay for the r50 Terrano because they're discontinued everywhere in North America. Many people do not replace them or run some other kind of replacement. 

- there are also rubber strut gaskets which when the old strut are removed are almost always shot. They're meant to stop water ingress between the wheel arch and the engine bay. I replaced mine with gasket maker and have had no issues doing so for several years. 

 

I reused my strut spring seats because they were in good shape, but they're often starting to rust out and get lousy for many folks. They are available online but not on rockauto. 

 

Otherwise, when doing your lift you want to replace any bushing/joint which might be past it's prime, which can include:

- upper rear control arm

- lower rear control arm

- front control arm front and rear

- front ball joint

- inner/outer tie rods 

 

I'd also recommend checking your strut tower brace area for rust when you pull the struts. My vehicle is Vernon/Kelowna/Kamloops only, not a known area for rust, and I had some developing in there I took the time to get on top of before it got bad. If you have an R50 that spent its whole life on the Island you're likely fine, but it's still good to check and get on top of. 

 

Good luck!

Edited June 4, 2023 by Jotegir

[jaymzinsa]

Late to the party, heres what I did to my 02. Disclaimer, the Boss gave me carte blanche with my build. While it wasnt cheap it was way less expensive than buying something newer like a pro4x xterra, 4runner, or FJ and upgrading one of those vehicles, plus it was a blast to work on. As Jotegir mentioned above, i first either replaced every suspension arm/link/connector, even new rack and pinion, or in the case of the pan hard, replaced the bushings. Anything that wasnt welded down got replaced. I got everything from rock auto and bought the upgraded greaseable mevotech supreme parts. At the very least replace the bushings. Adding a lift to a loose suspension is asking for trouble. I also upgraded my CVs with high articulating joints which can handle the extended angle much better than stock. (also rock auto) For the lift, up front I went with OME struts ARB-N145S. The Rugged Rocks website says they are still available. Those struts are longer than stock and I have yet to top them out. I put AC 2" lift springs from 4x4parts.com over the struts. In the back, I went with bilstein 5100 shocks and nrc9449 springs in back. This has given me a slight rake but it should even out when I finish my coastal offroads steel swingout bumper and has been a great setup that gets me to most places my jeep buddies can go.

[sarath]

What do you guys think is the cheapest option? My shocks are all blown out. The rear ones were from a 2006 F250 and the front are kyb. I also have an AC 2 in lift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk