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So yeah, the intake manifold spacer really does things. I had the car packed to the gills on a 700 mile trip and the dunes/hills I went up the last time were a lot easier to take without gunning it. No better in gas mileage, but just a bit more v8 ish lazy torque to be had. Before that I also had about 3500 lbs metal hooked up to it for scrap and that went well too.
Is plugging something in a mod, because I did that. The power claims are something. I have no desire to run my car on premium if it doesn't have high compression or forced induction so whatever. What it does do is take off the WOT restriction these cars have up to 40 mph (only 80 percent available) and It makes a huge difference. Also I do like having the ability to see instant and average mpg as well as keep an eye on transmission temps when towing and crawling. Those are going to have to wait though, these tuners and wires look super stupid and the obdII port is just above the throttle pedal. I think I need to buy a 3d printer or something and get creative.
Also now I have no speed limiter. That totally makes sense in a car that is terrifying at 90.
Finally decided on a small lift/ strut upgrade. These are well regarded in the Toyota community, but I can't find much about them for a Nissan from people who didn't test them or aren't selling them. So here goes nothing.. Basically it is somewhere in between a real custom shock like a Radflow or king and high end conventional shocks like Bilstein 5100's and Old Man Emu.
While an extended shock and more lift would have been cool I would rather spend that money on my sandrail that I don't mind beating up off road. I also enjoy getting in my car without a step on a daily basis.
This will be paired with a 5100 in back instead of a 5160, I couldn't find a model that they sold that was compatible with under 2 inches of lift. I also talked myself out of getting a Radflow rear shock as I don't want to mess with rebuild able stuff. That should be easy to change if it doesn't ride right.
And my friend with an alignment shop, caged spring compressor, and lift installed the front today.
I was going to take this picture under the underpass like the earlier one to contrast and compare, but it's an underpass so 3 mattresses and some CRT tv's are littered everywhere.
It's about 1 and 3/4 in the rear and 1 and 1/2" in the front. That means it has about 1" of rake overall. I want to see where it settles, but I may have to lift the front 1/2 inch to be completely happy. I'm not a fan of leveling it completely though as it's nice to have some room for towing.
OH and the 6112's. I wouldn't say they are super smooth like a car, but they can actually keep the spring from dribbling the load range E tires on sharp bumps. That's a plus in my book.
After some towing and hauling cement bags in the back it seems to have settled a bit (it's unladen here).
And some more of the mundane, after I got it aligned I had to install some eccentric bolts to get it back in spec. I waited to see how far out it was first because I didn't know if I was going to just stop with the struts or go for aftermarket upper control arms yet. I'm pretty content with it as it's set up now. Though I would like to know how it would ride without the preload doing all the work.
Then I finally got some OEM wheel caps. I thought it was NBD when the wheels came without them, but the dealer quoted me 54 dollars EACH for the little plastic shits. I ended up finding 3 for free on a xterra board and buying the 4th one on ebay. I had some blank amazon caps I that were listed at the right size but needed about 6 layers of aluminium duct tape to fit without falling out. Tire rotations were embarrassing as you could hear the laughter coming from the stall.
The headlights were due for a sanding and sealing. This is the Sylvania kit where you apply some sort of lacquer instead of polishing with a pad for the last step.
Then I bought a turn stalk and fog lights from a car endowed with such things. One of the lights was burned out so I put in some yellow whatchamawhos. They seem to work. It was way easier than I imagined it to be. You swap in the turn stalk and plug in the lights. All the wiring and even the fuse is already installed.
Appreciate the pics and updates anyway, even if they're incremental. I don't recall you being a pro photographer or anything, but your pics are pleasing to look at, especially the last one.
$54 is ridiculous. Toyota dealer I was at charged something similar, if not more... so not too out of the ordinary.
The headlights were due for a sanding and sealing. This is the Sylvania kit where you apply some sort of lacquer instead of polishing with a pad for the last step.
Then I bought a turn stalk and fog lights from a car endowed with such things. One of the lights was burned out so I put in some yellow whatchamawhos. They seem to work. It was way easier than I imagined it to be. You swap in the turn stalk and plug in the lights. All the wiring and even the fuse is already installed.
I swear my next mod will actually be a mod.
Really like the look you have going with the truck.
What was your overall opinion with the headlight kit? How is it holding up so far? The last time I used one of those kits, I think it was a 3M kit, and it didn't seem to last much more than a month cause it didn't come with any sort of sealant. I need to do the girlfriends TSX but don't want to waste my time with something that doesn't last.
Appreciate the pics and updates anyway, even if they're incremental. I don't recall you being a pro photographer or anything, but your pics are pleasing to look at, especially the last one.
