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hammockking's X

17K views 98 replies 19 participants last post by  hammockking 
#1 · (Edited)
username: hammockking

Aiming for an overland setup with an easy DD mod that's not afraid of water

River



Make: Nissan
Year: 2007
Model: Xterra
Trim: S 4wd
Color: Tardis Blue

Ride
Radflo 2.0 Extended Travel w 600lb Eibach springs
1" Nisstec top plate spacer
SPC Greasable UCAs - w new boots
Moog LCAs
SPC Cambolts
Radflo Ext. Travel Clunk Fix
3* Nisstec steel shims
Bilstein 5125
Deaver AAL 2.5"
Daystar 2" Greasable shackles
Surf and Snow Rear Brake Extension
Deleted front+rear sway bars
BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 285/75r16
1.5" hubcentric wheel spacer

Pending:
Nada

Armor
Hefty Fab Steel Skids- Rad, Engine, transfer
Hefty Fab Tread Plate Sliders- Bedlined
OEM Gas Tank Skid
Hardcore Offroad Rear Tire Carrier

Pending:
Hefty Aluminum Gas Tank and Transmission Skids

Drive
XTP Intake Manifold Spacer
Airflow Snorkel fully sealed
Volant 127406 with AEM 21-209EDK filter
Magnaflow 12580 with stock tailpipe
Denso IKH16TT Iridium TT Spark Plugs
Moroso Oil Catch Can 85474 w/ 250psi hose {removed}
Rear Diff Breather Ext
PRG Motor mount
370Z Thermostat

Pending install:
Chillin

Maintained by me so far-
fan clutch
heater hose assembly crumbled and replaced
VIAS valve fix per tsb
New Koyorad radiator
Gas door clip replaced with magnets
New driver and passenger window motor
New front passenger side HUB
Transmission rebuilt
A/C Condenser Hose Extend per tsb
Spark plugs at 102k
Dielectric Grease and Anti-seize wherever I can
Fuel Sending Unit
Driver side A pillar weld causing water leak- JB Weld
SPC Boots- replaced
Driver side rear grab assist handle- replaced
Driver window creak- Fixed
OEM Transmission Mount- Replaced

Pending Fix
done

Misc
Nissan All Weather Mats
SARIS interior bike rack bolted down by beefed cargo hooks
New black bezel headlights
Hood rod replaced with Navara D40 Hood Struts (do it)
Rear hatch bolts adjusted out for tighter seal
Hood latch bolts adjusted down for tighter seal (no squeak!)
Euro Key
Kenwood DPX501bt for OEM look with bluetooth
Pioneer speakers all around
Beefed cargo hooks
H9 Yellow Hella Fog lights
Magnetic drain plugs for oil and trans pans
coil bucket ground down
front fender cut and painted for wheel spacers .. no rub
New front wheel well liners with fresh melt mod
Locking Southco handle for wet box
Vias Air 88p Compressor
Wiper Mod- 24a, 20a, 16b with new rear spring (#162 from Ace or True Value Hardware)
Interior LED bulbs
MAXpow hatch struts
FIAMM 72112/72102 upgraded, relocated, and rewired horn
Tints- 5% Front, 15% Rear atop privacy glass
Wade In Channel vent visor

Pending install:
Fog light stalk bypass

Fluids
Royal Purple HMX 5w30
Royal Purple Max Gear75w90 (F/R)
Royal Purple Ext Life oil filter
Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC ATF in T Case and Trans

'The' list .. for now-
3.73 or 4.10 gears
elocked m226
m205 with Pathy shafts
some lights
Bedline/paint roof, rack, and bumpers
more recovery
Beefier weather stripping for sand and wind
Headers
Back up Camera
Dual Battery
tuner

Photos:
The day I picked her up




after 10/16 1.5" hubcentric wheel spacers


current as of summer '17






 
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7
#5 ·
Looks good!
Thanks gents

What lift is on your rig?
Just spacers and shackles on top of oem .. she came that way. I owe Greg a call after some emails to sort out the best set up. Aiming to get a bit higher and 110% more comfortable.

