Tom's 2011 Xterra Pro-4X: general utility and midwest adventure

TFin04

Adventurer
Dealer lot:
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Current photo:
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Hi guys, name's Tom. I recently purchased a 2011 Nissan Xterra Pro4x with 83,000 miles. The Xterra is very clean, one owner, no accident, with some general maintenance records (oil changes, brake inspections, etc). I was driving a 2011 Subaru Outback prior to this vehicle, which my wife now has. REALLY like the Outback for a daily driver/road trip/family car, but we want the ability to tow and get a bit further off road. I shopped the Xterra, Frontier, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Tacoma, and GX470. After a lot of back and forth, the Xterra seemed to provide the best all around capability at a price we liked. We traded in my wife's 2013 Escape for the Xterra, and I am glad to be rid of our SECOND Ford Escape to have serious mechanical and rust issues. Each were less than three years old at the time.

Uses:
Daily driver in SE Michigan
Baby/dog hauler
Tow a 20' Pontoon boat short distances
Tow a utility trailer for Home Depot runs
Silver Lakes Sand Dune cruiser
Michigan/Midwest adventure, hunting, and camping mobile

Plans for this thread
Use it as a location to plan and track upgrades/maintenance
Get advice from other Xterra owners
Document some of the trips we take with it

Vehicle Plans

10/6/16 - 83,500 miles - Purchased vehicle
Full fluid inspection/change
10/30/16 - 84,700 miles
Oil Change - Mobil 1 5W30 w/ M1-104 filter
Front Diff - Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90
Rear Diff - Amsoil Severe Gear 75w140

Cooper ST Maxx tires.
85800 miles, 12/6/16 265/75/16 ST Maxx mounted
Unistrut roof rack insert
10/20/16
Unistrut cross bars mounted
Shovel mounted

Roof rack mounted awning
ARB 79" awning mounted 5/25/17
Tint front windows to match rear
Breather tube extensions
Ham (and probably CB) radio install
11/1/16
Kenwood 281a Radio installed

Rock sliders
P&P Sliders installed 5/10/17, 91,500 miles
Onboard air
Budget MV50 12v Compressor
Suspension
OME HD Kit installed 5/6/17, 91,000 miles
Bumper
ARB Bumper installed 6/22/17, 93,000 miles
 
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bijanjames

Adventurer
Welcome to the Nissan family! As you already know, you bought a great truck. Looks like you have some nice mods and uses in mind for your Xterra already. I'm a huge fan of the Cooper ST Maxx, great tire. There are quite a few Xterra and Frontier owners on this forum who use their trucks. Tons of useful information.
 

TFin04

Adventurer
Got a bit of progress done on the unistrut roof rack. The goal is to mount a small shovel and hilift jack to this and allow them to tuck behind the factory wet storage box. I hope it will cut down on the wind noise/drag of the tools being up there.

It's also a pretty modular system, with a few minutes time I can install bolts just about anywhere to mount other items to. Stronger than the factory cross bars too. I think I'll end up adding at least one more cross member and I'm ordering some shovel handle clamps right now.

All of the hardware came from Home Depot:

10' stick of low profile unistrut
2.5" U Bolts with hardware
Lock washers
5/16" ID vinyl tubing

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outback97

Adventurer
Tom, welcome from another Xterra / Subaru owner. Looks great! We use our backpacking and ground tents, will never convince the wife to crawl up into a RTT I think. We have also slept inside the Xterra, it works pretty well for two as long as you have a place to move the gear to.

The unistrut rack is very handy. My setup is similar but I have the strut channel mounted with the open side up, so I can use the strut nuts and slide them side to side to match what I'm carrying. Also you may want to watch the ubolts and make sure they're not creasing those thin metal tubes that make up our stock roof rails.
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/23-ext...-superstrut-crossbars-rotopax-roof-mount.html

If you haven't already, you should join up at thenewx.org. Great 2nd Gen Xterra resource.
 

TFin04

Adventurer
Hey neighbor. Nice looking truck you've got there :D

:D

outback97 said:
Tom, welcome from another Xterra / Subaru owner. Looks great! We use our backpacking and ground tents, will never convince the wife to crawl up into a RTT I think. We have also slept inside the Xterra, it works pretty well for two as long as you have a place to move the gear to.

