2" Lift, (Spacers and AAL)

tommyboy

Need Bigger Tires
Founding Member
Location
Nashville
Here is the How to for a 2 inch lift with spacers and Add A Leaf on a second generation Xterra. :)

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I’m sure you have heard about the lower front shock bolts not wanting to come off. It is a really good idea to start hitting all of the bolts with PB Blaster at LEAST 2 weeks before you plan to do your lift. I did this and was able to break both lower bolts off with a breaker bar and cheater bar. Also you will want to clear all of your bolt threads of dirt and Wooly’s mud. :D

It is not a bad idea to plan on having to cut the bolts off. There are places to order them online and save you some cash. I went to Nissan and got hosed on my nuts and bolts. (I didn’t need them, but it was good to know I had them if I did.)

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Also get a set of camber bolts and washers. I know everyone says every truck is different, but ask yourself “how much did I spend on my tires?†and then you can decide from there. I did get the camber kit and once again glad I did. My camber was so far off it was not funny, and my tow kicked in so far it did not fell like my truck driving the 1.1 miles to the Firestone.
Why Nissan cut the corner on the camber bolts after 05? I really don’t know, but it seams really crappy.

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THE FRONT – PRG 2†SPACERS.

First before jacking up the truck. Slide under and remove the top sway bar end link bolts. (17mm) You can get more room to work under there if you turn the wheel full driver lock and do the driver side bolt. Then turn the wheel full passenger lock and remove the passenger side bolt. Swing the sway bar up and out of the way. This helps with two things. One it gets the end links out of the way when you have to deal with the lower shock bolts. Two it allows more flex to get the spring back in once you have installed the spacers.

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Next jack up only one front corner by the frame lifting the tire about 3 to 4 inches off the ground and support the truck with a jack stand on the frame. By keeping 3 tires on the ground it is safer for the a mount of pushing, pulling, beating and crying that lower bolt can offer. Once you have lowered the truck onto the jack stand and pulled your jack out from under the truck stand up and push on you truck to make sure it is stable. You are responsible for your own safety and it is better to have the truck fall off the jack stand with the wheels on still and YOU NOT UNDER IT! You will see my jack stands are not tall enough so I placed wood that is twice the size of the jack stands under there for more height.

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Now remove the wheel. The first thing I did after removing the wheel was to start on the lower shock bolt. (19mm) You just want to brake it free not remove it right now. The reason I started here was because I knew how much force it was going to take and it was easier with the front suspension assembled that if everything else was loose. (It is the nut at the lower end of the long yellow thing)

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Next I moved to the upper ball joint that connects the spindle. First remove the cotter pin, DO NOT REUSE THE COTTER PIN! PRG supplies you with new ones, if you are using a kit that didn’t come with new pins dive to the parts store and grab a few for like $2. I straightened out the pin then stuck the tip of my needle nose pliers in the loop and tapped it with a hammer.

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Now grab a 22mm and break the nut free. Do not fully remove it just back it off to the end of the ball joint stud. The next step I got from Greg, Hit the top of the spindle with a BFH (big freakin hammer) on the front side about 5 or 6 times and the joint should free itself. Then before you finish removing the nut grab some big zip ties or wire and secure the top of the spindle because once the nut is removed the assembly will drop and want to swing away. You want to watch and not over extend your brake lines, ABS lines or put extreme stress on your half shafts.

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Now start removing the three bolts on the top of the strut. Before you start make sure there is no dirt or debris on the threads. (Mine were covered) A little advice here, remove the back two first, then remove the front one. This will make things so much easier for you. Pay attention as you finish the last bolt because the assembly may drop even more.

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Next you want to go ahead with the lower strut bolt and remove the spring assembly from the truck. The top of my strut was also covered with Wooly’s mud so I had to clean them out and clean the top strut mount.
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Also clean out the top strut mount.

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Now you can grab your spacer and use the stock bolts to attach it. The PRG spacers are Aluminum so DO NOT over tighten them they will strip. Remove the bolts that came with the spacer and remember the order of the washers for reassembly.

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You want to put the top of the strut back in first. You have to put the strut assembly in backwards (180) from the stock position. Start by threading the front bolt in about 50% then move to the back two. Get all three in about 50% and then move to the lower bolt.

