Suspension

I would like to do more off road stuff and I don't know if my stock Xterra can handle it. I've seen some of the mods that people have done, such as skid plates or lifting the truck a bit more. What do you think I should do first?

I wish I could join a club here in NYC.

tires. they are the single most important mod you could ever have, with out traction you aint got squat.

welcome to xoc!

What type of tires do you recommend? Do you suggest I raise it also?

What kind of wheeling do you want to do? A stock X is adequate for cruising dirt roads, fire roads, moderate mud, etc. Where you wheel says a lot about what mods you need.

I'd suggest you get out in the stocker and get used to its capabilities. Figure out what you need. If you're bottoming out, a lift is in order. If you're losing traction, better tires, or possibly a locker is in order. Learn to drive what you have first and you'll be a much better judge of what you might want to do to the truck down the road.

I have actually done some outdoor stuff with my stock tires and they handle ok. I have experienced problems when I go uphill and there is snow on the ground. The truck tends to skid a bit or fish tail. Once I put it in four wheel drive it's much better but ocassionaly I experience skiding also, even on all 4. My truck only has 17K miles and the tires should not need to be changed but I can definately use more traction.

the stock tires suck, i upgraded to Cooper Discoverer ATRs in 265/75/16, they handle everything awesome, as for lift, go for a PML (poor mans lift) which consists of purchasing a set of shackles (50 bucks), a torsion bar crank to level the front end with the back and an alignment, you'll end up getting about 1.5" over stock height

You can keep the stock tires and go with the PML, as mud said. Most people that do get the PML end up getting new tires anyway, as you will see that they do suck, even with good thread on them.

If you will upgrade tires than sine you're slightly lifted (PML gives you 1.5 inches of lift) you might wanna get slightly bigger tires to fill out the wheel wells, give you more traction, more braking stability, and so on...

Popular sizes after the PML are 265/75/16 or 285/70/16.

OK - Clubs for NYC - NJAX has lots of NYC people, NIORA has a ton of NYC people, either would be a great match, hell just join both. Xterrafima has a huge NYC clan as well actually, and all three have wheeling trips in your area.



I always recommend armor over lift if you must do only one....as you will NEVER lift enough to clear everything anyway...but the armor lets you survive anyway.



Sliders are number one, and then skid plates. A bumper is really best if getting a winch someday, otherwise, not as much ROI.

The sliders let you have a lifting point if you get stuck, and protect the rocker panels, the first actual body damage you'll get off road will be the rocker panels for most people, if they forgot to get sliders, or, left the stock steps on.

With sliders and skid plates, its like safe sex...you can screw up, and still survive to play again another day.



Once protected, you can do tires...I like to time new tires for after a lift, either a BL and/or SL...so that I get the largest rubbers under there that will fit.

BL's allow the largest tires, but don't increase your ground clearance, other than the tire difference itself....which CAN be significant....

I went from 29's to 33's, so I got a 2" increase in GC just from larger diameter tires, that I was able to fit due to the BL.

The BL doesn't raise the center of gravity enough to notice, and is about $165, and a few hrs work, which gives you 2" of clearance to fit the 2" more room the larger tires need.

A PML is about $50, and a couple of hrs work, plus a wheel alignment....and nets 1.5" of ground clearance...but not complete tire clearance, as the suspension can still compress and make the tire hit, etc....but the ride height tire clearance is improved.

Generally, BEFORE you go off road - Take off stock steps and mud flaps, they get destroyed off road anyway, and save them in their unblemished form for e-bay, etc...if you off road with them first, they become garbage rather than e-bay fodder.

Hope that helps!