2001 Xterra Overland Build

[chasema]

Hi everyone,

Been on here for a long time but haven't had enough content to warrant a build thread.. Until now!

The Basics:
- 2001 Xterra, Auto (for now), V6, 4x4
- Bought it at 117,xxx miles, currently at 147,xxx
- Religiously maintaining to keep it reliable

Mods!
- PML
- resonator delete
- No Sway bars
- 32x11.5r15 BFG KM2's
- Cragar Soft 8 15X8 4.75 bs (not sure if i'm keeping them)
- AC Idler Arm Brace
- Interior nets (ceiling and divider)
- Bilstein 5100 Shocks
- ARB front bumper
- Hella 700ff driving lights
- CVT Mt. Bailey Roof Top Tent
- Frontier grill swap
- Scanguage
- probably Others that I am forgetting..

Mods that have been Ordered!
- Shrockworks Rear Bumper w/ tire carrier
- Shrockworks Engine skid
- White Knuckle rock sliders
- Alcan rear leaf springs w/ 2" lift 500 Ibs. payload increase
- Calmini UCA and HD torsion Bars
- CVT Awning
- Lokka front diff locker (waiting install)

Since buying this rig a few years ago in college it has gone all over the place, from Seattle we have traveled around Vancouver Island, down the West coast, out through Idaho, and all the way down through Baja California in Mexico. On top of that it gets used off road and and for general camping almost weekly.

On with the Pictures... Pictures from phase 1: 2013 - September 2015 (Basic mods era)

First trip out to the Washington coast and around the peninsula for new years, bone stock






Then a PML and some snow





Then the BFG KM2's came along and made all the difference in the world for offroading



Right after we got the tires we took off to Idaho going by dirt roads as much as we could and camping the whole way





Then we got loaded back up for Vancouver Island for New Years!


Waiting in the Ferry Line


Tofino





And our camp set up



The next trip we took was down the coast and through the redwoods for a week which was a lot of fun but paled in comparison to our next trip which was going down through Baja California.. I don't have as many pics as I would have liked and i'm too lazy to upload all of the ones I did get, but it was one hell of an experience and I am looking forward to doing it again. We spent about 10 days down there before we got chased out by a hurricane that was on it's way up..









Then I got my ARB bumper and I love it! I also did the frontier grill swap.







One from today 11/22/2015




More to come...

 

[emtmark]

Welcome!! Always have a friend in Hollister! 11' Xterra


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Beauty!

I'm jealous of your Baja trip. That excursion is very high up on my list too.

 

[WKexpedition]

Great looking X, and nice pics of your trips. Look forward to seeing what's next!

 

[Jack Stilts]

Nice X! Seeing those pictures makes me want to head to the PNW, never been out that way.

 

[chasema]

Thanks everyone, it is a very fun rig and have tons of fun driving and modifying it. I went out for a three day excursion and got tons of pictures of it in the snow. I'm not sold on the new wider wheels and my upgraded sound system sucks... I'll have to take it back to the place that installed it.

 

[chasema]

I've been thinking about going back down to 31" tires or trying to find a 15" steel wheel that has the same back spacing as the stock wheels. I got Cragar Soft 8's but I'm not liking the spacing. Anyone know of any 15x7 5.5bs steel wheels?

 

[Jack Stilts]

See if you can find some of the 15" OEM Frontier wheels? You get the 15" and the stock backspacing and still keep the Nissan wheel.

 

[richard310]

Nice looking first gen. Can't wait to see the upcoming mods.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

See if you can find some of the 15" OEM Frontier wheels? You get the 15" and the stock backspacing and still keep the Nissan wheel.

Indeed. There`s plenty of OEM options. Could even look at the WD21 Pathfinder and Hardbody wheels, but I ran them for a few years and over time, or from use, they were getting warped. Another option, which I find looks nice, are the Frontier Desert Runner rims. I got a set powder coated in black which are on my new tires which arrived this month, but I can`t use them until spring (winter tire regulations). I have 8 more that I found for half of what I paid for my set of 5. A few will eventally get powdercoated and put on the trailer to match the truck, but they`re not that easy to find, so it`s nice to have a few spares as well.

 

[drbandkgb]

Nice start

 

[chasema]

Just finished my suspension rebuild with Alcan springs, Calmini hd torsion bars, upper uca's and moog lca's. What a chore that was! Still have some adjusting to do and get an alignment but it rides so much better now.

To test it I went on a 1,000 mile trip down to the oregon sand dunes with a buddy where we rented quads and drove the X in the dunes as well. It also happened to be at a very stormy time a d there were a lot of floods and flash flooding going on. We had to cross a few flash floods in the dunes and the X did a lot better than I expected, I didn't even have to air down (i'll post pics later, I don't think I can post em from my tablet).

Up next is a trip out to Montana and Wyoming and a few other small projects here and there. Hopefully a big trip or a big project this spring (either international travel or tdi swap).

 

[chasema]

And here is the photo dump of the suspension rebuild and the dunes trip, we had tons of fun between riding quads and exploring the dunes in the X!















We got some good pictures too!

















Overall the new suspension is great, was hoping for a little more lift, I can always put my PML shackles on the rear and bump up the ride height in the front if I want a 3.5" lift, but she does great for where she sits. I had to reindex the torsion bars when I got home because on the trip they settled and I ran out of thread on the adjuster bolt. Next up is a winch, rock sliders in the mail, a high lift jack and a trip out to Montana!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Where abouts in Montana? I live there!

 

[Jack Stilts]

Cool! Looks like a good time.

Is your RTT mounted directly to the stock crossbars? I've been looking for a better solution to mount mine, and I might revert back to those when I use my RTT.