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I put a 3" body lift on my 95' Pathfinder a couple of years back and since then have experienced some after affects. Most of which can be avoided by checking these specific potential problems after completing the lift. You will notice that most of the solutions are lengthening lines or re-routing them. I wish the kit came with all of these parts but they are pretty cheap and will give you peace of mind. These are not all common failures from what I have gathered and are likely not even issues for those with a 2" BL, I guess I am just lucky and have all of them so that I can tell everyone else what to check.

    1.I did not lower the Radiator but instead opted to remove the lower portion of the fan shroud. It has worked fine as far as keeping the truck cool but there are some problems you may encounter as a result. If you choose this method check the following.
  • Upper Radiator Hose. It will get kinked by the the radiator (which is mounted to the body) being 3" higher than the engine. It looks like it will be o.k. but it is not. Mine exploded coolant everywhere 2 days after the lift when I went over a speed bump. Solution- Replace with flex hose

  • Lower Radiator Hose- Same as upper.

  • Transmission lines- The lines that run from the transmission to the tranny cooler(it is built into the radiator) will be dangerously close to the Radiator fan at the new angle. Mine was fine for about 18 months but one day on the freeway, the fan cut the line. It pumped about half of my tranny fluid out as I quickly pulled over. Solution- Get longer tranny lines and route them clear of the Radiator fan.

    2. These are some other potential problems one may encounter.

  • AC line(hi pressure side if I recall) failure. The line is partially aluminum with and the rest is rubber. After the body lift a portion of the hose comes in a little bit of contact with the brake cylinder. It took well over a year but eventually the vibrations caused the the hose to wear through enough to where it gave out(in the middle of the summer on a day I was moving of course). Solution- Carefully grab the hose and bend the aluminum portion just enough that it makes the rubber portion clear everything. I tried slipping a section of hose over it for protection first but it wore through as well. Just be careful to only bend the aluminum part as much as you need as the line is $100 or so to replace.

  • Fuel Line Failure There are two rubber fuel lines on the passenger side of the engine bay. They run pretty close the the manifold after the body lift. Not usually an issue but I have headers. On a trip to Moab, the truck developed an exhaust leak. The hot exhaust was blowing directly on the fuel lines and burned a hole in one of them. This could have been pretty bad. I found out at a gas station and repaired it. Solution] Replace and re-direct both lines well clear of the manifold/header


Good luck and enjoy your new tire clearance. Short of slapping a solid axle under the truck it is about the only way to run big meats on a Pathy so don't be discouraged by these easily avoided kinks...


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Posts: 5416 | Location: Queen Creek, AZ | Registered: June 24, 2002Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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