Tom's 2011 Xterra Pro-4X: general utility and midwest adventure
- Thread starter TFin04
- Start date
bijanjames
Adventurer
265/75/16 ST Maxx installed.
Great Choice!
Jack Stilts
Subaru Ambassador
Those are nice! I'm curious to hear how they do in the snow. Been eyeballing them for a while.
I was very happy with them over this past week. As good or better than original BFG KO's, Firestone Destination A/T's, and Bridgestone Revo 2. They are very quiet on the road, with only a slight hum at 55 when the wind noise isn't loud enough to cover them. At highway speeds it sounds like any other tire. We'll see how they do long term, but initial impressions are quite good. I got a good deal on them too.
Haven't posted here in a while. The ST Maxx are great in the snow. Commuted in the crap we have had so far this year, and have been recently driving a lot of ice covered hilly roads looking at potential hunting spots next year. Other than the mileage hit, I have been totally pleased with the ST Maxx.
Jack Stilts
Subaru Ambassador
Good to hear!
P&P Level 2 sliders picked up, just waiting for a good day to prep, paint, and bolt them up. Have a quote for an ARB bumper, full OME kit, diff breather, and a few other odds and ends. Goal to have all of that done by mid spring. I have two trips for 2017 planned already and a number of other ideas floating around. Will be doing some general maintenance stuff as well as soon as the weather breaks.
07BlackSpecV
Adventurer
You're gonna love the ARB, I guarantee it. Interested to hear about the OME kit, I honestly haven't looked into how high it lifts or loads it can handle and would love a new suspension before some big trips I have planned this summer. Excited to see it come together man!
I did a lot of searching and even posted a thread here on Expo. Decided to go with Rustoleum professional self etching primer and Rustoleum Professional black enamel. Good results, fairly durable, but more importantly easy to touch up.
Current status: In limbo.
I tracked down my annoying rattle in the rear to a broken passenger leaf spring. I lifted the truck to decompress the spring, stuffed the broken part back in, and hose clamped it in place as a temporary solution. Full OME HD kit is on the way, but my bumper and winch are a ways out. I'll be driving it with the HD springs and factory weight for a while until I can swing the bumper, hopefully only a few weeks.
P&P rock sliders are painted and ready to install, but I don't want to add any more weight until I can get new springs on it. The OME kit should be here within a week, I'll address some of the Michigan winter rust when I climb under to install that.
Also picked up a nice Old Town canoe that we plan to use for summer family floats and I will use it to access some deer hunting sites that are (hopefully) less pressured by other hunters. I really like the way the X looks with some adventure gear strapped to the roof.
I tracked down my annoying rattle in the rear to a broken passenger leaf spring. I lifted the truck to decompress the spring, stuffed the broken part back in, and hose clamped it in place as a temporary solution. Full OME HD kit is on the way, but my bumper and winch are a ways out. I'll be driving it with the HD springs and factory weight for a while until I can swing the bumper, hopefully only a few weeks.
P&P rock sliders are painted and ready to install, but I don't want to add any more weight until I can get new springs on it. The OME kit should be here within a week, I'll address some of the Michigan winter rust when I climb under to install that.
Also picked up a nice Old Town canoe that we plan to use for summer family floats and I will use it to access some deer hunting sites that are (hopefully) less pressured by other hunters. I really like the way the X looks with some adventure gear strapped to the roof.
Finally got the suspension in. This was my first time doing major suspension work, and it took the better part of the day to get it all done. Here are a few lessons learned for anyone else looking for the Old Man Emu kit (or any similar kit).
As another forum poster put it, the factory leaf springs are made from recycled marshmallows. I broke a spring about a month ago and stuffed it back in the pack with a hose clamp. It held in place but it was asking for trouble down the line:
Taking some advice from members at thenewx.org, I modified my leaf packs a bit to try to reduce noise in the future. The Dakar set is known for popping and clunking, especially once they get some dirt and rust between the stack.
I put galvanized lumber ties between each leaf except the overloads. This makes the springs only touch at the center and the tips, creating less friction along the length.
I also wrapped the retainer brackets with heavy duty shrink wrap. This keeps the packs closer together to try to limit noise from movement.
I did the front spring work myself, and it was very time consuming. I read about a guy breaking a heavy duty wall mounted spring compressor with the OME springs, so I used two sets of the manual ones for safety. Took a long time, but the coil always seemed very secure in the compressors. Grease the threads and washers well, makes the job easier and safer.
Final installed shot:
Things I learned:
- Spraying down all bolts with penetrating fluid once per day for a week before made for easy removal. Just a regular 1/2" breaker bar was all I needed and I didn't break anything.
- Buy new tophat components for the coilovers. Salvaging your factory ones is time consuming and dangerous, and the parts may not be in the best shape depending on your vehicle history. Nisstec offers to prebuild the OME coils, that's not a bad way to go.
- Buy the camber bolts. I planned on installing mine, but I was so far behind on time I will just take them to the alignment shop and pay their labor if they need installed.
Overall it's still worth doing the work yourself to know that it was done right, learn more about your vehicle, and save money. I would just spend a bit more up front on new coil parts next time. Everything else was straight forward and the type of job that I could do again in 1/3 the time.
As another forum poster put it, the factory leaf springs are made from recycled marshmallows. I broke a spring about a month ago and stuffed it back in the pack with a hose clamp. It held in place but it was asking for trouble down the line:
Taking some advice from members at thenewx.org, I modified my leaf packs a bit to try to reduce noise in the future. The Dakar set is known for popping and clunking, especially once they get some dirt and rust between the stack.
I put galvanized lumber ties between each leaf except the overloads. This makes the springs only touch at the center and the tips, creating less friction along the length.
I also wrapped the retainer brackets with heavy duty shrink wrap. This keeps the packs closer together to try to limit noise from movement.
I did the front spring work myself, and it was very time consuming. I read about a guy breaking a heavy duty wall mounted spring compressor with the OME springs, so I used two sets of the manual ones for safety. Took a long time, but the coil always seemed very secure in the compressors. Grease the threads and washers well, makes the job easier and safer.
Final installed shot:
Things I learned:
- Spraying down all bolts with penetrating fluid once per day for a week before made for easy removal. Just a regular 1/2" breaker bar was all I needed and I didn't break anything.
- Buy new tophat components for the coilovers. Salvaging your factory ones is time consuming and dangerous, and the parts may not be in the best shape depending on your vehicle history. Nisstec offers to prebuild the OME coils, that's not a bad way to go.
- Buy the camber bolts. I planned on installing mine, but I was so far behind on time I will just take them to the alignment shop and pay their labor if they need installed.
Overall it's still worth doing the work yourself to know that it was done right, learn more about your vehicle, and save money. I would just spend a bit more up front on new coil parts next time. Everything else was straight forward and the type of job that I could do again in 1/3 the time.
