xovrlnd
Observer
A little about myself to start
Alright everyone, I figure introductions are in order before I jump right into my build. My name is Taylor, I recently moved up to Northern Alberta from Denver, Colorado! I have built a few things over the years, ranging from MTB's to full on half-chassis drag cars. The last two years, however, I have been sucked into the world of Superbike racing. I got pretty heavily involved with the MRA league in Colorado and spent all my time doing that. Basically as soon as my feet touched the ground here in Grande Prairie, I knew my racing days were over, so it was time to find a new hobby.
I've always been interested in Overlanding Expeditions, rock crawling, general 4x4ing, things of that nature. So after having a once over of the terrain up here, I figured there was no better time to start than right now.
Unfortunately my Credit from the States doesn't carry over into Canada, and I stupidly sold my house and my truck before I came up here, thinking I would just get new stuff. When I found out I couldn't, and had to build my credit from 0, I was kicking myself in the butt pretty hard. So, I hopped on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist), and started to have a look around, limiting myself to 10k or so. Wasn't finding anything I liked. So to blow off some steam, I let this girl I had just met take me for a hike in Grande Cache. It was there, at the trail head, I saw a yellow 1st gen Xterra. I immediately fell in love with the body style, and I HAD to have one. Two days later I was on a plane to Edmonton to pick up my new to me Xterra.
Now introducing the Xterra
An auto 2002 SE S/C. Super clean, and I bought it from the original owner, who happened to be a pretty easy going older gentlemen. Had 230,000km on the clock when I bought it for a whopping 4k. Thats about 140,000 miles. At first I was a little unsure of it because of the miles, I've never even owned anything above 100k miles before. So this was new to me. Although it really surprised me on my 4.5 hour drive back home. Idle was a smooth as can be at 850rpm, didn't jerk or hesitate while driving, the only things I wasn't impressed with were, the stock headlight performance, and the over all lack of mid to high range power. I am deeply upset with the motor, however, with the cash I'm dumping into this thing, I'll probably keep it and build the motor after it dies. Or swap something else in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I'm going to apologize right now for the crappy iPhone pictures. My DSLR decided it wanted to become a grenade during the move here. So I'm in need of another high quality camera.
Maintenance
I'm going to include prices as reference for myself, as well as whoever else cares. Keep in mind this will all be in Canadian currency, and the exchange rate right now is beyond terrible. (Perfect time to build a rig, eh?!)
So, as always, start with the maintenance. I knew this thing has been taken care of pretty well, but me being stupid accidentally tossed the service records in the trash at the car wash. My bad. So I decided to just go ahead and get everything done, starting with the basics. I'll do more as the weather here improves.
Index:
Done (+)
Parts ordered or in Progress (-)
On the list but haven't touched ( )
Oil and Filter Change 5W-30 for winter (+)
Compression Test (+) $168.00
C1-145psi C2-140psi C3-135psi C4-135psi C5-145psi C6-145psi
Timing Belt, Water Pump, all new coolant hoses, etc (+) $684.65
Coolant Flush (+) $146.34
Serpentine Belt (+) $120.85
Power Steering Pump and Belt (+) $323.74
Plugs, Wires, Distributor ( )
Front Brakes (+) $66.21
Rear Brakes ( )
Repack Wheel Bearings ( )
Inspect Rear Main Seal ( )
Replace PCV ( )
Replace Intake Filter ( )
Replace Front Swaybar Bushings ( )
Change Front and Rear Diff Oil ( )
Extend Diff Breather Tubes ( )
Change Transfer Case and Transmission Oil ( )
Grease and Lube all Zerks/Ports ( )
Replace Fuel Filter ( )
Replace Idler Pully ( )
Change Supercharger Oil ( )
Clean up random wiring ( )
Change Cabin Filter ( )
Inspect U-Joints ( )
Inspect Motor and Transmission Mounts ( )
Replaced Windshield ( )
Seafoam ( )
Suspension
This one I really rolled around in my head for a while. Ultimately I decided against a SAS, because that was just far too extreme for my goals and needs. I went with a 3" lift I pieced together from assorted companies, I may do a body lift down the road. Time will tell.
