ragpaoa wrote:

RacerZX wrote:I notice that everybody who's installed this suspension so far has said it's stiffer and more controlled even for pavement driving, yet also all of you have LE Pathfinders. You guys have any feel about how it compares to the SE suspension? I actually got an SE specifically because it was so much more controlled than the wallowing over-luxurious LE, so I'm curious how the OME compares to the SE.

I believe the SE may have the same problem 'rear skipping over bumps' problems as the LE. According to NVSteve's post, he has the same problem, and he has the SE-OR. In my opinion, the LE was far from luxurious. Wallowing, felt every bump, and it resonated through the car to your body. With the OME, no wallowing, and bumps tend to not resonate, almost being deadened by the suspension. You still feel them, but more subdued. If you are a cyclist, it analogous to an aluminum frame vs a carbon fiber frame over bumps. Just feel a lot more confident.

I'm coming from a '00 Durango with IFS & solid rear. That thing really made me feel the bumps. Driving the PF is a gigantic improvement. I feel the bumps, but it is very solid and controlled. Not overly stiff like a solid axle jeep, but not as mushy as my old Durango either. Feels just right to me. The problem I had in the Durango, and have noticed on the PF, is when driving at highway speeds & hitting a bump/hole while turning even the tiniest amount-the handling gets squirrely, with that "oh shit" feeling like you are about to lose control. Normally only lasts a second or two, but I'm still wondering if a stiffer suspension would counteract that.

I can't imagine that the Rancho shocks, which are the only difference in suspsension as far as I know between the SE & SE-OR&LE, would really make my PF any different handling-wise from the standard SE flavor. I still have to wait a month before I give mine a true off-road torture test of the suspension, so I'll be sure to post my comments then. I'll probably be salivating at the mouth for a new OME setup once I get back from that trip. Then again, it may actually do the job for me.

Still having problems with the VDC on turns. Can't figure it out. I have checked all connections and bolts, re-align the wheels, rotated and balanced, and still get the SLIP indicator on turns around 50-60mph (mostly going from one freeway to the next). Now, I do notice that it happens when truck starts to yaw left or right. This is a bit more apparant because of the increase in height. I am wonder if the internal gyro is sensing more of this lean causing the VDC to kick in.
I know there was a recall for the 05 Pathfinders for a VDC problem that can cause a tip-over, but my local dealer says my VIN does not fall into the group. However, my VIN does fall into the group, so I am wondering if only the SE or XE versions were affected.

Anyone out there did the VDC recall service for a 4x4 LE 2005?

Have you called OME for their input yet?

I know it sucks, but you could be stuck swapping back to stock and taking it to the dealer

Still having problems with the VDC? I looked through the service manual at all the sections dealing with it & can't really see a reason why you would be having problems. The only thing I came up with is that it must have something to do with the sensors located in the area of the wheels. That doesn't make sense though, because the rear got pretty much the same amount of lift change, so you'd think it would affect it as well.

is this setup the best upgrade suspension to get?
and does it really add overall performance to the stock?
I like upgrades such as this.

mtbpath wrote:is this setup the best upgrade suspension to get?
and does it really add overall performance to the stock?

Best is subject as I'm sure you know. But its the only upgrade that is a completely package (that I have seen anyways). There are other lifts based off just spacers, or new springs on the stock front struts. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to find a set of after-market rear shocks by measuring the stockers length. But none of those options directly address the rear suspension sag when carrying/towing any kind of load. Airlift brand air bags do however.

Bang for the buck best I say is the Airlift.
For looks with clearance go with the spacers. Probably stock ride but with height.
For a matched package that has been working well for me in my mild off-road situations go with a package like the the OME. You won't be crawling any boulders but in my limited off-road driving so far I've enjoyed the change.

After a week and a half of fiddling, re-installing the OME setup, and checking all connections and torque specs, my problems with the VDC going crazy on turns has finally been solved.

Turns out, the VDC was working perfectly, just as it should.

Problem:
Pep Boys wheel alignment SUCK big time!
I immediatly went to get an alignment at Pep Boys after install. Afterwards while driving home, the VDC Slip indicator goes crazy while turning right at speeds over 45. After a week, I was very close going back to stock. I decided to order a winch bumper thinking that because I put on medium springs up front to accomodate a heavy bumper, the extra 1/2" higher lift up front caused the internal gyro to go wacky. On my way home yesterday, I decided to drop by the local Firestone Car Care and have the alignment checked again. Sure enough, the rears were way off. Major negative toe-in with negative camber. Also, the front were off specs a bit as well. After alignment, all VDC problems are gone!

