honestly, flame me for this... but, i just spent 24k on a new truck and at the moment dont have the balls to take it out to get scratched/muddy/dented 4-wheeling. however, watching video's, reading posts etc. is intriguing. why do YOU guys do it? I cant wait to invest my time in this magnificent vehicle.

lets hear it for all the noobs!

First welcome, Next, just because you took it off road doesn't mean you will do any of the exterior modifications you mentioned other than a splash of mud or a little dust and in socal you get lots of dust just parked in the driveway. I think the allure to wheeling is just getting away from this swath of concrete that strechs from LA to San Diego. I could send you on runs that would take a few hours to do and won't even scratch your truck. You get to see what this area was like all over before they cut and chopped every hill and covered them over with mini malls and cookie cutter houses. Plenty of wildlife to see out there too. Nice graded roads with the brush trimmed back. When you are all done all you will need is a good wash. It all depends on how hard you want to wheel it. Some of us like to go into remote areas to camp, fish and hunt while others like to plow through mud puddles and try to climb over obstacles. Its all about what one likes to do. Many people like to sit on thier duffs and watch football or basketball games on the TV while others prefer to work or tinker in the garage on something. I like to do both so I put a TV in the garage and what this has to do with wheeling is beyond me.
Where in socal are you? I live in Dana Point, down in South Orange County

Beer, friends, campfires, beer, nature, friends, beer, sleeping under the stars, beer, and did I mention beer?

Chuck nailed it.

Besides, the X is a fantastic off roading vehicle. You'll be amazed at what it can do. Get out and enjoy the thing and don't worry about dents and scratches.

An unmarked X is a terrible thing to see.

I'd like to add to that: beer, friends and beer. Oh, and mud, rocks, beer, and friends.

Fourwheeling is many things to many people. I honestly dont like the Beer analogy, for obvious reasons.

For me it is about spending days or weeks in the wilderness facing the challenge of getting your vehicle through impossible places while enjoying the finest scenery in the world, visiting historical sites, enjoying solitude and camping, commarodery, ect. Its like backpacking, with your car. I am doing 700 miles of trail in the Arizona Strip next month, in a week. How long would that take backpacking? Will even drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon!

STarting out you are best learning with a club, that would save you damage and aggravation. Simply install rock sliders, and upgrade the skid plates eventually and you can have fun on some level. Not all wheeling gets damage. Scratches buff out. I have already beat the heack out of our 05, but you cannot tell without looking underneath. If you do wheel, start off with easy trails, learn from others and see if you like it. If you do, slowly build your rig over the years and try harder and harder trails. Many of the most rewarding trails happen to be the hardest. BUT, there are many fine trails that are easy as well.

LIke Loyd said except I do partake in the Beers. I also enjoy turning my kids on to the outdoors, spending time with them, shareing good/tough challanging times with them. I also impress upon them how important it is to "Tred lightly" whether 4x4ing or hikeing. Hell we came across a camp area that was a shambles and my two oldest made me proud when they commented how sad it was for people to leave their trash everywhere and proceeded to clean the area up.

My boys also help with the work/maintance on my X good times and learing done. My oldest boy has already laid claim to my X when he gets old enough to drive.

These and many many other reasons is why I like to be out doors wheeling with Friends and Family.

It is really a personal thing and depends on what you enjoy doing. But "doing", not "watching", is the key word. I have had several 4wd, this being the best by far, for the main purpose of getting to places that are beautiful, isolated, have wildlife, and just feel great. Example, very small dirt roads in the smokies that lead to trout fishing in streams where you won't see another person. Then it rains and the trip up or down becomes more fun than the fishing. Hope this helps.

Good points. My kid and wife always go with me. Its priety hard to take a little kid back packing, but the entire family can enjoy wheeling and short hikes. Its a great way to have HIGH quality family time. I realize many guys are stuck with women who hate camping...Sorry...

As far as remote sites, here are some more great examples....

