Extreme Off-Road Equipment LLC is a newcomer to the aftermarket accessory and parts arena for Nissan vehicles, and the Xterra. The company is made up of several 4 wheelers and Xterra owners on the East Coast.
Not content offering parts to just members of their clubs, they expanded into marketing their products for anyone owning a Nissan Xterra or Frontier.

Their second product offering to the public is their set of Heavy Duty Tie-rod Adjusters.
Noticing that the stock Nissan tie-rod adjusters were prone to bending and breaking, they set out to make something that could handle the increased stress of aggressive off-roading and increased steering component angles of lift kits.

The EOE Tie-rod adjusters kit contains:

• (2) Heavy Duty Chromoly Tie-rod Adjusters
• (2) Cotter Pins
• (1) EOE Decal

The price includes Priority Mail shipping.

For more information about this product visit Extreme Off-Road Equipment

Installation can be handled by yourself if you have adequate tools. You will need a way to raise the front of the Xterra for tire removal to access the tie-rod ball joints, plus a few metric wrenches, 17mm and 22mm. A bench vise, adjustable wrench or Vice-Grips and a caliper are also useful..

To access the outside tie-rod balljoint, it's best to jack up the front of the Xterra and remove the tires.

Only the outside ball joint needs to be removed, which helps speed installation.

Remove the cotter pin and back off the 17mm nut so it protects the threads. A few raps with a hammer should pop the balljoint out of its socket in the steering knuckle.

Measure

Before removing the end of the stock tie-rod, take a careful measurement of the distance between the jambnuts. This will allow you to install the new EOE Tie-rods without having the vehicle re-aligned.

Remove

Once you have an accurate measurement, you can remove the stock tie-rod adjuster. Loosen the jambnut, and unscrew the tie-rod end.

Once you have the outside end off, unscrew the stock adjuster from the inside end.

Install

It's a good idea to clean the threads in the ball joint ends before installing the EOE tie-rods. Mine had quite a bit of dirt and scale in them, and due to the new, sharp threads on the EOE tie-rods, they were difficult to thread.

Screw the two jambnuts onto the new EOE tie-rod. One is left hand threaded, the other right hand. Once they are on, adjust them so they are equally spaced around the center section, and the distance between them is equal to the measurement taken earlier.

Thread the EOE tie-rod into the inner ball joint end on the Xterra until it touches the jambnut, then thread the outer balljoint end on in similar fashion.

Adjust

Once the EOE tie-rod is in place you can bolt the balljoint end back to the steering knuckle. Torque it to about 58 lb. ft. line up the castle nut with the hole and insert and secure a cotter pin.

Now you can fine tune the adjustment to match your measurement as accurately as possible. Using an adjustable wrench, you can hold the inside or outside balljoint end and turn the adjuster. Once everything is accurate, tighten the jambnuts to secure the adjuster.

One caution is to make sure the entire tie-rod assembly can rotate along its axis to prevent binding.

Finished

Repeat the same procedure for the other side, and you're ready to drive. If you feel any pull or handling problems, verify your measurements. If you can't get it right, you made need to get an alignment.

Testing has been ongoing since I installed the EOE tie-rods on August 27th. Since then, they have performed well for over 3000 road miles and 700 off-road miles.

I run my front sway bar disconnected for most trails, and the EOE tie-rods have withstood much abuse from the sway bar end hitting them under full extension. Both of my stock tie-rod adjusters were bent upward from this side effect of sway bar disconnects.

We'll keep an eye on the EOE tie-rods over the next year, and post updates to this page.

The EOE Tie-rods are an excellent choice if you take your Xterra off-road.

The stock tie-rods are prone to bending, and when replacing them, you have to buy the entire unit, for $115, not just the center adjuster.

For $80 a pair, this is a great investment for your Xterra.