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A 521 in Massachusetts


Crashtd420

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  • 3 weeks later...

So apparently I should pay more attention buying stuff online.....

I wanted to lower the rear of the truck a little more but didn't wanna waste my money because I'll just be tossing the blocks away next winter when I do the 5 link and coilovers in the rear ... 

I can go down another 3/4" before I need to replace the u-bolts( the extra money i dont wanna spend ) so I bought a 3/4 block to go under my 2".... 

Well I got 1 block....

Why would you even sell them like that...

The worse part is they sell a pair for the same money,  i clicked the wrong link....

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If the blocks are good quality, stacking them is not as bad as it sounds. If they are cheap cast blocks, the center pins can be loose or even break off, so minimizing the amount of cast pins is best.

 

It's really a size thing - too much block and you get axle wrap. Lifted or lowered. Axle wrap can lead to broken u-joints or shuddering on hard braking.

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Well since I have to return the single block and order a new pair anyhow I'm now debating on doing 4 inch blocks and new ubolts for the summer.... I was trying not to buy new ubolts but I think 4 inch block would put the rear about where I want to set the ride height when I do the 5 link, so maybe I'll use that as a test to see if i scrape the ground anywhere.... 

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4" drop blocks  are a bit much, if you get a flat the shock mount could drag on the ground unless you are using 15 inch rims or larger, farmer I believe drug them shock mounts sticking down so much he wore them off, I have not been able to find the photos he took showing that.

I use 2" drop blocks and 4wd 720 leafs, that almost get you a 4" drop, if you want more you could mount early Roadster leaf mounts, but that limits how much one can haul weight wise.

Also keep in mind that that 4" drop blocks(4" drop) put the axle close to the frame, again limiting how much one can haul in the truck, if you have the stock bump stops the rear will be resting on them but maybe your already there unless you have already removed them or cut them to make them shorter.

Edited by wayno
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36 minutes ago, d.p said:

He not going to haul anything with it except maybe some ASS!!

Definitely nothing with any weight....

 

And wayno I do have 15 inch rims and no bump stops in the rear..... I'll take some clearance measurements before i order the 4 inch.... 

 

 

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Even with 4 link your going to have to notch the frame, and if you really want to go low your going to have to do some other stuff also, like removing the carrier mount cross member and put one in that does not hang down, when your that low you will also need to route the exhaust above the cross members, and I have just got started with all the stuff you need to do, the front is another can of worms.

I suspect it is easier to do a body drop to start with, by the time I thought about that it was too late for me as my 520 was made into a Ranchero type vehicle, plus I had put a L20b in it which meant to do a body drop the hood would need modified also along with the floorboards and the bed of the box, I did so much to it already and then I had a heart attack, after that I just wanted it done so I didn't have to work on it anymore, so I just finished it the best I could without any more modifications.

Going low is great if you do it right, but it is not easy, mine is a static drop(no bags), I have more suspension travel than I have room/clearance under the truck, but I really don't drive it much anymore as I would rather drive my 1969 Datsun 521 kingcab turbodiesel as that one is fun to drive, it was lowered around 4 inches recently and now my exhaust drags, I am thinking I need to go back up a little.

Body drop is the way to go in my opinion, then start messing around with the suspension, my truck would look dramatically lower even with a 2 inch body drop in the front and 3 inch in the back and it would change nothing suspension wise, I could actually raise it an inch and it would be less stressful to drive, I have to watch out for raised manhole covers and watch for anything laying on the road.

001.jpg

Edited by wayno
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Thanks wayno, I dont plan to go that low.... i think I have about a 1/2 gap between the tires and fender up front, but in the rear I have a 3" gap between my fender and tire..... 

I have about 6 inches before it would hit the inside fender and about 5 inches between the frame and axle.....

 

I have no intention of notching the frame ( atleast above the axle) or body dropping this.... I do have the exhaust above the frame in the back... there is one spot that is hanging low near the transmission.. I was thinking I'll have to deal with that at some point.... I have not looked at the clearance created by removing the torsion bars, or if I can get the exhaust tucked up better now....

 

And I dont think my carrier bearing would be an issue,  I dont think it hangs low, but I'll definitely have a look..... with the 5 link I can adjust the pinion angle.... I'm sure there is stuff I'm not thinking about.....

