AlbatrossCafe's FleXterra ~ T-Swap, 35s, 4.10s, Fully Locked

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
I'd get longer straps and adjust accordingly rather than trying to make the 8" ones work, just my 2 cents.

Yeah I'm gonna suck it up and do it the right way. I'm thinking when chrishaynes measured his strap (posted in a thread on the "forbidden site") he only measured the strap itself and didn't include the clevises. To put everything in the right spot, I'm gonna need an 11" strap.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Well because of the wildfires, and with no end in sight (no rain in WA :() I'm not going anywhere for a while. Decided to take this opportunity to fix up the front suspension on the X.

I replaced the UCA ball joints - driver side was bad. Also replaced the tie-rod ends - passenger side was bad. Since I am adding limit straps, I just sent my coilovers to Radflo for rebuild. They only have about 12k miles on them since the last rebuild... but the passenger side was leaking pretty badly. Figured I would rebuild them one more time (and hopefully this is the last after the straps).

I also noticed several cracks in my passenger coilbucket. One is previously repaired crack, the other is new. UGH. I don't want to replace that entire coilbucket. It is EXPENSIVE from Nissan (like $220+). Not to mention all the work involved to do that. Now that I have my own welder, I'm gonna try my hand at the repair. Before, it was only welded on top. I'm gonna weld top and bottom and grind the bottom out so that it stays flat for the coilover.

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PhullD

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
I've never seen a coilbucket crack like that on a 2nd gen and you cracked both, that must be worth some special achievement points!

That and your shocks going out often leads me to believe you're probably going a little to fast over the small stuff. Of course small being relative here, but anything that results in that bottoming out bang. We like to think that with coilovers and a Titan swap we can blow through all that stuff, but the reality isn't so pretty. The bump rebound with the 650lb springs is pretty harsh and we don't have a crap ton of droop when you really think about it, droop is only like half of total travel at best and it's about 5" (useable) for us. Each time you go over objects exceeding the droop dampening the springs are shooting those radflos down. Trophy trucks and such usually don't have a lot of weight up front and have a lot more travel, not to mention limit straps. With those installed I think you will be much better off.

If you seen it, I made a list right after my trip to Utah and Colorado and it included limit straps for the above reason when I was with you guys on Top of the World.
 

IM1RU

Skid Plates
Supporting Member
Location
SLC, UT
droop is only like half of total travel at best and it's about 5" (useable) for us.


T swap total travel 10.5" without the shock in the mix. That is the maximum that the set up can move. Throw in bump stops, the fact that the shocks actually can't move that far, and now you're down to about 9" (shock dependent).... set it on the ground and you're likely to only achieve about 3" of droop. If we could actually get 5" of droop We'd be in a class all our own for IFS.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
T swap total travel 10.5" without the shock in the mix. That is the maximum that the set up can move. Throw in bump stops, the fact that the shocks actually can't move that far, and now you're down to about 9" (shock dependent).... set it on the ground and you're likely to only achieve about 3" of droop. If we could actually get 5" of droop We'd be in a class all our own for IFS.
That is also dependant on tire size and static ride height. You could run 285s and less lift and have a higher percentage of travel as droop.

Full extension is full extension but droop is the amount of travel down from static ride height.
 

PhullD

First Fill-Up (of many)
Supporting Member
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
That is also dependant on tire size and static ride height. You could run 285s and less lift and have a higher percentage of travel as droop.

Full extension is full extension but droop is the amount of travel down from static ride height.

Tire size would not matter as long as it isn't being stopped by a fender, anyway the point is well taken I think that it is easier than people think to ruin a pair of shocks lol
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Tire size would not matter as long as it isn't being stopped by a fender, anyway the point is well taken I think that it is easier than people think to ruin a pair of shocks lol
That's true, I just referred to tire size as it relates to general lift amounts and what tires most folks run with them.

I've considered going Titan Swap but sticking to about 3" of lift and my 285s to gain the travel but not increase the strain on my driveline.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
That's true, I just referred to tire size as it relates to general lift amounts and what tires most folks run with them.

I've considered going Titan Swap but sticking to about 3" of lift and my 285s to gain the travel but not increase the strain on my driveline.

That's about what I'm at btw. I stuck with 3". Anything above that and it felt like I had no downtravel. I feel like potholes were always more harsh than uptravel (thanks to my progressive bump stomps) so I prefer the droop.
 

