2nd Gen INFINITI QX56/QX80 Build

[leeleatherwood]

Best looking QX56 I have ever seen second to mine. Well, what can I say, I like mine more. But I must give it to you, you have done an exceptional job. According to me, this is the best 2011 QX56 I have ever seen. Keep on sharing as often as you can. We have people on clubarmada forums talking about lifting their rigs, but everybody is still very cautious and waiting to see who will do it first/. Well, if they see yours, they will be more worried because you did not even go traditional. A lot of your things are custom. I like that. Keep up the great work.

Why didn't you go with Radflo UCA?

How is the ride in the rear of your QX with the body lift? I have never actually liked body lifts because I think they make the ride harsh. How does yours ride in the rear?

You have a really great setup. I will be following your thread for sure as I may use some ideas from you, just like the ones with all the lights in your trunk area. I like that.

Do you have a writeup to share? I would like such a mod. If you lived closer to me, I would be seeking your help often to mod mine more than the way it sits now.

Radflo does not make a UCA to my knowledge. Icon does, but Radflo only makes the shocks.

I went with SPC UCA's because they are best for longetivity since they use a sealed balljoint instead of a Uniball like most other UCA's. I have a Uniball UCA on my other vehicle and it is noisy and I have to lube it often, I did not want to go that route again. Also, the SPC UCA's have special "no-squeek" bushings.

Body lift does not change ride quality, since it is only raising the body the suspension stays exactly the same. The only thing really affected by the body lift is the higher center of gravity. Because of this, the ride is basically the same as factory (crappy in the rear in my opinion) this is why I am switching the shocks to Radflo.

 

[leeleatherwood]

Do you have a writeup for all that you used to achieve this? I have been wanting to increase my light in the trunk area but just did not know how to go about it. I actually have 4 usb rechargeable led lights that I use in the trunk area if I want a lot of light. I put 3m double sided tape on them and just stick them anywhere and take them off later. But I want something permanent and bright. Let me know if this is something that is easy to do.

I dont have a write up, it was really simple to be honest. Just the lights and some wiring is all thats needed. I wired it into the factory rear hatch light so that they LED's come on the same as the factory light, even the factory switch works with them.

The hatch panel is very easy to remove, just some standard interior clip things. You just need to drill some 3/8" holes where the lights will be, install the lights and then wire them up. Very easy.

These are the lights I got in Yellow https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LF7C7XN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Radflo does not make a UCA to my knowledge. Icon does, but Radflo only makes the shocks.

I went with SPC UCA's because they are best for longetivity since they use a sealed balljoint instead of a Uniball like most other UCA's. I have a Uniball UCA on my other vehicle and it is noisy and I have to lube it often, I did not want to go that route again. Also, the SPC UCA's have special "no-squeek" bushings.

Body lift does not change ride quality, since it is only raising the body the suspension stays exactly the same. The only thing really affected by the body lift is the higher center of gravity. Because of this, the ride is basically the same as factory (crappy in the rear in my opinion) this is why I am switching the shocks to Radflo.

I meant to say Total Chaos UCA. Did you look into it? It has a good reputation in the Patrol world.

Total Chaos UCA for Nissan Patrol Y62

And yes, Radflo would be the ultimate best, when you finally get it. I am sure it would ride really better than stock.

I had contacted Radflo a while ago for a complete lift kit for my QX and with parts and installation, the quote they gave me showed that the lift would cost me $5,000 and up. Too bad I have HBMC and they said it will not work with HBMC.

 

[leeleatherwood]

I meant to say Total Chaos UCA. Did you look into it? It has a good reputation in the Patrol world.

Total Chaos UCA for Nissan Patrol Y62

And yes, Radflo would be the ultimate best, when you finally get it. I am sure it would ride really better than stock.

I had contacted Radflo a while ago for a complete lift kit for my QX and with parts and installation, the quote they gave me showed that the lift would cost me $5,000 and up. Too bad I have HBMC and they said it will not work with HBMC.

