I am looking to install a 3" suspension lift (and possibly combine it a 2 inch body lift) on my 2003 X. With that amount of lift installed, would 33, 32 or 31 inch tires fit best and would 33's be a bad idea since the 3.3 liter could be overworked trying to turn them? Would using 33's or 32's require trimming even with the lift?
Thanks for your responses in advance.

Personally I would split the difference and get a 3" suspension lift and 32's. It's a good combination, makes your truck well equipped without needing a body lift (ugly) or losing torque because of tire size. Your truck will work well on-road and off.

A bit of trimming is always going to be needed up front if you have 31's or over. If you have an ARB bumper, then you might need to cut a tab of steel off on the inside fender of the bumper for 32's or over.

31s fit w/o lifting, don't bother. Get the 32s. 33x10.50 could fit with just one lift but it's not the best fit.

Whatever I do, I do not want to throw tires under it that will rub, (especially if I load the suspension on dicey trails-which I find here in New England) and run the risk of trashing the insides of the wheelwells. (The tires will have an aggressive tread) I am really looking past 31's if I can help it. It seems 32's are the best way to go, and trimming up front looks to be required to do so. Besides the front trimming mentioned in the initial replay to my post are there any other body alterations that need to be addressed, like trimming in the rear if I decide on 32's? What would be the best suspension lift kit currently available from a value perpective for the X and why? (I have head the Rancho kits are not as good as the Calamini kits for the X) Thanks.

Whatever I do, I do not want to throw tires under it that will rub, (especially if I load the suspension on dicey trails-which I find here in New England) and run the risk of trashing the insides of the wheelwells. (The tires will have an aggressive tread) I am really looking past 31's if I can help it. It seems 32's are the best way to go, and trimming up front looks to be required to do so. Besides the front trimming mentioned in the initial replay to my post are there any other body alterations that need to be addressed, like trimming in the rear if I decide on 32's? What would be the best suspension lift kit currently available from a value perpective for the X and why? (I have head the Rancho kits are not as good as the Calamini kits for the X) Thanks.

You can run 32's without a lift, perhaps some adjustment of your torsion bars (HD t-bars couldn't hurt). My opinion, if you want a lift, get either SLR or Calmini UCA's, Sway-A-Way HD torsion bars and SLR 3-leaf AAL's. But like I said you don't really need that to run 32's. You shouldn't have any problems with "trashing" the insides of the wheelwells.

If you go to a tire shop to get get 32's, take off the rear fender trim of your front wheel wells (these are the ones that will need trimming). Then you can take your time at home deciding on how much plastic to remove instead of dreading the sound your tires make on the plastic every turn you make home.

I've found removing the trim behind the front wheels isn't a good idea, it's rather difficult to do without a high risk of breaking the part of the flare that the pins are attached to, rendering them useless.
The trimming is a no-brainer, just make a 2000/2001 have a similar contour to a 2002+ and you'll be fine, whatever rubbing you might have will be minor enough to drive home on. Here's a stock 02, the dashed line is what might need trimming for 32s beyond that.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/xterraguy/02frontflap.jpg

Rear trimming isn't necessary, the only rubbing you should get w/ 32x11.50 on stock wheels is against the fuel line cover in the RR, but only at max stuff. Remove the cover if you like, it's not critical.


Brent

It would seem that if I do put the lift on as well, it'll make the X that much better clearance wise, tire fitting wise etc... or is that not true? I want it to look good, but also be very capable.
Brent you mentioned the fuel line cover rubbing. Is removal of it easy to do? The detail pic of the front wheelwell trim is great-and thanks for that. That looks pretty easy.
Schludmiller, thanks for the all the great advice on everything including good kits and suspension systems. What kit is typically more expensive?

The fuel line cover is held in place by a bunch of plastic clips/pins. They're a little tricky to remove, but they'll come out. Or, just rip/pry the cover off without bothering with trying to remove the pins first, most if not all the pins will come with it.
My suggestion: don't worry about it in the first place. Let the tire rub it, it's harmless. Mine's pretty beat up, but somehow still hanging in there nearly in two pieces.

