Greg replied:

Brother , the best way to lift Pathfinder is to get it on the back of the car trailer and take it to the rubbish tip where it belongs.

Ken replied:

Here we go again! Firstly there is nothing wrong with Pathfinder all the 4x4 mag tests and many comments on another forum put the Pathy as the best of the small-medium waggons and quite cpable off road. Suspension lift can be done by replacement of the rear spring [lovells, kings or ARB] 50mm max. The front torsion bars can be ajusted up to level out the vehicle This ajustment to the front will increase ride height but NOT wheel travel. Regards Ken.

jono replied:

mccoy, i have a 1992 Hilux Surf and a good mate has a Terrano, from those i have spoken to in the 4WD industry, i have basically come to the conclusion that the best you can hope for is a 50mm lift at the front from an adjustment of the torsion bars and longer coils at the rear. Although with enough money anything is possible and i have seen a Surf lifted many inches, but it really isn't nescessary to go extreme. I have to say that most of the time the factory articulation etc is not all that bad and in most situations it is O.K. Having said that i am getting into a bit more serious off roading and am looking at selling my Surf and getting a SWB cruiser to do some modifications. Anyway, if you decide to go down the lifting process, it seems it will probably cost you about $1,000 (well thats about what it would cost for me to lift my surf 50mm)

mccoy replied:

Thanks for the replies chaps - Slunnie, you are correct re McPherson struts. Sounds a bit more complicated!

datman replied:

NO 1.. buy yourself a tape measure
NO 2..find a friend who knows how to use it
NO 3..visit car yards
NO 4..talk to people experienced and find a decent vehicle 2" higher than a pathy.. shouldn't be too hard, and would include many dozens or even hundreds of vehicles out there.
Q?... did u upgrade from a datsun 720 recently?

mccoy replied:

Datman ..... and Greg

If you've got no sensible advice,
1) stay off the board
2) go surf elsewhere
3) shut up
4) get a life!

Not everyone has a Patrol or Cruiser. There are limitations re $ and medium-size vehicles are more suitable for spouses to drive in town and are far better / more car like.

I'm looking for a bit more flexibility with what I've got/can do with the Pathy. I'm not going to shop around for something else - and nor are the other 80% of viewers on this site who own something else.

Vog boy replied:

Good way of improving Pathy clearance is to undo all body mounts , wiring etc. Ditch the engine and the rest. Hire a small crane , lift the Pathfinder body and lower it on 80 Series Landcruiser chassis and engine gearbox etc assembly. You will end up with a decent 4WD . You can buy Toyota badges from any dealers for about $49.99

Ken replied:

Hey ! mccoy asked for some help with his vehicle not a lot of biased crap from people that woul'nt know, if you have nothing to say regarding his query, BUG OFF!

Axel +Karen replied:

SO much BIAS /// nothing wrong with the question ,hard to answer,,best we can sugest is try the yellow pages,,,you will find some one in your area who can and will do the mods WITHOUT claiming that a tojo /pistrol are the ONLY worthwile 4x4s ///// it would seem that this forum is slowly but surely becoming a place only for the toyota cruiser /nissan patrol user,,, a sad day for australian ingenuity,,does japan rule OUR world,,,long live the victa lawn mower and hills hoist. ..axel