IM1RU

Skid Plates
Supporting Member
Location
SLC, UT
That is also dependant on tire size and static ride height. You could run 285s and less lift and have a higher percentage of travel as droop.

Full extension is full extension but droop is the amount of travel down from static ride height.

I am well aware of nearly all the numbers regarding our IFS. I was forced to learn it the hard way. Having broken both LCA's due to coil bind, having spent hours on the phone with Greg at PRG, Glen at Radflo, and physically comparing Nisstec to PRG... Finding and replacing the coils to what really should be on there for my set up, making sure that the shocks are the exact length to achieve the greatest travel (correct spacers), then spending and entire day setting it up, and measuring every thing over and over and over until I reached the maximums.....

With 3" of lift, 3" of droop is all you're going to get on TS'd rig before you get ball joint / CV bind.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
I am well aware of nearly all the numbers regarding our IFS. I was forced to learn it the hard way. Having broken both LCA's due to coil bind, having spent hours on the phone with Greg at PRG, Glen at Radflo, and physically comparing Nisstec to PRG... Finding and replacing the coils to what really should be on there for my set up, making sure that the shocks are the exact length to achieve the greatest travel (correct spacers), then spending and entire day setting it up, and measuring every thing over and over and over until I reached the maximums.....

With 3" of lift, 3" of droop is all you're going to get on TS'd rig before you get ball joint / CV bind.

I wasn't questioning your knowledge, just stating that if I was running at a lower ride height, I'd have more droop. The total travel would be divided differently between compression and droop.

I fully respect your knowledge on this, but we (Nissan community) seem to struggle with some terminology related to suspension travel.

Travel being the total distance the wheels can travel due to shock length.
Static Ride Height being where the vehicle sits with the weight on the suspension and level.
Compression being the wheels travel upward from Static Ride Height and Droop being the down travel from Static Ride Height.

Hence my comment and your reply. With 3" of lift, you get 3" Droop. If you lowered the Static Ride Height to 2" of lift, you would have 4" of Droop, sacrificing Compression for Droop.

I, personally, would like more droop. I think it's one of the limiting factors of IFS in general. At 2" of lift, I have right at 2" of Droop with my OE width setup. Which would be 2" less at total extension than your TS which REALLY makes me question going to a TS to not gain much in Droop. I already have more Compression than I can use. My UCAs were contacting my inner wheel wells and I had to bump stop it to keep that from happening.
 
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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Now that the 9 days of hazardous smoke and hiding inside is gone, I was finally able to tack-weld stuff for limit straps. This is with the 11" length that I got instead of 8". It feels way better. And the bottom clevis easily clears the bump stop in this location. I wanted to make it about equal with the shock mount location on the control arm.

We'll have to see if the strap will interfere/get tangled in the bump stop on compression but I have high hopes. I'm right in the middle of my adjustable clevis up top so I should have room to adjust in either direction.

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Finally got my limit straps welded up. Behold my flux-core welds! I will shamelessly reveal them. Not the prettiest but they will hold. With the coilovers gone, I'm able to move the control arm fully up & down. Looks like the straps won't get in the way of brake lines or bump stop at all! Now I'm waiting on my coilovers to get back from Radflo after their second rebuild. I REALLY hope they show up as I'm supposed to leave for vacation this evening. Says they are out for delivery. I'll have to get them on and adjust the straps as needed. Hopefully everything works out as I'm gonna be slapping a bunch of new stuff onto the truck and leaving for a 500 mile drive immediately lol

For my trip, it's gonna be cold (mid 20's) at night so I snagged a mattress from my parents. Gonna give it a shot full time sleeping in the car this time.

Lastly, I like my wheels but they do have this problem of holding like an inch of water. Not sure if there is anything really to do about it. Bottom pic is what the spare looks like after a few hours of rain. Needs drain holes in the rock rash ring or something...

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Coilovers returned from Radflo and limit straps are in. Spent a few hours last night getting everything on and adjusted.

I don't have a lot of data to go on yet, but I was able to drive about 1/4 mile on a really bad pothole-laden gravel road at about 10-15mph. Let me just say it made a MASSIVE difference. I was bouncing a bit in my seat but there was absolutely NO harshness on droop. Before, nearly every hole resulted in a big "CLUNK" at the bottom. I'll take it. 100% satisfied so far. Now, who knows if this is attributed to coilovers, straps, or both. But I hope it stays this way.

