New to me Xterra...
- Thread starter Maddmatt
- Start date
paulforeman
Active member
Are those some leaf spring load helpers on there? Did you install them? Do they help at all?
Thanks!
Maddmatt
Explorer
Yeah, cheap Autozone helper springs, I think they were $40. 10 minute driveway install, couldn't be easier. They make a surprisingly big difference, I tow a boat weighing about 3500lbs from time to time, these springs level everything out and if I even notice them when it's empty, I think they might make it ride a little better. Some day I'd like to put airsprings on it, but these were a great budget interim solution.
Maddmatt
Explorer
Thanks! It's my second one, the kids took my first.
To be honest, I have no idea what load rating, whatever Discount Tire's computer spec'd. No complaints at all.
YMMV, but: this is my third set of Duratracs on an Xterra (i have them on mine, and on the kid's X) - when I bought my first I was a dedicated BFG KO fan, but the Duratracs at the time (2014?) were slightly cheaper, and I liked the look. Within a month I had the opportunity to cross Colorado in Winter during a blizzard, what should have been a 6-8 hour drive turned into 14 as we drove back and forth looking for open passes - by the time we hit Durango I was completely converted to Duratracs - best All Terrain snow tires I've ever had.
They do start getting loud at around 40k miles, even with regular rotations, but on my first set Discount was pretty generous in pro-rating the tread life warranty, so it made the decision to get a new set pretty easy.
The hard core trail guys complain about the strength of the sidewalls, but for my use which is daily driving / weekend skiing / weekend boat pulling / 3-4 easy trails per year, they are great.
On my Pro-4X, after a lot of back-and-forth thinking, I went with the stock 265 size. I only have about 1/4" clearance in the garage with the ski racks on, but I'm kind of wishing I had gone with the 285's, purely for looks. If I blow out a sidewall or have other reason to activate the warranty on these, I probably will upsize - the rubber gasket on the bottom of the garage door is already torn anyway, I can probably tear out enough to make the truck fit....
Maddmatt
Explorer
3/29/23 - Hitch plug relocation
Wow - almost 2 years since I've done anything to my Xterra but drive it, and this barely rates mention, but this is where I track everything.
Finally relocated the hitch plug - pretty easy job, not worth a write up, except to say there was no purple wire (following the instructions on the new plug) on my Xterra, but process of elimination determined that red equals purple in this case. Slightly better departure angle (the plug on my 1st Xterra is completely mangled....)
Kind of went overboard with the Hopkins 7 blade/4 pin combo, but for the extra $10 I like not having an adaptor. But it is a little big, I'm going to find a tiny "NO STEP" sticker for it....
Pics or it didn't happen...
Before
After
Wow - almost 2 years since I've done anything to my Xterra but drive it, and this barely rates mention, but this is where I track everything.
Finally relocated the hitch plug - pretty easy job, not worth a write up, except to say there was no purple wire (following the instructions on the new plug) on my Xterra, but process of elimination determined that red equals purple in this case. Slightly better departure angle (the plug on my 1st Xterra is completely mangled....)
Kind of went overboard with the Hopkins 7 blade/4 pin combo, but for the extra $10 I like not having an adaptor. But it is a little big, I'm going to find a tiny "NO STEP" sticker for it....
Pics or it didn't happen...
Before
After
paulforeman
Active member
Nice! That looks really nice. Not having an adapter will be nice if you ever find you need one and don't have one.
Maddmatt
Explorer
6/17/23 - Fridge Slider
Pretty basic DIY fridge slider. I have a LION-COOL fridge I've had for some time, it's pretty cool (get it?), with the built in Lithium-Ion battery, you can somewhat lessen the worry about the truck's battery, in practice in hot weather, I find I get 6-8 hours of cooling time from a full charge, so in a travel situation, there are no worries, in a stationary situation, I've gone as many as three days with 80-90+ degree days just by plugging it into a portable solar panel during the day, and then letting the onboard battery run at night.
AND - later model Xterras have a 12v plug in the cargo space that's always hot, so less modification required.
First step was to replace the 12volt outlet with Anderson plugs, that made a huge difference in the fridge's abilities, those 12volt plugs are just bad.
Then I bought a general use fridge slide (Iceco) from Amazon, and the rest came from home depot. Basically plywood, some bolts, and a cheap rug.
Finished product is below:
And I was able to maintain access to the lower storage compartment
More information and discussion is here, https://www.thenewx.org/threads/bas...fridge-slide-install-diy.285682/#post-4410622 if anybody is interested.
Pretty basic DIY fridge slider. I have a LION-COOL fridge I've had for some time, it's pretty cool (get it?), with the built in Lithium-Ion battery, you can somewhat lessen the worry about the truck's battery, in practice in hot weather, I find I get 6-8 hours of cooling time from a full charge, so in a travel situation, there are no worries, in a stationary situation, I've gone as many as three days with 80-90+ degree days just by plugging it into a portable solar panel during the day, and then letting the onboard battery run at night.
