Canadian Nissan Truck Club

My front suspension is 7 years old :-(

I'm going to do a lift this spring but the money isn't there to do anything PRG-RadFlo-Ultimate-Awesomeness-ish.

Extra info. - a year or two ago a leaf on each side cracked and was replaced, but I had the spring shop add another leaf to each side as well as replacing the broken one - so the rear isn't quite as "old" as the front.

Also - I have sliders and skids and a rear bumper (no tire carrier) - so 270(?) extra pounds, but evenly distributed. Unfortunately, no plans for upgrading either bumper.

Originally I had thought about a 2" or 2.5" spacer/shackle lift, but now I am wondering about replacing springs and/or shocks up front, mostly because it might be a good idea of its own even though there are no drastic symptoms yet.

Measurements
Front wheel arch now at 33.00" instead of stock 34.25"
Rear wheel arch now at 35.25" instead of stock 35.59" (No, Miner, I can't really measure to +/- .005 in, just roll with the muggles :-b)

...and, yeah, the Toyos are almost done, when I replace them it will be with 285/75R16 - an inch bigger; 1/2" more lift from tires.

I do plan to keep the truck until it dies, so maybe there would be an improved lift years after this one, but there's a good chance that there won't be, so what do you recommend?

Apologies to anyone answering this type of question for the 8th (sideways) time.

I read through your post a few times and it is not clear to me exactly what you are trying to end up with.

Are you looking to get back to stock wheel arch height or are you looking to go even higher?
You mention that you want to keep it relatively inexpensive so I am assuming no aftermarket UCA. When you go 2-2.5" over stock without aftermarket UCA with a spacer you will get coil bucket contact.

In my '08 I originally went about 1.75" over stock with a spacer lift and the coil bucket contact drove me nuts. I have since upgraded to Rad-flos, stiffer coils, and UCAs.

I may have some options for you sitting in my garage:
1. I have spacers I am not using so you may want to try those.
2. I have brand new coil springs that you can try on your existing or new shocks. The problem with these is that one is a 650# and the other is 700# coil. I got these from Greg @ PRG (he screwed up the order, sent me new ones, and told me to keep these) - he also mentioned that if I just use them I would not be able to tell the difference. I wanted to make it right since I was spending a bunch of cash and wanted them to match, but if you are doing this on a budget you may be interested in these.

I am assuming that you will keep your leafs in the back and go to adjustable shackles.

LMK if you are interested in any of the stuff that I have or just want my opinion on a particular setup.

Looking to go over stock height - the comparison was just to help someone to tell me whether or not the coils/shocks are still worth keeping. If it weren't for the age/wear of the coils and/or shocks, it would be spacers and shackles for sure.

I've read so many conflicting reports about CBC I concluded that since I drive like a granny, I might be one of the people who does well with spacers that yield a lift in the 2-2.5" range. Did you have aftermarket bump stops when you had that lift?

Granny is definitely interested in springs that are only 8% different - it shouldn't matter too much to me, especially with them both being stronger than stock - unless my shocks won't be up to it.

Might my shocks be up to better springs? Might my existing coilovers tolerate spacers well?

Thanks for your patience, JAS.

I can't answer the specific questions about spring shock combinations and 'what combination is up to what', because there are so many variables, and there are trade-offs with each decision. The best thing is to try it out if you have the ability to take out/work on the coil-overs on your own. Keep what you have and try the spacers or keep your shocks and try the coils or try the spacer and the coils. When your existing shocks poop the bed then buy a better shock at that time. If you have the coils you may want to upgrade to rad-flo's (shock only) at that time. Since your tires are almost gone then I would try the various combinations in fairly quick succession without alignments in between setups and once you decide on the setup of your choice then have the truck aligned.
I wish I had these options when I was making this decision.

Good advice.
Sometimes no amount of thinking/planning will give you as good a result as simply being willing to experiment a few times.

Thank you.

PM sent.

Good luck. How many ks? Hope to see you on the trails again.

... just under 200 000 km.

... definitely wheeling again (and more) this season
... see you out there

the x kid wrote:Good luck. How many ks? Hope to see you on the trails again.

