Pathfinder lifts?
Pathfinder lifts?
This is the first time I have posted in this section. My younger brother is getting ready to drive and will probably be inheriting a 1997 Pathfinder. He wants to do some mild offroading in it and was wondering about lift kits and the like. We have done some searching and havn't really found much info on them. He only wants a couple inches or so nothing insane. I know with an IFS, it will be pretty expensive and complicated. So any info or links on that will be appriciated. The problem is that he won't get the car for a year or so, and the current shocks are completely gone, it's riding on springs only. It is very unsafe like this and the current owner doesn't want a lift kit, but wants the suspension fixed. Are there shocks you can get that will work with the stock components but also be usable for a lift later? I am a pretty big noob when it comes to lifting cars, I usually think the other way around. Thanks in advance!
Since it is on a unibody a suspension lift is your only option. The pathfinder uses coil springs front and rear. The rears simply sit on a pad between the body brace and the axle housing. The rear control arms are what affix the axle housing to the vehicle. Due to this there is a real challenge to getting the rear end up off the ground. It sounds as if the control arm bushings are worn out if he feels its unsafe on the road. Pretty common on those.The fronts use standard macpherson struts. I cant say I have seen even one lifted R50 pathfinder due to the complexity of the suspension on it. I would think it would be quite the under taking to do it.
Re: (NISTECH)
Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back with this. This was the site I found that had my brother intriuged. http://www.4x4parts.com/public...d2424 I was just wondering what your opinon of those is. It seems like it would be kind of a jerry-rigged solution, because I was thinking it would be a lot more complex to lift it. Thanks!
That would lift it, the problem would be with strut travel. It would push the strut up closer to the top of its travel. When the wheel dropped away or extended out it would top out the strut. Thats not good for the strut. If he does it I recommend he buys the struts and shocks offered by that company. When he does it though he needs to loosen all the nuts on the rear control arms [4 arms,8 nuts] after he gets all the new stuff installed. He should do it with the truck sitting on the ground. Then tighten all back up. This will allow the bushings in the arms to recenter to a new rest point. If he were not to do this the rubber bushing would be slightly twisted at rest. This could also make them more suseptable to tearing when the rear axle housing extends downward through ruts as they would be over stressing the bushing. He has to make sure that when he loosens them the bushing pivot actually spins to a new location. Sometimes they rust into place which would require you to get the through bolt to spin freely and posibly pry the side mount away slightly form the bushing pivot to allow it to spin. Then bounce the vehicle to get everything to center and retighten all the nuts.
Re: (NISTECH)
Thanks! I am sure he will be glad to hear that. I know what your saying about the struts, and I am sure the car needs new shocks anyway, so that is cool. The only question we still have is if we could add those upgraded shocks first to the stock springs and then add the lift coils later. Or is this likely going to cause the shocks to max out their travel in the other direction? I know that is not the optimal solution, but the car needs new shocks now and the lift won't go on for about a year. Thanks again!
Re: (NISTECH)
Thanks man, you already helped so much. You are definitely apprciated!