We went to Moab again this spring to do some wheeling and hiking. We went out to Moab via the Gateway-Castleton route from Gateway, Colorado. We took Hideout Canyon to the top of Onion Creek once we got closer to Moab. It's a fun, easy route. There are offshoots with lots of other places to explore, but the main route can be done in 2WD most of the way.
Gateway side of the Gateway-Castleton route.
Somewhere along the way.
Onion Creek - one of about 26 creek crossings.
We wheeled the first bit of Dome Plateau at the Dewey Bridge entrance to the trail - it was pretty fun. Next time we may run more of that trail if we have time.
Camped somewhere along Dome Plateau loop.
Got an early start and ran up to Professor Valley to hike Mark Jane Canyon - one of our favorites. The whole hike is pretty flat. The route follows the creek the whole way and ends at a waterfall that was created by a rockfall blocking the canyon.
Headed out to Deadman Point and Hell Roaring Canyon overlooks - both are very cool views of the Green River. There are some slick-rock features near the end of each of them that were a fun playground.
Camped down in the bottom of the canyon. Tried my hand at night-time photography. I tried a lot of things and didn't have much success... I may need a different lens for this type of stuff.
The next day we ran some of the trails North of Utah 313 and West of US 191 including Deadman Spring, Secret Spire jeep Trail (Easter Jeep Safari route), Dellenbaugh Tunnel, and Rainbow Terrace (part of Crystal Geyser Jeep Trail). Had a good time exploring that area, as we haven't spent much time on that side of the highway. Lots of fun trails and good scenery.
I have an update coming soon on the build as well. I ended up doing 300ZX (Z32) brakes on the truck. Gotta take a few more pictures before I get to write that one up.
Cheers.
1996 Nissan 300ZX Turbo 4-Piston Brakes on the Frontier
Background - the 1998-2004 Frontiers had 3 different calipers on them depending on the year. 98-00 had a smaller spindle (maybe the same as the D21/Harbody spindle?), smaller calipers, and smaller rotors (277mm Diameter, 26mm width). That's what was on my truck. I think some of the 2001-2002 had the same setup as the 98-00, but some had a slightly larger caliper? That range seems like maybe it was as toss up of what brakes were on a particular truck. The 2003-2004 had the same spindles/rotors/calipers as ALL (2000-2004) 1st gen Xterras. The caliper was bigger, and had a slightly larger rotor (283mm diameter, 28mm width). On the older (98-00) spindles, the Z32 calipers bolt right on, as they both use M12 mounting bolts and the spacing is the same, but the mounting tabs are too far from the axle so the pads stick out beyond the end of rotor.
SO, I got some spindles from a 2003 Xterra from the junk yard. The caliper bolt spacing is the same, but the thru-holes in the spindles are for an M14 bolt, so I had to use a 12x14x15mm bushing to bolt the rotors on. Also needed to use a 3mm thick washer to space the caliper to center it on the rotor. Other than those items, it's a bolt on fit. I used Z32 rebuilt calipers from O'Reilly Auto Parts for a 1996 300ZX Turbo (the cast iron, not aluminum ones from the earlier model 300Z's), and got the larger rotors from 4WP(Powerstop Rotors)
I had to cut the banjo bolts down quite a bit to make them fit into the Z32 calipers. The threads fit but the Z32 used a flare fitting on a hard line instead of a banjo bolt. I cut all but about 3-4 threads off and it was almost too long. Without cutting them, the banjo bolts bottom out on the flare fitting inside the caliper.
I don't know if this is really an "upgrade" if you already have the larger 00-04 Xterra/03-04 Frontier front brakes. These Z32 brakes have 4 pistons, yes, but the pistons and pads are smaller than they are on the 2-piston Xterra brakes. The pads don't cover the entire braking area either, only about 80% of it, so even though they might squeeze harder, they don't necessarily make a HUGE difference in stopping power because the pads and braking are are smaller.
They are easier to swap pads out on than the Frontier/Xterra brakes though... They are definitely an upgrade from the 98-2000 Frontier small brakes that were on my 2000, but my pads were also worn out, the rotor was slightly smaller, and I probably needed a brake bleed anyways. I still need to install the Wilwood master cylinder I have. It has a larger bore so it may add some additional braking power.
