Another Xterra Newbie!

Just got my Xterra last Saturday! Drove it home 300+ miles through desert, hail, rain, muddy side roads, wind, and my daughters collection of CD's. I'm really impressed (not with the CD's...., but the sounds system is great). Anyway, glad to see there's a 2WD section for those of us that don't have the 4X4's. I especially enjoyed looking at the mods section, and have already started my list!

Just wondering if many of the 2X's show up at the get togethers....

Thanks!

Welcome to the club, Nancy! Congrats on the new truck... Whatcha got on your mod list so far?

Congrats!!! ...and welcome...have fun with your new toy!!!

Mods....I'd love to start with a 2" lift and add a locker soon after. Some 'cosmetic' stuff would be great too - seat covers, blue or purple headlights, maybe even go crazy and put a light kit underneath.

We camp a lot, so the cargo net for the top or some sort of carrier would help a lot too.

Daughter would love a portable DVD, but right now she's loving the back seat view - it's the first vehicle we've owned that she could see outside really well. Have camera, will travel.

Right now I have to settle for smaller things that I can get in the local auto store. Have to give it all a bit more thought and see if I use this for more than just getting groceries! Nah, just kidding, I couldn't do that!

Nancy, I know how you feel. I just picked up my new truck yesterday and had a great time driving it home. My previous car was a Mitsubishi 3000GT so I am not used to sitting so high up yet! Also, I am not used to being relatively carefree about the terrain that I am on. With the 3000GT I always had to be careful about curbs, parking. etc due to the vehicle's low profile.

Enjoy your truck!!

the xterra meets, although off-road oriented, welcome 4x2's. the xterra can do just fine on the mild trails.

Congrats Nancy, I'm glad you're liking your new X. I just bought one too although I haven't had it in Xtreme conditions yet. It's a 4X2 also. My previous vehicle was a sports car and I'm still getting used to parking this beast.

I know the feeling, I went from a Honda Prelude to the X... it takes some getting used to...

congrats on the X

I went from a Honda Accord to an Xterra. The first time I took a curve on the freeway, it felt really tipsy. IT was that moment that I realized that I had to change my driving style.

I still get my "drive fast and corner" jollies when I drive my other car though. (2003 Vibe GT)

Nancy congrats on you new X here are some pictures of my X and some of the places I've been with my 4X2 enjoy your X and thread Lightly
PHOTOS


P.S I'm the Green X

Congrats on your new X. I have enjoyed my X ever since I got mine back in Aug '99. I traded in a brand new '99 Blazer that I had for only 5 months for my X. I can say that was the best thing I have ever done.

Know what you mean. I picked mine up Tuesday, went out Friday and got the Meguiar (sp??) wash and 3 step system. I haven't had a car I gave a damn enough about to do more than run it thru the local car wash 4-5 times a year. Since I didn' really know what I was doing, I tried it out on my car first!!

Today I ordered the rubber floor mats, Weathertech visors and Xterra seat covers. I spent more on the internet than on my first payment

Depends on the event, mainly. And how much guts/heart/insanity the 2WD owner has. I took my nearly-bone-stock 4x2 (Grabbers and all) to a difficult-rated trail yesterday and only suffered minimal damaged (scratched up frame, one hard-to-find ding on the rocker panel, a little AZ pinstriping) and had the best time of my LIFE. Its just a matter of knowing your limits, and learning how to eyeball the right line (thanks to everyone in AZXC that helped me out this weekend, I had a BLAST) and using momentum the right way. The 4x2 is VERY off-road capable, so long as you know and understand what you can and can't do.

Welcome!

ok..xorand..how do I convince my wife that I need to replace my tires since I just bought the vehicle about a month ago...Hmmmmmm....

and how is or how much does it take or cost to remove the sway bar..and what are the effects..if you don't notice much difference on the paved road? does it help you off road?

The good news is that places like America's tire stor/discount tires will "buy back" your stock tires.
Not a big $ savings but better than nothing.

just wait it out until you need new ones. I lasted about 30,000 miles before I got new tires.