Good stuff.

Are the adjustable Bilstien 5100s available for the Xterra?

Miner wrote:Are the adjustable Bilstien 5100s available for the Xterra?

They are, but word is that they don't play nicely with the stock springs when they are cranked up.

I have the adjustable Bilsteins and I wish I never bought them, I have them set at and 1 1/2 truck rides like an old lumber wagon now. Been thinking of getting the 608 OME coils and putting the shocks back to stock height

X2 on the adjustable 5125 billstiens.....Although I like the way the ride, Garbage design with the snap ring, had one fail on me randomly and the truck dropped to the ground. Had this of happened in a turn or something and I could have rolled. If you plan to keep it for a while dont buy these.

If your looking for cheapest option I think you have the right idea stiffer springs or the spacer. The CBC was unbearable for me after 1.75", would smash on even the tiniest speed bumps.

JAS and FronyFlyer,

The 1.75" you refer to, is that the thickness of the spacer of the increased height (of the truck)?

I think they are talking about both without changing to an aftermarket upper control arm.

I read something recently about the Xterra's geometry yielding 1.6x the spacer height in lift.

Assuming that 1.75" is the thickness of the spacer, 1.75 x 1.6 = 2.8 inches of lift which is definitely CBC territory.

A thinner spacer that would keep the lift to under 2.5" (as high as I would dare to go without new UCAs etc.) would leave just enough clearance that the less significant lumps in the road wouldn't result in CBC. (CBC unavoidable for bigger stuff)

...at least that's the theory from the reports I read.

FrontyFlyer wrote: The CBC was unbearable for me after 1.75", would smash on even the tiniest speed bumps.

100% agree and that is at 1.75" at the wheel (not at the coil-over mounting location). Keep in mind that the coil-over has a bunch of preload which means that there are two forces accelerating the wheel down as it tries to follow the ground - any preload associated with holding the vehicle up and gravity. The speed of the downward motion of the wheel is faster then if you simply dropped the wheel and any additional weight (spindle, breaks, etc). I have found that the CBC was there regardless of how I drove (fast/slow/granny/or otherwise). I find that speed/driving has much more to do with the up-travel of the suspension - the faster you go the harder the hits. The CBC is a constant reminder that you are doing something the vehicle was not intended to do. The engineers did not design this vehicle to limit down travel by metal/metal contact of the coil bucket. The OEM shock length, A-Arm mounting locations, and all movable joints are designed to work together. Up-travel limit is the bump stop, down-travel limit is the length of the extended shock. Without changing UCAs and going to a longer shock you are either:

trading ride height for down travel AND CBC when you change mounting geometry with a spacer

OR

trading ride height for suspension flexibility AND ride comfort when you change spring rates.

I can lend you my OEM coil-overs with the spacers already on them. These should be the same as yours ('08 Off-Road). Just throw them on and decide for yourself. The spacer is 1-1/4" in height. The math puts that at 2" lift from where you are starting - 33" in you case.

Xtrapol8 wrote:JAS and FronyFlyer,

The 1.75" you refer to, is that the thickness of the spacer of the increased height (of the truck)?

Overall increased height is what i was referring too.

At 2" of lift this only leavs about 3" of droop available before CBC. Any kind of bump deeper than 3" that causes the wheels to droop (potholes, speed bumps, decending down a rock ect.) and you will hear that wrenched CBC noise.

The Billsteins have grooves cut into the shock body at about 1/4" increments, each notch gives you a little under 1/2" of lift. Also the 2" lift spacer is really only about 1-1/4" thick.

The coil bucket is closer to the centriod/ pivot point of the A-arms so any thickness added/subtracted here will have a bigger impact at the wheels. Factor of 1.6 sounds about right.

JAS wrote:I can lend you my OEM coil-overs with the spacers already on them. These should be the same as yours ('08 Off-Road). Just throw them on and decide for yourself. The spacer is 1-1/4" in height. The math puts that at 2" lift from where you are starting - 33" in you case.

Thank you. That sounds like a good first step.

How about a body lift?