AND - later model Xterras have a 12v plug in the cargo space that's always hot, so less modification required.
First step was to replace the 12volt outlet with Anderson plugs, that made a huge difference in the fridge's abilities, those 12volt plugs are just bad.
Then I bought a general use fridge slide (Iceco) from Amazon, and the rest came from home depot. Basically plywood, some bolts, and a cheap rug.
Finished product is below:
And I was able to maintain access to the lower storage compartment
More information and discussion is here, https://www.thenewx.org/threads/bas...fridge-slide-install-diy.285682/#post-4410622 if anybody is interested.
Maddmatt
Explorer
5/6/24 - LED Fog Lights
Purchased these from Z1 Offroad a couple months ago when they were on sale - pretty easy plug and play install, and didn't have any leftover pieces after pulling off and then reinstalling the grill and bumper, so that's always a good sign. Haven't had a chance to test them in the dark, but they seem brighter when pulling into the garage.
They look black when off, which is kind of cool - next step is new headlights. I could polish these, but after spending some time driving my wife's QX30, I got used to having significantly better lighting, so I'll be looking for a retro-fit upgrade...
Purchased these from Z1 Offroad a couple months ago when they were on sale - pretty easy plug and play install, and didn't have any leftover pieces after pulling off and then reinstalling the grill and bumper, so that's always a good sign. Haven't had a chance to test them in the dark, but they seem brighter when pulling into the garage.
They look black when off, which is kind of cool - next step is new headlights. I could polish these, but after spending some time driving my wife's QX30, I got used to having significantly better lighting, so I'll be looking for a retro-fit upgrade...
Maddmatt
Explorer
7/1/24 - HID Headlights
Got tired of using the Force when driving at night, so I I had some new headlights built. There's a guy over on thenewx.org who does headlight builds as a hobby - I'm not going to post his name here as I'm not sure he wants the attention, but if you need Xterra headlights you can find him over there pretty easy -
Anyway, as you can see from the "before" I needed to do something. That's what 97k miles and 11 years in the Colorado sun can do to headlights, and to be honest by today's standards Xterra headlights were never that great. Certainly fine in 2005, but Nissan never updated them. Went with Morimoto 5k bulbs, give a very bright field of vision and a sharp cutoff, so I don't have to worry about blinding anybody. Plus I think they look cool.
Before:
View attachment Headlight before.jpg
After:
View attachment Headlight After.jpg
Got tired of using the Force when driving at night, so I I had some new headlights built. There's a guy over on thenewx.org who does headlight builds as a hobby - I'm not going to post his name here as I'm not sure he wants the attention, but if you need Xterra headlights you can find him over there pretty easy -
Anyway, as you can see from the "before" I needed to do something. That's what 97k miles and 11 years in the Colorado sun can do to headlights, and to be honest by today's standards Xterra headlights were never that great. Certainly fine in 2005, but Nissan never updated them. Went with Morimoto 5k bulbs, give a very bright field of vision and a sharp cutoff, so I don't have to worry about blinding anybody. Plus I think they look cool.
Before:
View attachment Headlight before.jpg
After:
View attachment Headlight After.jpg
Last edited:
Maddmatt
Explorer
10/2/24 - 33's!
OK, after almost 50k on the Duratracs, I up-sized to 285/75/16 General Grabber ATX's. Several things went into the selection, not the least of which was weight. Per my research the bigger size Grabbers add about 5 pounds per tire, relative to the 265/75 Duratracs. I wanted to check out the Nokian NAT's, at only 1 pound heavier, but didn't see a lot of reviews, and they seem to be perpetually backordered in 285s.
I also wanted the 3 peak rating, and wanted them to be cool looking.
The new Duratrac RT's and BFG KO3's were quite heavy, as are the Falkens - and the price was good on the Generals as well.
Here's my research chart, in case anybody else is considering the same change.
So far they're great, but I only have about 50 miles on them, all highway. We'll see how they do this winter. Tight fit, but no rubbing with the "melt mod".
View attachment IMG_2959.jpg
OK, after almost 50k on the Duratracs, I up-sized to 285/75/16 General Grabber ATX's. Several things went into the selection, not the least of which was weight. Per my research the bigger size Grabbers add about 5 pounds per tire, relative to the 265/75 Duratracs. I wanted to check out the Nokian NAT's, at only 1 pound heavier, but didn't see a lot of reviews, and they seem to be perpetually backordered in 285s.
I also wanted the 3 peak rating, and wanted them to be cool looking.
The new Duratrac RT's and BFG KO3's were quite heavy, as are the Falkens - and the price was good on the Generals as well.
Here's my research chart, in case anybody else is considering the same change.
So far they're great, but I only have about 50 miles on them, all highway. We'll see how they do this winter. Tight fit, but no rubbing with the "melt mod".