1. Dead Mans Point Utah, you WILL NOT see another person, but have canyons 1000s of feet deep next to your campfire, with a shelf for protection and trees, Green River below and 360 views of the canyonlands.
2. Arch Canyon Utah, a day in or out, endless stream crossings, ruins, animals, in a tight BEAUTIFUL canyon. Good chance of seeing back packers only.
3. Lavendar Canyon Utah, camp in a shelter cave below another with cliff dwellings in it, unlikely to see humans.
4. Dusy/ Ershim system, Sierra Nevadas, in weeks of wheeling have NEVER EVER seen another person except at the trail heads. Drive up a valley similar to YOSEMITI, with no people! Fish till you drop at hundreds of lakes.
5. Fordyce Creek Trail Sierras, will see people on weekends, but camp off the trail on a Tahoe Blue river, with a 75'x10' waterfall in front of the campsite and a 50' high monster behind camp!
6. " 10 Mile!" Utah, camp on the Green River after driving half a day through a delightful canyon. Unlikely to ever see people at the end.
7. Hole-N-The-Rock utah, may or may not see other people, but plenty of places to go and not see them, like the Rincon.
8. The Maze District, good chance of seeing another vehicle, but it wont feel like people are around, and if that is too crowded, try out Queen Annes Bottom.
9. Jail Canyon in Death Valley I have never seen another person, lots of old mines and a Mill next to a lovely stream you can still work the equipment by hand.(not rusted up)
10. Grizzly Lake, Colorado, biggest alpine lake I know of, likely all to yourself except for an occasional fisherman hiking in during the day..

Just a few favorites.......

Since one of the things I love best is wheeling (snowboarding too), I end up thinking a lot about it and about why I do it and why I like it. It seems to be one of those things that mystifies and amazes a lot of people.

I like to go out and do easy trails to hard trails, it is something I can enjoy with the family while we are out camping with good freinds. You also meet some awesome new people you would not have met otherwise. This is not your normal city environment... starbucks... people act different when they are relaxed and having fun. You are removed from the fast pace of life today and you can sit back and relax, talk, enjoy the company, share stories around the campfire and a few beers of choice with a good campfire meal.



Remote areas....

We get to see scenery very few people get to trully experience. Pictures are one thing but being there is really eye opening. Think about it most of the people you meet and how few have been there to experience and explore these trails.



Living...

How many times have you been told how dangerous it is? These vehicles are unstable, what happens if you roll. You are in the middle of know where. It goes on and on. The endless list of horrors. The stories about somebody who such and so knew who spent years putting the vehicle together and now has nothing, or worse rolled down the side of a mountain.

Wheeling can be dangerous, life is not safe. Living isn’t about being safe. You going to give up eating because something could get stuck in your throat and kill you? I know I am not.

One thing is certain... no matter what you do or how you do it NO ONE is getting out of this alive. There is no warranty on life. So why not go out and have some adventures while playing with this fragile thing. I for one would like to have some stories to share besides I took the bus to such and such or a plane to such and such.

Now why do people go do the really hard trails...

Let’s just skip the downside and get to the real reasons for wheeling hard. It’s dangerous and makes you feel alive. A lot of sports are dangerous and that’s a part of the thrill. Actually feeling your heart beat and the adrenaline rush is kind of addictive. Most parts of our lives are safe, sane, cautious and/or plain flat out boring. It’s hard to feel alive in the box of the office today.

Wow, another great post! We will have this guy arguing with his wife over cleaning out his checking account for mods and before he knows what happened

Chuck pretty much nailed it for me, great times with good friends. My married buddy was so happy to get some boys time wheeling in the woods to get away from his wife. As for the $25k thing, why do you think i bought a 00. For that exact reason, so i can beat it to death then get something else. Plus i didn't really like te new ones.

What's the opposite of a troll? Juslovit seems to be that.

Originally posted by ChuckH Have you paid your dues yet? Didn't know you we're a member of SXFC Although we do include tent baiting as well.

