Wow man, that sucks. Working in the heat ain't fun either. On friday afternoon I did both motor mounts and the trans mount on my pickup. That's when I discovered my frame was busted.

Yesterday it was over to Johns to weld a patch on the frame, then I cleaned the MAF, did a full seafoam treatment, changed the oil, and pulled the tierod to replace the dust boots, then lubed up all the steering linkage.

It was hot.

Frame busted? pics?! =)

yeah, frame was broken almost completely in half on the pass side.

We were gonna give him hell if it was on the driver's side.

Took the bolt out and it worked fine, put it back in and it worked fine.
Clean up took a while longer then it should as I was wiped out. Altogether a little over 5 hours.

If I had to do it over again first step would be to throw Daystar directions in the garbage.
I would then lift the truck put it on stands.
I would not remove wheels or spare as told by the directions. Neither were in the way. I would not mess with the swaybar linkage. it was not in the way.
All I had to really do was remove the shackles and use a long bar clamped ot the leaf spring to line up the holes. Would have saved a lot of time.

You should chuck that rear swaybar in the trash anyways.

quote:

Originally posted by Desert Rat:
You should chuck that rear swaybar in the trash anyways.

Thinking about it.
Also thinking about shocks.

Any suggestions as to the best shocks to upgrade the rear stock shocks?

A lot of your Xterra bretheren swear by bilsteins, but for the price, I'm partial to Rancho RS5000s

Ranchos are the way to go. Run 'em on my Jeeps growing up and that is all I'll put on my Nissans.

The 9000XL's seem to be the way to go for the Gen2 trucks. Last I checked you use the PN for a lifted Gen1 and they fit the Gen2 perfect.

Next time you need help with a truck project, let some of us know. We could have saved you a lot of time & frustration. With me around you don't hardly need a breaker bar We got FrijolesX Daystar lift done at First Class Auto Body in under 3 hours - that includes forgetting the bolt sleeves in side the shackle bushings after it was all buttoned up.

Firestone just sent me a $20 off maintenance coupon so I figure I wold call them and ask how much to do the spacers then give my free alignment.
No go. They will not put spacers on, they said they are more into keeping vehicles at factory spec and said I should do it myself and bring it in for the alignment.
So that makes the decision very simple.
Even better there is a Firestone around the corner from my house, they said I could do the alignment there and not have to drive to the one in Scottsdale that usually handles the AZXC trucks.
Now all I need is some time.

On another note, I was measuring a 2006 S with stock tires and suspension. His rear measures 1/4" lower then mine and he has no shackles.
Am I to assume this is my shocks? Or perhaps worn leafs?
I gained 1 3/4" with the lift. Now I am thinking I need to also gain back where I should be lift wise, which should be another 1 1/2" or so?
There was nothing in his truck and probably about 20 pounds of odds and ends in the back of my truck.

Remember stock OR tire size is a full inch bigger than S, or SE models, so there's .5" difference right there..

ETA- Not sure if that even applies here, just thought I'd throw it out..

when i did the shackle lift along time ago when i first got the truck i really didnt gain much and it flattened my springs out , then i had to put in an add a leaf

Another good shop where the SWANKy guys have experience is Shumans in Tempe

235 S. Siesta Lane
Tempe

480 894 2165

fangars, let me know when you have 2 hours one evening this week or next - I'll help you with the lift. Pretty simple to do especially with 2 people.