Lift

[HeyitsCB]

Hey all, as my first post on this forum I need some second opinions.
I have a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder LE that needs new suspension components. I have decided on KYB front struts along with Mevotech Springs all around. But on top of that wanting to add some clearance so was thinking about coil spacers front and rear. I keep asking myself if I should go this route or just bite the bullet and go with the more expensive OME lift springs.
was also wondering if there was anything else I should look for or I might run into while tackling this job.

Thanks again and would love some input

[fleurys]

My input might seem not objectif to you since I sell spacers but I am also an avid off-roader... So I have tried the stiffer springs (From AC) in the past and the ride quality was horrible. Of course stiffer springs will give you a suspension lift but you will also lose the <plushness > of your ride. Spacers are a more economical and also non permanent way of giving your truck a few more inches. If you do not plan on doing extreme offroad where your rear tires might lift off the ground, than you will not need to add or change anything else. The only thing needed after the lift will be an alignment and some 14mm camber bolts in order to bring back the camber within specs.

I know many have had good experience with the ome lift too...so I'll let others chime in.

Cheers.
S.

[nickelghandi]

I can attest to fleurys's claim. I like my spacers. I bought them from him and my opinion is probably a little biased as well, but that is what I would recommend. I wanted lift without sacrificing ride quality and my offroading is never too extreme. I needed clearance for bigger tires so I could get over things like logs down on the trail and so I can drive through deep snow.

It is the most modular lift you can do. You can add as much lift as you want and then change it if you don't like it. Not so with springs. Springs also settle over time so you will lose that initial lift. If you need to do some towing then I would opt for springs over spacers, but that is the only time. OEM springs can handle it if they are new-ish, but for heavy loads, stiffer springs are generally better.

[HeyitsCB]

Tanks for the reply guys. I will not be doing any extreme off-roading at all, all I want is more clearance and a higher ride height.

@fleureys I would love to get with you about the spacers I cant seem to find any that are at a reasonable price.

thanks again

[nickelghandi]

Check his signature. He sells the kits. That's the cheapest route.

[fleurys]

Tanks for the reply guys. I will not be doing any extreme off-roading at all, all I want is more clearance and a higher ride height.

@fleureys I would love to get with you about the spacers I cant seem to find any that are at a reasonable price.

thanks again

Try direct at my website : http://sfcreation.com

Cheers.
Steve.

[99.5 pathfinder]

Sounds good I to would like to retain the plush ride but get it off the ground a few inches can i later use it with a 4 inch sfd want to get it off the ground around 2 inches for now but later when I'm ready was gonna use the 4 inch krypton sfd lift can i use them together for a total of 6 inches with out binding causing problems with the front axles and retain the factory ride quality maybe get the back end up an extra 1/2 inch or so have a little extra wait in back seats every now and then any input on these things would be greatly appreciated oh it's a 99.5 pathfinder se limited. Thanks guys

[fleurys]

Sounds good I to would like to retain the plush ride but get it off the ground a few inches can i later use it with a 4 inch sfd want to get it off the ground around 2 inches for now but later when I'm ready was gonna use the 4 inch krypton sfd lift can i use them together for a total of 6 inches with out binding causing problems with the front axles and retain the factory ride quality maybe get the back end up an extra 1/2 inch or so have a little extra wait in back seats every now and then any input on these things would be greatly appreciated oh it's a 99.5 pathfinder se limited. Thanks guys

I did have a few customers in the past that combined my spacers with SFD without issues for the front. For the back, I am not certain if the SFD kit keeps the OE coils or if it uses Coils from another model (JEEP I believe)...

