Cushy Ride Capabilities

I was talking to this woman I know and she stated that she wanted to purchase an Xterra but thought the ride was too rough. It made me think back to when I drove my friends '94 Pathfinder and I remembered how rigid the ride was. But I also remember the Pathfinder had a switch on the middle console to change the ride...like from standard to sport or something like that. Now I don't think the X is too rigid, but then again its not an Escalade and its not meant to be an Escalade either. That all beind said, what are some basic things that can be done to make the ride more cushy? And please no jokes...like installing a gel seat cushion, sitting on a lap or driving on half flat tires.

[Antitree_hugger]

Softer shocks would be a good starting point

[warmonger]

My recommendation is to buy another truck. I know this sounds rather mean, but here are my reasons why. An Xterra is a truck. It is designed to be a truck which means it rides like a truck. If someone wants a minivan ride, I recommend buying a minivan. Here in Florida too many soccer moms buy Xterras and then sell them a few months later because they "ride like trucks". I have seen three come into our dealerships just for that reason. If you have to ask this quesion, buy a minivan.

[scott.com]

Originally posted by Sham365
I was talking to this woman I know

Well there's your first problem

As Antitree_hugger said she could try replacing the shocks but when it comes right down to it, it's a "TRUCK. It rides like a "TRUCK". When your going off roading that's what you want.


Why does your friend want to buy an X? If she going off roading maybe it's for her. It she's buying it because it suggest a certain life style then maybe she is going have to live with the fact that it's a "TRUCK" and rides like a "TRUCK". It she want a "TRUCK" that rides like a "car" then maybe she should look at a "car" based SUV.

[Schludwiller]

Get some Rancho RS9000 shocks. They have 5 adjustable settings from hard to soft.

[Kerensky97]

The old Pathfinders had in cab adjustable shocks, 2 settings, that's what the switch controled. The closest thing you could get on the Xterra is the Rancho RS9000's like Schlud said, then get the in cab adjuster, it hooks an air compressor to a switch and the shocks.

I've been looking into the setup, but Blistens are better quality shocks than Rancho, but adjustability goes a long way too.

Originally posted by scott.com
Why does your friend want to buy an X? If she going off roading maybe it's for her. It she's buying it because it suggest a certain life style then maybe she is going have to live with the fact that it's a "TRUCK" and rides like a "TRUCK". It she want a "TRUCK" that rides like a "car" then maybe she should look at a "car" based SUV.

I think it's easy for off-roaders to say to a person to buy a different vehicle. But we have to look at the facts. An Xterra is cheap and it looks nice. I would guesstimate that a large majority of all xterras out there are stock. People bought them to drive to and from work, to haul stuff and occasionally switch in the 4WD - like me. Offroaders generally ADD a lot to the base Xterra to make it what they want, yet we don't tell them to go and buy a jeep or hummer. Afterall we are still talking about 170hp here folks. Nobody wants a car for a car price, people want a SUV for a car price and thats where the Xterra fits in even though a lot of us would like to think we have a "specialty" vehicle.

When I first bought my Xterra I was lucky to see 3 a week during my commute to work. Now I regularly see about 6-7 on the way home daily - about 90% of them are stock. People are just trying to make the most out of $25,000 and still get 4WD peace-of-mind when it snows.

[Goliath the X]

Originally posted by Sham365


I think it's easy for off-roaders to say to a person to buy a different vehicle. But we have to look at the facts. An Xterra is cheap and it looks nice. I would guesstimate that a large majority of all xterras out there are stock. People bought them to drive to and from work, to haul stuff and occasionally switch in the 4WD - like me. Offroaders generally ADD a lot to the base Xterra to make it what they want, yet we don't tell them to go and buy a jeep or hummer. Afterall we are still talking about 170hp here folks. Nobody wants a car for a car price, people want a SUV for a car price and thats where the Xterra fits in even though a lot of us would like to think we have a "specialty" vehicle.

When I first bought my Xterra I was lucky to see 3 a week during my commute to work. Now I regularly see about 6-7 on the way home daily - about 90% of them are stock. People are just trying to make the most out of $25,000 and still get 4WD peace-of-mind when it snows.

I think you missed the point others were making. The Xterra is a truck. It is build on a truck frame, it is designed with a truck in mind, it rides like a truck, and it takes abuse like a truck.

Trucks do not have "Cushy" rides. Trucks ride rough, they rattle, squeek, etc....

The woman you spoke to wants a cushy ride, hence she doens't want a truck. Basically she thinks the X looks cool (which it does ). She can get a cute-ute with a cushy ride for a resonable price and still have 4wd or all-wd, beside all-wd is better in the snow anyways.

Where I work 4 of us own Xterras, on several occasions I've heard two of them complaining "The xterra is too truckish.... yaddi yaddi yadda.... sheeees, if you didn't want a truck you shouldn't have bought one"

end rant.
:smoker2:

[rrdstarr]

She should have bought an AWD mini-van! Better ride, better mileage and you can hauls lots of crap! Seats come out easy. Not real heavy crap but lots of crap! But who would want to be seen driving a Mini-van? Anyone?