Overall I reduced front droop by about 1/4" at the shock, which is usually close to 1/2" at the wheel. I think that is probably worth it if it means my shocks won't explode after 12k miles and for a much nicer ride. We'll see how my articulation looks on slow speed trails and if it feels much different.

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One negative... the lower limit straps mount made it really challenging to reach & tighten the lower shock mount bolt (which is already a struggle at 155 ft/lbs). I was using a swivel joint and pulling the torque wrench towards me at nearly full force and hit myself in the head with the bottom edge when it slipped off. Might need stitches. Head wounds bleed a lot! upload_2020-9-25_8-55-14.gif (pic here)
 

AdventureRider81

Bought an X
Location
Savannah, GA
Coilovers returned from Radflo and limit straps are in. Spent a few hours last night getting everything on and adjusted.

I don't have a lot of data to go on yet, but I was able to drive about 1/4 mile on a really bad pothole-laden gravel road at about 10-15mph. Let me just say it made a MASSIVE difference. I was bouncing a bit in my seat but there was absolutely NO harshness on droop. Before, nearly every hole resulted in a big "CLUNK" at the bottom. I'll take it. 100% satisfied so far. Now, who knows if this is attributed to coilovers, straps, or both. But I hope it stays this way.

Overall I reduced front droop by about 1/4" at the shock, which is usually close to 1/2" at the wheel. I think that is probably worth it if it means my shocks won't explode after 12k miles and for a much nicer ride. We'll see how my articulation looks on slow speed trails and if it feels much different.

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One negative... the lower limit straps mount made it really challenging to reach & tighten the lower shock mount bolt (which is already a struggle at 155 ft/lbs). I was using a swivel joint and pulling the torque wrench towards me at nearly full force and hit myself in the head with the bottom edge when it slipped off. Might need stitches. Head wounds bleed a lot! View attachment 15584 (pic here)

Awesome! I have been meaning to do this for awhile now. glad it was a success for you.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Coilovers returned from Radflo and limit straps are in. Spent a few hours last night getting everything on and adjusted.

I don't have a lot of data to go on yet, but I was able to drive about 1/4 mile on a really bad pothole-laden gravel road at about 10-15mph. Let me just say it made a MASSIVE difference. I was bouncing a bit in my seat but there was absolutely NO harshness on droop. Before, nearly every hole resulted in a big "CLUNK" at the bottom. I'll take it. 100% satisfied so far. Now, who knows if this is attributed to coilovers, straps, or both. But I hope it stays this way.

Overall I reduced front droop by about 1/4" at the shock, which is usually close to 1/2" at the wheel. I think that is probably worth it if it means my shocks won't explode after 12k miles and for a much nicer ride. We'll see how my articulation looks on slow speed trails and if it feels much different.

kcuLtxR.jpg

E65r2FC.jpg



One negative... the lower limit straps mount made it really challenging to reach & tighten the lower shock mount bolt (which is already a struggle at 155 ft/lbs). I was using a swivel joint and pulling the torque wrench towards me at nearly full force and hit myself in the head with the bottom edge when it slipped off. Might need stitches. Head wounds bleed a lot! View attachment 15584 (pic here)
Ouch!

Strap looks good though.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Really... 2 crankshaft sensors later and now I get this. 100k has not been kind to me. Middle of no where idaho on a road trip.
 

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Really... 2 crankshaft sensors later and now I get this. 100k has not been kind to me. Middle of no where idaho on a road trip.

This sucked lol. Bank 1 AKA passenger side. 2.5 hours later and we are back on the road. Honestly, once I found out I could reach it best by laying down it wasn't that bad. But I spent literally probably 75 minutes trying to disconnect the sensor from the wiring harness. I tried by hand, with pliers, with screwdriver... Holy hell I don't know what was holding on to it.

Eventually I was able to break it loose at the screwdriver but I also think I broke the wiring harness. The new one doesn't click and stay secured in. I managed to fix it and make it hold with duct tape for now... But who knows how that will hold up over the next week on my road trip. And I'm a debating a long-term fixed. I'm certainly not going to try to solder something in there. I wonder if I just super glue, and hope it holds and I sell the Xterra before it fails again... Lol
 

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Okay. Now I just think somebody's playing a joke on me at this point. Popped up today. 100k baby!!
 