Also rebuilt my Warn 4x4 hubs while I was in there- they were getting a little stiff. Just took them apart, cleaned them up, and put them back together.
Replaced the lower ball joints while I was at it. I replaced the OEM ball joints about 3-4 years ago with the same Moog joints and put 60,000+ miles on them. They were not totally toast, but getting a bit sloppy, so I went ahead and did them again while I was in there.
More Brake Upgrades - 2004 Xterra Brake Master Cylinder
I finally got around to swapping out the brake master cylinder. I had planned to do a Wilwood master cylinder to increase braking power; it has a has a larger bore and I'd seen it done by one of the Xterra guys on their forum. BUT, I found out that the later model years of the1st gen Frontier/Xterra had a larger MC from the factory. I'll try this first.
I grabbed a MC from an 04 Xterra from the junk yard. It's obviously a larger bore/main chamber. The Xterra also had "142,xxx" written on the window, so this MC has less than half the miles my factory MC has. The MC in my truck is probably worn out as well (guessing seals were starting to leak) as I could bottom the brake pedal out even on a fresh brake bleed, and the truck wasn't stopping very well anymore.
**In typical Nissan fashion, there are a bunch of different master cylinders for these models years. With or without VDC (traction control), with or without supercharger (this one has threaded holes for the S/C throttle cable mount), and then the N/A small brakes MC, and some combination of any of those. I've found at least 5 different models online. Anyways, I have the non-SC, non-VDC MC. It's stamped with "Bosch - Made in Japan" on the body.
Old Master Cylinder - it has some sort of secondary chamber on the side of it?
New Master Cylinder - should have taken a side-by-side of the chamber/bore size, but I forgot. This one does NOT have a weird secondary chamber. Just has a larger main bore.
This one fit right in and I re-used the factory brake lines to the ABS unit - just had to bend them slightly. Saved me from having to build new lines.
Takeaway This brake master cylinder makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE. I can lock up the 33's on pavement if I mash the pedal (had the ABS disconnected). I'm not sure if this is because this MC is larger or because my old one was worn out (probably a bit of both), but either way, I'm glad I did it and wish I had done it a long time ago.
Coney Flats and Middle St. Vrain - they're a fun mix of challenges. Had a good group with a couple Jeeps, Toyotas, and me... always the lone Nissan. Didn't get a ton of pictures because we were trying to keep a good pace to avoid being out all day.
Gate keeper obstacle at the entrance to the trail.
There are some big boy rocks on this trail. Needless to say, I did not drive over them. This one in the foreground is like 5 feet tall on the back side. I drove around it. The wrangler on 37s made it look easy though.
Rocky section was pretty challenging for me in the 5-speed... lots of burning clutch.
Locally-famous water crossing - it's often 3-4 feet deep in the spring. probably less than 2 feet at the deepest point this time of year.
Crystal Lake - Did some hiking near Breckenridge and ran this trail afterwards as we were in the same vicinity already. Fun route up to about 12,200 feet with a few fun challenges in it.
McClellan Mountain/Argentine Pass
Ran Argentine Pass via McClellan Mountain and explored some of the surrounding offshoots. This trial system is close to Denver so it gets a TON of traffic on weekends, but not on weekdays, which is when we went. Fresh snow and more on the way - we may have been close to the last vehicle up there this year before it gets snowed in.
One of the off-shoots near the top.
Top of Argentine Pass - about 13,200 feet. The supercharger makes a HUGE difference in the truck's driveability at high elevation. When it was naturally aspirated on 31" tires, it had a hard time getting just itself and the 2 of us up there. It's easier now on 33s and lots of extra weight than I didn't have before because of the blower.
Overall a fun couple trips - always good to get out in the truck and see some of God's creation, even the stuff we've already seen dozens of times.
I broke the diff crossmember on one of these trips - found out about it on my post-trip inspection. Pulled it and fixed it though. I'll put it in the next post.
I often spend time just laying under the truck looking for damage from recent trails, new leaks, loose hardware, etc. On one of these recent investigations, I notice the front diff hanging pretty low...
