IM NEW TO THE XTERRA WORLD(ALWAYS HAD CHEVYS)AND IM LOOKING FOR A LITTLE LIFT ON MY NEW X.IM THINKIN BOUT A 1 INCH SHACKLE FOR THE REAR AND TURN THE BARS TO MATCH FOR NOW(HOPEFULLY THE PLACE I WORK AT(ROUGH COUNTRY)WILL MAKE A LIFT EVENTUALLY).HOW WILL MY RIDE BE WITH THAT(I WILL GET NEW SHOCKS)ALSO WHAT EXACTLY IS A PML?AND WHAT TIRE SIZE WILL I BE ABLE TO RUN WITH THAT?ANY PICS OF ANYBODY WITH SIMILAR SETUP WOULD BE AWESOME!!!SORRY SO LONG

Before the 'flame squad' gets here I would sugest using the "handy dandy search tool" and you will find all the info you need on a PML and tire size.

That being said you can squeeze 31's for sure with no lift, 32's with a bit of trimming. With the PML 32's are no prob on an '04. A body lift will make a HUGE difference for minimal cost too. But I have had too many tonite so I donno :p Good luck!

pretty much what he said. please turn off your cap lock, it seems as if your yelling.


my X with pml, 32x11.5r15 (i have add a leaf instead of shackles).

body lifts dont do jack shit, except let you fit a little bit bigger tire.

how does it ride after the pml when new shocks are added?are yall running 1 inch or 1.5 inch shackles?

you dont need to get aftermarket shocks.i have oem shocks, and 1.5 slr add a leaf, not shackles. it rides fine. i have no intention of doing anything else but SAS, which i am working very slowly. so will not change shocks till i get the ones i really need.

You pretty much described doing a PML in your post...adjust the t-bars to raise the front, add shackles to lift the butt, go get a wheel alignment...that's a PML.

You can do a 1.5" PML easily.

BTW - the 1" shackles are just an inch longer than the stock ones, so they only give you about 0.5" of lift, not an inch.

What you really want are ones that are 3" longer than stock, to give you 1.5" of total lift...and also within the t-bar adjustment range, to match.



If you get larger tires, when you stuff them, they will hit unless you get a body lift...so the body lift adds up travel room/preserves articulation.

The stock shocks will reach on level ground after the PML, but, you can dramatically improve rear travel with longer ones, like the extended length Bilsteins, 5100's typically, say 10-20% stiffer than stock.

The front travel won't be improved with new shocks...the IFS can't droop past their limits anyway...and the angle the shocks are at means that a 1/4" of shock travel gives around an inch of wheel travel...so the front stocks reach either way.

The ride and handling get much better with new shocks all around though.

So - just for articulation...just replace the rear shocks with longer ones...and keep the stockers up front.

For better ON ROAD performance/ride...replace all 4.



BTW - the first mods should be getting rid of the stock step rails, mud flaps and rear sway bar (Keep the front sway bar...that one makes a difference).

Hope that helps a bit.