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
That's a new design being tested. A combination of disk and drum braking. ;)

I got even more experimental braking for ya! Now my rear driver side rotor is getting rubbed to death. Idk how it started. I'm on the road and don't really want to get into it. Looks like the rotor is toast. I have about 500 miles home to drive. Debating if I can leave it. Definitely hear it as the wheel turns. WTF is happening to my X?
 

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TheCrabby1

I Smell Fishy
Supporting Member
Location
Burtonsville, Md
I got even more experimental braking for ya! Now my rear driver side rotor is getting rubbed to death. Idk how it started. I'm on the road and don't really want to get into it. Looks like the rotor is toast. I have about 500 miles home to drive. Debating if I can leave it. Definitely hear it as the wheel turns. WTF is happening to my X?
Remember all the hard wheeling and everything you BROKE on the X ? Now it's trying to see how BROKE it can make your wallet :mad: Maybe it has a little DNA from "Christine" and is just getting a little pay back :cool:;)
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
I got even more experimental braking for ya! Now my rear driver side rotor is getting rubbed to death. Idk how it started. I'm on the road and don't really want to get into it. Looks like the rotor is toast. I have about 500 miles home to drive. Debating if I can leave it. Definitely hear it as the wheel turns. WTF is happening to my X?

Do you have rubber brake lines? If so, pull the wheel and pry the caliper open. Then clamp off the rubber brake line to that side with vise grips and ziptie the vise grips to the house so they won't be flopping around.

Kinda looks like you might have something jammed in the caliper? Maybe a rock or other road debris. Might be worth just popping it off to see.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Remember all the hard wheeling and everything you BROKE on the X ? Now it's trying to see how BROKE it can make your wallet :mad: Maybe it has a little DNA from "Christine" and is just getting a little pay back :cool:;)

Haha for real! It's PAYBACK TIME!

Do you have rubber brake lines? If so, pull the wheel and pry the caliper open. Then clamp off the rubber brake line to that side with vise grips and ziptie the vise grips to the house so they won't be flopping around.

Kinda looks like you might have something jammed in the caliper? Maybe a rock or other road debris. Might be worth just popping it off to see.

Dang, that would have been a good solution. Looks like the pad was completely gone and it was rubbing metal on metal. I drove the 500 or so miles home from Missoula, MT to Renton, WA and that destroyed the caliper lol. I kind of half-accepted it because I have brand calipers that I bought like 15k miles ago when I did my brake pads that I didn't end up needing.

Here's what's weird though.... like I said, I replaced these pads 15k miles ago. At home today, I pulled both rear wheels. The passenger side looked 15k miles old. The driver side was completely toast. Anyone know why this might be? Is it related to my mishap with front brake caliper from a few posts above?

Driver's side:

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Passenger side for comparison:

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Just the outside pad or both worn like that?

Looks like it is only worn on the outside of the rotor. The inside has a little less brake pad (compared to the working side) but it at least isn't metal on metal.

I should note that this is the only caliper that is not OEM. I had to replace it from a local auto parts store about 20k miles ago after the pistons on the OEM one somehow fell out while driving (I think - I vaguely remember)
 
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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Your caliper slides are probably seized. Clean them all up really well and lubricate with some good silicon grease and replace the pads and rotor. That's normally what causes the issue of only being worn on the side opposite the piston. The slides won't allow the force to be relieved on the outboard pad and it wears away faster.

If both are worn out, that's usually the piston stuck or a brake hose had collapsed internally.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Your caliper slides are probably seized. Clean them all up really well and lubricate with some good silicon grease and replace the pads and rotor. That's normally what causes the issue of only being worn on the side opposite the piston. The slides won't allow the force to be relieved on the outboard pad and it wears away faster.

Nailed it. The bottom slide would get stuck wherever I left it, and the top one as barely acceptable. Wonder why this one went first?

I have a new set of rotors sitting aroun and I just ordered Powerstop Extreme "Truck and Tow" pads for front and rear. Even though these brakes only have ~20k on them, I'm gonna do the whole pad/rotor swaperoo. New parking brake shoes as well. And lastly, I picked up some grease to lube the existing slides.

