Recent rear suspension mods!

**88pathoffroad** · Apr 9th, 2005, 11:36 PM

I just thought I'd share some of the recent mods I've made to my Pathfinder in an effort to make it more off-road worthy and stronger...

Added some 3/4" angle iron to the bottom sides of the rear axle lower control arms. Now if I bang into a rock it won't bend my control arms and will most likely slide off instead of staying put. Cost me $5.38 at Lowe's. The hardest part about working on these parts was wire-wheeling the old stock black powdercoat and my white paint off. Took me damn near an hour and a half just to do that.

Next, I've got a slight problem with the panhard rod in the rear. With 4" of lift, it's angle is way off, so I need a drop bracket to lower the frame-mounted end of the panhard rod to make the angles closer to where they need to be for the axle to perform properly both on and off-road.

Here's a pic of the near-finished panhard rod drop bracket. I used what I had on hand, so the front and back are two layers of 16 gauge steel welded together along all seams with one piece at the rear separating the sides. I decided to go with a bolt-on part as opposed to a weld-on part, mostly because trying to weld underneath a dirty truck is a real pain in the ass and a flux-core wire-feed isn't the best thing in the world to use on dirty steel.

Next come the bolt holes (3 of them) and finishing the surface of the steel with a flap-disc, then paint and bolting it on with new Grade 8 bolts.

Coming up next, I'm adding another half-inch to my 3" body lift by using 1/4" thick washers on each body mount, top and bottom, then I need to install some new chrome side mirrors, dash gauges I modded with blue and white LED's, etc.

By the way, here's a pic of the Pathfinder as it is today...

**morepower2** · Apr 11th, 2005, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88pathoffroad

I just thought I'd share some of the recent mods I've made to my Pathfinder in an effort to make it more off-road worthy and stronger...

Looks good, good articulation!

werks2much · Apr 11th, 2005, 10:33 PM

Look's good 88.

Did you sell off your PIAA lights you had on the roof rack?

**88pathoffroad** · Apr 16th, 2005, 08:31 PM

Yeah, I traded 'em to a buddy who had no lights. I have another two sets, one in chrome, one in black.

I finally got it all finished! *whew* I'll be flipping the RS9000 shocks right-side-up before going anywhere, I put 'em on before reading up on the subject of mounting shocks upside down...I was trying to keep the valving adjusters out of harm's way by flipping them over.

There are two 1/2" x 4" Grade 8 bolts with Nylock nuts that bolt the bracket on, and a 9/16" Grade 8 bolt with Nylock nut replacing the stock 14mm bolt for my panhard rod end on the drop bracket. A 9/16" bolt JUST fits through the old holes on the lower control arms and the panhard rod.

**morepower2** · Apr 17th, 2005, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88pathoffroad

Yeah, I traded 'em to a buddy who had no lights. I have another two sets, one in chrome, one in black.

I'll be flipping the RS9000 shocks right-side-up before going anywhere, I put 'em on before reading up on the subject of mounting shocks upside down...I was trying to keep the valving adjusters out of harm's way by flipping them over

Yeah you really only can have monotubes like Bilstiens upside down and have them work entirely right. A twin tube upside down has the foot valve in the air so you wil have dead spots woth no compression damping and more air will get in the fluid reducing your overall damping as well.

I like how your mod corrects the panhard rod angle. The panhard rod controles the rear roll center and if its tiled it can cause jacking while cornering.

**88pathoffroad** · Apr 17th, 2005, 12:32 PM

Yep. Especially with a locked rear diff. When you step on the gas it used to tweak the front end a bit sideways and I had to countersteer. It doesn't do it anymore!

**morepower2** · Apr 18th, 2005, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88pathoffroad

Yep. Especially with a locked rear diff. When you step on the gas it used to tweak the front end a bit sideways and I had to countersteer. It doesn't do it anymore!

what sort of rear diff do you have?

**88pathoffroad** · Apr 19th, 2005, 12:30 AM

Nissan H233B solid axle with a Lock-Right diff locker.

**morepower2** · Apr 26th, 2005, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88pathoffroad

Nissan H233B solid axle with a Lock-Right diff locker.

what do you think about adding a front LSD?

Adam · Apr 26th, 2005, 01:52 PM

Man I wish i could have found a 4x4.

**88pathoffroad** · Apr 26th, 2005, 09:02 PM

I'd LOVE a front LSD, but they're rarer than teeth on a hen. I'd need a clutch-type LSD from a 6/86-89 300ZX turbo. When you CAN find one, they're usually real expensive, too. Dammit.