View attachment IMG_2959.jpg
paulforeman
Active member
Looks nice.
FYI, for future endeavors (maybe you already know all this), some 285/70/17s come in a standard load, unlike the 16s, which avoids some of the weight gain of an LT/E1 load rating. I realize you have 16" wheels on the Xterra, but something to consider if you ever are shopping for 33s again. I have Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs on my Frontier right now in a standard load 285/70/17 and they are more compliant and lighter than an LT.
The grabbers look good! Have fun wheeling them!
FYI, for future endeavors (maybe you already know all this), some 285/70/17s come in a standard load, unlike the 16s, which avoids some of the weight gain of an LT/E1 load rating. I realize you have 16" wheels on the Xterra, but something to consider if you ever are shopping for 33s again. I have Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs on my Frontier right now in a standard load 285/70/17 and they are more compliant and lighter than an LT.
The grabbers look good! Have fun wheeling them!
Maddmatt
Explorer
Thanks Paul - I thought about swapping rims, but I have a hard time spending money on wheels, I'm more in the "run what you brung' camp there. I wanted to try those Baja Boss's but couldn't get past the 14 pound weight gain on 16's. Never looked at what they might weigh on 17's. Anyway, now I'm just waiting for snow to get a real test
Maddmatt
Explorer
5/2/25 - Snorkel!
Today in unnecessary mods: Z1 Snorkel Install
As I've said before, I put money aside from time to time to buy stuff for my Xterra, and sometimes I do things just because I don't know how long there will be companies that still support a vehicle that hasn't even been made for over 10 years. In today's chapter: Z1 Snorkel
I picked this up last fall during a pretty good sale at Z1 - and I picked their snorkel for a few reasons:
1) Z1 is continuing to support the Xterra, so I try to support them whenever possible, and everything I've bought from them so far has been excellent quality
2) I did not want to drill into my A pillar, I had an FJ62 once with rusty A pillars, and I want no part of that.
3) the template!
Install was really easy, except for one part - I'll get to that in a minute.
Prior to installing I watched the video on the Z1 website, which was great, except that it was not with a factory airbox. Sadly I didn't find the video that mentions that factory airbox until I was done, which cost me a lot of time.
First, the scary part was actually easy - The provided template works perfectly, I used a step bit for the little holes and a jig saw for the big one.
View attachment Snorkel Template.jpg
And in case I ever sell it, and the next owner is doing some research, all exposed metal was painted in factory red (because I happened to have the touchup pen, any paint would have been fine)
View attachment Snorkel painted.jpg
And the holes all lined up perfectly, so really no drama. Then it's really just a matter of connecting everything, and here's where I went wrong - I didn't realize that with the factory airbox you need to cut the flange off the inlet tube (on the factory box, not the snorkel) so I spent 90 minutes messing with it until I cut if off in frustration, and then found another video where the Z1 guy casually mentions that you need to do that.
End to end 3 hours, I could have easily done the whole thing in 60-90 minutes if I didn't screw up that airbox flange part, but all is good - no whistles, no rattles, no noise and now I have a snorkel that I"m not likely to ever need
View attachment Snorkel done.jpg
Today in unnecessary mods: Z1 Snorkel Install
As I've said before, I put money aside from time to time to buy stuff for my Xterra, and sometimes I do things just because I don't know how long there will be companies that still support a vehicle that hasn't even been made for over 10 years. In today's chapter: Z1 Snorkel
I picked this up last fall during a pretty good sale at Z1 - and I picked their snorkel for a few reasons:
1) Z1 is continuing to support the Xterra, so I try to support them whenever possible, and everything I've bought from them so far has been excellent quality
2) I did not want to drill into my A pillar, I had an FJ62 once with rusty A pillars, and I want no part of that.
3) the template!
Install was really easy, except for one part - I'll get to that in a minute.
Prior to installing I watched the video on the Z1 website, which was great, except that it was not with a factory airbox. Sadly I didn't find the video that mentions that factory airbox until I was done, which cost me a lot of time.
First, the scary part was actually easy - The provided template works perfectly, I used a step bit for the little holes and a jig saw for the big one.
View attachment Snorkel Template.jpg
And in case I ever sell it, and the next owner is doing some research, all exposed metal was painted in factory red (because I happened to have the touchup pen, any paint would have been fine)
View attachment Snorkel painted.jpg
And the holes all lined up perfectly, so really no drama. Then it's really just a matter of connecting everything, and here's where I went wrong - I didn't realize that with the factory airbox you need to cut the flange off the inlet tube (on the factory box, not the snorkel) so I spent 90 minutes messing with it until I cut if off in frustration, and then found another video where the Z1 guy casually mentions that you need to do that.
End to end 3 hours, I could have easily done the whole thing in 60-90 minutes if I didn't screw up that airbox flange part, but all is good - no whistles, no rattles, no noise and now I have a snorkel that I"m not likely to ever need
View attachment Snorkel done.jpg