It takes about 5 minutes and a 12mm Socket, if I remember correctly. Just disconnect the two connectors on either side, and its loose! You can go the extra mile and take the whole sway bar out if you want, just 8 more bolts. I just took the two small rods loose, and the sway bar itself has yet to hang up on anything. I left it on since I plan to get a set of disconnects. I wouldn't put a heavy load in the rear of the X for highway driving, and -- just a warning -- your insurance MAY NOT cover you since disconnecting the sway bar can potentially contribute to any accident you have.

http://www.xterraparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Xterra&Product_Code=NP12520

I replaced my Grabbers after one too many flats. After two & a half years, I switched to BFG AT K/O and I was like one proud daddy giving my baby a new pair of shiny shoes! My wife considered the purchase as an advanced birthday gift.

Hey Todrick, Dragon, I know what you mean about the new driving style. Nice clibing Tod, Ever been to Moab climbing or mnt biking?

No... had the chance this year but real life got to hectic... really want to visit moab.... its lookin like I will be able to get out to Moab for GONEmoab next Spring, and climb a bit.

I am fortunate to live near several amazing climbing locations... but the sad thing is I just never have the time to get out on the rock... or at least as often as I'd like

ever since i got my bilsteins, i've had my rear sway bar off. i've experimented with driving on and off, and noticed no difference. however, i got the 20 percent stiffer shocks, so i'm sure that has a lot to do with it. at first i thought they might be too stiff, but now i can't imagine driving my xterra any other way. it feels better than when it was new and it's definetely offroad. i would consider getting new shocks before removing the sway bar though. i had mine on throughout my "stock" stage, but i've heard other people mention it might get a little hairy around curves or turns.

Do you have 20% stiffer Bilstein Schocks all around or just the rear?

Here's my experience with new tires:

I really like the Bridgestone Revo A/T tire- it's really quiet on-road and does excellent off-road. Almost no compromise compared to stock rubber for on road smoothness. It's a great tire. That's my top pick for the X 2wd.

Pirelli Scorpion A/T's are good, I like them but the RFV on them was sky high. Don't know if I got a bad batch but it was a real bear keeping them in balance.

Michelin MT/R- I love this tire! Maybe overkill for your truck. Anyway they look cool and are great off road. MT so they are noisy but not bad considering the tread. I've heard they have high RFV #'s too and the big lugs are going to be harder to balance but no problems for me yet.

BFG MT (new tread)- look awesome (MTR's look better still, imo) and they are a harder compound. Noiser than MTR's but I think they are a high quality tire. Not my experience but my good friend has these on his rig.

I've also heard good things about Pro-Comp (actually rebadged Coopers).

Hope that helps.

Does Michelin have a tire called the "MT/R" ? I know they have an XPC , and the LTX as well as the XPS but I'm not aware of an MT/R.

Goodyear has an MT/R and the MT in their case differs from other mud terrain tires as they use the MT disctinction as to refer to the tire as "maximum traction" thus supposedly being able to get more mileage out of the tire.

Argh, sorry about that. I meant GoodYear. Thanks.

That's funny I never knew it meant more life out of the tire. THe MTR's are pretty soft and grippy so if they last a long time then they found a great mix.

if you want good offroad and decent street driving than get the bfgoodrich all-terrain ko. my set only have about 3000 miles on them, but it's no uncommon for people to get around 35-40,000 miles.
as for the goodyear mtr, i've heard they are better offroad. but as for longer lasting tread life, they won't last as long as the bfg's. the maximum traction don't have aynthing to do w/ tread life on the pavement. they refer to the ability to grip and gain traction in offroad terrain.

I running the REVOS and they are awesome I have great traction and they are quiet on the road I running 265/75/16 no complants here is a picture of them and also some picture of where I've been with them tell what you think



MORE PICS HERE

sway bar easy to take off, remove the bolts pull it done and thats it. over simplified but just get under there and youll see. driving affects, well mines off dont really notice it once you get used to it but dont take corners to sharp or be stupid with your truck and it will help off road gives more flex. as for the tires couple of options, just buy them first ask for forgiveness later. you could always have a buddy slash them and have no choice but to get new ones????!!!! oh well good luck and have fun

hey carlos i think the tow strap looks great, hahahaha see ya saturday bro