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A floor jack will be useful here to lift the spindle back up to the bottom of the strut, line it up and replace the bolt. Then tighten the top three bolts to 30flb.

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Now you need to remove the old bump stop. Get a deep well 12mm and break it free. At some point it will become loose enough that you will need to stop it from spinning. I used a pair of vice grips and clamped onto the old bump stop and finished removal. The PRG bump stop stud is thicker than the stock one so you will need to drill the hole out a little. I like to use step bits when enlarging holes and it didn’t fail me this time either.

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Next I took a 14mm socket and extension to hold the nut up to the bottom of the lower control arm and work the bump stop down to it. As you start to tighten the nut you will run out of socket and need to swap to a deep socket to finish the job at 10ftlb with a 14mm.

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Next I put the upper ball joint back together. Once again a floor jack will be very useful to lift up the spindle and put the nut back on. Once you have tightened the nut down put in a NEW cotter pin. DO NOT REUSE THE OLD COTTER PIN!!!

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This is where I found it easiest to replace the camber bolts. Break the nuts free and remove the nut and washer on the nut side. Get a screwdriver (I used an old suspension bolt from a Nissan 240sx) to push the old bolt out. When you do this it helps keep the holes aligned for reassembly with the camber bolt. I pushed the new bolt back in the same way I pushed to old bolt out. (just incase you forget the nuts go on the front the bolt inserts from the back.) Once I completed the front on each side the back was pretty easy, I also swapped from the old 240 bolt to the first removed Xterra bolt because it was much longer.

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Finally recheck the torque on all of your bolts and you can replace the wheel and move to the other side.

After you finish the other side don’t forget to hook your sway bar back up. When doing so just finger tighten the nuts until you have both sides on then torque to spec.

END OF PART ONE...

TO BE CONTINUED......
 
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tommyboy

Need Bigger Tires
Founding Member
Location
Nashville
THE REAR – DEAVER AAL

You want to make sure that you have plenty of room to work around and under the truck. An extra set of jack stands will be a much-valued asset here we’ll get to that. Once again completely secure your truck on the jack stands. You will be under the truck a lot so in some shots you can see a third set of jack stands that I used to back up protection. You have to lift the whole rear end up so I decided to raise it from the pumpkin. Place the jack stands a little in front of the front of the leaf spring mounts and secure the truck.

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Now I lowered the spare tire out of the way to give more working room.

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I removed the sway bar and forgot to take pictures. :(

Next you want to remove the lower strut bolts and let them hang out. (forgot pics)

It is suggested to use a few clamps to hold the leafs together at the outer edges. This will make reassembly much easier. You’ll need four clamps because you have to do both sides at the same time.

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Remove the nuts that hold on the U-bolts for both sides of the axel.

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Now jack the axel up and away from the springs. WATCH ALL OF YOUR LINES!!! There are a bunch with the brake lines, ABS lines, and emergency brake lines.

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This is where the second set of jack stands help. As you can see in the pictures I used the stands to hold the axel out of the way. And as things progressed I had to increase the height of the axel.

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Now I used a set of vice grips to hold the top of the old spring bolt and I used the impact to remove the nut.

Time to prep the AAL. On the AAL the bolt is not dead center, it is off and the longer side goes to the front.

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For my set this meant the sticker goes to the back. Remove the nuts, bolts and spacers from the c brackets and the long nut and bolt from the center of the AAL.

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When you put the long bolt in to the leaf pack on the truck the threads go to the bottom. I used a 6” C-clamp here and it made putting the AAL on a breeze.

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You can see in the pictures how I used the clamp to compress the leafs and I would tighten the nut as I went. DO NOT over tighten the nut. On the first side I did start to strip the bolt but I was done before I really screwed things up.

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Next replace the nuts, bolts and spacers on the c brackets get them sung but don’t over tighten them and squish the spacer.

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Do this for both sides and then it is time to cut off the extra part of the install bolt.

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I used the cut off wheel for the first side, then could not get it in position for the second one and grabbed the sawzaw and it was like butter. (I would use a saw-zaw/reciprocating saw.)