The unistrut rack is very handy. My setup is similar but I have the strut channel mounted with the open side up, so I can use the strut nuts and slide them side to side to match what I'm carrying. Also you may want to watch the ubolts and make sure they're not creasing those thin metal tubes that make up our stock roof rails.
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/23-exte...oof-mount.html

If you haven't already, you should join up at thenewx.org. Great 2nd Gen Xterra resource.

I debated on channel up/down. I don't see myself really using the spring nuts, and I was worried about water sitting inside the channel long term. They're galvanized but it's Michigan, and everything rusts here. I can use a bolt and washer to make adjustable mounts, but more than likely anything I need to toss on there short term would just get a couple ratchet straps.

I was careful with the Ubolts, used red loctite and only tightened them enough to flatten the lock washer. Seems solid and I don't see evidence of creasing, but I may order some better brackets from Mcmaster to spread the weight a bit.

I'm at NewX too, thanks for the info!
 

TFin04

Adventurer
10/30/16 - 84,700 miles. Averaging about 18mpg but I have been towing a utility trailer with lumber around town. Haven't done a long highway trip yet.

Got the shovel mounted to the unistrut with no problems. Need to work on a spacer arrangement to get the HiLift up there and I just haven't had time to mess with it.

Changed the oil to Mobil 1 5w30 - Costco had a killer deal bringing it to around $4.50 a quart. Used a slightly larger Mobil 1 M1-104 filter (recommended is M1-110). Same threads/gasket dimensions, the 104 is just a bit larger overall. Fits in the space just fine and I usually run 10,000 mile changes on my daily driver so I like the idea of increased filter media.

Changed the front and rear diff fluid to Amsoil Severe Gear. Easy enough process, could probably do them both again in about 20 minutes now that I've done it once. The magnets had quite a bit of buildup but no chunks of metal. Oil was still honey colored but I have no idea what the history is on the diff's. I feel better knowing it's done right.

Plan to do a trans and coolant dump and fill before winter.
 
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TFin04

Adventurer
11/1/16

I bought a used Kenwood 281a last week and installed it today. I was originally going to buy a dual band/dual receive/cross band repeat radio and remote mount the head unit, but I came across this 2m Kenwood and thought it was better than nothing for now. If/when I upgrade radios the wiring and antenna will work with a new unit.

The Kenwood 281a is known to be a reliable, easy to use, well performing single bander with good audio (front facing speaker helps). It is small and has no fan, which makes it ideal to mount up front in the passenger compartment.

I used the supplied bracket and screwed it to the bottom of center dash. I used self drilling 1/2" wood screws with pan heads. Drilling pilot holes and installing the screws is a pain due to the lack of space. A 90 degree drill attachment might work, but I have my doubts there too. I used a set of drill bits that has a 1/4" hex shank on them so I could get a better grip and I drilled the holes by hand. It's quite a bit easier to do than it sounds. To tighten the screws, I used a #2 phillips bit and a 1/4" ratcheting wrench to get in the tight space. They are snug but not too tight as they are only biting in about 1/8" of plastic. Five screws in total and the mount feels very solid.

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I haven't decided where to mount the mic, but it fits pretty well in the factory storage area (that I have yet to find a use for). I think I'll leave it here for a bit and decide what changes need to be made. Mounting it above the hazard light switch seems ideal. I am not opposed to drilling holes in my dash (as evidenced by the radio install), but I am trying to keep them out of the way in case the radio comes out of the truck. I will probably end up mounting the mic on the side of the center console down by my right knee.

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Fuse holders crimped, soldered, and shrink wrapped for the battery connection.

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The power cable is run off the battery, straight back to the firewall, and zip tied to the factory wire bundle against the firewall. Where the bundle enters the drivers side passenger compartment, there is a small hole in the firewall covered with a rubber grommet. The hole is used for the clutch cable on manual transmission models. If you pull the plug with a pair of pliers, it makes an ideal spot to run power into the vehicle. I cut a hole in the grommet so I could use it as an insulator against the sharp edges of the firewall to reduce the chance of rubbing the insulation off the wires.

