Off road mods
As the owner of a 2001 for the past 11 years I can give you my experience and ideas. I bought it initially to go mountain biking and was driving a Vw Karman Ghia and thought this would get me further off the beaten track. I was on a road trip 2 months later through Anza Borrego and then up to Joshua tree and finally cutting through Death Valley. I was so amazed I planned to go back to death Valley that fall but after the flash floods in August of 2004 couldn't get to many areas. 2 trips later I finally got into Butte Valley and did Lippincott and wanted to see more. Totally stock except for Bilsteins and an exhaust and K&N intake at this time but no problems, just go slow and easy and turn around if unsure. The next trip leaving Saline Valley the stock running board brackets fractured from the washboard roads so that was the first thing replaced. Next up was a set of skid plates because after going up Goler and down Mengle and then doing the South, Middle park, Pleasant canyon loop hit the under side a few too many time on rock and put a small hole in the muffler. Thought maybe a little lift would help so replaced the tires with 31/10.5/15 and did a PML, which is longer shackles and a torsion bar twist. Remained this way for a year or so and a couple more visits to Death Valley, just can't stay away. At this time came across a body lift kit on one of the Xterra forums and then things started changing rapidly. Did the 2" body lift and put on 33/10.5/15 BFG mud terrains. Was thinking of beefing up the steering and suspension to deal with the added weight and bulk of the tires when someone on one of forums mentioned SLR was still producing products and had a phone number. Well 2 months later took the truck down to La and he did steering, differential drop and front suspension along with SAW torsion bars. Replaced the Bilsteins with longer travel 5100's shortly after that. During the months leading up to this someone had stolen the Yakima basket off the roof so with the insurance money and a little extra I replaced it with a full length roof rack from Baja rack. Very nice rack. A few months later the forums came through again, someone ordered a rear bumper from Shrockworks and then got rid of the truck before it was delivered, made him an offer and was soon the proud new owner. So now I had skids, sliders and rear bumper all from Shrockworks so needed to complete this with their front one along with a Warn winch, a pair of Lightforce lights. The lights were great but really showed me that the stock headlights were pretty bad, I was spoiled after running euro H4 80/100 lights in my Ghia so I looked into HID conversions, I know these are frowned upon by many of the forum members so I looked around at the various options and found Black Flame Custom in NY who built a set of projector HID with clear lenses, expensive but worth every penny. I've worked as a parts guy in Audi, Porsche and Vw dealers for the last 41 years so I've seen some nice lights and these are very nice, flat cutoff, non glare, just work like they should. Earlier this year I put on Nissan manual locking hubs after having a problem with the auto lockers last year after Expo when I went up to Moab. Put in a Lokka locking front differential also which worked great last month in Death Valley, climbed up Steele pass and did Echo canyon with ease. Sorry to be so long winded, this is turning into more of a build thread but it's what I've found I needed to do what I do with my truck, you may not go into areas that need all this, has to be your decision, but I've never broken anything or been stranded other than when my Optima red top decided it was done being a battery. 3 days in a very boring obscure canyon in the Funeral range of Death Valley. Now replaced by a yellow top and a National Luna Power pack with an Odessey battery and a Zero gravity jump starter, hopefully no more battery issues. The Luna powers my ARB fridge and can jump start me as needed. The Baja rack works great, far more usable than the stock bars and Yakima basket and it supports my Eezi-Awn tent with room in front of the tent for other things. The rear bumper I had modified to also carry 2 gas cans and a shovel and either a Hi-lift or Pullpal. Ask yourself where are you going to go and what do you want to do with your truck. Start with good tires, maybe good shocks because the stocks ones are pretty lame and some recovery gear. You've got a good vehicle as a base.
Win-win situation.
.... Learn by doing, that's all. 
