Newbie needs advice...

[shahram]

I own a new, completely stock '03 Xterra XE 4WD All-Manual (No Power Nothin'!). After 8 years of wheeling my poor 2WD Tacoma, I finally have a real transfer case!
With all the parts and mods out there, it's pretty hard to decide what to do to my X on a serious budget. Also, my X is a (60 mile a) day commuter car, and I don't want to do anything too drastic (or expensive) to it.
My four-wheeling consists of exploratory trips to the Mojave desert, the local (SoCal) forests, and occasional forays into Baja (in other words, almost all dirt roading w/ occasional riverbed crossings and fun stuff). I don't really desire to do any rock-crawling, mud-bogging, etc. Yet.
And so my question: If you were on a (tight) budget, and could only do a few mods to the aforementioned stock Xterra, what would they be? I know the (ugh) street tires must go, and they will soon, but what other changes would you make? What accessories or tools would you purchase?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

PS--This is my budget

[evergreen]

Originally Posted by shahram

I own a new, completely stock '03 Xterra XE 4WD All-Manual (No Power Nothin'!). After 8 years of wheeling my poor 2WD Tacoma, I finally have a real transfer case!
With all the parts and mods out there, it's pretty hard to decide what to do to my X on a serious budget. Also, my X is a (60 mile a) day commuter car, and I don't want to do anything too drastic (or expensive) to it.
My four-wheeling consists of exploratory trips to the Mojave desert, the local (SoCal) forests, and occasional forays into Baja (in other words, almost all dirt roading w/ occasional riverbed crossings and fun stuff). I don't really desire to do any rock-crawling, mud-bogging, etc. Yet.
And so my question: If you were on a (tight) budget, and could only do a few mods to the aforementioned stock Xterra, what would they be? I know the (ugh) street tires must go, and they will soon, but what other changes would you make? What accessories or tools would you purchase?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

PS--This is my budget

the x will do exactly what you are looking to do in bone stock form. do some wheeling and then decide what you would want to change.
heres what i would do.
1. bilstein shocks on all 4 corners ($250)
2. bfg at tires 31x10.5 ($400-$500)
3. recovery gear (tow strap, tools, shackles, basic spare parts) ($100-$200)

[88Chris88]

LOL,

Man, you asked the same question I did when I first posted. I too have my 03 baby, (she is auto though, unfortunately, the wife has to drive her also when she has our daughter), and I was so pissed that I had over 2000 dollars of stuff to buy in order to make my truck decent.

Then I talked to Brent, XslapXshot, and john (a buddy from Cali). Dude, take your X out like old boy said and then decide what you want. Trust me, you own an amazing piece of machinery and there's not much it can't do on trails with it's stock arsenal.

I went trailing last month with John and his Tacoma TRD, Graham and his Ranger, and Justin with his 02 GMC 1500, all stock. The Tacoma and Ranger ripped my ass on speed but everytime we hit anything muddy, hilly, or any kind of sand, my X made up for her lack of trail speed by dusting the other 3 trucks. For only a 180 horses, this thing has some serious torque. I'll take pictures next time (forgot my digi).

I'm telling you, you get a little miffed by everyone elses speed on the trail, but man, everytime everyone else got bogged, my baby pulled through like she was driving on the highway. Dude, we even hit about a foot of clay (A.P. Hill sucks by the way) and I had to pull Graham's Ranger (found on road dead) out. Same with water. We hit a few river crossings, one at about 2 1/2', 3' and Katie (my baby) did just fine.

So I'm taking Brent and John's advice. Getting some rocker skids, some skid plates and some new tires, and that's about it. Plus new seat covers and a bunch of interior and little personal touches on the outside.

And for what I do, (trailing, creek bedding, and mountain climbing) that's about all I need. So unless you're trying to bog her or something, just trial run her about 2-3 times keep notes.

Late,

Chris

[OffroadX]

I wouldn't invest in shocks right off the bat, wait until the stock ones crap out, or you've added enough weight to make the stock ones inadequate. They do nothing for you on the trail. Hell, by the time you need them, you may be game for a lift and will need longer-than-stock ones anyway, would be stupid to buy brand new ones that need replacing because they're too short well before they're worn out.


Brent

[evergreen]

Originally Posted by OffroadX

I wouldn't invest in shocks right off the bat, wait until the stock ones crap out, or you've added enough weight to make the stock ones inadequate. They do nothing for you on the trail. Hell, by the time you need them, you may be game for a lift and will need longer-than-stock ones anyway, would be stupid to buy brand new ones that need replacing because they're too short well before they're worn out.


