Hi,

I just swapped my 2005 Pathfinder LE Shocks using 4X4 Parts.

Someone asked me about the part numbers a while back:

Bilstein: F4-BE5-E220-HO
Nissan Pathfinder 4x2 Rear

Bilstein: F4-BE5-D743-HO
Nissan Frontier 4x2/4x4 Front

Notes: If you live in a region that salts the roads...
Have a sawzall with 14 tpi blade on standby as all the rear bolts had to be cut.
Order new bolts (55040A) and nuts (089186441A) ahead of time. You'll need 4 each.

The ride is similar to OEM so I'm not doing back flips. At 100k, I'm going with a stiffer set if I could find them.

Anyone else have shocks to comment on?


Ken

Just a note on removing old nuts and bolts.
If you are patient old nuts and bolts can be removed by cleaning off as much crap on them then spraying a good quality penetration on the fasteners and hitting the fasteners with a hammer/chisel to set up vibration. Let them sit a few minutes then with a good powered hammer/torque wrench tighten the nuts and bolts, watch the driver to see that it moves clockwise just a bit, them re spray the fastener and now with the tool set at a low setting remove the nut and bolt. If it moves reset the wrench to the next higher setting and spin the fasteners loose. If you start at a high setting the tool has enough torque to rip the bolt and damage it and now you will have to spend time taking it apart. In 45 years of doing this the amount of wasted time in replacing and repairing sheared off bolts is minimal. Make sure all dirt is removed. The next thing is to use a torch. If all else fails. But if you take you time and do this in the order I suggest and tighten first, you should be able to remove the fasteners. Smaller nuts and bolts are tougher because the tensile strength of a bolt reduces as the diameter reduces. And if you are attacking grade 5 and up bolts remember they get brittle so are easily broken.

I never had a Bilsteins on an R51, but I used to always use them on my previous cars (BMW and Mercedes) and I absolutely love Bilstein.

I like my Rancho 9000XL's I can adjust them for a soft cushy highway ride or to make it handle like it's on rails, the work great for towing in combination with rear AirLift.

Hi,

I have a problem. I started hearing these clacking noises so I removed the front struts and discovered that the strut geometry is different from OEM.

Here is the OEM:


Here is the Bilstein from 4x4parts.com:


Does this look right?


I wonder if there is supposed to be another retaining washer below.

Can someone with an R51 take a picture of their strut?

Thanks,

ken

Problem solved: I added a retaining washer underneath the lower bushing.

Strange, the oem configuration did not have it.

Ken,
Found this post from years ago and am going through similar - but the tire shop tossed my OEM struts and I don't have anything to measure against. My '06 started to rattle and clunk going over bumps and it looked the the top washer/nut were floating about 1cm above the strut mount even though the nut was screwed all the way on. Question - where/how did you get an extra retaining washer? I bought Bilstein 4600 part number 24-197427 46mm.
Any help this late in this post would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hey,
I went to the hardware store and just round a washer that fit the strut shaft. you don't have to worry about the type of washer, just anything that fits will do fine since there are no moving parts.

racerken