New Xterra Owner here... raised on Jeep, converted to Xterra's!

I just bought a 2005 Off Road Edition Night Armor.

I am looking for some offroading... and have joined up with a club in the area... but my main question is this..

Since I just dumped a ton of money into the 05, I dont have money to convert it to a TRUE offroader/rockclimber.

How capable is this stock 05 OR? I was thinking of going up to Rauch Park in PA. I assume I can handle the "easy" trails... what about the medium trails?

Thanks for havin me.. and thanks for the replies (in advance)

howdy
NIORA has a run at rausch Oct. 6-9.

Welcome!!

yo

Welcome to the forum.

The OR is quite capable especially with the locking rear end. The biggest issue as always with a stock vehicle is going to be ground clearance and tires.

If you know how to pick a good line and can recognize the vehicle limitations you should be fine.

Hey!

The 2005 X's are strong performers...

The only real unproven component on the OR's, as they're new...is how well the stock skid plates hold up...I haven't looked at them.

The things they called skid plates on the pre-'05's were more like splash shields, but they had no OR designation...they were just standard equipment....so we hope the '05's plates are more like real ones.

If they are...the only thing I'd add would be a set of sliders, like shrockworks 2005 version...so that you'd have rocker protection, and a hi-lift point.

As a fellow X-Jeeper, I assume you have recovery gear and so forth already.

As is, with nothing extra, you could run most of the trails the X's plan on running, not just stock trails..you have a rear locker for example...most of the guys are running LSD's or open diffs....and your clearance is on par with most...even the lifted rigs only have another 3" .



Again, it comes down to how tough your skids are, and if you get sliders...w/o the sliders, you have to watch your lines to protect the rockers, etc...and that's a comfort factor issue.

So - There are plenty of people running less capable stock rigs...no matter what you do, if you come along, there'll be trails you can do/have fun.

The 2005 Offroad skid plates are also almost worthless. They are better than nothing but just barely.

Thanks for the warm welcome! And thanks for the info!

Welcome!

I ran Rausch Creek in my 2001 while it was stock on intermediate trails. Got stuck up a few places due to lack of clearance, but for the most part I made it through.

srpage-

so- the OR's plates are like the gas tank shielding, or like the front splash shielding, on the pre-'05's... ?

(Flimsy, or actually cosmetic?)

I'm disapointed either way, but hey, the stock plate options on the jeeps are crap too...