The Nissan Path

I posted this in another thread (the good ol' Site Admin jacking a thread again...), so I will start my own!

I'm entertaining doing all 4 corners of shocks/struts on my rig. The rear bilsteins are about 3 yrs old, and are probably fine, but whatever, they are cheap and easy. But, I have a feeling my front strut shocks are actually worn out, as my tires are cupping like crazy, even after I had an alignment done (and then redone) about a month ago.

I checked 4x4parts.com, where I got the bilstein rears last time, and it comes to $375 shipped Bilstein 4600s.

RockAuto has KYB GR-2s, all 4 corners for $264 shipped.

I have no desire for any lift at all, want to keep the suspension pretty stock.

Any opinions on which way to go? Want to do this work before getting new tires, probably sometime before next winter.

Thanks
t

You can do the ranchos without lifting. Check 4x4 parts. A lot of people seem to like them better than the billsteins. I have them (I'm lifted) and have no complaints at all

I'm switching from Bilstein HD's to the Rancho adjustable shocks for the rear sometime in the next few days after 35K miles. I think the Bilsteins are starting to go soft on rebound rather than getting worn out and stiff.

I'll let you know how it goes...

KYB GR-2's are fine for the front and are the same as the original strut that comes from the factory. For the rear, you're better or with a monotube shock; if going with KYB's, go with the KYB Gas-a-just shocks.

Replaced my rear Bilstein's with Ranchos tonight. Liking them a lot already...

disallow wrote:
I have no desire for any lift at all, want to keep the suspension pretty stock.

Any opinions on which way to go? Want to do this work before getting new tires, probably sometime before next winter.

Thanks
t

I am looking to do the same thing. I've had the Rancho quick lift for about 8 months, NOT happy. The shocks seem to have prematurely worn out and the ride is kinda dangerous on the highway at high speeds. I bought an extended warranty on the shocks, I know, wish me luck.

I want to go back to stock height (or near stock) like you do, but firmer ride. I drove a BMW X5, bad idea. That thing rides like a nice sports sedan
My idea;
4x4Parts front and rear medium duty coils
https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/pathfin ... -5900.html
https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/pathfin ... -5637.html

Not sure about the shocks yet but I think any standard "No suspension lift" shocks will do because the lift is minimal. I know, the rears say .05" lift and the front say 1" lift. I am hoping, I hope they are wrong again on their numbers and the lift is the same for the front and rear, if not, then I"ll just use stock springs in front.
Isn't this is a common set up in this forum?, stock front springs and 4x4Parts medium duty rear springs, right?

disallow, Let us know what you end up doing...

ShipFixer wrote:Replaced my rear Bilstein's with Ranchos tonight. Liking them a lot already...

What Rancho did you get?

This is what I got
Quick lift front and 9000XL rear
Front RS999922 and RS999938
Rear RS999312 plus spacers

I have the 9000XL's in the rear. Drove them about 500 miles this weekend on a road trip between San Diego and San Luis Obispo and they worked out well. Different feel from the Bilsteins, but better in most ways. And the uneven shoulder wear starting on the rear tires is gone, so apparently 30K miiles is about enough for the Bilsteins.

I found the weak spot for the Rancho's is the same as many linear spring/damper combinations, when undulating pavement or patterns of bumps are close to the natural frequency of the system. It gets a little floaty at that point, but even very expensive dampers have a hard time overcoming physics there. (The only real sure way around that is non-linear springs, which are harder to tune but come with some neat advantages...like no oscillatory behavior on undulating pavement.)

Outside of that, set at "5" (I haven't played much with it yet) it has excellent low speed compression damping combined with light high speed compression damping, and adequate rebound damping. Not much more you can ask for out of a shock without going to expensive adjustable external reservoir variants. I'm accepting the floaty-feel on long straight highway stretches that are probably exacerbated by my airbags anyway with the fact that these corner and resist squat way better than my Bilstein HD's did.

Since the adjustment knob adjusts both rebound and compression, I suspect dialing it in a little more will make it even more-better...

http://www.gorancho.com/images/download ... lSheet.pdf

ivanqz wrote:I am looking to do the same thing. I've had the Rancho quick lift for about 8 months, NOT happy. The shocks seem to have prematurely worn out and the ride is kinda dangerous on the highway at high speeds. I bought an extended warranty on the shocks, I know, wish me luck.

I want to go back to stock height (or near stock) like you do, but firmer ride. I drove a BMW X5, bad idea. That thing rides like a nice sports sedan

You may want to dial your expectations in a little bit. My truck rides as close to a big Camry as it's going to get, but it's still a big body on frame truck. The X5 on the other hand is pretty close to its unibody car cousins. Just not the same breed of cat when it comes to street manners.

On the other hand, when snowmageddon hit DC it was fun to drive circles in the snow around the pseudo-SUV's like X5's that couldn't quite make it down the street. Let alone the AWD wannabe's like Subaru's and Volvos...

Anyway, with air bags and the Ranchos my ride is pretty car-like. I'd recommend looking into the sway bar bushings too if you're not happy with cornering or lane changes. For about $25 it really makes a huge difference. Well, more than that if you have to replace end links like I did (mine were worn).