Can you see the problem? Look at that left side crossmember mount... This is the crossmember that holds the diff. The bushings in view are the differential drop down bushings available from 4x4parts. The loop/pipe/circle piece that holds the bushings had failed. Looked like a lot of force just broke the metal. I did hit that crossmember a few times on Coney Flats/MSV. So... that may have done it.
Ultimately, I removed the driveshaft and CVs from the diff, dropped the whole thing, removed the crossmember, bent it back, and triple-welded it back together.
It worked out fine - painted it up and threw it back in the truck.
Took it out to the local proving grounds (a street where I can hit about 7 speed bumps in a row at 30+mph) and have hit a few trails since then and it's holding up!
New 03-04 factory supercharged model muffler. In other news, remember how I put a loud muffler on the truck last year? (Post #81) Well it sounded cool and seemed to let the truck breathe a bit better, but got kinda annoying on long drives. I got a factory replacement muffler for the 2003-2004 Supercharged frontier. This muffler has larger diameter pipes than the factory muffler, so it still breathes better with the supercharger, but it's quiet now, which I'm happy about. I got a Walker Muffler (48360) from a local shop that had one sitting around for cheap. It's supposedly stainless steel so hopefully it holds up.
I had to do a small modification to the front piece of the pipe because it didn't quite line up with the 2000 Frontier Y-pipe flange.
It then hung on all the factory muffler hanger points. One was broken and I had to fix it. Note the yellow bolts from a junk yard Xterra.
The pipe was hitting the bumper skid plates I built with the side-dump factory configuration, so I cut it off, added a 30 degree down-turn, and a chrome tip. I kept it high to try to maintain some good departure angle/clearance while wheeling.
It sounds good - much quieter in the cab while driving, which is what I was going for. Seems like maybe I took a very slight hit on throttle responsiveness and low end torque, but it's not a racecar, so I don't really care that much.
Recap: I originally had the factory 2/1 pack from the factory with long shackles. Then had a 4x4parts.com add-a-leaf to make the factory pack into a 3/1 (Post #6). Then back in Post #26 I installed an ARB/OME leaf pack - it's a 4/3 pack that supposed to carry more with and be a bit more progressive since it has 3 different overload leaves.
That brings me to present day. I have been noticing that the leaf springs were sitting pretty much flat, or even arched a bit backwards. Basically, I was always sitting on the overload springs and had my adjustable shackles set pretty high. You can see the problem here:
See flat/backwards-arched springs? The topper, bumper, and tool box in the back are a lot of extra weight.
Long-term, I really probably need to re-assess the way I use the truck and light-weight it a bit. But that will come eventually.
SUMMARY: I kept the original leaf spring pieces from the OEM leaf pack, as well as the 4x4parts add-a-leaf, and had them in the garage. I didn't take a ton of pictures, because it's not that exciting, but I took the leaf springs out of the truck, took them apart, removed the shortest overload spring, and added 1 of the OEM leaves into that pack. I now have a hybrid ARB that's a 5/2 pack.
The bottom leaf in the main pack is out of the OEM Frontier leaf pack. It's the same length as one of the other ARB leaves.
The springs look like a mess because they are - I lathered some anti-seize onto the springs where they interface with each other. It'll help quiet them down for a while.
RESULTS: The gap between the main pack and the overloads was pretty much nonexistent before. I got more spring support and less overload and I got to say, the truck rides WAY better. Went out to my proving grounds (6 speed bumps on a long straight street, hit them all at ~35mph), and the back just absorbs it now. It used to kind buck around back there and I didn't like it. The additional travel before hitting the overload smoothed everything out.
Front spring gap - this was basically 0 before.
Rear spring gap - this was much smaller before. And my shackles are set as low as they can go now. Much better overall.
Low Range Transfer Case Gears started (FINALLY) Been thinking about doing this for a long time... but I finally got my hands on a set of low range (3.7:1) Transfer case gears for the TX-10 Transfer case. I got them from a gentleman and a scholar in the 1st Gen Xterra community. (Yes, they're still available on 4x4parts.com, but they've gone up a lot in price). Want to read a super cool build thread on a custom built, fully locked, single turbo 1st gen Xterra? Check it out. Cody's Turbo Xterra Build
If you're not familiar with these, they replace the factory low range transfer case gears (which are a 2:1 gear ratio) and you end up with a 3.7:1 gear ratio in low range (does not affect the high range/2wd gears). The install requires some modification and it's going to take me a while - I think I need some new bearings and seals... but not sure which ones yet.