Thanks for all the input guys. I appreciate the honest answers, and like you said, i'm not going to find enlightenment through posts and pictures. Its all about getting out there and doing it. I guess the logical place to start out is by joining the local X club, and start out with some easier trails... its been a while since i just kicked back with a fishing pole... ahh the memories.

The first scratch, dent, or ding is the worst. After you get past that it's all good from there. I'm not saying go out and find something to hit, but nissan doesn't use the best paint or metal for that matter. So why worry about it and just hit a trail and whatever happens happens. Things can be fixed, trucks were made to be used, unless you compete in shows or whatever?

I mostly joke about the beers, as I actually don't drink much. But, I do enjoy a cold one now and then with the club. The main thing is the friendships that have developed with cool people of very different backgrounds who share a common interest. Hell, PNWX even has it's own resident Neuro Surgeon, so if anyone needs a brain repair on the trail we're set! It's all about enjoying the scenery and some fresh air while spending time with family and friends.

And BTW, I was afraid of damage at first too when the Xterra was new, but once I got the first scratch all was well. I have not broken anything on the trail, and my body damage has been limited to scratches and small dings, which I now wear with pride!

Once you do a trail ride and start hearing the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE noise on the truck you might panic. Turn the radio up and try to block it out. It's usually not as bad as it sounds. Try to avoid the larger branches that stick out or the dead brush that doesn't bend like the fresh live ones do that are growing into the trail path. Also, remember that a good coat of wax before the ride and a good wash and wax after will usually hide most of them depending on the color of the truck.

Like others have said, it's not as much the offroading as it is meeting a lot of people that you most likely will make lifelong friends with. We've met people down here through ownership of the X that we would have never met.

It's also interesting to find out the backgrounds of the people in the club. You will have people of all types of professions that just love having a good time.

You can wheel w/o damage if you pay attention to what you're doing.

I had my FIRST trail damage to the X only a few months ago...early morning after driving 3-4 hrs to get there...and pretty much driving asleep...maybe the first few yards of trail, I backed so my pass side mirror was shaved off by a tree...

I went a few more yards, and blew a bead on a tire...

I was able to re-set the bead with the OBA and buddies with a strap to squeeze the tire into position...

I superglued the mirror back on...looks like new.



In short, I have a lot of fun, but really, all the damage on the X is from when my wife drove it....no trail damage.



Mounting a full set of underbody skids, Shrockworks front/rear bumpers and sliders helps of course.

Hell, if you don't like the "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" sound, put 10 coats of wax on your X. Thats what I did to my last truck you could see strings of wax where scratches would be where branches or frisbees hit

They always say to never wheel alone. Given that, one of the good things about wheeling with friends is:

Seeing a line of vehicles stretching down the road as far as the eye can see, full of people that are just as enthusiastic about the event as you are:



Sitting around the campfire, sharing stories with the same folks:



And just plain ol' gettin' out and enjoying the scenery:

Matty I don't think he is so much a troll as he is looking for reasons to justify taking the new truck offroad to his ole lady. Now juslovit you never answered the question, Where in socal are you? I want to send you on a trail that is easy, close to you and no damage will happen if you keep it on the road. Also check out the Southern California Club Xterra site ( SCCXTERRA.COM ). This weekend they are going to Death Valley. I wanted to go real bad but my father has been ill and is in the hospital and I want to make sure he is better before I take any trips. Family before wheeling. You are going to find out that owning an Xterra and joining these xterra clubs is like a cult following only with out the chicken bones and live sacrifices (unless someone drinks to much and falls into the fire pit). Anyhow, speak up as to where you are in socal and I can tell you where to go for a nice little cruise in the wilds of socal.

I only troll when i'm fishing. but yea, i'm in upland, right on the border of LA and san bernadino county. let me know.

Yeah, I go off road all the time. Up and down my gravel driveway.

i guess that could count. when i grow up, i want a cabin up in the woods with a gravel/dirt driveway that is 4wheel access only.

i go out to meet new people and have a good time. i have gotten no significant damage yet(knocks on wood) just a few scratches.