The Nissan Path

Hey everyone,

We are taking our 2005 Pathy for a decent roadtrip out to Alberta and back, which will entail approximately 3000km (1900mi). I've been sitting on the brake hardware (Akebono pads, Centric Rotors), and also noticed a bit of wandering on the highway, which in all likelihood is a bad driver side outer tie rod end.

I decided to work my way around the vehicle, starting with the rear driver side tire, so that I arrive at the front driver side last, to address the wandering issue.

So, rear driver side, jacked up the car, settled on jack stand, and started working. The rotor was pretty fused on, so I had to whack it pretty hard with a heavy hammer. Pushed the piston back into the caliper, greased up the slide pins and cleaned everything up with brake cleaner, and put it back together. However, upon doing this, I noticed a significant amount of play on the tire. Took everything apart again, and discovered I have a bad Wheel Hub Bearing Assembly. Not terribly surprised, as we have 278k kms (172k mi) on the truck and I've never done them. I probably shredded the bearings when I whacked away at the rotor...

Found some Moog units here locally for $190 each, figured I would buy 2 right away so I don't have to come back. But will check for sure to see if there is an issue with the passenger side before shot-gunning parts at it.

I replaced the front passenger side hub assembly about 2 years ago, but the one on the driver's side is original, so we shall see what I find there. Might have to make another trip to Partsource.

While I'm at it, I saw that my Bilstein 4600s rear shocks are pretty rusty, and realized that its been a good 6-7 years since I replaced them. Since I'm in there already, I decided to see if I could find a decent unit here locally. Found Monroe OESpectrum shocks at Canadian Tire for $88 a piece, so I've ordered them. Honestly though, I wonder if the shocks are ok. I've been running the Airlift 1000 the entire time I've had the vehicle, and I would imagine this helps reduce the number of 'full travel' events that the shock would need to contend with. I will pull one of them off, and see if it needs to be replaced.

So far, I am in for:

Moog Rear Hub Assemblies - Partsource - $190 each x 2 = $380
Monroe OESpectrum Rear Shocks - Canadian Tire - $88 each x 2 = $176
Nascar Premium L and R Outer Tie Rod ends - Canadian Tire - $50 each x 2 = $100

Total - $656 plus tax = $741.28.

Keep in mind the above are in Canadian funds (exchange is about $1.30 CAD to $1 USD)

Will keep everyone posted on my progress. Comments and thoughts are welcome!

t

Monroe Reflex shocks would have been closer to the Bilstein HD's, as they are also a monotube shock. The OE Spectrum is closer to a stock replacement.

Worth doing the shocks?

Well things are not going well.

Managed to remove the old hub assembly with next to no issues.

When I went to install the hub assembly, I could not for love or money get the axle shaft to go through the hub assembly. I tried PB, I tried cleaning up the splines on the axle, I checked the part number, I checked the number of splines. No love, at all.

I could get the shaft to stick out just far enough that I could get the axle nut on. I thought 'Great! I can use the axle nut to get it to go the rest of the way'. Nope. Buggered up the threads on the axle nut.

As we are leaving on Friday morning for our road trip, I have moved to the next level here, and am towing my poor truck to the local auto repair shop. Maybe they will have better luck, with a hoist and tools and crap. Only charge $50 an hour too.

But I hate to do this, and am very frustrated!

OK so I'm not an idiot. The shop was unable to get the Moog parts to work either. But when they went with a MevoTech, it slid right in. What a pain in the ass, and now I'm out $300 because of the crappy Moog parts. GRRR.

At least the truck is back in business.

disallow wrote:OK so I'm not an idiot. The shop was unable to get the Moog parts to work either. But when they went with a MevoTech, it slid right in. What a pain in the ass, and now I'm out $300 because of the crappy Moog parts. GRRR.

At least the truck is back in business.

well, at least it got sorted out & it's done
I steer away from aftermarket stuff as much as possible
sometimes though the quality is good, the fit isn't, or vice versa
have a great & safe trip