How To: Replacement rear coil spring lift - 1987-1995 Nissan Pathfinder

By TomKzinti(88pathoffroad)

Stock Pathfinder spring, Jeep Grand Cherokee spring(untrimmed), and Ford spring(trimmed)

-Before and After-
This article applies to 1987-1995 WD21 Nissan Pathfinders with the five-link coil sprung H233B rear axle. It's a popular cheap lift to begin with for Pathfinder owners. It is ONLY a rear end lift. The replacement springs are cheap, easy to find, and easy to install. To lift the front end of your Pathfinder after installing new coil springs, check HERE.

The springs being referred to in this article are: Ford coil springs off the FRONT of a 70's Ford F100 or F150 2WD pickup, or front coil springs off a 1993-1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8. I've seen people use springs out of a '70, a '72, a '74, and a '78 Ford all with the same results. There are pluses and minuses to using either type of spring, as shown here. I am personally using a set of .58" 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 front coil springs and Rancho RS5116 shock absorbers in the rear.

Using these replacement springs will stiffen the rear end, allow for better load carrying capacity, and lift the rear end of your Nissan Pathfinder between 2 and 3 inches, depending on how much your stock springs were sagging to begin with. Longer shock absorbers are not really necessary, but would be beneficial for better articulation of the rear axle when offroading. The Ford coils aren't taller than the stock Nissan springs, but they are a lot stiffer and don't sag nearly as much with the weight of the Pathfinder on them, therefore giving a taller ride height. The Jeep springs are about the same length as the stock Nissan coils, but they're a higher spring rate(more load-carrying capability), which makes them flex more easily and still allows for higher load-carrying capacity. If you plan on using longer shock absorbers, the JGC springs are a better choice, because they're longer than the Ford coils and wouldn't cause problems when offroading, ie, becoming loose in the spring seat to the point of almost falling out when the axle articulates.

Here is a very basic installation procedure list.

Tools required:

Metric socket set
Metric open-end/closed end combo wrenches
Floor jack
Jackstands
Hacksaw, bandsaw or angle grinder
Spring compressor(optional, makes installing the JGC coils easier)
WD-40, PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench
Utility scissors or utility knife

Parts required:

Set of replacement coil springs
Hose, wash mitt or towel, nylon brush/scouring pad
Spray paint

Optional for spring seat isolator replacement:
Cheap rubber mudflap measuring at least 10" by 10", no less than 1/16" thick, preferably 1/4" thick, OR rubber material of suitable thickness and width, whatever you can find.

Also optional:
New shock absorbers(stock rear replacement Rancho RS5000 shock P/N is RS5118. Rancho RS5116 shock absorbers are approximately 1" longer than 5118 shocks. Rancho RS9000 5-way adjustable shock is P/N RS9118/RS9116.)

Installation procedure:

Acquire a pair of Jeep Grand Cherokee(JGC) or Ford springs from the junkyard. Take your angle grinder, hacksaw or bandsaw and cut the extra "pigtail" end of the spring off the top. The pigtail is used on the Ford as a means of retaining the top ends of the springs in the old pickup. The JGC springs simply taper from 4" to 3" inside diameter at the top, menaing that you will need to chop off about 3/4 of the top coil in order to get a 4" inside diameter. The pigtail on the Ford spring and the 3" top coil on the JGC spring are not necessary for use in your Nissan, and if you do not cut them off, they will not fit into the spring seats. Another idea would be to use a torch to heat the top coil of a JGC spring and bend it back outwards, yielding a 4" inside diameter coil spring with more height and even more lift. I have successfully used a propane/MAPP gas trigger torch to re-shape the coils, but it takes a long time and requires use of a bench vise.

Demo pic: 3/4 coil cut off JGC spring compared to stock:

File or grind any sharp edges down for safety. Wash them off. I recommend using an engine degreaser(such as Castrol Super Purple, never use the Gunk spray-can degreaser, that stuff never works) and a stiff nylon brush or scouring pad. Let them dry, then repaint the springs your favorite color.
Jack up the frame of the vehicle and support it properly with jackstands so that the rear axle hangs freely with at least four inches of clearance below the tires. Set your floor jack underneath the center of the axle and jack it up so that it's weight is supported by the jack, but not so much that the vehicle is lifted off the jackstands.
Apply penetrating lubricant(WD-40, PB, or Liquid Wrench) to upper shock bolts, lower shock bolts, and lower panhard rod bolt.
Remove the emergency brake cable mount bolts(13MM) underneath the body and let the e-brake cables hang loose.
(Note: if you forget this step, your e-brake cable will be stretched when you lower the axle completely and may damage your cables or brake hardware.)
The pictured brake cable mount is spaced off the body's stock location due to the vehicle being body lifted, but otherwise is the same.
Remove upper and lower shock bolts(17MM). Remove lower panhard rod bolt(17MM). The lower shock bolts and panhard rod bolts that you must remove are circled in the picture below. The panhard rod is mounted using two conical-shaped rubber bushings. Take the bolt off, the washer off, slide the outer bushing off, then slip the panhard rod off its mount. Let the rod hang out of the way, or unbolt the upper mount(19MM bolt head, 22 or 23MM nut) as well, slide the rod out, clean and repaint it, and save it until later. Then you can remove both shock absorbers. The shocks may require some twisting or prying to slide them off their respective mount bolts. Use your spray lube on them and it will help. IMPORTANT: If you have a 90-95 Pathfinder with rear ABS brakes, either disconnect the ABS wiring or make sure it will not hang up when lowering the axle.
After removing the shocks completely, disconnecting the panhard rod, removing the e-brake cable body mounts, and making sure your ABS wiring is clear, either pull the rear differential breather tube from it's hole in the frame or remove it from it's connecting point on the differential itself so it doesn't pull apart unexpectedly or become damaged. Then lower the jack that is supporting the rear axle. The axle will droop a lot lower than it did before due to the missing shocks and disconnected panhard rod. If the tires touch the ground before the springs are completely loosened in their seats, you may need to jack the axle back up and remove the tires for additional clearance. Watch carefully to make sure your brake line doesn't stretch too far while doing this. Mine was fine the way it was. The springs will then be fully loosened in their seats and you will be able to slip them out with no problem. Spring compressors shouldn't be necessary to remove the stock springs.
Remove the spring seat isolators(see description below for details and picture links on the spring seat isolators) from the stock Nissan springs and set them on the new Ford or Jeep springs. You'll need to set the upper one on top of the spring. If you decided to make new isolators, the new ones would go on before the old ones(refer to picture links below). The lower one just goes back onto the axle's lower spring seat. Insert the new springs into the spring seats, positioning the springs so that the bottommost coil is in it's proper spot in the seat. Using a spring compressor would be a bit of a help when installing the Jeep springs, because the higher spring rate of the coils make them harder to compress when trying to get them over the bottom spring seat and underneath the upper spring seat. When both of the new coils are in place, jack the rear axle back up slowly, making sure the springs are properly seated.
Reinstall the shock absorbers(if you bought new ones, feel free to use those).
Reinstall the panhard rod(if you removed the rod completely for cleaning or painting, reinstall it fully). Reinstall the emergency brake cable mounts on the body. Torque all bolts with a torque wrench Use the torque settings in your Chilton's or factory service manual when reinstalling all bolts.. Verify that all bolts and nuts are tight.
Lower the jack under the axle until it's at full droop again. Jack up the frame of the vehicle and remove the jackstands. Lower the vehicle and remove the jack.
Drive around and enjoy!

Installed JGC spring pic:

Here are the measurements of each respective coil spring:

Stock Nissan springs:
Outer diameter: 5.125"
Inner diameter: 4.125"
Coil thickness: .5"
Coil height(uncompressed): 16.5"

Ford springs:
Outer diameter: 5.25"
Inner diameter: 4"(after trimming)
Coil thickness: .625"
Coil height(uncompressed): 15"

Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 springs:
Outer diameter: 5.25"
Inner diameter: 4"(after trimming)
Coil thickness: .58"
Coil height(uncompressed): 16.5"

Personal installation comments:

It took me probably 20 minutes total to take the springs off an old '72 F150 at the junkyard. It took a bit longer to remove the Jeep springs due to the extra stuff in the way, but it wasn't very hard to remove them with common hand tools. They wanted $10 each for the springs. It took another ten minutes to use a cheap angle grinder to cut the pigtails off, clean up the sharp edges, five minutes or so to degrease and wash them off, and another ten minutes and a $3 can of black spraypaint to paint them. A couple hours tinkering with everything underneath to put em in...of course, I had to remove and clean off the panhard rod...the shocks got taken off and repainted, and so on. Upon discovering the JGC coils, I took out my Ford springs and installed them instead. Much to my delight, they gave the same amount of lift, are longer than the Ford coils, and flex better than the Nissan coils. I'll stick with the JGC coils, personally.

After swapping the springs on my Pathfinder, I measured the tire-to-fender clearance on both sides and the end result was three inches of lift in the rear with the Ford coils. I measured the same amount after installing the Jeep coils. I'm currently using Rancho RS5116 shock absorbers in the rear.

Spring Seat Isolator Comments

Upon examining the old rubber spring seat isolators, I decided they needed some help, so I made some new rubber donuts out of an old mud flap I had lying around using the old upper spring perch as a template. I simply laid the old isolator on top of the mud flap and traced it's inner and outer outlines with a Sharpie, then cut the mud flap out with some utility scissors and a utility knife. It may even have added a tiny bit of lift, being as each rubber donut was about 1/4" thick or so. It works great. You can see the added rubber material underneath the stock spring seats in the following two pictures.

Upper spring seat after installation
Lower spring seat after installation
Before lift pic from the side
After lift pic from the side