SO, I found a used transfer case for $100 and picked it up to minimize the time the truck is down. I took that transfer case apart last weekend and got cracking on it. Here's a few pictures.
Got the case all taken apart - may need some new seals - not sure yet.
Got lots to do- need to move the bearings to the new lower range gears next.
Also went out and played in the rocks with Cody a bit when I was out in Grand Junction picking up the parts. Not a lot to show, but I threw a few clips together just for fun. You can watch those here if you'd like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGoUNWhtj7Q
The truck actually did really well as is, but I'm really excited for the low range gears. The Frontier has these really awesome built-in leaf spring perch skid plates. They do a great job protecting the gas tank and drive shaft on shelves like the ones in the video. They hit the edge of the rocks before the driveshaft can. I'm talking about that big old bump on bottom of the frame rail here:
I still kiss the gas tank skid periodically, but as long as the step is pretty straight, it's usually not a problem. They're super solid and take some big hits without budging.
Anyways, not much for a post. But there's more in the works. Check back soon for more.
Love this truck! Just realized yours is the "model" truck for a first gen on coastal offroad website. I'm going to pickup a 99 frontier 4x4 5 speed on Friday. Pretty excited.
Love this truck! Just realized yours is the "model" truck for a first gen on coastal offroad website. I'm going to pickup a 99 frontier 4x4 5 speed on Friday. Pretty excited.
Hey @Wahayes83 , that's awesome! Did you end up getting that Frontier? Would love to see a picture of it. I nearly picked up 99 of my own when I was looking for a daily driver... but just couldn't justify it. it would have turned into another project.
Yeah, that's me! Coastal Offroad hit me up after I posted some pictures of the truck and asked for some - they didn't have any good pictures of the bumper since they had updated it. So I gladly sent them a couple.
Just realized I'm kinda behind on cross-posting on this forum from the Frontier forum. I'll dump some posts here. TX-10 Transfer Case Gear Install
So I finally got around to installing the low range (3.7:1) gears in my Frontier transfer case.
I picked up a donor transfer case for $100 from a 2002 Xterra with an Automatic Trans. I planned to do a full build on the bench and then swap the whole case to minimize down time on the truck. That way, I'd also have a spare TX-10 to swap back in if I did something wrong. I didn't know this before, but now that I do I am not surprised... the TX-10 transfer cases changed slightly year to year and model to model.
The TX-10 from the automatics has a different input shaft plate. The sensors are also wire differently and I think the 2002 Xterra has a slightly different speedometer sensor. The harness was different at least.
It still worked out. I took it all apart and got familiar with it. I took the bearings from that case and used them for the new gears, so it wasn't a complete loss.
Donor TX-10 disassembled.
Parts all bagged and tagged.
This has been done plenty of times, but I always keep track of bolts this way.
My press is too small to removed the bearings from the original gears and move them to the new gear. Went to A-1 Transmission in Denver - this has to be one of the coolest and best places around. Amazing shop. Amazing people. The type of guys who just kinda know everything about any transfer case, transmission, etc. And they are very humble about it. They pressed the bearings for free!
They have some really mean-looking, but very sweet shop cats that sit on the benches, tool boxes, etc. They are very filthy, but they seem very happy. Big ol' cats.
Unfortunately I was in a hurry to get this thing built and didn't take a lot of pictures.
These gears are not a drop in replacement... you have to modify the case and shift forks to clear the bigger gears. It's kinda sketchy because you end up with like 0.005" of clearance and you cant cut anymore or you mess up the internal oil passages.
I had to grind a lot of the shift fork down too. That wasn't too bad.
Rubber parts are all falling apart and discontinued. Just stitched mine back together with zip ties for now. I'll keep my eye open at the junk yard for a set that's hopefully less torn up than mine.
Got the transfer case mated back up to the transmission.
