Hey guys....
Just so you know... Pathfinder Phil and I (owners of our new buisness: L&P Performance) are in the process of manufacturing a true 6" drop bracket lift for the R50. The kit will utilize the stock springs/struts and maintain the stock suspension geometrys and travel capabilities as it will be a true 6" bracket lift. Included parts are 4 subframe drop brackets, 6" strut extension brackets, steering shaft extension bracket, engine mount re-lift brackets, spacers for the rear springs, panhard-rod relocation bracket, shocks, and all necessary hardware. The lift will be released in about 2 months and will cost about $800. We are also offering a 3" bracket lift for $650. All parts will be hand fabricated and fully MIG welded personally by Phil and I. Anyhow, just thought I'd let you all know someone is going to finally offer a good lift for the R50. See our website at http://www.ifwda.com/L&P.htm Phil and I will check back daily, so feel free to ask any questions you have.

Sincerely,
Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

Whoa.. wicked!!! You guys are really on top of things!

I got a question about the rear part of the lift. Your site states that it will be spring spacers in the rear and a panhard drop down bracket. Are you doing anything to the 4 bar linkage to correct the angles for 6in of lift?

How will the driveshafts allow for that much lift?

There are going to be 6" spring spscers in the back, is that all or like a 3" lift spring with a 3" spacer....it just seems that a 6" spring spacer is kind of pushin it......

SirMrManGuy:
Well, as you know it is actually a 5-link rear end... the main problem with lift on them is that the axle starts to move sideways under the truck due to the panhard rod. This is the reason we are supplying the panhard rod extension bracket which will correct the full 6" of lift. The rest of the rear end will handle the lift just fine, including the driveshaft.... its really not much different than the old school Pathfinder which Phil and I both own.

orange4ska:
Driveshafts you say? Well... the main problem in the older Pathfinders was the exhaust in the way of the front driveshaft (ie. for the trailmaster 4")... the rear driveshaft can take the angle no problem... for the front, as long as the output shaft axis and pinion axis stay parallel to eachother, the driveshaft could probably take even more than 6". We are going to be testing the lift severly in the next month and a half to make sure everything goes perfectly. At the absolute worst, the lift brackets may have to be shortened a little bit, say down to 4", but its extremely unlikely that I will need to make any revision to my current design.

WheelinTN:
As I said, both Phil and I own oldschool Pathys... we are exceptionally familiar with the constraints and limitations of the 5-link rearend and H233B axle. The spacers will not be a problem, nor will be the lift. The R50 rearend is almost identical in geometry to the WD21... and as Phil well tell you, at one point in time we had Ford F150 lift coils AND lift spacers in his pathfinder... something like 6" or 8" of lift I think it came out to be. We can/probably will offer a lift combination which will allow use of Automotive Customizer's 2" lift springs in conjunction with our drop brackets. Also, we prety much do every order customized to the individual's needs.... we will test what the REAL limitations of the R50 are as far as lift... and will allow and honor custom tailored lift brackets when necessary for people that intend to use lift springs. The idea at the moment is to produce an exceptionaly high quality and indestructable lift system for the R50 that CAN use the stock springs so that people arent forced to buy seperate lift springs. This will offer identical/nearly identical ride quality and suspension geometry which retains all of its origonal flexability... lift springs decrease downtravel in the front suspension (struts would top out all the time). And finally, do so for an affordable price in a lift that is easy to install with nothing more than a floor jack, a few jack stands and hand tools. So to answer your question the long way arround , spring spacers for the rear are not a problem at all.

Everyone keep asking questions... I make it a personal requirement to answer any concerns and comments... Phil and I refuse to offer low quality products. Period.

Sincerely,
Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

What about steering? A 6" extension on the knuckle for the R&P steering? That sounds wicked bad. What size tires are you planning on? It seems like anything more than a 33" tire would destroy the rack and pinion steering...