Calmini UCA with Upper Ball Joints (-) $579.71
SAW Torsion Bars (-) $268.48
AC Lower Ball Joints (-) $108.76
OEM Cam Bolts (-) $86.04
AC Ultra Low Bumpstops (-) $17.21
Front Bilstein 4600 HD +3 Shocks (-) $262.91
Rear Bilstein 4600 HD +3 Shocks (-) $214.73
Nisstec AAL (-) $123.88
Nisstec 3* Axle Shims (-) $60.57
Zinc Plated U-Bolts (-) $64.70
AC Lift Shackles (-) $96.30
ACDelco OEM Style Leaf Pack Replacement (+) $664.90
Wheels and Tires
This is a debate everyone knows can go on FOREVER. We are lucky enough to have a ton of options for awesome tires, it really just seems to be everyone's personal preference what they run. I decided to go with BFG's KO2 AT's in a 275/70R17. They have a very aggressive tread, especially for being an All Terrain. I've personally never ran them, but if they're good enough for the Baja 1000, they're good enough for me. Four tires cost me $1,285.20 I still need to pick up another for my spare.
As for wheels, I'm staying with the stock ones. I rather enjoy the look of the stock S/C wheels, and the backspacing is perfect. If I need to change that for whatever reason down the road, I'll probably just get extended lugs and some wheel spacers.
Steering and Drivetrain
Front Lokka (-) $572.43
Rear ARB Air Locker ( )
Calmini HD Steering Kit ( )
Armor
I'm extremely undecided at this point for bumpers and skids, as shipping to the Great White North would almost coast as much as another bumper. So chances are I'm going to have my bumpers and skids custom made by a guy I know down in Edmonton.
I'm also currently in the design stage with my cousin, making a drop in roof rack. It'll end up being pretty similar as the DepHep rack.
Misc.
40" Light Bar (+) $250 (Actually just took this off and sold it.)
IF Light Bar Mounts (+) $185.85 (Currently selling these)
Bed Liner (-) $169.84
Trail Tool Kit (+) $757.72
x2 30' Recovery Straps (+) $112.47
48" Highlift ( )
Warn VR10000 ( )
Shackles and D-Rings ( )
It's quite the ongoing project, I feel it's coming along pretty decent, only having it for 3 months or so. As soon as it warms up, I'll be doing everything I have sitting for it, then taking a test trip to Prairie Creek. Give it a Youtube search. It'll be a good time.
I'll leave you with a couple pictures I have.
Alright everyone, I figure introductions are in order before I jump right into my build. My name is Taylor, I recently moved up to Northern Alberta from Denver, Colorado! I have built a few things over the years, ranging from MTB's to full on half-chassis drag cars. The last two years, however, I have been sucked into the world of Superbike racing. I got pretty heavily involved with the MRA league in Colorado and spent all my time doing that. Basically as soon as my feet touched the ground here in Grande Prairie, I knew my racing days were over, so it was time to find a new hobby.
I've always been interested in Overlanding Expeditions, rock crawling, general 4x4ing, things of that nature. So after having a once over of the terrain up here, I figured there was no better time to start than right now.
Unfortunately my Credit from the States doesn't carry over into Canada, and I stupidly sold my house and my truck before I came up here, thinking I would just get new stuff. When I found out I couldn't, and had to build my credit from 0, I was kicking myself in the butt pretty hard. So, I hopped on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist), and started to have a look around, limiting myself to 10k or so. Wasn't finding anything I liked. So to blow off some steam, I let this girl I had just met take me for a hike in Grande Cache. It was there, at the trail head, I saw a yellow 1st gen Xterra. I immediately fell in love with the body style, and I HAD to have one. Two days later I was on a plane to Edmonton to pick up my new to me Xterra.
Now introducing the Xterra
An auto 2002 SE S/C. Super clean, and I bought it from the original owner, who happened to be a pretty easy going older gentlemen. Had 230,000km on the clock when I bought it for a whopping 4k. Thats about 140,000 miles. At first I was a little unsure of it because of the miles, I've never even owned anything above 100k miles before. So this was new to me. Although it really surprised me on my 4.5 hour drive back home. Idle was a smooth as can be at 850rpm, didn't jerk or hesitate while driving, the only things I wasn't impressed with were, the stock headlight performance, and the over all lack of mid to high range power. I am deeply upset with the motor, however, with the cash I'm dumping into this thing, I'll probably keep it and build the motor after it dies. Or swap something else in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I'm going to apologize right now for the crappy iPhone pictures. My DSLR decided it wanted to become a grenade during the move here. So I'm in need of another high quality camera.
