The Nissan Path

My God.

Who ever gave direction to perform this by just lifting the engine and not taking out the L bracket for the bottom portion of these mounts had to be fortunate!!

Ultimately, I could not find a way to install the new mounts with the factory heat shield on the passenger side. On the drivers side it seemed an impossible task as well. You would need three hands.

I used a 14mm swivel socket, and a wobble extension, and access to the bolts on the driver's side is reasonable. Passenger side - easy. Not difficult at all. It looks menacing. Not bad.

My results:
passenger side mount was blown.
drivers side mount was ok.

I chose to replace with the Beck/Arnley part, which looked Identical to the OEM
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 5552&jsn=1

Mt Tips:

Prior to lifting the engine, life the vehicle reasonably high on stands.

Don't lift the engine repeatedly trying to get the access, to remove the mounts.
Have the faith to raise it up and leave it there, until you are done.


The 14mm bolts are only 35 ft/lbs, and in my case, it looked like almost 20 years of elements have left them pretty much alone. They came off with a "scotty kilmer" grunt.

The benefit of the removing the bottom brackets:
a. the mounts simply fall out.
b. the new mounts with those trick shields pop right back in
c. you can attach the large main bolt through the bushing, and it will fall into the alignment when you lower the engine back down.

Result.
I've noticed driving today, that the steering wheel felt locked when driving. It made me think that many of those have replaced the steering rack bushings (as I did) were a bit of waste of money in comparison.

It's easily noticeable for me, the mounts have a big impact on steering wander.
Not certain it has been everyone's result, but it was a weird noticeable difference driving on the highway today.

Only thing I can think of is maybe your mount was so blown the engine was moving laterally; the two things aren't related. The stock steering rack bushing shapes explain a lot of why these trucks have vague steering feel from the beginning:



That's my original OEM rubber on the left, and Delrin on the right. The Delrin rack bushings are easily one of the biggest improvements I've made to my truck. And I had the poly engine mounts from PRG before that My truck steers as close to a big sedan as these things are going to get now. No more wandering downhill at speed!

Meanwhile, don't recall it being too difficult to get the mounts in and out, but I was using a full vehicle lift with a tall floor jack for the motor, so I had plenty of room to move around underneath the truck. Will be pulling the L-brackets out this next time since a.) I need the heat shields after all and b.) I want to go back and remove the rubber that prevents the poly PRG mounts from sitting completely flush.

I'm actually trying to find information on the "newer" steering rack on the Frontier.
It has an electrical/pulley assist to it (I believe) which is to keep the truck straight and centered. The reviews on it mostly hint it's a big improvement. By the looks of it, it looks identical/mounting, to the R51. If I can find a cheap one, I may have a look at it and see what's so special about it.

I have the poly steering rack bushings, and I really don't feel much of a difference before and after it, to be honest. Blue rather than then Delrin black,

I pretty much sensed more vibration throughout the steering column as soon as It was installed - the dash cluster area started to creak almost immediately after it's installation and it's a living thing now.

I can't see how I did anything different than most others, and those feedbacks are generally positive on the switch.

The OEM design is an odd one - they look like those dog toys you buy at Petsmart.

Worth mentioning my power steering is the only thing on the front of my engine that has never died and been replaced, and it shows no sign of doing so anytime soon. If yours is vibrating more with new bushings, could be something else going on. Mine is buttery smooth and Delrin is pretty close to a solid mount.

You may want to get under the truck and see if your rack moves much vs. the frame when someone else turns the wheel. Depending what durometer you got, it may not be much of an upgrade over stock. I personally felt like these trucks wander like a Wrangler on the highway even when new. Except I just drove a 2020 Rubicon a while ago and it wandered less than my truck used to...

Your are right!

I should get under there and check this (movement). I know I've inspected it afterwards and it looked ok, but time may made this more evident.

The steering itself, is smooth, but the harshness seemed to transmit (at idle) when I first started the truck after replacing it.


....
I have to test drive the newer Frontier for a longer period of time (highway) to see what that feels like (improvement wise) as there have been changes to make the newer generation keep track on roads better.

Just haven't seen any information out on it as yet. Have to check out our friends on Frontier forums to see if someone has dived into it.