Total Chaos is good, but it is Uniball design, which i wanted to avoid.

Uniball is strong, but since they are exposed they get dirt in them and wear out, get noisy and clanky.

Noisy and clanky suspension is not a good look for a high end luxury vehicle like an Infiniti QX

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Total Chaos is good, but it is Uniball design, which i wanted to avoid.

Uniball is strong, but since they are exposed they get dirt in them and wear out, get noisy and clanky.

Noisy and clanky suspension is not a good look for a high end luxury vehicle like an Infiniti QX

Ok, I see what you mean. I have just never heard of that SPC name until today. Also, I have seen on the Australian forums that the Total Chaos UCA is very popular with the Patrol guys in Australia. And you know those Patrol guys in Australia do wheel their Patrols way more than us in the US would wheel our QX.

Did you get this one? Did it fit your QX perfectly? Since it says for the 2004 Nissan Titan/Armada to 2015 Titan/Armada.

25560 - SPC TITAN ADJ CONTROL ARMS

 

[leeleatherwood]

Went on a ~300 mile trip in Northern California called "Lost Coast Adventure". Many cool vehicles were a part of the group ranging from typical cookie cutter Jeep JK's to a very nice Landcruiser 200, cool Subarus and a nice Cherokee Trailhawk.

Day 1 was from Ukiah CA to the top of Hull Mountain, Day 2 was to the coast where there were 3 Elk at our campsite on the beach, Day 3 was along to Coast up to Eureka. Some of it was paved and alot of it was dirt. It was great, I had alot of fun and got to see alot of the amazing areas of California.

Top of Hull Mountain:


Day1 Campsite:




Day2 Campsite: These Elk were there with us the whole time






Day3:









LC200 vs Y62

 

[leeleatherwood]

Ok, I see what you mean. I have just never heard of that SPC name until today. Also, I have seen on the Australian forums that the Total Chaos UCA is very popular with the Patrol guys in Australia. And you know those Patrol guys in Australia do wheel their Patrols way more than us in the US would wheel our QX.

Did you get this one? Did it fit your QX perfectly? Since it says for the 2004 Nissan Titan/Armada to 2015 Titan/Armada.

25560 - SPC TITAN ADJ CONTROL ARMS

SPC UCA's are fairly new, i think they only came out like a few years ago. SPC makes fantastic parts, they are popular with the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Xterra/Frontier groups.

Yes, that is the correct part you linked.

In case you didnt already know, the Front Suspension is the same as the Nissan Titan/Armada.
The rear suspension is the same as the 1st Gen Armada.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Nice camping trip. Love it when I see cars like that Trailhawk and Subaru especially, joining such adventures and handling it easy.

Great pictures!!!

Question: Was the 80" Rock Sliders for Double Cab Tacoma a direct bolt-on or did you modify it? Can you share link to the exact one you installed? That is something I may be interested in if I ever lift this vehicle.

Also, do you have a link to that bumper? That really fits great. Is that also a Toyota Bumper that you made fit on your QX? Amazing. I wonder how much modification you had to do to get that to fit. You definitely have a great approach angle now. It seems you even have way better clearance than the LC in your last pic.

 

[leeleatherwood]

Ok, I see what you mean. I have just never heard of that SPC name until today. Also, I have seen on the Australian forums that the Total Chaos UCA is very popular with the Patrol guys in Australia. And you know those Patrol guys in Australia do wheel their Patrols way more than us in the US would wheel our QX.

Did you get this one? Did it fit your QX perfectly? Since it says for the 2004 Nissan Titan/Armada to 2015 Titan/Armada.

25560 - SPC TITAN ADJ CONTROL ARMS

Total Chaos stuff is really good, like PRG, Camburg, etc. There is no doubt that Total Chaos UCA's are good, they are Uniball though, which get noisy and squeeky because dirt gets into them really easily.

 

[leeleatherwood]

Nice camping trip. Love it when I see cars like that Trailhawk and Subaru especially, joining such adventures and handling it easy.