$54 is ridiculous. Toyota dealer I was at charged something similar, if not more... so not too out of the ordinary.
I actually have taken money for photographs, but it was for some events around town more than 10 years ago. I didn't know how to say yes and ended up turning down what would have been some neat niche gigs because I thought I wasn't good enough or something stupid. Anyway I wish I had taken some of those. I doubt I would have made any real money from photography, but I think my camera craft would be much better today if I had.
Originally Posted by CCColtsicehockey
Really like the look you have going with the truck.
What was your overall opinion with the headlight kit? How is it holding up so far? The last time I used one of those kits, I think it was a 3M kit, and it didn't seem to last much more than a month cause it didn't come with any sort of sealant. I need to do the girlfriends TSX but don't want to waste my time with something that doesn't last.
Well it's been about 20 days... so pretty good. I think if you really wanted to do it right you could do the polish and then coat them with some real automotive clearcoat. The stuff that came in the silvania pack smelled and looked like like urethane varnish. That should last for a while, but won't ever be as hard as a 2 stage paint.
The criagslist fairy brought some "splash guards" from a pro-4x today.
They are listed as splash guards in Nissan's parts database because they definitely aren't for rock crawling. I'm rarely bouncing off rocks though and I didn't want the added weight and cost of 3/16 inch plate. I'm still getting 17-18 mpg in town and don't want to rock the boat.
Most of these for my use aren't necessary, but these 2nd gens have plastic gas tanks for some stupid reason and I'm always afraid of puncturing it on a overgrown grease wood or creosote bush that has taken over a desert trail.
nekkid, still relatively unharmed, just a little rash on the frame near the rear axle.
fully clothed... well more like a string bikini compared to what people put on aftermarket.
OEM fasteners!
If I do find myself taking parking spaces on top of rocks more often it will at least be nice to have these as a template.
My grandpa had a Yamaha rhino that was stolen, never to be seen again. Anyway it had long travel suspension and was great to drive, but it was a pain in the ass to maintain. All the parts broke all the time and it was expensive as shit to buy them. I found him a cheap 1st gen xterra that needed a water pump on CL and got it up to par. Now it basically lives in mexico.
When we brought it to his house it was a bling'n machine. Did I mention it was cheap? The PO was a "detailer" too so every part of rubber was covered in a thick layer of black goo.
Some wheels from a Isuzu, since every small japanese truck had the same bolt pattern till nissan ruined that in 2005 (also tires are take off's from my 2nd gen) You can also see nissan's trademark 90's "Never stick" paint in this picture.
A couple hours with a few rattle cans and it's lurking with the cordones by the beach. (you can see here that nissan used the same never stick polymer on their headliner glue... it was suuuper cheap)
That's all wonderful but to be truthful, or as the kids say, "real". This is a cheap used car from the depths of craigslist. I've had to fix some stuff since.
There is a draw on the battery. Apart from 10 speaker stereo somebody ripped out before they sold it the car also has one of those super awesome Viper alarms from the mid 2000's.I've never had one because they are idiotic, but had I known that installing one meant tapping into every relevant part of the wiring harness I may have steered my grandpa away from this one. Whoever invented it is an asshole, whoever installed it is an asshole, and whoever bought it is an asshole.
here you can see one of the t tap connectors (every connector used was t tap) cutting into one of the ignition wires. Nothing but quality. It's all soldered and heat shrinked now.
This is the remnants of their offraod light setup. On the surface it looks like somebody gave a damn and added a fuse block, but then I realized that each fuse was 50 amps!... That is okay though because they didn't use solenoids either. 4 wires with 50 amp fuses come up under the drivers feet (no conduit, just loose under the carpet), and go to some switches that are very not rated for 50a. You can see one of the the wires already let out the smoke. This is all gone now.
At this point I felt pretty confident it wasn't going to light on fire and took it for it's first real romp, but alas I am not without sin and on the way back into town I couldn't help but notice the car was favoring it's left side.
Yeah, the crack is bad... but it's also not supposed to sweep up at the end of the entire LCA, but that is what the vehicle is for. Better to do it to something cheap than be stuck with your only car 150 miles from a real parts house. Next time I just get to bring all my tools down with a new lca to fix it.
My friend kinda put a hitch through my bumper cover. Xterras don't have a great approach angle because of the bumper so I guess the center is made to be cheap to replace. 50 bucks instead of 350, though when I heard it happen I kinda hoped I would be able to go shopping for pre-runner tube bumpers before I came out to see the damage.
Then I wanted the address the Nissan Y pipe thing, and the muffler shop was so damned reasonable I had them replace the muffler as well. Should have followed what I planed when I first got the truck though. The magnaflow is about 1 notch too loud. I think I'll have to get a resonator.
