The Axle looks pivoted way far backwards.
Hows the driveshaft going to be?

The Pinon is at a 0 degree angle (completely flat). The drive shaft is going to have a U-joint connecting to the pinion and a CV joint connecting to transfer case.

I am have some alignment issues but that's why paid for lifetime alignment at Firestone after the SAS.

Why would you set the pinion angle at 0 degrees? I can forsee nothing but problems with this, I hope it works out for you though.

I'm all ears... How could this cause problems? I don't claim to be an expert at this stuff. I've been researching as I go.

The reason I think the angle is set at 0 is because I used the old leaf spring plates to level out the axle when fabbing up the brackets and shock mounts. My thought was if I wanted to keep the same camber and caster that were used on the original Wagoneer I would need to make sure the axle was positioned under the X as it was under the Wagoneer. Since the spring plates on the axle were parallel to the ground I used them as a reference point and assumed the pinion was at a 0 degree angle from there. But, the pinion angle is whatever it was on the Wagoneer. Does that make sense?

Pinion angle is the difference between the centerline of the driveshaft and the centerline of the pinion shaft of the differential. To measure it you must be able to work under the car with the suspension fully loaded and the car level. A drive on lift works best for this.

Use an angle measuring gauge (adjustable protractor) to measure the difference between the pinion flange and the drive shaft directly. These gauges are available for under $10 from a hardware store. Place the edge of the gauge vertically against the front of the pinion flange, beside the driveshaft. Extend the measuring arm forward parallel to the bottom of the driveshaft. Extend a straight edge under the driveshaft to the measuring arm of the angle gauge. Hold the straight edge flat against the bottom of the driveshaft and adjust the measuring arm to read the angle. Depending on the gauge you use, you may have to subtract 90° from your reading to get the correct number. Your final measurement should be between 0 and 5.

For how high your truck is sitting you'd have to drop your transfer case 8" to make that driveshaft line up. You're better off repositioning the front suspension....in the long run it'll save you.

Just run it. See how it does.

In order to change the angle you will have too cut the brackets for your suspension and cut the outer Cs, then turn the pinon and reweld everything. That is the only way to keep the steering and alignment in tact.

Alignment issues I am assuming you mean your tires are slightly like this \---/ they make spacers for that that go on the outside of the knuckle to correct the angle.

Also as an FYI if you point the pinon right at the tcase you will get a vibration UNLESS you run a CV at the Tcase.


NissanClay used a Chevy master Cylinder for his brakes and said he had to trim the portion on the firewall below the stock Master to make it fit.

Ask him over on RoninWheelers.com he rarely if every shows up here.

Looks nice! SO from start to finish what was the total cost? I will need to replace my from end soon so a sas is in mind.

Just to clarify I applaud you taking on the project and going in a different direction than using a Calmini kit, whether that was for saving money or other reasons. I understand what you are saying with the Wagoneer axle but unless you compared it's location to that of it's transfer case output and mimmicked this exactly in the Xterra then you might have issues.

If you read some of the replies since I posted I think you get some more ideas on what I was leading to. Fabricating a one off setup is trial and error, but that can be some of the fun of it and when you get your truck dialed in you will be proud at what you accomplished. Now I am trying to remember but doesn't the Calmini kit require you to cut and rotate the knuckles? This is probably your solution as well, a well designed driveshaft is also needed but you might not want to compensate for something you can adjust somewhere else. Keep up the progress and posting of pictures, everyone here learns and gives advice which makes everyones trucks better.

Alpine -
Thanks for the info on NissanClay & Ronin wheelers. Registered over there and may ask a few questions. I read up on his build the the challenges his went through with braking and I'm going to see if I can't adjust it a bit more before going with a Chebby MC. But, if it still don't have the braking power necessary... Then it's time to do a bit more retrofitting and fabbing to get a bigger MC in place.

http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbullet...?t=1137&page=6

I'm going to be using a shortened XJ driveshaft (CV at the transfercase) along with NissanNut's CV shaft adapter. Nissan Nut has a good write up on how to do this on his site.

FSRBIKER -
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure once this is done and I get a chance to test this out on the trail I'll be pretty stoked. This is by far the biggest project I've every attempted and I'm learning a lot.

I'm about 95% certain that the Calmini kit doesn't require the the Knuckles be cut and rotated. SteeevO mounted his the same way and I've not heard anything from him yet about it giving him issues. Not to discount what you're saying. I can see how it could cause the u-joints to wear out prematurely and possibly bind at full droop. I'm thinking I'll give it go and see how things hold up on the trail.

Oh yeah, my original plan to do this all in one weekend... Absolutely crazy! Maybe to a team of guys who've done this a bunch of times. But custom fitting and fabbing a kit like this takes time if you're going to do it right and make it safe. Lesson learned... Take time and do it right, safe, & once... Fixing things that have been fabbed poorly is more expensive than doing it right the first time.

You don't have to cut and turn the C's with the Calmini kit.

Not that its a huge deal, but you might also want to double check your exhaust clearance. On Rachel's (w/the Calmini kit, tho), the front DS has done a nice job of buzz sawing the cat converter for clearance.

That's what I was thinking. Apparently the Pinion is at a 10 degree angle on the Waggys. I'm going to try and double check that still. But I think I should be ok with a CV DS.

Yeah, I'm going to need to put in a custom exhaust system after the exhaust manifold on the driver's side to allow the 3rd and DS to stuff proper w/o hitting the cayts. Right now it's obnoxiously loud when I take it for test drives.

That's what I'm using on mine.

I guess I got lucky on my exhaust. The cat is not in the way.

Are you running the Calmini Kit? If so, then that makes sense.

The All-Pro kit is a three link. The third link connecting to the top of the dif which stuff up between the oil pan and engine mount and would hit the 2nd cayt under stuffage.

I've got a pretty detailed write up I'm putting together for this build. But I'm going to wait on posting it until i get everything finished.

The total cost is far less than the Calmini kit. I'm thinking, minus the gears/brakes/steering, the raw suspension (including coil-overs) and link system would only cost about about $2100 - $2300. But, there is one bracket and crossmember that you'll need to fab up on your own. It's technical build and will require your X to stay on jack stands for at least three or four days. I've been up on blocks for about two weeks now.

No, I'm running SUA with Rancho Waggy lift springs. It's pretty much just built from a bunch of gathered parts after getting lots of info from lots of people. 95% of the build was done in a weekend. We started at 8:00am on Saturday and I drove it home about 9:00pm Sunday. It was one scary ass ride home.

Since the initial build, we fabbed up the drive shaft, added a sway bar with JKS disconnects, and retooled the front shackles. The only thing left is to get the custom skid plates on this weekend so I can be ready for ECXC.

Nice setup. I can't wait to see the write up and some trail pics. Good work!