Mortonm's 2001 Xterra Build
- Thread starter mortonm
- Start date
mortonm
Expedition Leader
Look(ed) greatI always admire the simplicity of your rig.
"Simplicity" AKA nothing cool?
Haha kidding, lots of the bells and whistles interest me but until I feel that I really need them they can wait
mortonm
Expedition Leader
Love your September's pics! Amazing country
Thank you!
Just booked a cabin for three nights over the Victoria Day long weekend in May at Bald Eagle State Forest ( where the photos were taken). I am really looking forward to going back, we will be bringing my brothers XJ as well, so it will be nice to have another vehicle along.
richard310
pew pew
Dang those LEDs are nutty bright. Talk about overpowering; looks great though. I can't wait to get my lighting all wired up.
Any actual Bald Eagles in that forest?
Any actual Bald Eagles in that forest?
mortonm
Expedition Leader
stioc
Expedition Leader
Haha, I think the cool factor is in the function-over-form build. Do tell...the bells and whistles that interest you.
Nice! Look forward to seeing the pics. Is it just you and your bro going or the missus too?
mortonm
Expedition Leader
I will get a winch at some point, I would like a bumper but they are all heavy and I haven't seen one for the X that I really like. Likely in the bumper but I think I will push that until later this year.
Rear locker interests me but the start up cost is very high and I. It wait until my next vehicle for a factory one.
The trip in May will be my brother and two brother in laws, so it should be a good trip.
We will be heading out to West Virginia later in the summer with the same two vehicles but a couple of other guys. The good news is we should have a DSLR along on both trips for some better pics.
Hope to get a few more shorter trips I this summer as well
stioc
Expedition Leader
Winch+bumper = I want one too and they certainly have their place when tackling tough terrain on a regular basis but in all my travels so far I haven't felt like I needed a winch so it's pretty far down on my priority list. I got the traction mats, a shovel and carry a manual winch for that one day I might need it vs. driving around with 150lbs of weight 364 days out of the year when I won't need it. Some day though.
Rear locker = similar to the winch but something I do feel has its place in an overlanding rig.
The trip sounds like fun but May is pretty far, you should do some snow trips while you have the chance...I wish it snowed here closer so I could go.
Rear locker = similar to the winch but something I do feel has its place in an overlanding rig.
The trip sounds like fun but May is pretty far, you should do some snow trips while you have the chance...I wish it snowed here closer so I could go.
mortonm
Expedition Leader
I couldn't agree more about the winch and bumper.
I do plan on getting some snow weekends in, just haven't gotten around to planning it yet. Will likely head northern Ontario maybe or even wester Quebec.
mortonm
Expedition Leader
Lets talk about tires.
My tires currently have 50,000 km (30,000 mi) on them.
When I bought the tires new (BFG AT) I bought 5 of them, 4 have been on the truck since then, and the spare hasn't been touched (other than up and down off the roof a half dozen times).
When these tires wear out, I am planning on replacing with the BFG AT again, but since I will have 1 brand new tires, I will just need 3, and I can keep the best two as my spares (one under, and one over the truck).
I have been very diligent with tire rotation. Every time I change my oil (5,000km / 3,000 miles) I have been rotating my tires, is this overkill? Likely, but I usually just do it while I already have to truck on the lift and the oil is draining, just means I have to bring 2 beers to the garage and not 1 :elkgrin:
I have been checking my tread depth fairly regularly, but always with a ghetto method, and being a man of science I like to have accurate measurements. I came across a tread depth tool this morning, $4 so it was pretty hard to pass up. Here is a rough camera picture, hard to see the graduations but it has scales in 32nds of an inch as well as mm.
It is very easy to use, the white part with the graduations is a plunger with a metal tip, you just place the plastic "wings" on the tread blocks and depress the white cylinder until it stops, then read the marking.
My tires all are right around the same, above 11/32nds and below 12/32nds. BFG AT in the 235/85R16 size come with 16/32 of tread, which means conservatively in 50,000 km I have gone through 5/32nds. Legal minimum tread depth in Canada is 2/32 (same as the U.S). That means if I lose another 5/32 over the next 50,000 I will still have around 7/32s at 100,000km (~60,000 miles)
I think that is pretty good. I drive about 25,000 km a year on the Xterra, which means I have about 2 years, in all likely hood though I will replace them before the start of winter 2015, which will be more like 40,000 km from now. I would rather have fresh tires for winter, and I also dont want my new spares to be too worn down.
What is everyone else expecting to get out of their tires?
My tires currently have 50,000 km (30,000 mi) on them.
When I bought the tires new (BFG AT) I bought 5 of them, 4 have been on the truck since then, and the spare hasn't been touched (other than up and down off the roof a half dozen times).
When these tires wear out, I am planning on replacing with the BFG AT again, but since I will have 1 brand new tires, I will just need 3, and I can keep the best two as my spares (one under, and one over the truck).
I have been very diligent with tire rotation. Every time I change my oil (5,000km / 3,000 miles) I have been rotating my tires, is this overkill? Likely, but I usually just do it while I already have to truck on the lift and the oil is draining, just means I have to bring 2 beers to the garage and not 1 :elkgrin:
I have been checking my tread depth fairly regularly, but always with a ghetto method, and being a man of science I like to have accurate measurements. I came across a tread depth tool this morning, $4 so it was pretty hard to pass up. Here is a rough camera picture, hard to see the graduations but it has scales in 32nds of an inch as well as mm.
It is very easy to use, the white part with the graduations is a plunger with a metal tip, you just place the plastic "wings" on the tread blocks and depress the white cylinder until it stops, then read the marking.
My tires all are right around the same, above 11/32nds and below 12/32nds. BFG AT in the 235/85R16 size come with 16/32 of tread, which means conservatively in 50,000 km I have gone through 5/32nds. Legal minimum tread depth in Canada is 2/32 (same as the U.S). That means if I lose another 5/32 over the next 50,000 I will still have around 7/32s at 100,000km (~60,000 miles)
I think that is pretty good. I drive about 25,000 km a year on the Xterra, which means I have about 2 years, in all likely hood though I will replace them before the start of winter 2015, which will be more like 40,000 km from now. I would rather have fresh tires for winter, and I also dont want my new spares to be too worn down.
What is everyone else expecting to get out of their tires?
Last edited:
mortonm
Expedition Leader
It's only a two years old, stored inside, so I hope it's okay in another couple
Allof75
Pathfinder
Good to hear, shouldn't be an issue with the tires. 2 years isn't enough age to destroy them I don't think, I've driven on 30 year old tires with few issues before. As long as there's no dryrot, then you're good to go.
Also, I have 25k on my current toyos, so I'm starting to look at options for next year (assuming the same mileage this next year). I know the usual traits of the BFGs- good tire wear, good traction minus deep mud etc. But out of curiosity, how loud are they on the road? Tire noise is actually a big issue for me, as it drives me nuts.
Also, I have 25k on my current toyos, so I'm starting to look at options for next year (assuming the same mileage this next year). I know the usual traits of the BFGs- good tire wear, good traction minus deep mud etc. But out of curiosity, how loud are they on the road? Tire noise is actually a big issue for me, as it drives me nuts.