Synopsis:
Because the rears were actually pointing to the left, everytime I turned right, the truck tends to almost tip-up, causing the right wheels to screech (which I heard often), causing the VDC to kick in to try to correct the vehicle. The VDC would apply the left brakes and throttle the engine down to correct. An awesome system if you ask me.

Bottom line: Have your wheels aligned IMMEDIATELY after install, and NEVER, Ever, go to Pep Boys for alignment.

Now, the truck seems a lot more stable, and drives even better. Now I will post my pics with measurements, and feel really good about it.

Excellent news! Amazing the alignment could be so far off to screw up the VDC system, wow, what a bunch of nuckleheads at your local PepBoys

RacerZX wrote:Excellent news! Amazing the alignment could be so far off to screw up the VDC system, wow, what a bunch of nuckleheads at your local PepBoys

Yeah, I think when the Pep Boys cats broke out their chalk line and eyeing the wheels with one eye shut, I should have questioned it then.

Forum is in a little lull...so you fellas with the OME lift, after a few weeks what are your impressions? Have all the little issues been resolved?

Either of you had your rigs off-road yet? how's the flex, ride etc...?

Ditto. I'd also like to hear some more driving impressions now that a few of you have had the lift on for a while. I'd really like to hear about off road experiences. Even though a small percentage of my yearly travels takes me off road, I need to have a vehicle that will perform at its best when I do.

Just an update on the suspension now i've done around 1000miles on it and to answer some of the requests about how it handles off road.

I'm still really pleased with the upgrade, it feels slightly softer now than when I first had it fitted but I suppose thats just everything bedding in and loosening up. The lift doesn't seem to have dropped at all but I haven't measured it recently.

On road driving I'm still finding it much more controlled, it corners flatter with much less body roll, and though i'm not sure it actually corners any quicker it does feel faster. The thing i've really noticed is if you hit a pot hole or speed bump the stock suspension used to wallow and bob and take a few seconds to settle again. With the OME suspension, it seems to settle almost instantly so its much easier to keep control though the downside is a harsher overall ride. On accelerating/braking there's also noticeably less fore/aft bob. One thing to note is i've been told its now a much rougher ride in the back seats. This doesn't really bother me as we don't really use those seats much but if you did a lot of mileage with a full car on poor quality roads it might get tiresome.

Off Road the suspension has been brilliant but I guess that's what its designed for. If you're in the mood you can fly along bumpy tracks and the great damping means the car responds really quickly to bumps and you can keep your foot down rather than get bounced to a standstill. I haven't spent too much time on really rough terrain but from my initial impressions the added lift has really helped, particularly with the approach angle. I always used to catch the front bumper on stuff but now its fine. The wheel articulation still seems pretty good but that's fairly subjective as I haven't tried to measure it. I'm still intending to get some larger more aggressive tires which should raise the car a bit further and improve things off road even more.

The negatives: Well there's nothing major, the rear wheels camber in slightly due to the lift and while this hasn't made any difference when driving, if you're stood behind the car it is noticeable. Next time i get the car serviced i'm going to get it checked again as i'm not too confident in the abilities of the wheel alignment place I went to. I'm also suffering a slight problem with a clunking noise at the front of the car. This is nothing to do with the OME suspension as I had the problem before it was fitted, but the extra lift has made it worse. I think its something slightly out of alignment from when I knocked one of the front wheels off roading but lifting the car has changed the angles and exaggerated things. Again, i'll get it fixed at the next service

My overall verdict: Well, the suspension does everything i'd hoped and i'd definitely recommend it. The ride is much more to my tastes on road, yes its definitely harsher but also more controlled. Off road its a massive improvement, again its not a smooth ride but if you hit a bump the fact it settles so quickly means you're not left bouncing around hanging onto the steering wheel. At slow speeds and on steeper terrain the added lift is a major benefit and seems to be just enough to stop the car catching all the time.

If like me you spend probably 80-90percent of your time on the road but like to load the car up and get out exploring whenever you can then this suspension is ideal. It gives you much more confidence off road. If you do a lot of distance driving on road then the firmness of the ride might get tiring and there may be better options out there that keep the stock spring rate.