An IFS suspension lift does change your front end clearance a bit (though the ends of your lower control arms are still no higher, the center is) but being IFS, the clearance always changes as the suspension cycles, and an SL raises your chassis/frame clearance, but does nothing for your minimum clearance which is still at the rear axle. Bigger tires are the only thing you can do there other than removing those pesky load leaves, getting some lower shock mount relocating brackets (Darlington UB Skidderz: http://www.darlington-offroad.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=534357%7C1124686&PRID=1232546 discussed here previously), or something as drastic as a spring-over-axle leaf spring mount conversion (requires custom springs or you have the rear too high to compensate w/ the front). The only thing that really increases your minimum clearance is larger tires.
As for tire clearance, a suspension lift does nothing really, the tires still swing in the same arc during their travel up front, and will still contact the same points, but an SL does change the "resting" position of the tires in that arc and reduces the frequency/chance that it will be in the position to rub in the upper front of the fender liner at maximum compression. Rubbing on the flares at the bottom of the fender area isn't really affected. Most suspension lifts include rear bumpstop extensions which will reduce/prevent the opportunity for the rear tires to hit the fuel line cover etc. I know that with my 32x11.50 BFG ATs on stock wheels, no lift, and no rear swaybar, I had the very gentlest of rubbing by the sidewall of the tire against a ridge on the body tub just above the frame rail, only enough to rub the paint/undercoating off, and not even noticeable other than to actually see where it had happened. A different "32x11.50" tire might not even rub there, it's so minimal.


Brent

I have purchased 4-16x7 steel daytonas by uswheel (nearly identical to the AR767's) which have a 4 inch backspacing replacing the X's stock wheels 4.5 inch backspacing, which will fit, but push each wheel out .5 inches. I am really leaning toward getting the Firestone Destination MT tire in a 265/75/16, which measures 31.9 in diameter with a 10.5 inch overall section width (based on specs from the firestone website). Question: Can I run these tires on my X with the stock suspension if I do the inside flare trimming as shown in the diagram posted by Brent? By adjusting the torsion bars if I need to in order to accomodate the larger tires what does that do as far as changes/limitations to the vehicles suspension travel? It sounds as though 32's are runnable with only very minimal adjustments & trimming but I need to make sure before I make the purchase. They will not be purchased locally. (tirerack.com)

Your help once again is greatly appreciated in helping me make the final descision on the tires. Thanks!

Dave

Er, actually, the factory 7" wheels have more like 5-5.25" backspacing... You're not going to run 265/75-16s on those wheels without issues...

Brent

I was given wrong info then, since I now have wheels that have only a 4 inch backspacing,which is a huge difference from what you are saying is stock. I now also read somewhere else online of the 5-5.25 BS, consistent with what you said, yet also have had two techs on the phone from 2 different companies tell me that the 16x7's on the 2003 Xterra are a 4.5 inch backspace. "WTF?" is my natural reaction to such differing info. I am NOT saying I don't believe you, in fact I do completely. I am frustrated at the other two peoples misinformation that was given to me. Now I must take one step back and get replacements...ugh!!

When I DO get 16x7's with a 5-5.25 inch BS that will closely replicate the stock wheels, will the tire I described above fit then? (do you or anyone know of any black wheels with such a BS that look similar to the AR767's by amercian racing or daytonas by USwheel??)http://www.uswheel.com/images/wheelsBIG/daytonaBEAD.jpg

Thanks for all your info and help.

Personally I find that there is such a small selection of wheels that work with the Xterra I just don't even bother with other than Nissan ones. I run 15" Xterra steelies and 15" Pathy Alloys. I'll probably end up running just steel next year with my new tires.

Check the back of your factory 16x7 alloys for the spec cast into them. My factory 15x7s have the "40" indicating 40mm offset, which comes out the the 5+ inch backspacing. As far as I know the 16" wheels should have the same offset, which means they're the same backspacing given the same width.

ok, thanks for that info. I had read somewhere else also that the 2003 X stock 16x7 does have a 40mm offset.

Will the tires I want to put on them (265/75/16 MT's) (31.9 diameter which is taller by about an inch over my current tires) fit into the wheelwells without too much rubbing if I match up both offset and the backspacing?? Thanks

I know you mentioned about the fuel line cover taking some friction-it doesn't seem too important)
( I am going to likely get a set of custom made steelies from US wheel to match exact stock specs)

6 on 5.5
40mm offset
16x7 with a 5.15 +/- backspacing

265/75-16 fits fine w/ stock wheels, and will not rub the fuel line cover. You need 11.5" wide tires for that with stock offset.

BTW, I found out from John at US wheel that they cannot make a custom steelie to match the backspacing of the X. Nissan capitalized on the wheels when they made the X, which I diagree on but can understand from a business perspective.
So I am going to just stay with the stock wheels, paint them black and get my tires mounted/balanced.

Many Thanks for all your help to everyone who contributed to this thread.

I was wondering with the Yokohama Geolander AT 265/75/16 tires. Do you need to trim off some plastic or do they fit fine on a stock Xterra? Some People are saying with 32's you have to trim. But is the Circumference change enough?