Nissan has done this for a couple of generations on the trucks. They just crush the passenger side pipe till it fits in the tube with the drivers side. Some argue it's to balance the two sides out but the consensus is that you are better with a real y of some sort.
It's not mandrel bent stainless or anything, but we aren't breaking the land speed record over here. I think I would be okay with the sound if it were a truck, but having the turn exhaust tip under the rear hatch is no bueno. I'm almost considering putting the stock one back in if the resonator doesn't work out.
As long as I'm throwing money away at sounds. This sounds a lot more like Infiniti cars with the 3.5 and the little power port tube. I'm much happier with that than the exhaust.
I had a short lived love affair with a frontier...it wasn't supercharged and it was my first truck and it got bad gas mileage.
I wasn't ready.
Anyway...I love your posts...pics...adventures. GF and I just got back from a desert/canyon adventure out your way and were disappointed to miss out on seeing any Saguaro Cactus
I'll have to show her this thread. LOL...
Pretty sure there are no Saguaros in this thread. Those are Cardones... Which get freaking huge.
The cars distance here doesn't help with scale, but the one on the left looks to be at least 30ft when I'm standing next to it. There are larger ones... I think 60 some feet is the max.
What are your thoughts on tradeoff going with an all terrain over a normal tire...I recently bought a used Yukon and I want to be able to do a little light off road here and there, while mainly doing highway commuting with the family.
Depends on what the offroad is. If it's mud you are going to want to look at something that is more aggressive. Sand prefers something less aggressive, and sharp rocks need a well built carcass.
A friend of mine has a newer suburban with Goodyear Kevlar all terrain adventures. He chose them specifically because they are very good on the highway and tough enough for the sharp rocks he encounters. Like I hate the way he drives off road and I don't understand how he hasn't blown one yet. He has ripped both the front and rear bumpers off in washes on multiple occasions and the interior sounds like a tin can full of rocks.
here they are.
I also prefer more sidewall, but again he put more points into highway driving.
Back when He was doing work in mexico 15 years ago he actually had a suburban like yours. That ended up getting some BFG KO's after it's first trip to mexico. They certainly weren't highway tires, but they were not nearly as noisy as the Mickey Thomson tires I have on mine.
Wow, thanks for that...
know something hilarious? Those are the tires I have on my F150 work truck...I guess I had my answer because I do highway and some sugar sand duty...and they aren't horrendously loud either.
I may go with that suggestion. Thanks again, man.
I went back and they added a little resonator. It makes all the difference. It doesn't sound quite as mean at 3-6k rpm, but normal driving range of 1.8-3k isn't annoying anymore. I will take that trade off any day.
I meant to put this picture in the most recent shots thread, but messed up and put up a lesser picture. Not really off road as much as it is a driveway in the foothills.
Went on a little trip do Denver, for some reason my car was squatting about an inch in the back when I got home. (contrast set to stun so you can see the wheel arches)
When I was there I built a fence for my cousin and was traveling with a cut off saw, welder (powered by 12v gel cells), safety equipment, grinders, clamps, and more normal traveling stuff. It was sitting nice and level, but when I was finished I asked what the teal box was in his garage. Apparently his renter left a induction furnace in his garage 6 years ago... so I threw that in there too. Thanks to the add a leaf it didn't bottom out on one bump on the trip back.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the furnace, but I can't say no to something like that.
This time on If it isn't broke, fix it till it is.
After taking a 1800 mile trip I made the decision that I should do the top spacers and spc upper control arms to take the edge off the suspension. Having them turned all the way up without extra weight on them just made it too tough. I really didn't notice as I almost always drive myself, but in Denver people insisted on driving me around and all of their cars were so smooth by comparison.
The new a arm is on the top, you can see the 2 inch lift spacer (actually 1 & 1/4" inches but geometry). The a arm lets the suspension droop more. With the pre load set up before I had full travel, but was always riding with it at the top extension of the travel ( it would top out over medium sized fast bumps). With this set I'm running closer to the middle of the travel, but the spacer would have taken away some of the droop, and now I'm talking in a circle.
This time I had the time to do the work myself. This is the spring compressor I mentioned before. I have yet to have my teeth rearranged by it so it's my favorite. With the spacer added to the top I am able to get the same lift without the pre-load. So I had to move the adjustment circlip down to the lowest setting.
I was afraid of being too far out and having a baja style squat, but it's pretty close to perfect. (this is measured at the door indentation below the belt line)
I think this should be the last profile shot for some time. It has a much more supple ride now. Still not like a full size suburban or anything, but way more low key than before.
10-12-2017, 01:59 PM
Maybe, it may just settle to perfect after a bit of time.