My antenna cable is going to enter this same hole. I plan to mount the antenna using a lip mount to the drivers side of the hood, to nearly match the factory radio antenna. This makes routing the cable quite easy. If that location doesn't work I'll mount it on the rear hatch.

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Once inside the cab, the power wires are run above the brake/gas pedal, then out to the radio. You can just barely see about 3" of wire when you open the driver's door which is close enough to an invisible install for me. I will probably wrap the wires in electrical tape, as the red power cable is what draws your attention. They will probably go unnoticed if black.

The radio powers up as it should and my antenna mount should be here this week. I will finish the install then and get on the air to test it out.
 
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Airmapper

Inactive Member
Mounting it above the hazard light switch seems ideal.

That is where I put mine, I like it there, out of the way and easy to grab. Blocks the hazard button slightly, but really, how often do you hit it? (And it's not hard to jab at it behind the cord.)

Nice X! But I'm not biased toward '11 Black PRO-4X Xterra's at all.... :sombrero:

Here's how the Kenwood mic will look in that location at night:

cvvjQE76UCfFZIC1SkeZYG2JC1YpW0hg_tUbdIJiBmtoOhnyb3D6iHDGoy81PFDMpj0iLK4vp5zkXCjkTZpB5ksFhwIoKCeEVFABdGiUUPBP6EdIYmohnzqq6XuqvZzu01pm9Z_Ri5ZPsdGyRtu0A4QSeZlgTxTsyFOK_ylIGfl9KmxzZ6jfw9QEjnIlRySWdTfHuDiNUJ8wniBPHpnRQB3ri3q9FPw5rNvEww4OGDY1LexP8DArUExx_eFmZGXHJOxpvkbPjmn5SAs4uS1Jm4XPsRVR7h0QH8i56ILHxUzc3fpWtFBE9Fgvgdl_-s_YFd-Zi2uWvARTcka4HFnfSrDjWirEKQYYIOlfoBxhE6os-4fd-FYXQ1nqDtVt5RcJg5raOdZCT1uJWdnrDHTMon0X8BXi-c8REb-W9DU2-vRDMmlFb2wcLoxTcL4VqBCNVZ1VY3d_9wp2HcERAZsJa06Omjct-Sa0p1KmCANLuDGJnJ8mMDsU6NJxdYN7VJpNBofTqRdQJCvGGSJgXQRgEtCxZK-P7dZB44dj1ZZPvYY7QuXm0TA2LifsirNqtxq5LDun2blPhN23V1OuVNwzmvQP0S9BWN7UqNGhf3UOryaX0FdB=w1134-h851-no
 

TFin04

Adventurer
Thanks for the info. I like the mic there, I'll probably convince myself to mount it there.

Nice X as well, I have taken a few ideas from your build thread. I appreciate you sharing!
 

TFin04

Adventurer
Finished up the 2m radio install. I used an MFJ lip mount and MFJ dual band antenna (NMO mount). The NMO mount is a bit bulkier than I would prefer, but I wasn't able to find a similar mount/antenna combo using a smaller thread mount. I'm sure MFJ makes them, but I wanted to get the parts in quickly so I could start working on it.

The antenna cable runs down around the hood and into the firewall at the same location as the radio power cable. The PL259 connector doesn't fit through that hole, so it had to be cut off and re-soldered. The mount came with 17' of cable so it needed to be shortened anyway.

I got on the air last night and hit a few repeaters but haven't been able to get an audio report from anybody yet. I am hearing a clicking sound when I transmit with the vehicle on, it sounds like it's coming from the factory fuse box. I am going to figure that out next.

The antenna is definitely bigger than the factory radio antenna, but it's only a few inches above the roof line and not in the way of carrying any cargo mounted here. Antenna's are a compromise, but this should work for me.

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TFin04

Adventurer
Ended up mounting the mic near the oddly shaped storage bin in the center console. It's consistent with my mic location at work which makes it easy.

Got on the air yesterday and made good conversations into repeaters about 25 miles away on low power (25w). Receive audio has been good as well. Overall I'm very happy with this setup. I think it's about the easiest options for an Xterra, and it works great.

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