Brent

they do nothing on the trail??
never heard that opinion before...

how about they increase driver comfort.
allow you to remove the rear sway bar permanently.
increase control on rough roads.
reduce body roll in corners.
generally kick ass over the stock piece of crap shocks.

i barely had 16k on my truck when i swapped shocks. i took the stock ones off and compressed it down as far as possible by hand. 10 mins later it was extended again. worthless...

[ChuckH]

Yours extended? Two of mine just stayed compressed...LOL! During compression they sounded like they had sand in them too and this was at about 25K miles. I'm guessing they had been toast for at least 15K miles, uh, or since the truck was built.

I agree, shocks are one of the best things you can do. Biggest change I noticed was in back. The stock shocks allow the rear axle to thrash around too much, which not only makes the whole truck shudder and shake when you hit an expansion joint on the road, but if you are driving on a washboard logging road it's just plain torture with the shuddering and the truck bouncing all over the place. New shocks will greatly improve control of the rear axle and smooth out the ride. Up front they offer superior control during braking and cornering. Best $250 you can spend, IMO.

Only the rear ones change with a lift...the fronts are the same length either way. If you buy a good shock like the Bilstein it's a pretty sure bet you wouldn't have any trouble selling the rear ones if you need to go longer.

[OffroadX]

Let's put it this way, they don't make your truck any more capable on the trail, you won't be able to go somewhere you couldn't just by upgrading the shocks.

[warmonger]

Originally Posted by OffroadX

Let's put it this way, they don't make your truck any more capable on the trail, you won't be able to go somewhere you couldn't just by upgrading the shocks.

I would like to expand just a tad here Brent. Every part on a vehicle has a purpose and can pave the way for other things. We all know the factory shocks stink. That is a given. That being said, after-market shocks may not make you go places you couldn't previously, but they can facilitate the use of better tires. The reason is the increased dampening can reduce the suspension bottoming that can be hard on after-market tires when they make contact with the wheel wells upon compression. Coupled with an AAL or rear spring pack, those shocks then become a vital piece of your off-roading puzzle.

If we were to use the logic that we should only add that which makes us go further, we could eliminate on-board air systems, winches, dual batteries, etc.

All of this is where planning comes into play. It is easy to drag your truck through a 4X4 store and see what sticks. That is how you wind up with the poser F-350s most of us see on the road. Or you can decide what you want your truck to do and where you want your truck to go and plan accordingly. Adding a winch? Put in dual batteries. Adding an ARB air locker? Install an on-board air system. Lifting a Nissan? Put on steering. Everything has a place and each serves a functional purpose towards a capable trail vehicle. Maybe shocks won't make your truck "...more capable..." off-road. But as part of the big picture, they can help bullet-proof your truck.

I have said it before and will say it again, there are as many opinions on subjects such as this as there are people. What may be right for one may not be right for another. But if we don't know how the party in the discussion will be using their truck, how can we assess what is right for them? For all we know he could be doing like I do and tow a 3,500 lb boat. All of a sudden those shocks are a smart addition to the vehicle.

[OffroadX]

Not saying shocks aren't a good mod, but they're not one of the first things I would have someone dump $200+ on in getting their truck trail-ready.

[ScottG]

If those trips through the Mojave desert involve driving through deep sand, the Bilsteins should help prevent wheel hop. I wheel at a place called Spring Creek here in Texas that has some areas of deep sand. With the stock shocks, I was getting so much wheel hop in the back that I would have to let off the gas. Once I let off the gas I was usually stuck!

I thought it was going to take add-a-leaves, or new spring packs to solve that problem. However, the over-sized Bilsteins seem to have pretty much eliminated the problem. They also make the truck ride alot better and prevent bottoming out.

I agree with the original poster. I would get BFG AT's and Bilstein shocks as my first mods. The BFG's are a good compromise between offroad and highway driving, and the shocks made a bigger difference than I ever thought they would.

Alot of the folks on this board have bought oversized shocks for the rear, which requires ditching the rear sway bar. I did it and have never missed having the sway bar. The part numbers for the shocks are on this board somewhere.

