[Benjamin Sutherland]

I need to weld a ring of some sort to the the lip at the top of the rear cups, the edge is so thin it digs into the rubber absorber at the top of the spring seat.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Getting 275/55R20 tires put on now, will post pics later, my goal is to try and eliminate the need for my leveling spacer on the strut tower and then do a "subframe drop" so to speak which will decrease ground clearance which I will hopefully regain by the larger tires. This will relax my CV angles in the front which I think are making my noises, the axles are new. But I am still tackling the problem of my steering rods they keep rattling even after replacement!! The noise stopped immediately after I changed the outer tie rods, but I just replace the inner tie rods and now the infernal racket is back again....

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Here she is!

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Got a friend and we are making custom control arms or as nissan calls them spring seats which is where the camber adjustment is. 1 inch should be more than enough, after we test fit these I'll post results. They are not finished yet, but if I'm successful I told my welder friend there might be some money in it for you because some of the other guys on the forum may be interested. But I'm helping fix her Honda Civic so it's a quid pro quo lol.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Btw those are just for a test fit and test drive when I actually cut up my own I am just buying new ones that have better condition bushings and mine are nowhere near as rusted as these.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Also to help with rubbing in the rear suspension and keep everything looking gucci the Caster in the rear is god awful out of whack with the amount of lift that has been done. My proposed fix is to weld extended plates to the Radius arms in the rear so the wheels stay centered. This is especially important as medium to long suspension bumps in the road make a loud rub noise when they bump against the wheel well in the rear, the hazard here is possible tire damage (exploding from side wall puncture). I have been carefully driving over rough terrain so far as to minimize the hits. The attached image is a visual representation with the red lines showing the extension.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

In case anyone was wondering what the hell I had in the rear lol these are my replacement shock absorbers. All I did was put a spacer in the bottom bushing and the stock mount on the top. Big difference in travel length 2 inches taller according to the box.

--DISCLAIMER---
when installing PAY ATTENTION to your brake lines to avoid pinching from the load springs.

For those brave enough to go custom:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mon-58568

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Also another important thing to note is that your sway links will be absolutely destroyed, or the bushing at least after lifting this high, the best solution I have is buy adjustables and be prepared to buy another set. I have destroyed the joints on my new ones, though I doubt they'll break lol they weigh a lot more than the OEMs despite being factory replacements. Best thing is to keep your turning radius to a minimum when turning, this will prevent them from binding up on you.

Anything I have broken as a result of this Lift process I have reinforced and replaced (pending investigation), or have plans to. I recommend at this point to wait until I am completed first.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

They are completed, welder is doing final integrity check, but it's raining so won't be able to test fit until it stops. Also still have to spray paint them to prevent rusting.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Finishing touches with some rust enamel, hopefully I'll have them test fit today.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

Well folks, 1 inch was way too much, but extending the lateral arm and the radius arms as well should correct the suspension geometry. There is so much toe in that it cannot be corrected as is, I will have to revert for now so I can have a working vehicle.

 

[jman]

Keep documenting your build, you are the first member I know of that has taken the challenge to lift an R52. What you are sharing will help others to follow.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

After the test fit of the spring seats I can say that I had a hunch I would have to extend other suspension parts, so extending the lateral arm and the radius arm in the picture attached should complete the alignment correction, or at least enough to put some negative camber.

The tubular arm connecting to the top of the spindle is the radius arm currently my suspension does not move up and down it moves diagonally with spring compression. The radius arm being extended will help it move straight up and down. The lower arm in the photo is the lateral arm this is what controls the toe adjustment, however there is a caveat. Camber adjustment affects toe, as you can see in the photo I took last night. Extending these two the same amount especially the lateral arm should correct all the rear alignment issues.

 

[mercina]

A question, doing all this work, if you were in an accident, do you think your insurance company would cover you having made such modifications ?

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

A question, doing all this work, if you were in an accident, do you think your insurance company would cover you having made such modifications ?

As long as the modifications didn't cause the accident yes, but if they were to be replaced, factory replacements are only made. And at this point factory suspension arms don't fit lol

VW beetles must run on beetlegeuse

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

It looks great! Thanks for taking one for the team. So to clarify that is dobinsons with amazon spacers and stock struts? Sorry if I missed it.

Also, what roof rack do you have? Now you need to tuck that exhaust up under the frame.:24:

Tucking the exhaust up under the frame is pointless, the gas tank still rides lower to the ground than the exhaust.

 

[Chris DiTullio]

One more inch in the rear before I get some custom rear camber work done, I used the steel spacer cups in the rear as stacking the rubber and metal spacers is not safe, matter of fact they don't stack at all lol. We have t-rex control arms on our vehicles lol.

Hey Benjamin I am trying to lift my 2015 Nissan Pathfinder as well and was wondering where you got those 30mm spacers. I looked everywhere on Amazon and couldn't find them. If you have the link I would deeply appreciate it.

 

[Chris DiTullio]

Hey Benjamin I am trying to lift my 2015 Nissan Pathfinder as well and was wondering where you got those 30mm spacers. I looked everywhere on Amazon and couldn't find them. If you have the link I would deeply appreciate it.

And also those struts you have on the link are for front wheel drive Pathfinders will they also work on 4wd versions.

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

And also those struts you have on the link are for front wheel drive Pathfinders will they also work on 4wd versions.

The struts are the same on all R52 models, but I wouldn't use the custom struts it's a waste and they don't fit with the springs and leveling kit, I mean u could force them in there but then youd have excessive stress on the front suspension, also please read the entire thread as there are multiple advisories. As for the leveling kit here is one on eBay. I have not found a solution yet for the sway links yet other then buying heavy duty ones, they bind up and will click when turning the wheels at low speeds.

Complete Leveling Lift Kit 30mm for Nissan PATHFINDER, MURANO | eBay

Nissan PATHFINDER (R52) 2012 - 2017. Nissan MURANO (Z52) 2016 - present. Not sure if the lift kit is compatible with your car?. Installing is easy. You can install this lift kit at literally any car service or even manually as long as you’ve got basic car maintenance skills.

rover.ebay.com

 

[Benjamin Sutherland]

And also those struts you have on the link are for front wheel drive Pathfinders will they also work on 4wd versions.

The custom struts I attempted to use offer the advantage of fitting larger diameter tires, however as I have discovered there are some structural parts of the vehicle that are in the way and it's more trouble than it's worth $$$.