Mortonm's 2001 Xterra Build

[mortonm]

waiting is never fun, but the fact that I cant install them for a couple more weeks anyways makes it much easier.

started looked at some sliders the other day, I like the look of the shrockworks, but Ive heard they can be a long time coming. I definitely like the idea of bolt on. Any other suggestions for a similar looking slider?

 

[BigRed44]

You could get them custom made at Staangs fab or even Rock Hard fab
Stasng's is in Burlington and Rock Hard is in Ottawa.

 

[mortonm]

You could get them custom made at Staangs fab or even Rock Hard fab
Stasng's is in Burlington and Rock Hard is in Ottawa.

Good idea. My brother had some work done on his JK there. I used to live about 5 minutes away.

 

[mortonm]

She goes under the knife this weekend. Leaving now to grab the leafs then head to the in laws. Should be done by sundown tomorrow but you never know with my brother and I.

Will do a full update sunday night with pictures. Might be able to get a few teasers in before that.

 

[mortonm]

Best laid plans....

The spring shop website said they were open until 9. Should have called. We showed up at 5:03. No one home. 3 minutes too late.

The leafs will have to wait 2 weeks. I still plan on doing the torsion bars.

 

[mortonm]

Oil change and tire rotation done.

Torsion bars are in and set back to stock height.

The ride difference is quite nice, less sway, more firm and much more stable under braking.

Took us a few hours, we edned up having to take the subframe crossmember off. The old torsion bars were really stuck in there.

We ended up taking the a arm mounts for the tbars, the tbars themself anf the entire crossmember to a shop nearby and with some heat he was able to get them out. Only charged me $20 too!

My only worry is that when I indexed the new bars I didn't leave enough for the upcoming lift when I get the leafs on. But I am pretty sure there is enough room left om the adjuster bolts to get the two inches I need. Otherwise I get to pull it all apart again.

Ill will post pictures tomorrow or monday. A little bummed I wasn't able to complete it but I'm half done for next time!

 

[Slicky72]

If you have a fair bit of threads left you should be good to achieve the amount of lift you want. It will start to go up pretty quick once you start tightening them.

 

[mortonm]

Good to hear. I have about an inch left on the threads. I had to re-adjust them a couple times to get them level and it looked to me that it wasn't linear, the tighter they were getting the more lift per turn I was seeing.

 

[mortonm]

a few pictures to go with the update from yesterday

broken?



yup! without the suspension loaded you can swivel the broken half the of the leaf around

[IaMG]http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/BMPGTI/P1010612_zpsa765aaca.jpg[/IMG]



Here is the torsion bar/a-arm mount/cross-member assembly, had to take them to a shop to have the to torsion bars heated and pulled out, stuck doesnt even begin to explain it



sitting at about 35" all around at the fenders currently

 

[stioc]

Nice! finally

So did you say the leaf springs are on already or you'll be installing them soon? What was the height before this work and what's your expectation lift wise 1-2"?

I can't wait to see the end result :safari-rig:

 

[mortonm]

Nice! finally

So did you say the leaf springs are on already or you'll be installing them soon? What was the height before this work and what's your expectation lift wise 1-2"?

I can't wait to see the end result :safari-rig:

will have to wait two weeks until I can do the leafs, i was 5 minutes late to the shop (their website had a different time listed than was correct)

The 35" is what it was stock, and what i set the front to for now. After everything is done I am hoping for 1.5 to 2" and hopefully no more. Much more than that and I may need new a arms and a few other things, hoping to keep it simple

 

[mortonm]

a few pictures from earlier today, just doing a little exploring around Bruce County Ontario, Canada

 

[mortonm]

I hesitate to call it a trip report, but a little write-up from goofing around yesterday

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/112660-Bruce-County-Ontario-Canada

 

[mortonm]

I was able to pick up the new leaf packs today

the extra leaf is the one just above the overload, already came with the bushings in which is nice, and i had new u bolts made up to make sure they would be long enough







they go in sunday

 

[mortonm]

So the lift is fully in

Everything went really smooth. I didn't get too many pictures during the install because once my father in law gets rolling he doesn't stop.

Only took us about an hour including adjusting the torsion bars up.

We used a torch to cut off the old u-bolts and with new hardware everything went on nicely.

The full camera pictures won't be up until tomorrow when we get home. But ill post a phone picture shortly.

Now down to the goods.

In the back I got almost exactly 2". I figure once I get some miles unde them and they settle I will have at least 1" but pobably 1.5" which is exactly what I was hoping for. I brought the torsion bars up to 1.5" and there is lots of space at the bumpstops.

I am very interested to see how it reacts when it has a load in it.

Other additions lately include a scepter 20 L water can (blue) and a cargo hitch rack (rated for 500 lbs). It will be great fo less technical trips when I run out of space. The rack has a Z bar so it actually steps up about 10" fom the rack and shouldn't kill the departure angle too bad.

Overall quite happy