Ive seen a lot of lift kits....some of them have articulating in the description some don't. I assume this refers to amount of wheel travel but I could be wrong. Whats the deal? When is one better than the other? Pros/Cons?

The text book definition of the word is the ability of one axle to move - left wheel up, right wheel down or vice versa - relative to the chassis or its fellow axle. It is a measure of the ease with which wheels can stay in complete contact with the ground - and thus retain traction - on very 'twisty' off-road terrain.

And as for your second question I could better answer it if I knew what vehicle you're thinking of doing this in.

Big-Bird wrote:.And as for your second question I could better answer it if I knew what vehicle you're thinking of doing this in.

I have a 94 Hardbody 4x4 with a ka24e and a 5 speed. I'm not really into the whole crawling scene. Im more interested in going fast off road. More baja style just on a much lower scale but Im not afraid to get the tires off the ground.

I assume you are talking about the 3 suspension lift kits available for your truck.

4x4partsCalminiRancho.

I believe these 3 are your so called "articulating" suspension lifts because they keep the arms in the same mounts, but push arms down to give lift.

I leave out the Trailmaster kit because it is a drop down kit and doesn't really change the geometry of the front suspension.

With the 3 kits I mentioned, the lift is obtained my simply cranking the torsion bars. The new upper control arms are only to allow for correct alignment after you crank...and to allow for an extra 1-1.5" of crank to be done without the upper control arms hitting the upper bump stop.

On all 3 of these kits, you get a SLIGHT gain in down travel, but you gain no up travel at all.

To be completely honest with you....you can crank your t-bars up with the stock upper control arms for 1.75" of lift......and MAYBE 2" of lift if you get the low profile bump stops from 4x4parts.com.

If you do want to get the suspension lift upper control arms you DO NOT need to get new shock, new t-bars or extended brake lines in the front. You can use the new upper control arms with the supplied ball joints, crank the stock t-bars up (may need to re-index them). The stock shocks have plenty of travel and will still be in their working range.

My theory is, why replace things you don't need to until they are in need of replacing.

NOW, since you said you are into the more fast off-roading I have a great modification for you. The stock from struts, are REALLY SMALL....and they heat up and loose their dampening abilities very fast over rough terrain. What I did was cut the top strut mount off, weld in a shock hoop on top of the frame and put on a full length shock. UNBELIEVABLE how much more smooth the IFS was over the whoopty doos and high speed straights....

you can kinda see the top of my full length in this picture....if you want a better picture let me know.

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/...1.jpg

Well thats the thing...my suspension isn't in the best shape so I figured why just fix it w oe stuff when I can fix the problem and lift it at the same time. So on that note should I go w the articulating 3" lift or the non-articulating. From what BB said it sounds like I should go w the articulating.

articulating=more flex,more wheel travel

I have been thinking about your query.....

The Calmini Kit offers a 3" suspension gain through the use of longer Rear Shackles and new re-designed upper control arms and thicker torsion bars, The kit actually gives more ground clearance and increased rear suspension travel but doesn't really increase the amount of front IFS travel. The reason for this there is limited travel between the lower control arm and the main front crossmember. Low Profile bump stops will increase the suspension travel slightly.

The Rancho kits offers a 2.5" increase in lift. This is achieved with new tubular upper control arms, longer rear shackles and a single add-a-leaf. This kit requires you to crank up your stock bars, but if you index the splines a few teeth (which I did) you cn get the added height without going to the end of the adjuster bolts!

Same rules apply to the Rancho kit. Increases ground clearance, increases rear wheel articulation but does not increase IFS travel. ( I have this kit in my Xterra ) Upper Ball joints are not included with the Rancho kit and mucst be purchased separately. ( This kit uses the same upper ball joints as the Nissan D21/Hardbody up to and inlcuding the late 90's models. I have tried MOOG, TRW and they have both failed after 10 months of use. I am going to try Nissan OE BJ's this time and see if they hold out any better.

Automotive Customizers is a tubular design upper control arm and their lift package is similar to Rancho's.

All told these kits DO NOT substantially increase front suspension travel, but do increase rear axle travel.

If you really want a slick, long travel IFS system them you have to look into Total Chaos for their 8" Travel IFS suspension kit. It's SICK! (and by sick I mean wicked!)

The kit is offered for the all years of IFS Xterra's 2000-2004, Frontier's 1998-2004, and 2wd D21's (There is a different kit for the 2005-2006 X's and Frontier's)...But I am quite sure that the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Xterra's use alot of the same front drive parts as the V6 4WD Hardbody's so there could be some potential for compatability

http://www.chaosfab.com/xterra.html The Company!

http://www.chaosfab.com/access/4wdnissankitweb.jpg The Kit!

