Nissan X-trail build/trip thread from the UK

[Life's Adventure]

Afternoon everyone!

I've decided this would be a good place for a progress thread for my x trail, so here goes...

I needed a good car to tow our caravan and various cars around the country, I also wanted something that could hold its own greenlaning. I figured the x trail fitted the bill almost perfectly. Whilst being an excellent tow car, I soon realized that it was lacking in the off road department. So let the mods begin!

This is how the car sits at the moment

How it all started... (after some 225/70/16 Hankook RF10's)

Very quickly removed the silly side steps

Then the wheels went black

Got it a little wet

A small rock step

Next came a new exhaust

And a sump guard

At this point, I was much happier with the off road performance, I felt comfortable greenlaning without the constant worry of catching either the sump or the back box

I was looking around for a roof rack after I destroyed my old one driving into a barrier with bikes on, and found nothing more than a plain 2 bar set-up, so I set about building my own from scratch, incorporating some driving lights

Putting it to use

There we are, all up to date. I hope that's not too many photos!

Future planned mod's include a 40mm lift and a simple boot storage solution.

Thanks for reading

Dom

 

[Life's Adventure]

Had a great day greenlaning on and around Dartmoor yesterday, There were only the two cars, the x trail and a totally standard Mitsubishi shogun pinn, on road tyres! The pinn had some trouble on the second lane negotiating a very slippy climb, thankfully the x trail could pull him out! We then did some very rocky lanes where the sump guard came in very helpful. I have also mounted the spare tire on the roof in preparation for the boot storage build. Here are some pictures of the day.

 

[sweety]

Nice motor:ylsmoke: came close to getting an X-Trail myself as we are hoping to get a caravan this year & know they are great towers but managed to find another Terrano instead with really low miles. Can't remember the year they changed the set up in the boot but think it was about 2006/07 Nissan fitted a 2 draw raised boot floor set up in the boot same time as they shifted the clocks back infront of the driver instead of being in the centre of the dash I think, might be worth having a look at a later model for some ideas

 

[DD196]

Awesome roof rack! What US model is the X-trail similar to? Love the term greenlaning!

 

[Life's Adventure]

Nice motor:ylsmoke: came close to getting an X-Trail myself as we are hoping to get a caravan this year & know they are great towers but managed to find another Terrano instead with really low miles. Can't remember the year they changed the set up in the boot but think it was about 2006/07 Nissan fitted a 2 draw raised boot floor set up in the boot same time as they shifted the clocks back infront of the driver instead of being in the centre of the dash I think, might be worth having a look at a later model for some ideas

One of the main reasons I bought the x trail was because of its weight, at only 1500KG I can get away with towing our caravan without the need for an additional licence (i'm only 23). Thanks for the suggestion about the storage, I do like the idea of draws buy I still need access to the spare wheel well, so I will probably make a false floor with multiple compartments below, one for tools, one for recovery gear etc. I also want to mount my compressor under there.

Awesome roof rack! What US model is the X-trail similar to? Love the term greenlaning!

I'm not sure what the x trail is similar to in the US, I think Canada had them for a couple of years.

 

[Allof75]

Nice ride! Looks like you did some great work on that rack, it seems really well integrated.

 

[nasko]

Nissan's and Knolly's go great together, Got an Xterra and an Endorphin myself.

 

[Life's Adventure]

Nissan's and Knolly's go great together, Got an Xterra and an Endorphin myself.

Unfortunately its not a Knolly, they look really nice. The frame is a 2005 Giant reign with a lot of nice parts on

 

[mortonm]

Cool!

We got these for a few years in Canada as well, same body style as this. I am considering getting one for my wife, the real advantage over the RAV4 and CRV is that it has a 4WD Lock

 

[Life's Adventure]

Cool!

We got these for a few years in Canada as well, same body style as this. I am considering getting one for my wife, the real advantage over the RAV4 and CRV is that it has a 4WD Lock

If i'm being honest I have never used 4WD lock, I've found no difference between lock and auto. Auto seems to be constant 4WD.

Dom

 

[Life's Adventure]

Lift!!

UPDATE!

I finally got the lift installed on Sunday, I went for 45mm in the end, mainly because I figured it was roughly what I needed to to drive down rutted lanes without scraping the sump guard. The front camber has been set up without camber bolts for the time being, but I am planning on having them fitted to correct the slight positive camber I currently have.

After the alignment apart from feeling a bit taller, there is no noticeable difference in the way it drives.

And the finished product

 

[Life's Adventure]

Did a little solo greenlaning today

All a bit of fun!

 

[Lucky j]

Just to be more specific, no x-trail in the USA, two years in canada, 2005-2006, no diesel, only the 2.5l.

Did you know that OME makes a lifted coil spring for the x-Trail? I got it, and wow! Drive better, little on the stiff side, but can now handle the load like empty.

Do you have auto or manual, I kind of think that the manual is a little long on first gear to go off-road.

Your roof rack is awsome!

 

[stioc]

Thanks for sharing and great work on the little x-trail there. I saw plenty of them in Japan and in Canada. It reminds me of the Jimny for some reason.

It's been a long time since I visited the UK (and never went off the pavement) so it's nice to see the country side.

 

[Life's Adventure]

Just to be more specific, no x-trail in the USA, two years in canada, 2005-2006, no diesel, only the 2.5l.

Did you know that OME makes a lifted coil spring for the x-Trail? I got it, and wow! Drive better, little on the stiff side, but can now handle the load like empty.

Do you have auto or manual, I kind of think that the manual is a little long on first gear to go off-road.

Your roof rack is awsome!

Thanks, I have the manual, I find it has to be driven within its limits ( carry a little more speed to keep rpm) and seems to perform rather well. The diesel only came with a manual.
I was aware of the OME lift for them, it is something I am considering for the future, along with the pedders spring and shock combo (gives about 35mm lift). We shall see!