hum.....upgrades /matrix

already had the suspension upgrade listed in my sig:
bilstein front struts @1.5in
4x4parts.com HD rear springs for ~2in lift


next up is a 1in spacer for the rear springs, and puttin the fronts up to 2in

Looks really good, any rubbing issues? Also, is the lift you have the 4x4parts deluxe package for $440?

yup on all accounts.

yeah it's the deluxe package on 4x4parts.

and yeah there's some rubbing. i have a pic of it down below.

here's some more before/after shots



front wheel front mud flap




"the rub".




the rub, pt2. you can see the darker spot on the inside of the wheel well where the tire just barely rubs



front wheel height




rear wheel height





rear wheel width





front stance




took out the front mud flaps. it helped the rub, but i still need to heat gun about another 1/4-1/2in inwards on the fender liner(?). there's plenty of space behind the liner so pushing it in isn't a problem






tire differences






just can't stop staring at it when i park it somewhere

Looks real good. How has the lift been? Were you able to get the rear alignment good? Any bad wear on your OEM tires?

I'd look into getting a matchng spare as well. Hate for you to have a blow out or something and put on the OEM spare. That will mess up your diff.

alignment seems to have been ok so far. no weird wear on the old tires that i could tell. maybe slightly more wear on the outside, but it's negligible. i also hadn't rotated my old tires in probably 5-7k miles (i usually did every other oil change). with these tires i'll be doing it every oil change, plus having that 5th wheel in the rotation should be good.

the lift has been pretty good, but i wish it was stiffer in the rear. again it's alot stiffer than stock, but i want it firmer. still seems pretty bouncy back there and i have the bags up between 30-35psi (seems they lose air for me, about 1lb every week or so). now i did remove the 3rd row seats, but i added 2 speaker boxes and a box of tools and stuff so i think the weight change is a wash.

the front is also still too squishy for me. i'm still using stock springs up there but with the bilsteins, and it will be quite some time before i'll go for something like the radflo coil and spring combo (like $300 each or something?).


as for the tires themselves they seem to have taken out some of the "lightness" of the suspension. best way i can describe it, is like the difference between driving a honda civic and a honda accord. the additional weight seems to have dulled (in a good way) the quick spring/bounce kind of feeling when going over bumps. make sense?

the truck does seem a little more sluggish off the line, but in 3rd at highway speeds i can't really tell a difference.

something i do really like is no more tire squeal when doing sharp low speed turns or (so far) hard stops. discount tire filled the tires to 32 (they always freakin do that even though it says 35 on the door) and they were -way- squishy on the road/highway. i put them up to 40psi and they're tons better.

they still do seem to float more than oem, but after driving on them for a bit i think i'm comfortable with it. i don't think i'll be driving as aggressive with these tires though, i still get some weird 'grabs' on the road with cracks/tar sealant lines. i haven't had time to really put them through some wet roads/water to see how easy they'll break traction yet.


i don't have any other tires (besides oem) to compare to, but i am happy with them and don't have any regrets.

Thanks for the additional info, man it looks good. I keep starring at your pictures. Love to do this with mine too. Keep us informed about the rubbing, gas milage and anything else that pops up. I'm saving for a lift and love the look of the larger tire. You have made me jealous. Too bad no one makes a 280/65/18 or do they?

Looks great! Nice work

Looks excellent!

Did you replace the spare? I see it hiding there in one of the pics...

here's a couple more shots with the new shoes (or boots?)



can't decide on which i like better. however the one on the dirt highlights the tread in the bfgs..





but the wide angle one makes it look like a monster truck





and by the way, i'll do pics of anyone's ride if you come to dallas, or fly me to your location

RacerZX wrote:Looks excellent!

Did you replace the spare? I see it hiding there in one of the pics...

thanks! (and thanks everyone else too!)


and i haven't replaced the spare -yet-. i'll be doing that in the next 2-4 weeks. i was just too eager and wanted the 4 -now- rather than wait and get the 5th at the same time. definitely want to get the spare though, and i'm going to put it into the rotation as well. talked with the discount tire guy and he said that they can add tpms to the spare and then just re-sync the 'active' 4 tires to the monitor whenever they do the rotate. too bad nissan couldn't have built in the option to monitor 5 tires (or put logic in to realize which are 'on' and which aren't). or did they? i mean will the monitor only 'learn' 4 sensors? could nissan been smart enough to let it learn 5, but realize that if 4 are reporting good to just ignore the 5th for that key-on session?


and Carl, didn't you get the spare too? i forget, did you say it does fit under?

Yes, the spare fits fine, it's just snug and will need a little wiggling to get fully seated. No worries.

Pics look great!

ok cool. and thanks again

doctahjones wrote: the front is also still too squishy for me. i'm still using stock springs up there but with the bilsteins, and it will be quite some time before i'll go for something like the radflo coil and spring combo (like $300 each or something?).

Yeah, shocks will do absolutely nothing to help out crappy springs, unfortunately. Go for the Radflo. The couple members here who have them, love them. I know they have a pretty good following on other forums as well.

The tires & lift look good! Not too many R51s out there with a lift, so now you have a pretty unique ride.

Hey doctahjones,

I have another question for you. Not sure if you have tried this yet, but would your stock OEM tire jack lift the Pathy high enough to remove the wheel and put the spare on with those size tires?

I have the 18" wheels too and when I installed the air bags, I needed a bottle jack to lift the suspension high enough to get the wheels off an on again. I now carry a bottle jack as standard equipment. Seems strange to me that I would need to do that and thought those large wheels and lift may cause even bigger issues.

Looks great!!!