Lowered Hardbody owners - Question!

Forum for the Xterra, Frontier and Hardbody, the smaller workhorses of the Nissan lineup!
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AZhitman
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Posts: 71061
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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Hi all! It's not often I get to ask questions, usually I'm answering (or helping find answers). But it's my turn to play n00b. :)

I have a 97 HB extracab 2wd 5-speed that I've recently refreshed / restored at 175k miles. Pulled the motor and refreshed / re-sealed, all new interior, paint, suspension, bushings, rubber, wheels, tires, etc. Loving it.
20200712_131656.jpg
However... She rides like a damn apple cart. :)

Not significantly lowered... I have BellTech drop spindles up front, 3" blocks in the rear. BellTech (used) shorty front shocks, stock rear shocks.

I've gone through everything to double-check my work, and I've got no idea what's gone wrong.

Can anyone shed some light on the potential cause of the excessively-stiff ride? Thanks in advance!


whomadewho
Posts: 523
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:32 pm
Car: 1997 Nissan pickup

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Sharp looking truck. Must of been time consuming installing the 4x4 flares. Just an arm chair guess - Did you change or do anything to the front stabilizer bar or bushing links? Wonder if you have too much tension on the bar. Might also have too much tension on the tension bar spring. Not sure if it’s possible to modify or replace the anchor arm with some sort of aftermarket arm? The only other thing I can think of is you can’t adjust by loosening the anchor adjusting nut.

User avatar
AZhitman
Administrator
Posts: 71061
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
Contact:

Post

4x4 flares weren't too bad, but I had a donor 4x4 to snatch all the hardware from.

Front sway bar got new bushings. Tension rods were indexed to allow the current ride height at about 1/2 of their adjustment range.

I'm ready to put another 100k miles on it, but I've gotta figure out how to soften up the ride, she's kicking my old arse! :)

whomadewho
Posts: 523
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:32 pm
Car: 1997 Nissan pickup

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Another armchair thought. Ever consider removing a leaf in the rear spring using a lighter spring? Could also possibly change the spring arch?


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