The inside of the rotor was weirdly worn in the center. I'm just gonna chalk that up to related. Getting a whole new caliper bracket and slides.

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Note stuck slide on bottom:

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Took this out while I'm waiting for some brake pads to come in. One side looked like it was possibly leaking. I also have a howl from 52-59mph that didn't exist until recently. So I might try driving without it and see if the noise is still there. The leaking might be harder to determine.... like it could be oil from up above. I guess I'll clean it off real well and see if it gets dirty just sitting in my garage...?

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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
You'll need to find the stubs from a 2wd that go in the front wheel bearings. IIRC our front wheel bearings are designed to have the clamping force from the stub shaft and they could separate while driving.

As for the leak, you will probably have to get under and see if you can trace a leak down the engine to the diff or if it looks like the flange was slinging oil as it leaked out.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
So I don't think the diff problem is gear oil. I have a pretty suspicious culprit nearby...

My oil cooler O-ring has been messy for a while. I thought it was my passenger side valve cover (which I recently replaced to fix a spark plug seal). But I truly think it is just the stupid oil cooler. It seems common for these to leak on this engine. My truck has been dripping oil slowly from here onto my driveway for over a year. You can also see in the 2nd pic that the crossmember has a bunch of gunk on it (I wiped off in the middle). I doubt this all comes from the very end of the diff cus it extends pretty far towards the center of the truck.

Anyway, I ordered the $5 OEM seal and I'll knock out that change while I'm at it.

Also thanks @TerryD for the heads up. I would have never guessed. I found two old Xterra Axles and I'm gonna cut the the stubs off to use as a temporary clamp!

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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
So I don't think the diff problem is gear oil. I have a pretty suspicious culprit nearby...

My oil cooler O-ring has been messy for a while. I thought it was my passenger side valve cover (which I recently replaced to fix a spark plug seal). But I truly think it is just the stupid oil cooler. It seems common for these to leak on this engine. My truck has been dripping oil slowly from here onto my driveway for over a year. You can also see in the 2nd pic that the crossmember has a bunch of gunk on it (I wiped off in the middle). I doubt this all comes from the very end of the diff cus it extends pretty far towards the center of the truck.

Anyway, I ordered the $5 OEM seal and I'll knock out that change while I'm at it.

Also thanks @TerryD for the heads up. I would have never guessed. I found two old Xterra Axles and I'm gonna cut the the stubs off to use as a temporary clamp!

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Just pop the outboard CV joint apart and run the whole piece instead of cutting. Save some time.

You may be able to buy the stub but I'm not sure where to look.

**Never mind, the 2wd bearings are made different. I had it in my mind they were the same but with a stub shaft bolted through them.**
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
With my recent brake issues after my trip, I decided to do a brake refresh. Went with Powerstop EXTREME pads because, well, they are EXTREME. Anything to get more bite with the 35s.

Things added:

  • Front brake pads (~60% remaining)
  • Rear brake pads (0-30% remaining)
  • Rear parking brake pads (~10% remaining - my parking brake barely worked for the last year)
  • New slide pins and boots in all caliper brackets
  • 1 new caliper bracket in the rear
  • New rotors

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AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
Also took out my front driveshaft, CV axles, and diff. I have a howling at 53-58mph and I want to know where it is coming from. I'm also trying to see if the diff is leaking. To help keep the hubs from separating, I borrowed an idea from here to use big 3/4" washers and bolt to hold them together in absence of the CV axles. Pretty neat idea!

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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Also took out my front driveshaft, CV axles, and diff. I have a howling at 53-58mph and I want to know where it is coming from. I'm also trying to see if the diff is leaking. To help keep the hubs from separating, I borrowed an idea from here to use big 3/4" washers and bolt to hold them together in absence of the CV axles. Pretty neat idea!

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That's a neat trick! I haven't seen that done before. What length bolts? I should add one of those to my toolbox.
 

AlbatrossCafe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Western WA
That's a neat trick! I haven't seen that done before. What length bolts? I should add one of those to my toolbox.

3/4" by 4" bolts, 3/4" washers. Use impact to tighten or have someone hold the brakes, otherwise there is nothing to stop the rotor from spinning... OEM axle nut is 101 ft/lbs. I just used the medium setting on my impact and called it good.
 
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