This is what im currently looking at .. minus the rear sway



 
#7 ·
2" sounds right from what I've surmised plus the ~1" from the tires and I'm around 36" in the front. No cbc but I feel just about everything on the road. It'll take the beating but transfer it to me and my dash. No Bueno. Plus, two tires came shot from the dealer .. surely from being unable to fully align. Not sure if it's overkill, but I'm going for new adjustable ucas And cam bolts with the new suspension. Starting the daily pb blaster treatment on the bolts now in hopes that I'll be able to salvage my lcas. Street parking in my area will have me hunting for mod buddies soon. Or looking for a reasonable shop
 
#14 · (Edited)
Most of my PRG spc advanced kit is here .. all I'm missing is my rads. Really happy with my experience with Greg. Installed a new driver side window regulator/motor for ~$30 off ebay .. so happy to have a fully function window again!

Still looking for help with my install. Iridium TT(ies) sparks should arrive tomorrow, already got SPC cam bolts, dielectric grease and some anti seize standing by. Got me a sweet Moroso 85747 catch can on ebay for $93 (usually 140+) that should arrive within the week. Since I'll be installing my XTP IMS that I also found on ebay on it's last day for $100 shipped, I'm going to take the time to clean my intake plenum when I change my plugs. Seems like sea foaming the brake booster and brake cleaning the plenum is the way to go. Flirting with options for the Y Pipe without having to do the full exhaust just yet.
ebay has been kind.

NOW the only pending purchases are the PCV valve, oil and oil filter.
Looking forward to the new alignability, comfort and performance .. sooo close.

After this, KO2s, tints and fogs should wrap up this stage of optimization


Update!
Rads are here .. a day after posting above. Less than two weeks for the whole delivery, PRG for the wan!
Got oil, filter and pcv valve. Pending arrival of Moroso catch can

 
#15 · (Edited)
Grateful to @iamamused @COFronty and @MontanaX for recommending, making, and guidance in installing great products. In that order.

Oil Catch Can
XTP IMS
How to Install XTP IMS

After a couple of hours changing all fluids, installing spark plugs, new PCV Valve, assembling and mounting moroso catch can, and installing XTP IMS .. was buttoning her up. Had had to find a shady, level street since I have street parking at my place, and wasn't in the mood to get a ticket or have my foot run over. Wife calls offering to bring me sushi since there'd been meals skipped. Go back to torquing down bolt 3 in my intake, thinking of that godzilla roll and Pop. First broken bolt in my life. It's after 2100 at this point so just decide to close her up and get going since work week starts next day.

Figuring I could save some time without opening her back up. So grabbed an extension for my left hand bit two days later to knock it out during my lunch break .. fwiw, unless it's a legitimate optimization, never do any variation of time saving when working on your rig. i broke my rule that day and sat in that class for a few more days because of it. POS of gets stuck in there spinning freely, I didn't know if the bit caught and destroyed something since, when it was going in, it slowed as if it had begun to drill. I loosened the extension from the bit, could rotate it around, but no amount of leverage or pliers was getting it out.





Tackled today. The drill had barely caught on to the bolt when the extension had wedged into the intake. Able to hammer out the extension from the other/inside end.

Then the bolt. Was ready to drill it out and got a bolt extractor kit just in case. Due to the way the bolt broke, and it's diameter, the bit wouldn't catch comfortably enough. Good thing. Pulled out a $3 torx+ mini tool set i apparently purchased from indonesia one fuzzy night many moons ago that arrived earlier this week, and that did the trick. Was smaller than something similar I have and was just enough to lightly, slowly, and methodically hammer at it it in the opposite direction til I could grab hold of the bolt w my hand. I'm sure the antiseize helped. Used my compressor to regularly blow the area clean and keep any metal bits away.









This thing is all around sweet though.



Now bolted down smoothly




The Moroso 85474 OCC went in smoothly. Aside from not being able to align the nipples. No biggy though, still sexier than my first gf.