Great pictures!!!

Question: Was the 80" Rock Sliders for Double Cab Tacoma a direct bolt-on or did you modify it? Can you share link to the exact one you installed? That is something I may be interested in if I ever lift this vehicle.

Also, do you have a link to that bumper? That really fits great. Is that also a Toyota Bumper that you made fit on your QX? Amazing. I wonder how much modification you had to do to get that to fit. You definitely have a great approach angle now. It seems you even have way better clearance than the LC in your last pic.

The rock sliders required no modification. They are weld-on. Install them just as instructed for the Toyota. I got the DOM with Kickout.

1995.5 - 2004 Toyota Extended Cab Tacoma Off Road Rock Slider

www.4xinnovations.com

The front bumper required cutting off the original mounting surface and making a custom plate for the frame and the bumper and welding them on. Very easy any fabrication shop can do it... I did it in my driveway using only an Angle Grinder, Hand Drill and Welder.

https://cbioffroadfab.com/product/moab-2-0/

 

[InfiniteOffroad]

I have run both tires. What would you like? Hardcore mud tires or the hybrid or all terrain tires?

305/45/22. Maintians the stock rim size of 33. Here I could not find a mud tire, so I went with a hybrid offroad tire. The Atturo XT tire. It served me well. Did not take a noticeable hit on mileage.

But after a while, I decided I wanted some really hardcore tires. I went with the 35" mud tires that I have now, which is the 285/55R22 that you are also asking about.

285/55/R22 comes with its pros and cons. Now I have mud tires and it gave me an inch of lift. BUT, the tires are heavy so I see a noticeable drop in mpg as the car works harder to turn them than the stock 33" size.. The tires rub on full lock each side. Well, I have fixed that problem. The tires do ride like normal all terrain tires. I have not taken it on trails for hardcore wheeling. I will be doing that in 3 weeks when I leave for my road trip into the Colorado Rockies.

Here is a link to my uild thread on clubarmada. You can read more about when I installed the 285/55R22...

My build thread and 35" installed on stock 2012 Infiniti QX56/80

Also, if you have time and want to check out my progress on my road trip which starts on July 8th, feel free to go to my road trip report and also see my past road trip reports in there when I took my QX on some very hardcore trails last year and the year before when I still have the 305/45R22. I put that tire on some hardcore trails and I have also done over 120mph with those tires. Tire performed flawless in both instances. But my new tires that are huge and 35", maximum rated speed is 100mph, I barely can come close to that these days

Here is the link to my road trip next month, where I will be posting a lot of pictures as it progresses...

My Road Trip, July 2019

Great intel; thank you. I'm going to go with 305/45R22 all-terrains. Sounds like this will make the QX much more off-road worthy without affecting the performance much.

 

[Dmski]

Drooling over how sick your truck is! Great trip post as well. Do you notice a big hit in MPG's with the RTT? Or have the tires already killed any hope of fuel economy ?

 

[leeleatherwood]

Drooling over how sick your truck is! Great trip post as well. Do you notice a big hit in MPG's with the RTT? Or have the tires already killed any hope of fuel economy ?

Tires pretty much killed any hope.

I can manage 11-12mpg @ 60mph... but who drives 60mph?

Realistically I get 10mpg average.

 

[InfiniteOffroad]

Tires pretty much killed any hope.

I can manage 11-12mpg @ 60mph... but who drives 60mph?

Realistically I get 10mpg average.

Regarding the RTT, our crossbars state "100 pounds maximum." Is this one of those static vs. dynamic load things, or did you use aftermarket/custom crossbars for your setup?

 

[leeleatherwood]

Regarding the RTT, our crossbars state "100 pounds maximum." Is this one of those static vs. dynamic load things, or did you use aftermarket/custom crossbars for your setup?

One of my crossbars actually broke on this past trip, the part where the bar connects to the side rail is plastic. I am going to buy some Yakima crossbars and remove the OEM ones. Still use the factory side rails because they are metal.