Now lower the axel back down to the springs, replace the U-bolts and bottom plate. Check your lines and re-hook anything you unhooked. Then hook the struts back up and your done.

Now kick it to your local alignment shop. If you live very far away you may want to push your camber and tow out. Like I said mine was really bad after the lift. When I put the camber bolts on I pushed them all the way out. Didn't do the tow because I'm close to a firestone.

When I drove to Firestone and back I had the infamous/dreaded 30 to 40 mph hum and vibration from the rear. I went home bummed and was planning on adding the shims. BUT, after i took the flex shots in my driveway the vibration is GONE :D I'm so happy. I didn't want to take the rear a part again this soon.

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and tada!!!

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Well my yellow lab, the full grown boy, didn't compensate for the added few inches and bifted it pretty hard. It was hard to stop laughing because it is funny when friends wipe out and he is my best friend. It didn't hurt him, he missed with his front paws scratched the rear bumper and slammed his chest into said bumper. Then I think he was a little embarrassed, but the second time he made it no problem.
 
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tommyboy

Need Bigger Tires
Founding Member
Location
Nashville
Thank you, I haven't looked at this thread for a long time. Going over all the pics, I relived the whole thing! LOL it really does take the Xterra to a "truck" level. You look down on the stock xterras and just go"awwww so cute". :)
 

Kyle

Wheeling
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Very nice write up. It'll be useful to me soon as well. Pending if PRG's lift is similar to the one I bought off Nisstec yesterday.
 

Zombieitch

Bought an X
Location
Florissant, Mo
PB blaster and, anti cease are going to be your best friends! If you don't have to rotate the front shocks for the bolts to line up turning the steering wheel all the way will allow the spacer assembly to slide on in. My rig just hit 1 year old when the cam bolts where pulled, I was shocked at the amount of corrosion that already started.
 

duder

Test Drive
Location
Nashville, TN
Old thread, I know but great write up. Very detailed.

Curious... I've done several lifts on Isuzu Troopers and a '95 Nissan Pathy. Those didn't have coils but rather torsion bars up front.

Anyways, most folks on those vehicles just did a shackle lift on the rear. Is the add-a-leaf better? My Troopers had a lot of real estate in the wheel well so I'm wondering if a shackle pushes larger meats too far forward? Also, I'm scared to disconnect the entire axle from the leafs as I'm scared that I would put it back crooked. I suppose this is where the dreaded hum comes from? How did you ensure it went back in straight?
 

tommyboy

Need Bigger Tires
Founding Member
Location
Nashville
Had to go back to review my work and I Think I figured it out. If you look at the leaf packs there is a little nub on top of the packs there's a piece of the axel that drops down on the nub and that's what centers the axle on top of leaf packs. So no problem. The "hum" is id the drive shaft not being at the right angle. If you order form PRG you can get some shims that will fix that.
 

tommyboy

Need Bigger Tires
Founding Member
Location
Nashville
I would go with the AAL, I had to because my rear leafs were starting to sag. It was pretty easy to do, the front was way more work :)

P.m. Me when you are going to do yours and if I'm free I'll help out. Remember, to start hitting bolts with PB blaster two to three weeks everyday before you decide to do the work. :)
 

drbandkgb

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Id be glad to help out... Nissteclifts.com sells a sweet kit for the Gen2.. They offer the shims too..
I did the AAL on my Gen one in maybe 30 mins... We put shackles on our Gen 2..
I had a spacer for the front of the Gen 2 but didn't like it... I ended up going with Blistiens adjustable shocks up front..
They will give you .5 - 2" of lift up front.. I would recommend doing the 1.5"
The type of spacer Tom used is great by the way... Mine was made for inside the spring and strut

Stock:
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285 75 16 and no lift
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2" Lift
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duder

Test Drive
Location
Nashville, TN
Thanks for the information, guys. Nice to see I've got various options. Both of your rigs turned out great. When I get ready to pull the trigger on some lift, I'll definitely reach out to you both.

Since we're sort of on the subject, I see there are quite a few members in the Middle TN region. Do folks get together? Maybe a wrenching party or just to have a few beers?
 

drbandkgb

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
We do have mod days... Should be having one
Some time this spring... We meet up at the car show here in Murfreesboro when we can..
 
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