And .. with both of them finally in there



Fluids: Royal Purple in everything but trans, transfer case, and power steering. Valvoline MAX atf made more sense in those applications. 4wd switches immediately now and no longer feeling the little bump when putting her in gear. Riding smooth. We'll see how the RP holds up in the X. Added magnetic drain plugs to trans and engine to compliment t case and diff mags.

The rear diff came out looking s"itty despite my having it changed in the first week at a trusted shop less than 8k ago. Either I got ripped off or i'll be getting a locking m226 soon. .. For now, I'm just hoping I got ripped off. I'll take that blessing another year.

For sparks, chose the Denso IKH16TT Iridium TT. Some dielectric grease and anti seize to help them through the next 100k miles in my hands.

SPC Adv install has been a bit of a prolonged headache. Will update when she is where she's supposed to be. Can't wait to get rid of the bad vibes.

Congrats! You made it to the end .. you get a smiley. :)
 
#16 ·
after romancing this batch for the better part of a month, and pulling three of the four .. new Moog lcas from rockauto in the mail. 136 w tax and shipping. Should arrive w my 1" spacer and 3* shims that ol greg never got me back to me on. well he got back to me once about the shims. then, when i simply reiterated what was in my first two emails and voicemails, he never responded back. for anybody seeking future reference, shims should be included with spc adv kit purchase and you should insist on it. u bolts too. now my drive shaft is at risk because of it and this is my dd. Gave nisstec, despite their salesiness, a shot because of this.

so ready to be finished with this whole susp install. Truck hadn't been long drive worthy awaiting all this to be resolved. and these ko2s want to start spinning so bad. just not willing risk running/ruining them on an unalignable truck. u bolt flip on stand by too.

blarg
 
#21 · (Edited)
Still waiting on getting proper balancing/alignment sorted. Don't know why it's been so insanely hard to find a shop that is capable of aligning my truck to spec without damaging my SPC ucas. I have a talk with them before and still .. last shop actually got it but then left the bolt loose. Knocked my alignment out on first run and shredded my boot. Luckily caught it immediately and was able to seal it with some Right Stuff i carry with me. Got a dispute for two sfitty alignments going with my cc. Just sick of dealing w shady mechanics. I need a driveway again. Anyways, will update when this is all done.

For now, happy to see the catch can is doing its job less than 1000 miles after adding her. Here's to a win. Definitely worth it imo



 
#22 · (Edited)
Update .. mystery solved. Need to grind down my coil bucket more to clear my spc boot. Was in denial that this was the case which cost a few pumps of my right stuff silicone sealant. Street parking and no friends who care enough to share their drive way make it hard to do this kind of work. Nonetheless, grinding down today and will finally have the correct alignment. Almost enough to :'

'Scratched' my spring while grinding .. almost cut a finger off to pay for this mistake but had a beer instead. Will update with pics

this is with the joint pushed all the way out .. just clears the buckets but couldn't get within 1.5 camber which .. got it to just clear



so, passenger side


and now


and at full droop



driver side wasn't giving much issues with clearance before but no sense in risking it. now i hope i took enough off.






droopin (scroll down, had to update)




tomorrow adjusting front height to 37.25 and final alignment
 
#23 ·
If you tore the SPC ball joint boot in any way, replace them immediately. If you have the new greaseable variety consider yourself lucky. Much easier to pop the the ball joint out of the knuckle now, then having to replace the whole ball joint later.

Nisstec has the boot kit for $18. You might be able to get them direct from SPC.

Don't leave that boot with silicone as the seal.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I started all of this because the ride quality needed some serious attention since it couldn't be aligned at all. Badly cupped tires because of lacking/subpar parts provided for a serious death wobble. A truck this great needed the upgrade before it's 10th year.

Now, happy to say she has never driven better. For the first time alignment is all in spec. Combined with new KO2s, fresh spark plugs, IMS and etc .. I'm having trouble getting out of the drivers seat. Thanks for all the tips, questions, and advice from all the contributors on this site.