[warmonger]

In most cases, shocks alone won't eliminate wheel hop (axle wrap). Usually the shocks will compress with the spring pack as it wraps and release as the spring pack unleashes. My Xterra has a set of Bilstein 7100s in the rear in conjunction with a National Spring 10 leaf pack. I am fine until I engage the rear locker. As soon as I do and hit the sand, the axle wrap begins. But a lot of it has to do with tires as well. I am running 32" tires which reduces the likelihood of getting them moving at any decent rate of speed. Generally when a spring wraps, it does so central to the axle. Since the center of the wrap has the most force, the shock will generally compress. Prior to my lockers, I didn't have any axle wrap to speak of. But the addition of the lockers made it become a factor.

For those who don't know what it is we are talking about, axle wrap occurs when the spring twists into an S shape from the traction at the tires. Once the spring reaches its maximum twist, it then unleashes in a twisting motion, causing the rear wheels and axle to "hop" as it occurs. Axle wrap occurs as a result of traction and/or soft springs. A vehicle with leaf springs that is built to articulate has a high probability for axle wrap because the softer leaf springs that make it articulate are easier to twist. Axle wrap can quickly break axles if when it releases, one tire hits a solid object (a rock or some such thing) and stops suddenly. Many trucks cure this problem by adding ladder bars or trac bars to the rear axle. The bad side to that is that a ladder or trac bar unless built correctly, can reduce ground clearance. Optimum when building on is to run it parallel to the drive shaft. That will insure ground clearance. Most manufactured ones mount to the lower half of the frame though and that leaves one more thing to hang up on off-road.

[ScottG]

I am running 32" tires now also, so maybe I am not getting the wheel speed up to cause axle wrap. I was thinking the tires would make the axle wrap worse because of the leverage, but it may be that I don't have the power to spin them.

In any event, I am happy with the shocks. When I took the stock ones off they were dead. Like Chuck said, I don't even think they would expand when I compressed them.

[warmonger]

Lock that sucker and it will give axle wrap a new meaning, believe me. I haven't experienced it yet on my Swampers though. My ATs will do it at the beach. Of course, I haven't done that much sand running with my Swampers on yet. The only outing I went on with them was a submarine run.

[Schludwiller]

I would also add that there are a lot of posts on this subject (and opinions) on this board. Do some searching. There is also no substitute for riding with a club and seeing what they have and what works well for them. If you're not perfectly equipped there is always someone with a winch. We had one club member that wheeled stock with us for over a year and amazed many of us by how far he got. Driver skill makes up for a lot of things.

[shahram]

First, thanks for all the advice, it has been greatly appreciated. I took her wheeling again in Mojave and this is what I learned:

1. Stock tires should not be called "Grabbers", but instead should be called "Slippers". But they didn't pop, and I was very abusive. So I can't complain too much.
2. Articulation is not the stock X's strong point.
3. The X can comfortably fit four people + gear (using a duffle on the rack for bulky/light items and gas and water cans in the basket) for a luxury champagne-and-caviar safari. We took all the comforts of home with us. I never noticed a difference in handling.
4. With the seats folded down, the rear area makes a fine alternative to a tent for myself, my wife and our pug dog. Hot? Open window. Cold? Close window.
5. Steep hills with loose shale were eaten up by my X. Except for a little wheel spin, she sauntered up everything just fine.
6. Pros and Cons of front bumper...getting the lip in front of the wheel caught between the tire and a rock was not fun. Poor approach angle. Not good.
On the other hand, my buddy in his Tacoma backed into my bumper full-force in the campsite, completely collapsing the right-front end of the bumper. But when he pulled away, the thing made a loud "POONG" noise and went back to its original shape. That was good.
7. Everwhere I went, those mudflaps and those cheesy step rails made me nervous. I don't mind if they get wrecked as long as they don't take (expensive) body parts with them. They're gone, first thing.
8. When I saw my X covered in dirt, in front of the campfire, California sunset behind the desert mountains, my heart fluttered. Wanted a 4WD truck all my life. I think I'm in love...

So in summary, after wheeling around a bit, my mod list has been whittled down to:
31" BFG AT TA/KO's ($500)
Rock Sliders ($300)
Calmini or TJM or ARB Steel Front Bumper ($600)
Shocks (when these die) ($250)

Pretty humble list compared to what I thought I'd have to do to get her decent off-road. And to think, for the $20,065 I paid for the brand new stock X, plus a couple grand in mods, I'll have a solid, well-handling, reliable and comfortable 4WD vehicle for about $5,000 less than a 2WD Ford Exploder!
I'm overjoyed...