even if you don't off road, i'd want the larger rear axle for towing. you could even put the titan aluminum diff cover with the cooling fins on it plus it adds oil capacity as well.

drivetrain options > leather steering wheel

It's actually a $900 (US) option and I paid nearly half that for it after negotiations.

My mistake. I have a hard enough time comprehending a 2 wheel drive Xterra.

A 2 wheel drive Offroad version makes no sense to me.

just my two cents is that the OR version looks a lot better just for the mere fact that the wheels are really cool. dont really care much for the other ones same view on the Frontier.

Tim

i know..it bewilders me too

Yeah, that's one of the most idiotic automotive industry oxymorons ever. On par with Chevy's 4 cyl, fwd, "SS".

When I was shopping for my X, I told one salesman that I was leaning toward an OR model. He proudly proclaimed, "Oh, we have a 2WD in red." After a second of pure shock I just started laughing. WTF? What marketing turd at Nissan thought a 2WD OR was a good idea??

the same dumbasses that made toyota money selling 2wd "prerunners" with 31 inch tires and the 4x4 suspension stance for $2500 less than the 4x4 counterpart.

I know it's for the "posers" out there. Still seems ridiculous though. I mean, if someone's that big of a wannabee, then why don't they go order a couple plastic "Off Road" badges and put them on an X model?

I havent been very impressed with my SE in offroad situations so far. Maybe a locker in the rear would change all that. My X has found a roll in the family as sort of a soccer mom grocery getter.... with added insurance in case it snows. It will also tow the boat and is my backup when the powerstroke has a headache.

It doesnt seem to do anything extreemly well...but it does everything well. My only real complaint has been from the advertised fuel mileage..... 18-21 yea right. Ive hit 18 once and that was all freeway.

I got your 2wd Off-road right here

For all you 2wd guys worried about northern winters, here's your solution. Much cheaper and easier than a 4x4 conversion!

Jonlc

Check your pm's.

The Or also comes with the same RF stereo. In my opinion there is a reason the SE are being sold at good deals and the OR are hard to find?[/QB][/QUOTE]

Tell me about hard to find on the OR trim. I wanted one and no one had any in stock except in 2wd trim which I didn't want. I think Nissan should have held them for us kind of people and not be available to every damn other person that has no idea on what a locker does nor that it's a 4wd model. If they wanted an OR edition get the damn 2wd model and leave that to us kind of people. I saw one guy with one the other day and asked him if he takes it wheelin. He looked at me and said no. I asked if it was 4wd and he said yup. I was like so if you don't wheel it then why get it? He said it looked cool. I was like have you tried the locker? He was like this thing has a locker? Cool. What is it and what does it do? I got pissed at him and walked away. It's people like that that annoy the crap out of me because one dumbass guy bought it because it "looked cool" and it will never be used for what Nisan intended it to be. F**kers! All of them.

C'mon Dan, just take off all your cool bits and buy an '06 OR. you'll need to scrounge up that matching alloy spare though.

I feel for ya, Dan. The OR version can be a hard item to find. I wanted on with a maunul transmission but it was next to impossible to find. I found an OR in the color I wanted but it came with an auto trans. Meh! So auto trans it is.

The good thing about those idiots who yank the OR's off the lots without knowing how great an off-roading vehicle that is, they're gonna be selling them soon. That's gonna be great for the 1st gen guys looking to "upgrade" their X's.

One other thing, Dan...

Lockers for the 2nd generation X's will be available soon. They will be expensive but well worth it. Of course, you won't have the Dana 44 (variant) that's on the OR version but I wouldn't get too hung up on that issue.

Patience young grasshopper...

Just to clear up a misconception...

The D44 is NOT a stronger axle than the std rear axle on the X.

Its weaker.

It IS stronger than the D44 on the Jeeps, but the changes made hybridized the Nissan D44 so that NO jeep D44 mods work for it now.



The std Nissan rear end is plenty strong, more like a Ford 9" than a D44, including the drop out center, etc.

The odds are Good that Aussie's, etc...may come out with a locker for the Nissan rear...in a few years.

If you want to be sure though, the OR is the only locker option right now other than ARB.

So - If the only issue was axle strength, the above posts have it backwards - the D44 is the weaker axle, but it can come with a locker, saving thousands of dollars in retro-fitting....and, the D44 is still a strong axle, so the loss in strength is not as critical.

I'm not to worried about it. I've got that parts list for to do the SAS and will be going the same route as Koko did on his. I'll be doing the same thing as he did since this will allow you to go to 15's and you can also get lockers on it for a lot cheaper then going the ARB route. The thing is that whenever ARB gets one done for the rear it's going to take a long time to get something for the front since there is currently nothing in existance for the front diffs.

i've asked this before...but why is the c200 stronger than the d44? i know the prev-gen Xterra rear axle is stronger, but i thought the c200 was mostly used for 4 cylinders in previous years.

I know the previous poster was confused about the subject at hand...'05 and newer Xterras. We know the one piece housing japaneses axles are strong, but the D44 comparison was to the base 2005 xterra rear axle, which is a good bit smaller.

Ok, I'm getting confused too. SO as I understand it, from strongest to weakest:

1st gen axle
2nd gen regular axle
2nd gen D44 axle
Jeep D44 axle

Is this correct?

No...why would the special offroad package axle that is only on the OR and the manual trannies be the weakest on your list. It is bigger than the 200 mm one on the SE.

the nissan-ized hybrid D44 is also fullsize truck axle tube thickness and 32 splines vs 30 splines and a thin dana 30 axle tube thickness on the d44 jeep units. the ring gear size is still smaller than the earlier nissan minitruck axles though and the one piece housing with the dropout carrier is always a plus (like a ford 9 inch except metric).

the list would be more like

old nissan rear
titan/OR Xterra D44
dana 44 jeep
200 mm nissan base rear axle new fronty/X

okay, that clears it up for me. thanks.

was confusing me...since an axle for an older model can no longer be called a 'standard' axle, but simply an older one, so i thought he was talking about the C200, not the previous gen axle.

Ok, now I'm clear. That quote confused me big time as well.

Good to know I have the best