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What did you do to your rig today?


autumnwalker

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Finished the install of the rear drive shaft. Had it out yesterday but couldn't break the caps free without a press. Big thanks to John (xj zone) who let me borrow his ball joint press. They were in there very well. Had to use a 2' cheated bar on a 1/2 ratchet to break them free. The new ones went in with a c-clamp. Only thing I didn't accomplish on the list was the 2 bolts to drill & tap. All things considered, I'm happy with that.

Also decided that I'm going to undercoat the X before I re-install the skids. In prep for that, I'll have to buy a pressure washer to really clean the underside. I didn't take any pics of the mud in the skids, but Eugene posted a pic just a while ago, and mine would have looked the same. The exposed cross members are full of mud as well. Full belly armour is a double edged sword; protects the undercarriage unbelievably well (3/8" thick), but holds a lot of mud which promotes rust.

Eugene, all most all of my vehicles have he same rust on the seat mount. It's from the snow & salt on your boots that soaks into the carpets & wicks throughout. The only thing I've found to prevent this is a set of Weather Tech floor mats as they have a large lip to hold water & snow melt in the mat itself. I re-painted the brackets on the X 4 years ago & there is no rust on them at all. I painted the mounts in the Corolla almost 2 years ago, and the rust is forming again.

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Eugene, all most all of my vehicles have he same rust on the seat mount. It's from the snow & salt on your boots that soaks into the carpets & wicks throughout. The only thing I've found to prevent this is a set of Weather Tech floor mats as they have a large lip to hold water & snow melt in the mat itself. I re-painted the brackets on the X 4 years ago & there is no rust on them at all. I painted the mounts in the Corolla almost 2 years ago, and the rust is forming again.

Oh I know it's from the winter salt. But my '02 Xterra, my '04 X-Trail, the ex-gf's '09 Sentra, her '99 Altima, NONE of those rusted the seat legs. AND I have good winter mats with lip! This Rogue is cursed! I have another front wheel bearing going also, it sings around corners!

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Oh I know it's from the winter salt. But my '02 Xterra, my '04 X-Trail, the ex-gf's '09 Sentra, her '99 Altima, NONE of those rusted the seat legs. AND I have good winter mats with lip! This Rogue is cursed! I have another front wheel bearing going also, it sings around corners!

lol, I hear you on the wheel bearings. I'm replacing my 5th one in 5 years.

I had the Nissan rubber winter mats in the X when I bought it. I thought thery were good as well until I realized the carpet was always wet in the winter. With the Weather Tech mats, I haven't had a wet carpet except for the locations where the kids empty their cups; but that also covers the seats too!

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A year ago I purchased new poly transmission/transfer case mounts. My 30 yr. old ones looked mighty seedy! Decided recently to get them off the 'shelf of parts' and on to the truck! Of course once I took the cross-member off, I had to paint it. And when examining the old mounts, one half of one was pretty compromised! At least one of the old cross-member bolts was seized, but loose, and at another the steel plate was bent so I could hardly get to the bolt. A BFH was needed to provide clearance again. After I took the installed pics I re-installed the T-case skid plate as well.

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Well, FML, back to the shop tomorrow for more exhaust work. They missed a small section of welding for the new inlet pipes to the OEM which is leaking (not a big deal), but I also noticed a gasket that has blown out at the flange from the 1st cat on the passenger's side that leads to the 2nd cat. Can't replace just the gasket as the stud & nut a beyond fubar. Has to go in to have the flange cut off & SS pipe welded to make up the section. This only became evident when I removed the last skid this w/e and checking for F + R diff leaks today.

I'm going to have the most ba$tardized exhaust on the trail!

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Removed front and rear sway bars and installed a pair of Monroe Load Levellers for an F-150 on the rear of the WK. Gained about 1" more lift in the back. Now it sits pretty level, and it still rides decent. :king:

More details? Do you find the truck unstable without the front sway bar?

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I've driven locally and the 101 without the sway bars and really haven't seen a big difference in stability. At very low speeds, and it may be all imaginary, but I picture it being wobbly. It worked fine on a trail last weekend, now I'll see how the load levellers work come Jam.

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Tuesday and Thursday evening I worked on the trailer until dark. These are old pictures, I now have the springs off as well, and everything scraped and sprayed with Rust Converter, and then almost all painted.

Starting out the rust shown on top was everywhere! However there are only a couple of spots that need repair.

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Then after dark I went in and worked on the Sub. The front fenders seemed 'sprung' just in front of the doors, just below the A pillars. After a good look I knew I had to take them off to fix them properly. I think I popped them 2-3 years ago when I dropped the front axle through a rotten culvert and the truck hung up on the front bumper / frame! I did post the pics at the time! And I think they've been wiggling ever since. When I had bad body mounts and didn't unhook the sway bar and flexed her good at the Ledwidge Rally last summer, James remembers, I think they got worse in a hurry! I couldn't open or close the front doors!

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Here is what I found.

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Close up where the 7 spot welds let go, the two horizontal pieces should be joined. And they should be aligned! (the semicircle areas.)

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And this flex-rip shouldn't be there! Couple all this with some other 15 yr old issues including but not limited to: seized bolts, (over-) carving out the fenders before the latest lift and flares, and dents from GAC 8 years ago, and I've ordered new fenders. To be cut for the flares!

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Aint worth fixing fenders any more with cost of new ones these days

Right on. Probably what finally tipped the scales towards getting new ones was I didn't want to clean all the Krown off them to weld! lol But not knowing what parts to bend to align the pieces before welding, then trying to fit crooked fenders back on? Fa get about it!

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I'm in PEI at the old fella's place this weekend, and two weeks ago, and again in three weeks time, it's gonna be some late nights getting her ready for M.U.D. Gotta finish getting those rails on as well!

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