richard310's 04 Xterra

[richard310]

So after a few weeks it's time for an update. After wiring up the first pair of lights, I got the other pair setup with 55W Piaa Crystal Ion Yellow bulbs, instead of the included 100W. It's overpowered by the outer HIDs anyways but still lights up the road. I'll have to get some night beam pattern shots when I get the time...










I also wanted to do a cheap aesthetic change and decided to stick with the dark colored scheme. So I snagged some charcoal wheel paint at my local auto store and prepped and sprayed the OEM wheels. Turned out to my liking until I need some new tires and possibly some new wheels too.



Also I've been inquiring around as to getting a custom rear tire/jerry can carrier as my next mod. Or a Yaesu FT-2900 2M radio. Or jerry cans from deutshe. Or a dephep rack. I can't decide.

 

[mortonm]

I really really like that wheel colour!

 

[stioc]

Looks great, yeah I'd love to see some night shots.

 

[richard310]

Beam pattern shots and the massive glare we have to deal with. The X is on a slight downward slope so the beam is aimed shorter than it looks.

Headlights on only


Headlights and HIDs on


Headlights, HIDs, and 55W Yellow on


It's almost unbearable as the glare REALLY reduces visibility from out the cockpit. I'll be jumping onto the glare shields as soon as I can.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

That light cage looks cool mounted up there! Really looking nice now. Adds to the vibe.

Shame about the glare though. I was wondering if it would be much better than mine. It actually looks worse!

 

[richard310]

I really really like that wheel colour!

Thanks, it turned out better than I thought it would. I was contemplating the usual matte black but I've had good experience with this color.

Looks great, yeah I'd love to see some night shots.

Check the pics above. The halogens seem to be more of a horizontally wide spot pattern unfortunately and it's washed out by the HIDs. I was hoping for more of a scattering of light instead of a concentrated area but I'll live with this for now.

That light cage looks cool mounted up there! Really looking nice now. Adds to the vibe.

Shame about the glare though. I was wondering if it would be much better than mine. It actually looks worse!

Yep, the glare is REALLY bad. I even have to flip down the sunvisors to minimize the reflection off the windshield. I tried to setup the camera to view as the human eye would and it's about right. Maybe a tiny bit overexposed but the reality of the matter is that this thing NEEDS glare shields. The HIDs make it that much worse unfortunately. With the halogens only on (which i currently don't have it wired up for) I'm sure it's a lot less.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Yep, the glare is REALLY bad. I even have to flip down the sunvisors to minimize the reflection off the windshield. I tried to setup the camera to view as the human eye would and it's about right. Maybe a tiny bit overexposed but the reality of the matter is that this thing NEEDS glare shields. The HIDs make it that much worse unfortunately. With the halogens only on (which i currently don't have it wired up for) I'm sure it's a lot less.

I'm sure the HIDs give your eyes quite the sunburn. I think the only reason I'm getting away with it is because I'm using relatively narrow beam halogens. I'd be screwed if I had HIDs or LEDs up there.

 

[richard310]

I'm sure the HIDs give your eyes quite the sunburn. I think the only reason I'm getting away with it is because I'm using relatively narrow beam halogens. I'd be screwed if I had HIDs or LEDs up there.

I can smell the burning of my retinas... the difference of HID and halogen is quite the gap. Especially with it mounted on the roof. Of course it'd have been better if the lights were able to be mounted further back.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I can smell the burning of my retinas... the difference of HID and halogen is quite the gap. Especially with it mounted on the roof. Of course it'd have been better if the lights were able to be mounted further back.

Further back and it wouldn't be an issue, no. But to get it to not glare off the hood, you'd have to mount the lights over the middle of the back doors.

 

[richard310]

Further back and it wouldn't be an issue, no. But to get it to not glare off the hood, you'd have to mount the lights over the middle of the back doors.

I was thinking back over the trunk hahah... yeah midway back would be a good placement.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I was thinking back over the trunk hahah... yeah midway back would be a good placement.

Haha that'd really work! But the astronauts in the ISS might be annoyed when your HIDs reflecting off your roof blind them.

In order for mine to not glare at all, the optimal placement would be right over the back window.

 

[richard310]

So more maintenance is getting done.
Sending the truck in tomorrow morning to get some new shocks front and rear (Bilsteins), and finally install the rear shoes. Too much squeaks and nose diving going on so a change is needed. I just might make the DV trip in March after all. Maybe.

 

[richard310]

Got the X back from the shop and got the rear brakes redone. Drum resurfaced, Raybestos brake shoes and spring kit installed. Unfortunately they couldn't find anyone that day that stocked the Bilstein 4600 or the 5100 locally. I was pretty bummed but we ended up just talking cars, racing, trucks and the stuff we car nuts talk about. So I just had them do the brakes. I ended up buying the Bilstein 4600s from 4WheelParts due to the free shipping and local warehouse for a quick turnaround. The tax blows but I'll deal with it. I did save a few dollars overall compared to other places online. I ordered the OEM height rear shocks and the 0-3" front travel shocks since I didn't want to permanently remove the rear sway bar. The rear shocks shipped in on Saturday and the fronts will be coming in early this week, special ordered from Colorado. I had some time this morning before Superbowl prep to install the rears which was literally a breeze.

Apparently the previous owner had the driverside installed upside down, which I don't know why because the shock body even had a "This Side Down" stamped on it. I did however have to drop the rear sway bar and remove the passenger tire to get the passenger side shock off due to the larger body of the ProComp ES9000. It was a bit dented from the sway bar interference but it came off after disconnecting the bar and dropping it down. The compression between the two were night and day. Bilstein's were a lot harder to compress compared to the ProComps, but at least the ProComps did decompress so they weren't completely blown. Took me just over an hour of leisure wrenching on a beautiful morning. BTW, anyone want a set of ProComp ES9000 shocks?

The Bilstein 4600 and the ProComp ES9000 comparison:


Bilstein's installed and happy.

 

[mortonm]

We have the same shocks, had mine on for over a year (20 000 miles) and I am a pretty big fan

Be careful though. I believe for the rears you HAVE to remove the sway bar or under compression it will contact the shock body.

 

[richard310]

The body diameter seems quite close to what the OEM shocks would be. When comparing the ProComps which use a significantly larger body, those definitely had a kink in the body from the sway bar. From the looks of it, even under compression, it doesn't "look" like the Bilsteins would contact the sway bar at all. Interesting, I'll have to check it out when I test out the suspension next week and I'll keep an eye on it daily.