[99.5 pathfinder]

Yep I forgot info overload u right kryptons kit uses jeep springs or custom springs but for now just your lift would work and so much cheaper and less work for now it is a daily driver I've got just 1 question not sure bout the material it's made of is it strong u know long lasting trouble free looks like it would be soft but I'm by no means a specialist have u ever had it move come loose or break I'm going to mostly be on the road with maybe some light duty trail ridding for now and what about the 2.5 to 3 inch lift thay mount above your struts right will that mess with the axles up front Only had my truck a month haven't really checked it out much but I like it a lot but I've always in the past owned and wheeled 70s chevys dont know much about this little Nissan but its tough and runs good and i like it would appreciate any input u could give

[fleurys]

HDPE is a strong and durable material. High Density Polyethylene.. See the specs here of the material that I use : http://products.simona.de/us/en_US/$cat ... ndex.xhtml

If you plan on putting 2" or more of lift in the front , I always recommend installing wheel hubs (like the warn 29091) which will greatly prolong the life of your front drivetrain (CVs, U-joints, Driveshaft and even front differential gears) as they will only turn when you decide to engage the hubs.. If your cv boots are dried and cracked, then I would recommend changing them when you install the lift as the change in angle will most likely finish them. Read my post here about better than neoprene boots : http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/ ... e+%2Bboots

Cheers.

[99.5 pathfinder]

wow thanks much been the best info I've got on the pathfinder so far and u even give me the part #s for the hub locker i was already planning on get n them with or with out the lift u just made my research and planning considerably easier was gonna get new axles to because my driver side is ripped but sounds like rebuilding my old 1 might b a better way to go I've not rebuilt 1 yet n the past I just bought a new 1 but don't look to hard I've done worse things I think so I will be ordering a few things form your web site but I think I will go with the 2 inch lift so would that put the front axles at such an angle that it would cause problems in like snow drive conditions u know on road at higher than trail ridding speeds 35 to 55 mph in 4 high what I'm trying to ask is maybe what should I expect out of the axles if I lift the truck 2 inches noises bumps dings breaks cracks is there anything I should know just want to know as much as I can so it don't cause me any extra work or down time for the truck so I can get what I need to get the job done right the 1st time and again thanks so much for your time and great info u have greatly helped me can't wait to get my spacers

[RR425]

HDPE is a strong and durable material. High Density Polyethylene.. See the specs here of the material that I use : http://products.simona.de/us/en_US/$cat ... ndex.xhtml

If you plan on putting 2" or more of lift in the front , I always recommend installing wheel hubs (like the warn 29091) which will greatly prolong the life of your front drivetrain (CVs, U-joints, Driveshaft and even front differential gears) as they will only turn when you decide to engage the hubs.. If your cv boots are dried and cracked, then I would recommend changing them when you install the lift as the change in angle will most likely finish them. Read my post here about better than neoprene boots : http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/ ... e+%2Bboots

Cheers.

What about the 1" lift? What does that do to your suspension? And do I need new camber bolts with 1" lift?

[fleurys]

The 1" lift is for those who want to recuperate the sag in the coils that has happened over time. It is a very subtle lift and will not need the installation of wheel hubs. As for the camber bolts, it always depends on the state of the truck. I have had customer that did not need camber bolts and others yes.

Cheers.
S.

[HeyitsCB]

WOW! love all of the input I couldn't be more satisfied. Lets hope others chime in because knowledge is power.

@fleurys I will be contacting you soon about those spacers they look awesome!

[RR425]

The 1" lift is for those who want to recuperate the sag in the coils that has happened over time. It is a very subtle lift and will not need the installation of wheel hubs. As for the camber bolts, it always depends on the state of the truck. I have had customer that did not need camber bolts and others yes.

Cheers.
S.

OK I'm sold I'll go with the 2" lift Got a few questions though: Does it destroy the handling? Eat up CV boots regularly?

And how do you install it in the rear? At the bottom or the top of coil springs? I have airlift 1000 installed in the rear springs and the hose runs through the bottom.

Are the two pairs of spacers stacked on each other for the 2" lift as safe and stable as a single 2" spacer?

Camber bolts not included?

[fleurys]

It does not destroy the handling and if your boots are not cracked and dried up, it will not eat them. If you want though to prolong the life of them, I recommend installing wheel hubs that will dis-engage the whole front drivetrain and therefore give you more life from the cv, boots, ujoint, driveshaft and even ring gear (differential). I personally use the warn 29091.

For the rear, they can be installed either on top or at the bottom of the coil. If you install on top, you need to discard the rubber isolator. I have many clients running my rear spacers with the airlift 1000 without issues.