The TC 4X4 kit will not work on a hard body as far as I know. Different geometery & such. Also you need to replace the cv shafts to longer ones since they gain the extra travel by extending the length of the controll arms. Some states outlaw tires that stick outside the wheel wells. Check your local laws.

None of the other aftermarket upper control arms add travel. They just allow your truck to be aligned at a higher ride hieght.

If you go with the smaller bump stops, get longer shocks. I ripped the shock mount on the lower controll arms because the shock would limit travel before the bump stops. I got longer ones with a spacer & now the bump stop limits travel.

You do not need to get new torsion bars. But the stock ones will fatigue faster and with the age of your truck, they may last another year before needing replacement. For baja, I would suggest 30% stiffer to take the beating you will put them through.

The articulation AC kit uses revolver shackles. Not for bajaing, but for crawling. They may bind with high speed movements. You have to replace the brake lines & get very long shocks to accomodate the longer travel.

XterraVersa wrote:The TC 4X4 kit will not work on a hard body as far as I know. Different geometery & such. Also you need to replace the cv shafts to longer ones since they gain the extra travel by extending the length of the controll arms. Some states outlaw tires that stick outside the wheel wells. Check your local laws.

None of the other aftermarket upper control arms add travel. They just allow your truck to be aligned at a higher ride hieght.

If you go with the smaller bump stops, get longer shocks. I ripped the shock mount on the lower controll arms because the shock would limit travel before the bump stops. I got longer ones with a spacer & now the bump stop limits travel.

You do not need to get new torsion bars. But the stock ones will fatigue faster and with the age of your truck, they may last another year before needing replacement. For baja, I would suggest 30% stiffer to take the beating you will put them through.

The articulation AC kit uses revolver shackles. Not for bajaing, but for crawling. They may bind with high speed movements. You have to replace the brake lines & get very long shocks to accomodate the longer travel.

Revolver Shackles can be put onto the Rancho, Calmini or the Automotive Customizers kits. They are their own product line and do take some of the strain of rear leaf spring side load during a suspension flex. The rear brake hose needs to be longer just like XV said but you would also need to lenghten the vent tube on the rear diff, unless you have the vent cap....then replace the cap with a proper vent tube! That CAP sucks! Literally!

I am going to check with AC and see if the upper control arm is the same for Xterra's, Frontiers and D21's. If they are then the TC Xterra kit should work on a D21. (I love research!)

As for tires that need to be covered, there are options for that.

One thing that is very common of Lifted IFS Nissan's. The stock steering system doesn't lke the increased tie-rod angles becasue it puts strain on the stock center link. There are options out there but no-one has made a totally 'bullet proof' steering upgrade, although I hear thet Spencer Low Racing has come very close.

Either way you decide to go, this is not a 'cheap' upgrade and there may be other future costs you will have to consider. ( I know this for a fact as I am living with that PITA right now)

I would consider streaking for a free TC kit....but you don't want to see me nude

Big-Bird wrote:
I am going to check with AC and see if the upper control arm is the same for Xterra's, Frontiers and D21's. If they are then the TC Xterra kit should work on a D21. (I love research!)

As for tires that need to be covered, there are options for that.

I was disappointed to see that the TC kit wasn't availible for my truck. So if you find that I can make it work I would be extatic! As for the tire coverage...I live in Iowa and they don't make too big of a deal about it...THANK GOD!

the arms for the frontier and xterra are not the same as the HB. The reason is, the HB and Pathy use shims for the alignment adustment...with 2 bolts and a shaft that are bolted to the frame.

The frontier and Xterra use cam bolts that go through the UCA for the adjustment.

so the TC long travel kit will not work. HOWEVER, if you get a wild hair and build new longer upper and loswer control arms for your HB, then you can use frontier/Xterra cv shafts because they are 2" longer. You may also have to use the frontier/xterra spindle to get the correct spline count...or my may be able to get away with just swapping to the correct spline hub. I haven't researched this that far.

for the best and least expensive steering system look for:http://www.lpperformance.com/

It's the bang for the buck.

This has been bothering me for about a week now and I was just thinking of a few items which I confirmed with Nissan this morning:

a)1986 - 1994 Hardbody/D21's used shims for caster/camber adjustments.b)1995 - 1997 Hardbody/D21's used eccentrics on the UCA with upper and lower replaceable ball joints.c)1998 - Introduction year of the Frontier used eccentrics. Both the upper and lower ball joints were pressed into the control arms.d)1999.5 Introduction year of the 4WD Xterra. Similar configuration to the Frontier.d) 2005 Frontier/Xterra switched coil over shocks and lower control arm. (Which makes adding a lift so easy!)

I have a few ideas but I want to talk to TC first before I post them.