HAHAHA... yeah I know... it sounds a lot worse than it is though. The steering shaft extension is nothing more than a 6" long machined peice of solid rectangle stock (a thick peice at that)... its a beefy part and bolts right between the rubber steering coupler and the rack and pinion with some large grade 8 bolts...... simple, effective, impossible to break.

Tires:
We're looking at the capability to fit EVERY bit of a 33" tire... I'm thinking even on up to a 35 isn't all that far off. Phil and I will give a much more accurate assessment of that as soon as we finish things up in the next several weeks. As I said... this is a TRUE 6" lift... body seperates from tires by 6", not just spring loaded to sit higher (can you tell I hate spring lifts?) The rack and pinion steering ought to handle the extra load just fine. Just so you know, we are installing the lift on a friend of mine's QX4 (when we finish welding up the prototypes)... so he will be a whitness for everything, good or bad. Like I said, we would not offer a product that was faulty... I am a Nissan enthusiast and owner myself, so is Phil... our reputation is based on the quality of our products and we would not compromise that reputation for something silly.

Sincerely,
Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

I hate drop brackets, Lee

Sounds cool though. A good upgrade for the rear might be completely new coils, or even coilovers if it could be worked out.

I really think control arms are going to be in need here. One, I don't like drop brackets, but with a unibody, and not going TOO extreme, it's the only way to go for cost effectiveness. I would have to see it, but the four links positioning the axle seems to be increasing to an extreme angle, that's without any droop either...I'd like to see it when it comes out though! Good job guys...
Greg

HAHA...
Coilovers are friggin expensive, 'nuf said. The problem with the spring lifts on the front end is that you only have so much strut before you top out... Just as with cranking the torsion bars in the first-gens, you loose downtravel.... not the best thing. Our brackets completely relocate the front end, including the struts. The result is stock ride and geometry, origonal ability to flex with up and downtravel as the struts were origonaly designed for, and no expensive springs. SURE you could do springs in the rear... not a problem, but they are more expensive than spacers and relatively dont gain much at all.

Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

Right...
Thats the idea. Control arms are mostly out of the question for this application. This is designed to be an effective, high bang for the buck lift... keeping in mind the average consumer. As you said, this is a unibody, and most people arent going to want much more than 6 inches anyhow. The kit is extremely strong, gives great bang for the buck, and is easy (relatively) to install. That was the goal all allong, right?

Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

will you be releasing parts of the lift? or only all together as a kit... I already have the a-c lift, but couldn't I use the front brackets to solve my top-out problem? Or, could I combine the 2, live with my strut topping problem and have over 8 inches of lift? then everything would explode as soon as I hit a bump

SURE!!... we are always open to special orders! I was thinking about it the other day... I cant quite answer on the combined lift yet, but for now I am saying yes... you probably could go a full 8"... That is really pushing things though. Let me get back to you on that one.

Like I said, the top-out problem is a result of spring lift... can't say it enough. Brackets cant help that problem... only help your CV joints and suspension geometry.

Lee McQuinn
89PathSE
Mechanical Design Engineer, L&P Performance

So you are going to drop the front sub-frame and push the engine back up where it needs to be while providing the option of higher rate springs up front/and strut spacers or just strut spacers, and in the rear provide the blocks... are longer links going to be needed? I see no problem what so ever with lifting the rear as my A/C lift springs gave me 4" of lift (haven't settled yet) in the rear and I have no extreme drive angles or problems except I will probably lengthen the panhard rod.

This sounds like a really really good idea and your lucky that Nissan gave R50s that beefy front subframe to take all the stress and distribute it to the wana-be-unibody.

So up front your looking at 4 blocks to drop the subframe, two mounts to raise the motor mounts, and 2 blocks to drop the struts. I believe the rack and pinion should move down with the front subframe and provide next to stock steering angles....that's how the jap lift setups were.

I do plan to SAS mine eventualy and have already started the parts colletion but if you want someone to test this lift out I will be more than willing to do so. I have a daily driver and a high mechnical knowledge of the R50. I also don't mind scratching my truck up for the better of the Nissan Community.