I had always had an oil leak from the top of the transmission. With the covers all off, I could see that the shift boot was ripped and the gears were slinging a bit of oil up there and it would seep out slowly through the tear. The boot is discontinued, but I got a nearly identical looking part for a 240SX and installed that.It was NOT easy... I had to separate the shift handle from the shift lever because the shift boot has to slide on from the top. The bottom is too big for the hole in the boot. The 2 parts of the handle are joined by rubber bushings (I assume for vibration damping for the driver's hand). As best as I can figure, they are originally either glued or pressed in hot so that they stick themselves to the handle. To disassemble, I heated the handle end with a torch until the rubber started melting off on the inside. Then I hammered on the bottom of the shift handle until it came off. What a mess. All the rubber was messed up too.
I cut all the rubber pieces off the shifter lever and cleaned up both pieces, installed the boot, etc.
Now to reassemble. I took some rubber sway bar bushings that I had laying around (from a 4Runner maybe?) and cut them down so that they were basically a press-fit into the upper handle assembly. I used a couple of them and shoved them down into the handle at different depths. Then I took the shift lever and heated it up with a torch until it was real hot. I pressed it into the rubber bushings which melted quickly around the shift lever. When they cooled, it was all glued back together, good as new (surprised that that worked...).
You're a champ if you read all that nonsense with no pictures AND could understand what I was talking about...
So, if you have read much of my thread, you'll remember that we usually go to Moab every year. We ended up going over Memorial Day this year. Here's who went this year:
My 2nd brother and his wife in their 2004 4Runner, V8, 32's, with about a 2-3" lift.
My youngest brother and his wife in their 2001 4Runner, 33's, with about a 3-4" lift
And Nick in his 2006 4Runner, 33's, about 3" lift, and a rear locker.
We went over Memorial Day weekend, and honestly, we ran into very few people on the trails. It was strangely quiet, although we did purposefully stay off the big-name trails. I'll give a quick summary and then dump a bunch of photos.
Camped at Salt Valley 1st night. Ran Klondike Bluffs (including the connector to Salt Valley) out to town. Then went across HWY 191 to Secret Spire, Dellenbaugh Tunnel, etc. Found some good obstacles in there. Camped down on the Green River 2nd night. Next day, did some other trails around the Spring Canyon area, went though Moab, and ended up near Entrada Bluffs for camp. Did our classic hike the next day - we do this one almost every year. Ran Onion Creek to Hideout Canyon to Kokopelli Trail out over the La Sals. Got snowed on in the La Sals while exploring some of that area - may need a dedicated trip back there. Found some cool routes that we didn't have time to fully run. Camped near the Colorado Boarder the 4th night. Had a great spot that was quiet with a amazing views. Did a few local trails near the CO/UT boarder on the standard Gateway/Castleton route. After that, we pretty much called it a trip and headed back to Denver.
The new low-range transfer case gears did AMAZING. I cannot emphasize this enough - this is by far the best modification I have done on the truck. I cannot be happier about the performance increase. I have way more torque on tap when I need it for climbing steep stuff. The engine-braking while going downhill is increased as well, with very little need for brakes while crawling down obstacles. With the 5-speed, I always had to do a lot of clutch-feathering in the rocky stuff - it's hard to crawl with the 5-speed and only 2:1 4Lo. With these new gears, I can have the clutch all the way out and just tractor my way through the rough stuff. It's amazing.
Anyways, here's some photos.
Choosing bad lines in my Frontier since 2016...
This was about the steepest things we've run in a while. Without exaggerating, it's probably 35-40 degree angle. Much bumper dragging on departure.
One of the "slot" canyons we hike every year - it's not technical, but it's gorgeous!
Pretty sure this little guy was about gone... It was really little and seemed to be lost. Maybe got separated from Mom?
We gave it some water and a t-shirt to sleep in for the night. It was still alive the next morning, but moving pretty slowly.
I hope it lived to see another day; either way, it was a fun wildlife encounter and just cool look into God's creation.
It was snowing and about 35F up in the La Sals. Too cold to camp here!
The area is full of old abandoned Uranium Mines. This one is closed, but the infrastructure is still there - pretty neat.
Good times - looking forward to next time already. Now back to the garage to fix stuff...
Until next time.
