Suspension[Removed] Bilstein 5100 Off Road Leveling Shocks (
Link)
I bought the PRG 2” Spacer but since the previous owner had replaced the OR suspension with cheap Monroe shocks it became an overall terrible ride. In looking at available options I decided to skip the spacer and go with these shocks since I put Bilstein 5125s from PRG in the back with the AALs.
-Removed- After everything settled the ride just got incredibly bouncy and didn’t feel stable going over anything besides smooth surfaces. Decided it was best to cut my losses and just replace these things.
[Removed] PRG AAL Spring (
Link)
Without going too wild, these seem like a pretty solid choice to get a little extra height and to firm up the rear a bit. Heh, sounds like I'm making the X do squats or something, I'm leaving it!
-Removed- The AAL worked great, it added a bit of height and firmed up the ride… for a while. The leaf springs on my truck had over 150k miles on them, and they were flattening out pretty bad, even the AAL wasn’t able to support them for long. So I decided to throw the whole thing out and get a completely new spring pack.
[Removed] Bilstein Rear 5125 Shocks (
Link)
The Radflo Emulsion shocks on PRGProducts site sound awesome, but here I think I’m going to settle for price point.
-Removed- The only reason I got rid of these was because the OME kit I bought had their Nitrocharger rear shocks included. I wasn’t about to turn down new shocks so these went away. No complaints about them though, I thought they worked great.
[✔] American Outlaw Shotgun 17x9 -10 (
Link)
I had wanted a set of Ultra Wheel Rogues for the longest time, but Discount had too good a sale on these to pass up.
[✔] Nitto Terra Grappler 285/70-R17 (
Link)
Went ahead and got the Nitto Terra Grapplers and combined with the -10 offset on the wheels they rubbed real bad. I loved the way they looked though refused to give up on them and used the
Melt Mod, got rid of the front splash guards, and had just a little bit of trimming done to get them to fit beautifully!
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Update 9/20/12
The whole suspension system is coming out. I got tired of the X bouncing all over the place. I'm not sure if it's because of old springs or maybe something inherent in the Bilstein 5100 Shocks, but I'm throwing everything out.
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[✔] Old Man Emu Xterra Suspension (
Link)
Full set of 4 Nitrocharger shocks, medium duty front coil springs, leaf spring packs, Xtra leaves, and greasable shackles.
[~] PRG 1.5 inch front spacers (
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I lost about half an inch of height switching to the OME suspension package. I'm hoping to get it back plus a little extra.
[] PRG Adjustable Shackles (
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The extended contral arm length in the front will increase the amount of leverage spacer pucks add to the front lift. Being able to adjust the lift in the rear to compensate would be nice.
[] AC Rear Sway Bar Quick Disconnects (
Link)
Alright, I'll admit on the road I can make some slightly aggressive maneuvers. No where near as aggressive I used to make while driving my 240SX, but enough that I don't think I'd feel comfortable permanently removing the sway bars. Some disconnects seem like a cool idea to have the best of both worlds when need be.
[] PRG U-Bolt Flip Kit (
Link)
Rather than doing a spring over axle conversion, a flip kit would leave the ride advantages of springs under axles in tact while removing the weakness of having the hardware scrape against rocks and having less clearance and such.
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Update 11/7/12
After not being able to add in my spacers and shackles that I listed above I started thinking about the PRG UCA. After spending time thinking about the UCA I started thinking about the Titan Swap... Basically it seems that the off roading weak spots in the 2nd gen Xterra are the half shafts on the front diff. So to kill two birds with one stone it seems to be a logical choice to do the Titan Swap... but that changes a lot of things...
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Complete Titan SwapStage 1[] Titan M205 Front Diff (Carrier) (
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The heart of the 4x4 Titan Swap. This front diff should line up fine with the rear diff 3.36 gears for the auto tranny in the X. The 07 carriers with 3 ribs rather than two are said to be even tougher than the 04-06 carriers.
[] Titan CV Half shafts (
Link)
These are definitely a less expensive alternative than getting the PRG longer axles that would work with the Xterra front diff. These shouldn't break under torque application the same way the Xterra ones can.
[] PRG Titan Upper Control Arm (
Link)
These guys would definitely allow plenty of adjustment to fit spacers or coilovers or whatever else might have you to keep the X's body high and its feet planted.
[] Titan Lower Control Arm (
Link)
What makes the Titan swap a little complicated is that these stick out about 2.5 inches further than the Xterra LCAs do. So this is what causes the axles to have to match and everything else to compensate for that extra width and leverage. Gives a nice stance though.
[] Moog Tie Rod Ends (
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With the steering knuckle pushed out an extra 2.5" by the control arms, all of the steering linkages have to be extended to reach.
[] PRG Heim Outer Steering (
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This just looks beefy for connecting the steering.
[] PRG Extended Brake Lines (
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And once again... 2.5 inches... brake lines need to reach out too.
Stage 2[] Titan D44 Rear Axle (Axle Assy Rear w. Housing) (
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The rear axle will do a couple of things including line up the rear width to match the front, change out the torque member, and alter the wheel lug pattern from 6x4.5 to 6x5.5. This will give the Xterra access to the superior brake components on the Titan.
[] Titan Spindle (Steering Knuckle) (
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The first part of converting the front of the X for the Titan braking system.
[] Titan Hub (
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This will convert the front wheel bolt pattern from 6x4.5 to 6x5.5.
[] EBC Dimpled Brake Rotors (
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I'm not particularly leaning towards any brand, but I really wanted larger and dimpled rotors for the X to have more stopping and holding power. The Titan Swap seems like a great opportunity to get those features without spending upwards of 4k just in a brake system.
[] Titan Brake Calipers and Pads (
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The right calipers to attach to the spindle and torque member of the Titan Swap.
[] Gear Alloy 727MB Wheels - 7908418 17x9 6x5.50 +18 (
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This is the worst part of upgrading to the 6x5.5 bolt pattern is needing new wheels again. I figure though it's a good time to look for wheels that are light weight, and I'd like something entirely black this time. I think the X would look alright with these. My concern is that even though they have more backspacing than the wheels I currently run... It still might not be enough for the TS... I probably should be looking at wheels with about a +40 offset...
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End Game[] Fender Trimming
I'm still not on board with doing a BL, so I've got some interesting ideas for how exactly I want to trim the fenders and then mold some flares on to both look cool and stay road legal no matter where I go. I know I'm going to have some weird issues to deal with in how I want to do it, but it should be fun figuring it out. Lots of cutting and fiberglass awaits.
[] Pro Comp Xtreme A/T 35x12.5 Tires (
Link)
At this point the rig should be set up for monstrous off road ability and should be able to run over anything!
[] Alcan Custom Xterra Leaf Springs (
Link)
I was worried if I ever wanted a Deaver Spring pack that I'd have to spend loads of money to get it custom made, but Nisstec has Alcans already custom setup for the Xterra! I'll probably go that way when/if I ever get that far with this truck.
[] Radflo Rear Emulsion Shocks (
Link)
The combination of the Alcan Springs, Adjustable Shackles, and these shocks should keep the rear of the X stable over just about any surface. That could be fun!
[] Radflo Extended Travel Coilover (
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These with the Titan Swap in the front of the X should make this machine capable of crawling over almost as much stuff as a SAS'd X can. Wow... This stuff is immense...
[] ARB TItan Rear Air Locking Differential (
Link)
A heavy duty upgrade for the Rear Diff. Why isn't there a front Air locker for the M205? Or am I just missing it? If there's no front air locker for the Titan M205 then there might not be much point to installing a whole air system just for the rear diff when there is an electric option... except maybe for an air horn.