more power and regear my Pro 4X Xterra

[wreckdiver1321]

For power, look into a Superchips Cortex or Bullydog tuner. From what I've heard, they really wake the engine up quite a bit. The other good power adder to think about is exhaust and/or headers. Combine those things and I think you'd have quite the powerhouse of a VQ40.

Also, I know for a fact that somebody somewhere makes gears for the front diff, because I know of at least three Frontiers that are running 4.10 gears. One I think is even running 4.56s.

 

[KiwiKurt]

The auto pro4x comes with 3.36 gearing, the manuals come with 3.69, I believe the manual non pro4x came with the 3.54 while the autos come with 3.13

Sent from my victara using Tapatalk

Youre right.

3.35 to 3.69 would be a decent jump.....

 

[bijanjames]

My 2nd Gen Frontier loaded is 6,000 plus pounds! I have 3.69 gears (6speed), and when above 10,000 ft I'm hurting for more power as well.

 

[meental]

For power, look into a Superchips Cortex or Bullydog tuner. From what I've heard, they really wake the engine up quite a bit. The other good power adder to think about is exhaust and/or headers. Combine those things and I think you'd have quite the powerhouse of a VQ40.

Also, I know for a fact that somebody somewhere makes gears for the front diff, because I know of at least three Frontiers that are running 4.10 gears. One I think is even running 4.56s.

Fwiw the tuners seem to have less effect on the 09+, something Nissan changed in the ecu made it more resistant to power mods. I do have a bullydog, intake manifold spacer, volant intake with aem dryflow filter and have gotten rid of the restrictive Y pipe on the exhaust with a 2 in 1 magnaflow muffler and it all helped but I have can't really say how noticeable vs stock.

People running 4.10 and 4.56 are titan swapped and running the titan m205 front differential.

FYI, thenewx.org is a great resource.

My build on there for reference, http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56834/URL] Sent from my victara using Tapatalk

 

[KiwiKurt]

Seems like uprev is the way to go for tuning. Dunno if im going to get that far in the weeds.

A couple bolt ons and a regear and take what it gives me. I was under the inpression i had 3.53 gears stock but knowing its a jump from 3.3 to 3.69 is considerable.

 

[chmura]

IMO I would not regear. Introducing aftermarket gears introduces a risk of a failure/leak/noises/etc down the road. Is it worth that risk for the 1-2 times you are in 9k elevation a year?

My 4runner with 285's mud tires has less power than your Xterra and I never thought I needed to regear due to the lack of power. When I am in a mountainous region I put the shifter in 4th gear to keep it out of the over drive gear.

Once you load up your vehicle with steel front and rear bumpers, RTT, fridge, etc you really should be taking it easy and not want speed.

 

[KiwiKurt]

Im not about speed by any means....just need it to pull a little better.

Out of curiousity, how does regearing lead to failures?

 

[chmura]

Im not about speed by any means....just need it to pull a little better.

Out of curiousity, how does regearing lead to failures?

I have heard many reports that their gears have been louder (whining) than stock. This could be to the owner not following the proper gear break in procedure or it could be a bad installation.

I also heard lots of reports about installation issues. Mechanics doing a lousy job not setting the gears correctly which will lead to a premature failure.

Look at post #238 here. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165542-warthog-build-adventure-thread-16.html

This gentleman installed an arb rear locker on his 2014 4runner and few weeks after installation started having a whine at 65 mph.

I'm a big advocate when there is nothing wrong with the vehicle leave it alone. Is it worth spending ~$2000 or so for that extra kick in the mountains and messing with your perfectly good front and rear gears? It is not worth it for me.. I for one would be very nervous installing new gears in a perfectly good vehicle that is 1-2 years old.

If you do decide to get this done, make sure you go to a quality gear specialist and not the cheapest general mechanic you find.

 

[RLM975]

For power, look into a Superchips Cortex or Bullydog tuner. From what I've heard, they really wake the engine up quite a bit. The other good power adder to think about is exhaust and/or headers. Combine those things and I think you'd have quite the powerhouse of a VQ40.

Also, I know for a fact that somebody somewhere makes gears for the front diff, because I know of at least three Frontiers that are running 4.10 gears. One I think is even running 4.56s.

Is this with a M205 swapped in? Those gear sets available for the 205.

 

[Dalko43]

I am probably providing advice that is much more contrarian than what you were looking for, but here it goes:

if you think the Xterra doesn't have enough power to suit your needs, I would look at other vehicles (maybe a V8 pathfinder, the ones that were still Body on frame).

In terms of bang-for-your-buck, power mods for the Xterra just aren't there. And I haven't heard of any superchargers or turbo kits for the 2nd gen that have proven their reliability in the back country over the long term.

 

[RLM975]

Yea, the aftermarket I was expecting to develop when I bought my 06 new, seeing the aftermarket for the first gen X/Fronty, never appeared.

 

[KiwiKurt]

I am probably providing advice that is much more contrarian than what you were looking for, but here it goes:

if you think the Xterra doesn't have enough power to suit your needs, I would look at other vehicles (maybe a V8 pathfinder, the ones that were still Body on frame).

In terms of bang-for-your-buck, power mods for the Xterra just aren't there. And I haven't heard of any superchargers or turbo kits for the 2nd gen that have proven their reliability in the back country over the long term.

I dont disagree.

I just really like the xterra. I got notified of some significant life changes coming up soon, so i may end up selling it, unfortunately.

 

[stioc]

I have heard many reports that their gears have been louder (whining) than stock. This could be to the owner not following the proper gear break in procedure or it could be a bad installation.

I also heard lots of reports about installation issues. Mechanics doing a lousy job not setting the gears correctly which will lead to a premature failure.

Look at post #238 here. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165542-warthog-build-adventure-thread-16.html

This gentleman installed an arb rear locker on his 2014 4runner and few weeks after installation started having a whine at 65 mph.

I'm a big advocate when there is nothing wrong with the vehicle leave it alone. Is it worth spending ~$2000 or so for that extra kick in the mountains and messing with your perfectly good front and rear gears? It is not worth it for me.. I for one would be very nervous installing new gears in a perfectly good vehicle that is 1-2 years old.

If you do decide to get this done, make sure you go to a quality gear specialist and not the cheapest general mechanic you find.

Good point I had the same issue 6mo after I had the ARB locker installed by a well-respected guy/shop who's done a lot of diffs but mostly Jeeps and Toyotas, not that the brand matters in this case. I even bought all new bearings and he set the lash and specs perfectly but about 7 to 8k miles later the whine from the diff started and kept getting louder. Long story short I had to have him move the locker to another diff (which I had to buy used but also took the opportunity to move to a slightly higher gear ratio too) and pay him all over again for the labor, new bearings etc. I went +3 sizes on tires so any little bit helps- going up that Monache grade fully loaded my truck was struggling and chugging gas pretty hard.

 

[chrishaynesusa]

or you could put a M205 from a Titan in the front and an M226 from a Xterra MT in the back and re-gear to either 4:10 or 4:56(rugged rocks)

 

[jmnielsen]

or you could put a M205 from a Titan in the front and an M226 from a Xterra MT in the back and re-gear to either 4:10 or 4:56(rugged rocks)

That's exactly what I was going to recommend. Don't have my Xterra anymore but I had the M226 since I had a MT and was going to put an M205 in.


Still wish I had that Xterra...