Hello everyone. I went on a few runs with you all back in 03 in my Green 2K X. Well my son rolled it last month (he did not get hurt at all - wearing a seatbelt) while we were up in Yellwostone.

Anyways I bought a 2004 4x4 XE w\ 16K miles in Montana. When I bought it I saw runst underneath but was in a hurry and bought it anyways. It drove great all the way back to AZ but now I have a horrible shimmy. The bushings are cracked and the driveshafts are covered in rust.

I am going to the dealer at Superstition Springs on Monday but I am looking for advise to arm myself with before I go. Also wondering if I should just cut my looses and trade it in or if anyone has experience with cleaning up rust. Since I am in AZ if I get it cleaned up will it stay gone easier.

I know - a lot of questions. I loved my old X. Was I right in trying to staying Gen 1 over getting a new one?

Thanks in advance...

Shimmy can be caused by a tire out of balance, an improperly inflated tire, an alignment problem, etc.

As for the rust: simple surface rust on your undercarriage will not hurt the vehicle. Because it is now in Arizona, you won't be dealing with rust at all. The two vehicles I brought out here from New York virtually stopped rusting altogether. Unless the rust is very bad (i.e. rusted out brake rotors), you shouldn't have a problem out here. IMO, I wouldn't bother to clean up surface rust.

Gen1s are good vehicles. Gen2 has more power. I guess it depends on what you want the vehicle for. I use mine for towing, and I appreciate the bigger engine in my '06 (vs the '01 that I had previously).

Thanks for the input. Good to know that rust will stop progressing in AZ if I clean it up a bit.

I have already done the tire balance and rotate dance a couple of times but it has not helped.

I really hope Nissan takes care of my tomorrow so I can continue to be a loyal Nissan customer. I think I need new bushings, drive shaft, U-joint and maybe tie-rods\control arm.

Once I get her dialed in I look forward to hitting a few trails with you all.

Has anyone dealt with Unique4x4 in Gilbert? When I was in looking for suspension advise they told me that instead of buying skids etc. from the usual vendors that they will fab whatever I want for less than Shrockworks. Any advise on this? I only want skids and front bumper.

Oh; has anyone replaced thier 16 inch wheels with 15s so the the TA KOs cost less. The 16s seems to be about $50 more per tire and I would rather put that $50 ea. towards some AR wheels. bad idea?

Talk to our club fabricator, flawlessfab aka Robert. He did my sliders custom and they are badass.

I am running 15" rims with BFG AT's. Most wheelers prefer 15" rims just because tires are cheaper.

As for Gen1 vs. Gen2...I would stay with Gen1 if you plan on wheeling trails that are rated 3.0+. If you plan on mostly 2.5 and lower, get a Gen2 for the mileage and power. I am slightly biased though.

Hope to see ya around.

Thanks - well I went to Superstition Springs Nissan today and they told me my shimmy is from tires. I did not believe them and escalated so they load variance tested my tires and showed me the wobble.

Still hard to believe that tires with 18K miles would cuase that since I have had much worse tires and never had that problem.

Anyways I wanted to get rid of the grabbers anyways so bought a set of BFGs (16 inch) from Nissan. I paid about $100 more ($897 total) than going elsewhere but the only way I can get them to keep troubleshooting my shimmy was if they installed the tires.

Once I get this thing dialed in I will look into your fab guy for some sliders - thx.

T-Ray, Thanks for the excellent advice. Too bad I am not more patient. I bought the gen-1 cause I loved my other one so much but I almost never do anything rated over 2+ and hope to have a boat to tow someday.

Oh, well. The 'new' 04 is looking good now with the BFGs and ready to roll. I look forward to catching up with you all in the near future.

Chris
'04 Silver 4x4
265/75/16 BFG AT\KOs
More to come...