Maintenance
I'm going to include prices as reference for myself, as well as whoever else cares. Keep in mind this will all be in Canadian currency, and the exchange rate right now is beyond terrible. (Perfect time to build a rig, eh?!)
So, as always, start with the maintenance. I knew this thing has been taken care of pretty well, but me being stupid accidentally tossed the service records in the trash at the car wash. My bad. So I decided to just go ahead and get everything done, starting with the basics. I'll do more as the weather here improves.
Index:
Done (+)
Parts ordered or in Progress (-)
On the list but haven't touched ( )
Oil and Filter Change 5W-30 for winter (+)
Compression Test (+) $168.00
C1-145psi C2-140psi C3-135psi C4-135psi C5-145psi C6-145psi
Timing Belt, Water Pump, all new coolant hoses, etc (+) $684.65
Coolant Flush (+) $146.34
Serpentine Belt (+) $120.85
Power Steering Pump and Belt (+) $323.74
Plugs, Wires, Distributor ( )
Front Brakes (+) $66.21
Rear Brakes ( )
Repack Wheel Bearings ( )
Inspect Rear Main Seal ( )
Replace PCV ( )
Replace Intake Filter ( )
Replace Front Swaybar Bushings ( )
Change Front and Rear Diff Oil ( )
Extend Diff Breather Tubes ( )
Change Transfer Case and Transmission Oil ( )
Grease and Lube all Zerks/Ports ( )
Replace Fuel Filter ( )
Replace Idler Pully ( )
Change Supercharger Oil ( )
Clean up random wiring ( )
Change Cabin Filter ( )
Inspect U-Joints ( )
Inspect Motor and Transmission Mounts ( )
Replaced Windshield ( )
Seafoam ( )
Suspension
This one I really rolled around in my head for a while. Ultimately I decided against a SAS, because that was just far too extreme for my goals and needs. I went with a 3" lift I pieced together from assorted companies, I may do a body lift down the road. Time will tell.
Calmini UCA with Upper Ball Joints (-) $579.71
SAW Torsion Bars (-) $268.48
AC Lower Ball Joints (-) $108.76
OEM Cam Bolts (-) $86.04
AC Ultra Low Bumpstops (-) $17.21
Front Bilstein 4600 HD +3 Shocks (-) $262.91
Rear Bilstein 4600 HD +3 Shocks (-) $214.73
Nisstec AAL (-) $123.88
Nisstec 3* Axle Shims (-) $60.57
Zinc Plated U-Bolts (-) $64.70
AC Lift Shackles (-) $96.30
ACDelco OEM Style Leaf Pack Replacement (+) $664.90
Wheels and Tires
This is a debate everyone knows can go on FOREVER. We are lucky enough to have a ton of options for awesome tires, it really just seems to be everyone's personal preference what they run. I decided to go with BFG's KO2 AT's in a 275/70R17. They have a very aggressive tread, especially for being an All Terrain. I've personally never ran them, but if they're good enough for the Baja 1000, they're good enough for me. Four tires cost me $1,285.20 I still need to pick up another for my spare.
As for wheels, I'm staying with the stock ones. I rather enjoy the look of the stock S/C wheels, and the backspacing is perfect. If I need to change that for whatever reason down the road, I'll probably just get extended lugs and some wheel spacers.
Steering and Drivetrain
Front Lokka (-) $572.43
Rear ARB Air Locker ( )
Calmini HD Steering Kit ( )
Armor
I'm extremely undecided at this point for bumpers and skids, as shipping to the Great White North would almost coast as much as another bumper. So chances are I'm going to have my bumpers and skids custom made by a guy I know down in Edmonton.
I'm also currently in the design stage with my cousin, making a drop in roof rack. It'll end up being pretty similar as the DepHep rack.
Misc.
40" Light Bar (+) $250 (Actually just took this off and sold it.)
IF Light Bar Mounts (+) $185.85 (Currently selling these)
Bed Liner (-) $169.84
Trail Tool Kit (+) $757.72
x2 30' Recovery Straps (+) $112.47
48" Highlift ( )
Warn VR10000 ( )
Shackles and D-Rings ( )
It's quite the ongoing project, I feel it's coming along pretty decent, only having it for 3 months or so. As soon as it warms up, I'll be doing everything I have sitting for it, then taking a test trip to Prairie Creek. Give it a Youtube search. It'll be a good time.
I'll leave you with a couple pictures I have.
