I have been thinking about putting on some new rubber. I want to lift the suspension a little but I'm a bit worried about the whole spring-sag thing.

I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about an add-a-leaf kit? It's a little more expensive than shackles, but for now it's not like buying a complete spring kit. I see more goopy trails and rock climbs and I'm still trying to decide on 31 or 32 MT's

Any recommendations? I know lot's of folks have shackels, but I haven't seen any comments on add-a-leafs. I did a search and didn't get any hits.

I've been to 4WD Performance Center and 4WD Parts Center, neither one carry SLR parts.
one guy didn't seem to know what I was talking about, he even told me there were not many mods for Xterra's right now. Didn't seem to keep him from trying real hard to sell me a 3" body lift for around $1300.00 installed!

NOT!

It's tough being a 4WD newbie, but I must pool on the Xterra wisdom gained by experience. Not by some guy trying to sell me the moon and stars.


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Denim Blue SE
4x4 3pk AT

You're not going to get a real consensus here, but I vote for the shackles. I have had them installed on my truck for over two months now and am quite happy with them. The add-a-leafs may be more appropriate if you usually carry very heavy loads, but in my opinion they're not as well suited to pure lift applications--they mess with the ride far more than the shackles do.

Be sure to also look into replacing your rear shocks--I have Rancho 9116's, as do many others on this board, and pretty much everyone who has them likes them. The adjustability is a great bonus. The new Bilsteins are also available and are getting good reviews. If you do go w/ shackles or an add-a-leaf you will be restricting your travel considerably until you ditch the stock shocks.

Also the reason the 4WD shop guys said there aren't many mods available for the X is because there really aren't...in the past 6 months there's been an explosion of availability, but we still have maybe 10% of the parts available to Xterra competitors (esp. 4Runners.)

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Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

Thanks Gothamist,
Yeah, I put the Ranchos on last month. I'm leaning toward the shackels, but I don't know where to get them here. Guess I need to go to xterraparts.com.

What do you think about the tires? I don't really go muck-marining but I do get into some medium slop and rocky terrain. It really hasn't been a problem yet but the road to our hideaway gets pretty bad at times, especially when it rains.

Thanks for the reply, I've seen alot of your
pics. It's guys like you in which good wisdom comes.

BTW, That's a fine ride you got there. I showed my bro the pic of you and Clifford, the one with the lights on. I told him thats what his X needs to grow up to be!

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Denim Blue SE
4x4 3pk AT

If you want to reach SLR follow the link.
http://www.spencerlowracing.com/index.html

They sell the shackles.



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Patto
Silver 2001 4WD XE 3 Pak
F-Jackie

As to getting shackles, I'm not positive, but I don't think SLR has any distributors yet, so you just have to order them directly from SLR.

As to tires, well here's where lots and lots of people will chime in w/ their own opinions (and obviously there's a wealth of knowledge to be gleamed by looking at old posts in this forum), but I'd say to look at the BFG AT/KO's. I certainly had good luck w/ them.

If you want/need a more aggressive tread the new Interco Truxxus looks pretty good, as does the BFG MT and Yokohama MT. Unfortunately the Yoko's don't come in a 32" size, only 31's, so that may affect your decision. I'm also not sure if the Yokohama's are siped or not--the Trxxus's are, the BFG MT's are not. Although I don't think it's too bad some people have complained about the BFG MT's wet-pavement performance (due pretty much directly to lack of siping.)

Good luck!

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Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

Aloha aquamander..
I too have my SLR shackles installed + 1 1/2" torsion lift, Just got my alignment done this morning... VERY HAPPY with all..
Gave me just the right amount of lift I need.. I too will be purchasing the BF MUDS 32" ers .. would have bought them today, BUT......
two seperate Tire shops here in town told me if I was going to keep that stock 15 rim that the tires are too wide for that rim.. they said they would work, but I would get weird wear on the tire after awhile?? suggested going with the 31's.... I like my stock rims for now...
So that really screwed with me!!
Does anyone now more about this?? I know many of you are running 32's, any probs??
thanks for any inputs

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Most manufacturers suggest you run 32x11.50s on an 8" rim, however there aren't really any problems with squeezing them on a 7" rim--in fact, offroad, you'll be less likely to lose a bead at low air pressure. The only disadvantage is they might not wear as evenly, since the edges of the tread blocks will be pulled in slightly, not square to the road.

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Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

if you are looking at the 32" BFG MTs i really recommend taking a look at the Interco Truxxus tires. they are a better tire all around (siping, sidewall lugs, really thick sidewall) and less expensive. one of the only drawbacks is that you cannot get them at your corner tire shop. other than that, if i had to do it all over again and i wanted MTs, i would get the Truxxus if possible.

I have the Interco TrXus MT's 31x10.50x15 and they are great! They are an aggressive, middle of the road kind of tire. I've been off-roading with them twice(only had them 2 weeks) and they performed great in the mud, snow, little bit of sand, and dry dirt. I went with the TrXus for a few reasons
1) they are siped, the X is a daily driver so safety is a big concern
2) they offered the perfect tire for my needs. That being- not extremely hardcore, not to expensive, interco reputation, they are smaller then 31" so not to much trimming is required, and they are radial tires.

I paid $175cdn, or about $116us, that price includes sihpping to Canada.

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XXXTERRA
Visit our club http://www.soxc.org
My web page. http://www.members.home.net/linossiy/frame2.htm Updated

Would you spell TrXus correctly if you had to do it all over again?

BWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Have a quarter!

BTW, did you actually take the time to scan that quarter in? You got too much time on your hands.






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2000 Silver Ice SE 4X4 Auto
MAXC member

Just an idea... I have no idea what I'm proposing here: Would it be possible to use the shackles, AND use add-a-leafs to "beef up" the existing leaf's and add more support so they don't sag?

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"Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club at www.hxoc.net

Sure, but A-A-L's are known for making your ride go to crap, that's why I didn't go that route.

Nope, that's courtesy of Mobycat (Paul).

SLR Shackles, Torsion Lift, still on the fence about the tires. I will check out those Interco tires before I make that decision. Thanks for the tip Synchro. Thanks to all others for helping me out.

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Denim Blue SE
4x4 3pk AT