Clearance now looks like this at 37.25 up front at full droop seen from above. Had to do a little more grinding after deciding on cranking coilovers and then finally getting a proper alignment





Then took her out to some nearby hot springs to stretch her legs .. was so stoked on not shredding my SPC boot again that forgot to take a picture of front tire droop from outside of the wheel well. But, was pleasantly surprised with the rear for just the deaver AAL, daystar greasable shackles and Bils 5125.





armadas are now making me look like the taller, leaner, younger brother

 
#28 · (Edited)
Bored so started prepping new to me 1.5 adapters for install in a few days .. I was pretty sure that the open lug nuts that came with them were a bit too long (.81") and my studs wouldn't pop out the other end when mounted to the adapter. So, I got new lugs that are .62". It'll still fully engage all 9-10 threads on the nut and allow the stud to pass through on the other end with a few stud threads to spare. Feeling more comfortable going that route though can't say that I completely distrusted the longer lugs that came with them. Third pic shows the difference in lug nut size on the stud.

Will also be using blue thread locker on all studs when bolting in addition to applying anti seize to the surface on both sides of the adapter when mounting to hub and wheel. Got some fresh air snips for a cleaner cut instead of hammering back the fender lip.

To clean, I wire brushed both sides of each adapter, sprayed it with brake cleaner to wipe it down, then sprayed some fluid film on a paper towel and just lightly wiped the surface for a layer of coverage after the wire brushing. Being billet, not concerned really about rust and the like but hey im down for any extra corrosion protection. Plus, I'll be coating em in anti seize as previously mentioned.

Will update when mounted. Thanks again @xterra3100





specs on the shorter lug nuts are:
Open ended acorn
Drive (hex size) 3/4"
Total Height .62"
Total Width .75"
Thread Pitch 12x1.25

 
#29 · (Edited)
TRANSMISSION

So I finally took River in to have the rear diff checked out. Was hearing a whine coming from the rear at ~70 that would go away when I'd let off the skinny pedal. What I hadn't noticed was my rpms in cruising were unusual. Honestly, I thought that how the X was

So, when I bought her a year ago i checked the coolant reservoir (before buying), flushed the trans asap (and again a few months later to make sure), and rerouted .. I've had the radiator checked as well and was told it was all good. Now a year later, after recognizing the noise in the rear, I take her into a local reputable transmission/differential shop.

Sure enough, got a call an hour later stating I have no 5th gear, failed torque converter and blown pax side hub. Dropped the pan and there was plenty of metal shavings on my magnets and my new magnetic plug. My extended warranty will cover $3500 of the $4000-4600 repair and they are willing to work with me on the total cost. For the price, will fix the wheel hub and replace the radiator for good measure. They are jumping in now to identify what actually caused it.

balls.
 
#30 ·
So I finally took River in to have the rear diff checked out. Was hearing a whine coming from the rear at ~70 that would go away when I'd let off the skinny pedal. What I hadn't noticed was my rpms in cruising were unusual. Honestly, I thought that how the X was
So what was the sound in the rear?
I get that the trans issue sounds like SMOD, but I also hear a whine at highway speeds coming from rear of my 2013, only when Im on the throttle. With radio and all other sounds off it starts around 55 mph and increases in volume until it is noticeable even with the radio at around 65-75. Also increases in pitch with speed slightly. I had the dealership check and flush both diffs at the 60k service, no change and they found nothing.
 
#31 ·
So what the mechanic told me was that he heard nothing out of the ordinary but if I was noticing a bad noise it was probably my transmission being pushed with no fifth gear, bad torque converter and the metal shavings. Basically, seems like the sound I was identifying as my diff was in fact my transmission.

I was thinking it was the pinion bearing for my c200 giving up. Apparently, plenty of others have had that and a member here pointed me in that direction. Others have a whine that never goes away but there diffs never fail.

But if I were you and still under Nissan's warranty i'd argue for a new diff. Might as well man.
 
#32 ·
Sounds good. (Well, not really..) But yeah maybe Ill do another dealer service before my CPO B2B warranty is up and have them check that rear diff again..

Good luck with the trans man!
On an unrelated note, how do you like that Haynes service manual? Ive been trying to locate one at the local stores for the 2013 Xterra/frontiers. I know they’ve printed one for '05 -'14 but no one seems to have them any more.
 
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