[scott.com]

But who would want to be seen driving a Mini-van? Anyone?

Me, me, me

Sham365 I am by no means some off road snob. In fact I had my X for almost two years before I even went off roading. I originally bought it for some of the same reason you listed. But I knew going into it that it was going to ride rough. Heck I like the rough rugged ride. I fear if to many people start asking Nissian to make the X ride softer that it's going to join all the other car based SUV's. I like the X because it's rugged and simple.

[warmonger]

Originally posted by scott.com


Me, me, me

Sham365 I am by no means some off road snob. In fact I had my X for almost two years before I even went off roading. I originally bought it for some of the same reason you listed. But I knew going into it that it was going to ride rough. Heck I like the rough rugged ride. I fear if to many people start asking Nissian to make the X ride softer that it's going to join all the other car based SUV's. I like the X because it's rugged and simple.

That unfortunately is the biggest problem. In the end, as more and more soccer moms do just exactly what this woman is doing, complaining about the ride, the Xterra will be tamed. When that happens, it becomes another Pathfinder. So far Nissan has continued to stick with the hard core truck advertising. But as people like this buy it and complain, eventually it could alter its targeted audience and the off-roadability could give way to how many soccer balls one can carry in the back.

I have had several people ask me about the Xterra (soccer mom types) and my response is always the same. It is a truck, it rides like a truck, handles like a truck and drives like a truck. If you don't want that kind of ride, get a minivan. One of the funniest things that happened to me was when I met some friends in Gatlinburg and his wife tried to get in my X. Her first response was "My God Deb, how do you get in this truck?!" (My wife is physically handicapped.) But after a drive to a local ski slope and some road encounters she called it a "monster" (in a good way). After the weekend of tooling around through all kinds of enviroments she said the truck seemed almost bullet proof. And the only "off-roading" we did was through a little snow. But that "bulletproofness" comes at a price. If you aren't willing to accept that price, then I advise moving on.

I enjoy the fact that we are able to discuss valid issues on AF. In other peoples forums, not to name anybody, when I brought up this exact subject or any other topic I was ridiculed as a fanatical "ricer" or abruptly had my thread moved to an asbestos lined room for open flaming. And its nice to see that others bought Xterras without wanting to offroad right off the bat.

As far as the "go buy a miniman" and "soccer mom" statements go I think you have to ask yourself this question. Would you still buy an Xterra if it had the same price and capabilities, but it looked like an Aztek or RAV4? Honestly.

I think back to last year when my mother was thinking of buying an Aztek and I told her that I'd boycott coming by her house if I saw the thing parked out front - to me it was THAT UGLY. Yes, the Xterra is a TRUCK, but we must admit that it is a pretty good looking truck. Aesthetics and price have a lot to do with purchasing a vehicle. In the mid-size SUV catergory the Xterra has both and so of course you'll get all kinds of buyers. I look at the sheer volume I see on the streets.

Yes, so far Nissan has continued to stick with the hard core truck advertising, but sooner or later (just like with Honda Accords and VW Beetles) I think there will be demand for aftermarket car-type products and maybe even a special edition. Like an affordable special vehicle concept company .

Not everyone wants to drive an ugly minivan to soccer practice....but then again that new Highlander may take a bite out of the Xterra.

Did I mention the stadium seating?

[scott.com]

Would you still buy an Xterra if it had the same price and capabilities, but it looked like an Aztek or RAV4?

I kind of like the new RAV4 . The last model on the other hand was but ugly.

I can see a road based edition sometime in the future. Why not. I mean Jeep does it.

[rrdstarr]

I was about thre days away from Buying a Land Rover Discovery II when I bought the X. I was able to write a check for the X vs financing another $10k for the Rover! So, yeah it is about looks and ability! The Disco is even better off-road than the X but for $10k more I didn't think it was.

[warmonger]

Originally posted by rrdstarr
I was about thre days away from Buying a Land Rover Discovery II when I bought the X. I was able to write a check for the X vs financing another $10k for the Rover! So, yeah it is about looks and ability! The Disco is even better off-road than the X but for $10k more I didn't think it was.

I was looking at the 2002 Disco and I wasn't at all impressed with the 18" rims and 55 series tires. Also I was told by the LR rep that it no longer had a diff lock in the transfer case, it simply was AWD. I was pretty disappointed to hear that, I mean LRs are THE quintessential 4WD truck! Suffice it to say, the soccer moms won that battle.

And BTW, don't take offense to my soccer mom references. I have just watched truck after truck cave in to the car crowd and when the X came out I was super happy someone actually gave us outdoor folks some thought. I just would hate to see that go away. But sooner or later, it will probably happen. It is a matter of time I guess. The problem is, us off-roaders appear to be out numbered.