 

Maybe going back to my original idea of just dropping the rear 3/4" would be better suited for this summer.... 

 

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On a completely different note, I finally parted ways with my 99 Chevy Silverado... 288,500 miles... and even more rust than I realized... so many things were beginning to fail, it was just time..... served me well over 13 years...

 

So I decided to go back to a nissan... i had a 93 pathfinder for years and I loved it not to mention my 521, so I looked at some nissan frontiers and found this.....

 

20200501-163850.jpg

 

Just got it home today....

2012 Nissan Frontier pro-4x...

Very happy with the decision, it was an hour ride home and my ass didnt fall asleep, I was happy about that. My wifes old car I would be dieing after 20 minutes,  seats were awful.. all in all the ride was nice, nothing felt weird on the highway and I was getting 20mpg with the 4.0 v6......

 

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Cool man! My brother had brand new 91 Pathfinder SE-V6 when they first came out here in the states.  I had 95 SE as well, loved that truck.  Both had a horrible problem of the manifold studs disintegrating and making a racket of sound.  I traded it in for a WRX back in 2001 when they first came stateside.  

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3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said:

On a completely different note, I finally parted ways with my 99 Chevy Silverado... 288,500 miles... and even more rust than I realized... so many things were beginning to fail, it was just time..... served me well over 13 years...

 

So I decided to go back to a nissan... i had a 93 pathfinder for years and I loved it not to mention my 521, so I looked at some nissan frontiers and found this.....

 

20200501-163850.jpg

 

Just got it home today....

2012 Nissan Frontier pro-4x...

Very happy with the decision, it was an hour ride home and my ass didnt fall asleep, I was happy about that. My wifes old car I would be dieing after 20 minutes,  seats were awful.. all in all the ride was nice, nothing felt weird on the highway and I was getting 20mpg with the 4.0 v6......

 

Congrats dude! Nice truck!

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Nice! Back in the day I had a storm gray 2008 SE 6 speed. It was a great truck until it got pummeled real bad in a hurricane. I traded it for my 2012 Xterra Pro-4X, which fills my need to drive over things in the woods. You’ll soon find that gas mileage isn’t the cats meow, but they sure are nice to drive.

 

upjY72f.jpg

 

UQPViFx.jpg

Edited by mainer311
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Even though I just bought a new truck I still had the datsun out instead, going to run a few errands..... just rolled 6000 miles on the odometer...

 

20200502-123921.jpg

 

Thought of something interesting,  atleast to me,  this is almost like a father son picture.... frontier is the same age as my son and my 521 is almost the same age as me... ( I'm only a couple years younger)

Edited by Crashtd420
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Cool pic. There was a time when I had one of almost every Chevy truck body style from the 50's onward. Now I have only the 1957 4x4, a 1970 dually, and a 1980 K30 dually.

 

Seeing your pic made me remember our 2000 Frontier denim metallic 4x4 Crew Cab that we bought new from Vallejo Nissan.  What a gutless pig, but I loved everything else about it.

 

This is not it, but looked just like it.

 

https://cdn04.carsforsale.com/3/381865/34228385/thumb/1536692415.jpg

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7 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

What a gutless pig, but I loved everything else about it.

 

The VG33 will go down as one of the shittiest Nissan motors ever made. Even the supercharged version sucked.

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Well they must have done something better with the VQ motors...

Mine has the vq40... I went full throttle getting on the highway and it cranked up the rpm and got moving pretty quickly..... I got no complaints yet on performance... 

I was able to get an inspection sticker yesterday so that was good... had to go to the dealer, all the small local shops are closed....

Luckily theres a 2 month forgiveness, because of the Corona virus,  because the wifes Subaru has been due since the end of march.... I'm just gonna bring it down to nissan and have them do her sticker too....

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Of course the datsun is due this month too and I wasn't overly impressed with how much tire I had left ..... 

 

20200506-064622.jpg

 

20200506-064636.jpg

 

These were used tires before I got them and just need to be replaced.... 

I was able to get a set of 4 Yokohama for $400 all mounted and balanced....

 

I'll pick them up this afternoon...

 

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