Sorry, no the camber bolts are not included because I cannot be competitve with this. I would have to buy a truck load of them LOL... Just simply look for 14mm camber bolts. Many company like moog and ingalls. I personally use the 81260 from ingalls ing. They are very sturdy . https://www.ingallseng.com/81260-14mm-f ... _pair.html

You can also find them on amazon and ebay.

Cheers !

[RR425]

Trying to decide between the 2.5-2 and 2 all around. How does the 2.5-2 work? Is the front really 1/2" higher?

To install the front lift I have to drill out the studs and insert the screws?

[fleurys]

the 2.5 works the same way as the 2. The 2.5" front lift is achieved with (2x) 1" spacers, versus de 2" lift is done with a single 1.5" spacers. Yes there is 1/2" higher. The studs are pressed in the plate. You can hammer them out or use a shop press to push them out. I have a small video showing this that will be out very soon.

S.

[fleurys]

Complete instructions here : http://sfcreation.com/about

[RR425]

Thanks. I bought the 2" all around.

[RR425]

Thanks for promptly shipping the lift kit. Got it installed. There is a problem though: the front is barely lifted. The rear looks like it is on stilts (6.5" from top of tire to fender) but the front is way lower (4" from top of tire to fender).

The struts and springs in the front are old. Is it because the springs might be sagging? Do I need new struts and springs to fix this?

Thanks for all your help.

[Hawairish]

Did you align the strut bodies with the top plates? There are marks/notches to indicate how they're aligned.

[RR425]

Yes I aligned the top plates. If I had not I think the problem would be different: too much lift.

I'm guessing it is because my springs are old and sagging. Dont know what else it could be.

[fleurys]

Can you send me pictures of the assembled strut ? because what you are saying is technically impossible if nothing changed or broke... Unless your coils broke then you should have a lift here...

[fleurys]

one more thing also... if your truck was sitting higher at the rear before you started the lift then it will look the same with a 2" lift all around... it will not become level after the lift... Was this the case ? (maybe we can talk directly at sfcreation<@>yahoo.com (without the brackets)

[RR425]

There is a small lift in the front. But the springs seem to be sagging. I will email you pictures tomorrow, I'm going out of town now.

Could it be that I screwed the top plate of the strut too low? Is that even possible?

My truck was level before the lift.

Thanks for the help. And happy new year!

[Hawairish]

Actually, misalignment of the notches causes it to sag because it prevents distributing pressure across the entire spring. The part in question that controls this is the upper coil perch below the strut bearing...it has a "W" and a notch on it...the W faces the wheel, the notch towards the engine (or rather, centered along that back of the strut body). The misalignment is usually visible, as the strut rod inside of the spring is at a slight angle relative to the spring, instead of being parallel with the spring.

But as fleurys said, it wouldn't be possible to not lift the front by at least the spacer amount, all things being equal. The spacer can't change (easily), and short of some catastrophic (and likely obvious) spring failure, the most likely thing that changed was the orientation of the upper perch. If you can post up some pics, we can confirm that.

[fleurys]

Thanks Hawairish... Also I have made a video showing this.. RR425 please have a look here : https://youtu.be/OeiQCV2ThLI

[RR425]

Hi. I watched that video when I was doing installation. I'm positive I lined up the notch and R-L letters properly.

I drove 600 miles yesterday and today and the car handles perfect, so I dont think anything is broken.

The height of the front end changes though. This morning it was 5.5" from top of tire to fender. After driving for a while it is back down to 4". The rear is a consistent 6.5" from top of tire to fender.

I'm positive it is the sagging coils and/or struts. I knew I should have replaced them with the lift but was being cheap and lazy. Will have to do that next week or after i get back from a trip to europe 3 weeks from now.

Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.

[HeyitsCB]

Just installed everything and couldn't be happier. Spacers were really simple to install thanks to your video. Got exactly what I needed which was more clearance and the ride is like night and day. Couldn't have done it without @fleurys or anyone else who posted input about the lift. I can post pictures soon.