Hope all that's of use!

I just returned from a much needed trip to Death Valley. Aside from getting away, I really wanted to see how the PF handled on highways & freeways, not to mention in the dirt.

It's about 530 miles from my house to Death Valley, with at least 10 mountain passes. Altitude ranged from below sea level to around 7400'. The cruise control was set between 75-83mph, with extremely gusty winds on most of the drive there and back. Overall, I got between 16-20mpg throughout the 1400 some-odd miles I drove, both on highway and off.

I honestly see no reason, aside from tow ability, that anyone would want a V8 in the PF. Not once did I experience anything equating to a lack of power. In fact, I'd say the opposite is true: the PF craves to be driven hard & does so quite mannerly. I was also pleasantly surprised with the auto climate control. I thought this might just be another useless "gimmick," but I ended up loving the thing. I guess I forgot that I have always had to fiddle with the temperature controls in all previous vehicles during a trip. Having to set the temperature once & then leave it was simply fantastic.

The whole point of my writing this is to convey my impressions of the PF off-road, specifically with the OR model. Since most people drive something other than the OR, I have only been painting a mental image from the bits & pieces people have been writing about their experiences. I can honestly say that I fully expected to bottom out every other bump, and for the suspension in general to be unimpressive. That proved to not be the case. Most of my driving was on class 3 roads with a smidgen of class 4 thrown in.

When car MP3 players first hit the market (in-dash variety), I bought one for my previous vehicle. It was the very first in-dash MP3 player from Aiwa, and only 1 of about 3 available on the market back then. It was great in concept, but it would skip (song would cut out & come back in a few seconds later) if I so much as looked at it wrong. I was not excited whatsoever with getting the Bose, but seeing as that was the only option I had, I figured I could use it for a while & then replace it. All I have to say about the Bose is that I won't replace it until it dies. I had converted a number of DVD movies onto CD's in the MP3 format to listen to on the longer drives. I had to really crank the audio at times since soundtracks vary so wildly between voice, sound effects & music. Absolutely fits my needs. The steering wheel mounted controls are just icing on the cake. Even while being bounced around off road, I have yet to encounter any skips or breaks in the audio. I'm sure that's trivial to some, but it is literally night & day for me.

Back to the suspension. I actually think the OR suspension is tuned quite well for the class 2 & 3 roads. I did finally bottom out the rear, but that was purely my fault. I was driving at a fairly good clip rounding a blind curve when I noticed, a bit too late, that a dry creek had eaten away most of the road. The front end went in just fine, then bounced up when I hit the bank on the opposite side (maybe a 3' wide channel cut through the road). When the rear hit the opposite side, I felt it bottom & also saw the large Coleman cooler in the back hit the roof. Most of the roads I took owe their difficulty to rocks and deep washed out areas. I made it over some moderately nasty stuff, but had to park it when the class 4 "boulder run" consisted of rocks jutting out no less than 14". This was the first of about 6 similar segments within a half mile. Instead of wasting all of my time moving rocks around for who knows how long, I just hopped in a friend's Tundra, whose clearance exceeded that of the majority of rocks. I simply did not have the clearance needed. I'm all set in ordering the OME lift, but I also need to figure out if I can get a taller tire. As it is now, there is very little space on the left or right of the tire, though obviously plenty top & bottom. One of these days I will have to take measurements of the front tire gap, from various turns of the steering wheel. I'm hoping that I can at least get tires 1 size taller than stock, though more would be great.

Sorry to ramble on so. I'll probably post a few pictures at some point once I get caught up with the civilization I left.

NVSteve wrote:I also need to figure out if I can get a taller tire. As it is now, there is very little space on the left or right of the tire, though obviously plenty top & bottom. One of these days I will have to take measurements of the front tire gap, from various turns of the steering wheel. I'm hoping that I can at least get tires 1 size taller than stock, though more would be great.

That shouldn't be a problem. I stuffed a 285/75R17 in there on my 06 with minimal rubbing when the tire was stuffed during turns. The rubbing didn't go away with the OME lift either. Took a while but I found that it would rub on the very bottom/center at the front of the wheel well liner during the turns. I never got it to hit anywhere else.

Look forward to some pics of your trip.

would this upgrade to suspension help the sag?
I notice recently after having 3 passengers in the 2nd roll that its pretty bouncy hitting a bump.
how can I make the rear suspension stiffer?
thanks.