My New 05 Nissan Xterra Off Road

[fromohio]

Hey all!
My Trailblazer recently took its last trip to the junk yard, so I replaced it with this!

05 Xterra Off Road 6 Speed


I don't have a lot of money, and I was hoping you fellow Nissan people have inexpensive mod ideas.
Like a winch mount cheaper than a bumper, inexpensive light mounts, that sort of thing.

Also, I am planning a roadtrip with my wife this summer.
Any recommendations in the USA where to spend a week off pavement that won't require a titan swap and super 35" tires?

 

[drew7997]

First of all, congrats on the '05.
Research on thenewx.org or any other site(clubxterra.org, etc) SMOD Run a bypass cooler to fix it. ~$40 for peace of mind. Yes please.
Secondly, these Xterra's are really amazing pieces of machines and VERY capable. I ran the most technical trail at my local Off-Road Park on 32's and stock suspension (2001) on my very first Off Roading trip. ( I had a great spotter.)
Remove those mudflaps, they get in the way.

 

[outback97]

Hey all!
My Trailblazer recently took its last trip to the junk yard, so I replaced it with this!

05 Xterra Off Road 6 Speed
View attachment 264805

I don't have a lot of money, and I was hoping you fellow Nissan people have inexpensive mod ideas.
Like a winch mount cheaper than a bumper, inexpensive light mounts, that sort of thing.

Also, I am planning a roadtrip with my wife this summer.
Any recommendations in the USA where to spend a week off pavement that won't require a titan swap and super 35" tires?

Welcome from another newb! Just got my '06 late last year. I would highly recommend thenewx.org, super helpful over there and tons of writeups from people who have been there, done that. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=82441

"SMOD" is not an issue for manual transmissions, only automatics, so don't worry about that.

Enjoy the X!

 

[nasko]

Welcome to the Nissan family. There is a guy on thenewx.org that makes/sells winch mounts for roughly $550 if I remember correctly. Check it out, you might like it. I personally welded a hitch receiver above the front bumper and strengthened it with some plates. It has worked OK for me on the 2 occasions I have used it. I also added an aluminum basket made out of ATV ramps. Have driven it for over 2 years camping/fishing/hunting. It has been a great rig, really enjoy it. Cheers and good luck

 

[jhill15]

Nice rig man!!!! Good news you bought a manual so no need to bypass the rad/coolant lines as it only was an issue in the automatics 05-07. Some ideas: lobo rack, led light swap, bilstein shocks, bedline your plastics, cb, ipad/tablet mount for topo maps...
Thats all coming to mind right now.

As the above posts check out
Thenewx
ClubX
Xterranation
4x4parts.com

 

[fromohio]

Thanks for all the information everyone!
Looks like it's time to start figuring out an upgrade budget

Looked underneath just today when out running the chainsaw, the previous owner installed bilstein shocks in it!
Woo!

 

[Airmapper]

Looked underneath just today when out running the chainsaw, the previous owner installed bilstein shocks in it!
Woo!

Actually it most likely came with those. It's one of the perks of having an Off Road edition. They sit a shave higher than a base model Xterra as well. That, a better head unit, seats, and the rear diff locker and skid plates (maybe a shave thin but better than nothing) are all part of the Off road package. I think it's pretty nice as your decently equipped out of the box and can put off a few upgrades until you really know what you need.

If you do nothing else a cheap and easy improvement is to extend your rear axle breather. Stock it only has a "vent." Do a search on thenewX.org and there will be numerous write ups on it. It's one of the few things I've modified on mine, and since I have had that rear end underwater a few times, I'm a bit more comfortable knowing it can't suck in water.

Enjoy, those 6 speeds are a bit hard to find but well worth it.