Topic: Lame-ass Nissan Pathfinder question...

[BigMike]

Hey guys,

A couple of weeks ago two guys at my college were checking out my truck as I was walking out of class.

One guy owns a White 2nd gen with 33s and the other a 87 V6 Nissan pathfinder..

Apparently the '87 pathfinder's V6 puts out more power than the Toy 3.0, has disk rear brakes, factory limited slips front and rear, coil 3link in the rear, and a decent crossmember that attaches to the side of the chain driver transfercase to improve the (awful) groundclearance. It's not all to bad if you compare it to a '87 4Runner that only could compare with a Turbo engine...... unless least I forget its still a NISSAN!

Anyways, he wants to install a 3" body lift so here's my question: I am going to do this for him and I was wondering if anyone has worked on a Pathfinder and how does it compare with a 4Runner in terms of how the body mounts are, etc ? I've installed body lift kits on a 1st gen pickup (mine/custom 1"), a 2nd gen pickup (buddies 3"), and a 2nd gen 4Runner (1995/buddies/3").

I've never cared about Nissan's so I've never looked into them, but I just want to be prepared for any annoying things with doing a body lift job on it. For instance does the radiator mount to the body of the frame? It would sure save me some time if it was mounted to the body....

And I already know what you're gonna say about Nissan, but if you have any experience with 'em, then let me know!

Thanks!
BigMike

[reklund5]

I helped install a body lift on a pathy a while back, and as I remember, it was pretty straightforward.  As I remember, the radiator mounts to the body.  The only things to watch for are brake lines, clutch lines, and shifter linkage.  I think the fuel filler neck needs to be extended as well for a 3" lift.  I'll ask my buddy and get back to you...

Ryan

[BigMike [OP]]

Yup, I was thinking about the fuel neck... Hopefully the kit he is getting will have the extension. The hardest part about a body kit for me is having to remove the shifter to weld on the extension. Im always nervous about breaking the plastic center console, but Toyota's are pretty straightforward, and I'm hopeing the plastic paneling in the Pathy won't give me any trouble either..

Thanks

[jr9162]

Nissan's look real nice lifted. I had a neighbor who had one lifted 2 inches with the Z24 4 banger in it. That Nissan could wheel pretty darn good.

Tell yer friend I have some real nice Pathfinder/Frontier 15" alloy wheels if he's interested. If he lives near I5, free delivery this or next month. Not sure when I'll take the drive.

[Willy Mammoth]

Mike, I personaly do not care for body lifts. Try to talk them into a SAS. First find out what gears they are running. 4.37's I think, Does Toy have this gearing? Body lifts make a mess out of a truck. The shifters sink into the floor, the srearing column gets angled funny and the break lines need to be moved around and for what? 3" of extra clearance. I had my body shift over in a sharp turn and the steering shaft came apart almost causing me to hit a light pole. If you can do an SAS, do it. If not I would stay away from a body lift.

To SAS a nissan you will need to flip a toy axle to get the pumkin on the driver side, but it is well worth it. SEE the pics on my mud truck. It was a 88 3.0L and it was bad @$$. Let me know if you need more info.

[BigMike [OP]]

Thanks Mark-

I told him that we could do a sas on it, but he's a poor college kid like me. He can barely afford to get the kit installed by a friend (me)!

SAS would be ideal, but I would rather just tell him to sell his truck and get like an '85 EFI 4Runner that is wwaayy more capable.

BigMike

[reklund5]

So Mike, you're too busy to work on your own rig this semester, but have time to do a body lift on a Nissan? 

[Willy Mammoth]

So Mike, you're too busy to work on your own rig this semester, but have time to do a body lift on a Nissan?

     That's funny

[BigMike [OP]]

[bluetoy84]

I installed a body lift on an '88 nissan pickup that I had in high school and it's a real pain in the @$$ compared to a Toyota. The radiator does not bolt to the front like a toy , it has a bracket under the bottom that the radiator sits on,   so when you raise the body you have to cut the bracket out with a sawzall and bolt in the supplied "drop bracket".

The real pain in the @$$ is the steering. Toyota has those handy plastic shear pins that you drill out to let the shaft extend. It was almost like they designed it so you could put a body lift on one. Nissan, well they didn't. You have to take the steering column out and grind the tube part of the column loose from the flange that bolts it to the firewall. By doing this it lets the steering column portrude through the firewall , moving the steering wheel closer to the dash. It comes with  brackets to "properly" relocate everything.

Mine was a performance accessories body lift and I just followed the instructions. There might be an easier way to do it but I didn't see one. All I can say is,   have fun!

Also, trying to wheel a Nissan inspired me to buy a straight axle Toyota. That's all I'm going say about that.

[Willy Mammoth]

I grew up on Nissan and wished they had a straight axle like toyota. They would have given Toyota a run for the money. AS far back as I can remmember Nissan had more power than any other import of the same class. They just didn't have the straight axle. This all by it's self caused Nissan to fall behind. It's a real shame, and it did not stop there. They stopped production of the Z and then brought it back a few years latter. Imagine if GM did that with the Corvette, It would have pissed off a lot of people. Well that's how I feel about Nissan now. They still make a great product, but I have lost the respect I once had.

Sorry for the long wind, Just pissed off at the cable Co, they Came to fix my internet connection and I wasn't here so my neighbor came over and got him and had him fix his. I am still waiting for the SOB to fix mine.

Sorry again