hello x-terra owners, i noticed on my x terra i have disk brakes on the front end. But on the rear i have drum brakes. Now for anyone who knows the difference can you please explain to me why nissan did that instead of just making all for wheels disk brakes. I feel like the drum brakes arent working like the disk brakes are. Any ideas ??? thanks.

Dunno, my truck stops on a dime just fine with drums in the back.

Look up the numbers. The Xterra has had braking tests as good as 127 ft from 60 MPH and the tires and suspension are what kept it from stopping quicker. You will not find another SUV that will outbrake it, and most cars won't outbrake it either.

Yes, there are drums and heck, the front discs aren't even that big, but the clamping power is extraordinary. Nissan uses excellent two piston calipers up front and apparently the rear drums work pretty good too. The Xterra brakes hard and it brakes straight.

That said, I do wish it had rear discs, simply because maintenence is easier on them. But, disc brakes cost more and the Xterra was designed to be a "back to basics" SUV with a low price tag. If the drums work well and cost less then it all makes sense.

Also, about 80% of the braking is done by the front - so that's where you need the goods. Drums last longer and dust less, they're just tougher to work on, but they usually only need servicing after about 50-80k miles. Don't let it bother you, as Nissan allocated the funds to great front brakes; where it's important.

also on my 2003 i have a force distrubution on it where when braking hard the rear will counter the pressure so you stay pretty much flat that helps with the brake distance see when you brake your disc stop first then the rear

Other than the recent Murano, and Infinity QX35/45, Nissan hasn't had disc brakes in the rear of an SUV since '95 on the original Pathfinder, and only a fraction of them had them. Not even the Infinity QX4 (Pathfinder clone) offered them.

The X doesn't need discs. Discs cost more, and in the rear they're twice as complex because they STILL have drums (small ones) behind them for the e-brake. There's your reason why they don't use them.

Brent