A couple old Nissans

paulforeman

Active member
Day Trip - with an actual Nissan Friend! (I'm tired of Toyota People 🙂).

Took a day trip out wheeling with a young guy I've known for quite a while. This is his first car and was the Xterra's first "real" 4-wheeling outing.

(BACKSTORY on the Xterra) - When this guy was looking to buy his own first car, he wanted a classic pickup (think Chevy Squarebody, Ford F100, etc.) but I told him that if he bought a Nissan, I would actually be able to help him with it. Plus he had a tight budget and good Squarebodies are not cheap. We found this Xterra and I talked him into going for it... It was $1000 and didn't run, but was rust free, 1 family, and only 140k miles (didn't run because broken timing belt). We flat-towed it 25 miles to my house, threw a timing belt kit on it, and it fired right up (smoothly too - it sounds super healthy!) We have since been affectionately calling it "The 1000-dollar Xterra."
Motor vehicle Car Automotive lighting Automotive Exterior Automotive Tire

Motor vehicle Car Engine Automotive Exterior Hood

It's come a long way already. I had a lot of spare parts sitting around. We did a diff. drop, HD tie rod adjusters, 3-leaf add-a-leaf, front upper control arms, Bilstein 4600s in front, generic Monroe shocks in the back (although, they ride amazing!), 16" Tacoma wheels, and some all-terrain 32s.

We swapped rigs today and I drove the Xterra for a bit and it's a fun trail rig; way lighter and more nimble than Babe... Too bad I ruined since a nice truck
:)

We ran a few trails near Mount Evans to get the Xterra some trail time and enjoy the day. I'll just throw some photos here.

Land vehicle Vehicle Automotive Tire Tire Car


Land vehicle Car Tire Motor vehicle Automotive Exterior



Mountainous landforms Mountain Automotive Exterior Hill Automotive Tire



Automotive Exterior Rock Terrain geological phenomenon Sport utility vehicle

Rock Terrain geological phenomenon Bedrock Trail


Automotive Exterior Car Bumper Automotive Tire Off-roading


Vegetation Wilderness Plant community Ecoregion Dirt road


Land vehicle Vehicle Tire Car Automotive Tire


Babe did great, except that I forgot to adjust the shock damping until the last like 3 miles of the day... 🤦 Can't blame the truck for that!

Cheers.
 
Last edited:

406to417

Explorer
Looks like an amazing area. That is cool that he got such a good deal on that Xterra. Nissan has never really been on my radar but my dad just bought a brand new Frontier pro4x.
 
Day Trip - with an actual Nissan Friend! (I'm tired of Toyota People 🙂).

Took a day trip out wheeling with a young guy I've known for quite a while. This is his first car and was the Xterra's first "real" 4-wheeling outing.

(BACKSTORY on the Xterra) - When this guy was looking to buy his own first car, he wanted a classic pickup (think Chevy Squarebody, Ford F100, etc.) but I told him that if he bought a Nissan, I would actually be able to help him with it. Plus he had a tight budget and good Squarebodies are not cheap. We found this Xterra and I talked him into going for it... It was $1000 and didn't run, but was rust free, 1 family, and only 140k miles (didn't run because broken timing belt). We flat-towed it 25 miles to my house, threw a timing belt kit on it, and it fired right up (smoothly too - it sounds super healthy!) We have since been affectionately calling it "The 1000-dollar Xterra."
Motor vehicle Car Automotive lighting Automotive Exterior Automotive Tire

Motor vehicle Car Engine Automotive Exterior Hood

It's come a long way already. I had a lot of spare parts sitting around. We did a diff. drop, HD tie rod adjusters, 3-leaf add-a-leaf, front upper control arms, Bilstein 4600s in front, generic Monroe shocks in the back (although, they ride amazing!), 16" Tacoma wheels, and some all-terrain 32s.

We swapped rigs today and I drove the Xterra for a bit and it's a fun trail rig; way lighter and more nimble than Babe... Too bad I ruined since a nice truck
:)

We ran a few trails near Mount Evans to get the Xterra some trail time and enjoy the day. I'll just throw some photos here.

Land vehicle Vehicle Automotive Tire Tire Car


Land vehicle Car Tire Motor vehicle Automotive Exterior



Mountainous landforms Mountain Automotive Exterior Hill Automotive Tire



Automotive Exterior Rock Terrain geological phenomenon Sport utility vehicle

Rock Terrain geological phenomenon Bedrock Trail


Automotive Exterior Car Bumper Automotive Tire Off-roading


Vegetation Wilderness Plant community Ecoregion Dirt road


Land vehicle Vehicle Tire Car Automotive Tire


Babe did great, except that I forgot to adjust the shock damping until the last like 3 miles of the day... 🤦 Can't blame the truck for that!

Cheers.
Love the Nissan content! More please.
 

paulforeman

Active member
Looks like an amazing area. That is cool that he got such a good deal on that Xterra. Nissan has never really been on my radar but my dad just bought a brand new Frontier pro4x.
They were not on mt radar until 2016 when I was looking for a work truck. Wanted a Tacoma, but found this Blue truck for about half the cost of comparable Tacomas. Never looked back. They're not perfect vehicles but I'd probably still buy a 1st or 2nd gen Frontier over a comparable Tacoma.
Love the Nissan content! More please.
Feel free to check out my build threads for the Blue truck and for another grey truck I've been working on!

The Grey Truck build thread - ClubFrontier

Babe the Blue Ox build thread - ClubFrontier
 

paulforeman

Active member
Looks like a lot of fun! Something about those early Xterras that I loved. Small, nimble, and just the right lines.
I agree! After the suspension refresh we did, it rides *nearly* as nice as a modern vehicle. As far as the body lines go, I know some people hate the "bump" roof... Maybe an acquired taste but I've got a soft spot for this generally unloved era of Nissans and they've grown on me quiet a bit.
 

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