Topic: Noob From Santa Ana! (Any Xterra friendly Mechanics out there?)

[Myst3ry]

alright, great info from everyone here!

So the first thing i want to do is a 2" BL to fit 33's (i understand i would need to trim a little on the front?)...

Without money being too much of an issue (ive been saving for a while for the reason of getting a lot of the mods out of the way quickly), what else do you recommend i just get out of the way now?

i was ok with a 1.5" - 2" SL that I would get from a PML, I would just like the clearance, and 2" is the max lift before you need to swap out a bunch of other things to accommodate ... so instead of a PML, it would be better to...

- new 2" Lift torsion bar for front
- Add a leaf in rear
- new shocks in rear


Im not going to be doing anything extreme. Not planning to rock climb, or racing through rough terrains.

[Myst3ry]

also... is there anything on this site that you would recommend getting? I can get a greta price on a lot of these (wholesale price) and may be worth checking out...

http://www.4wheelparts.com/

only thing, is that its Jeep-heavy, but a few parts there fit my 04 Xterra

[Ghost65]

also... is there anything on this site that you would recommend getting?

Spend a little time exploring the deserts/mountains with your rig...nothing too crazy, green trails, forestry service roads.  Pack a lunch, and just enjoy getting outside in your rig...a list of to-do's and to-want's will develop pretty quickly.

Do some research on recovery equipment, because the odds are, getting off road will eventually lead to getting stuck.  A simple shovel and airing down can solve that first stuck...but then what to air back up with?  Ah-ha...your first item on your to-want list is chosen for you...a reliable and portable battery connect-able air compressor.  IME (in my experience) it kinda goes like that...as well as showing up for a meet n greet, or even better, getting some face time with others at an SCCX planned trail run.

Also, spend a little time here (and there, thenewx.org, IH8MUD.com, and other off road sites) and search folks Display/Build threads to see what tried and true items work on rigs like yours, or for trails you want to tackle.

Finally...don't expect everyone to instantly give up all the information on the how to/where to on how to mod up you Xterra...spend some time doing the research and reading to contribute relevant questions and answers to any forum is a recipe for success. 

This shows other forum folks that you're not the average DIFM (do it for me) newbie who wants to post and run.

Good luck man...and feel free to PM any of the higher post count folks on this site with any questions you may have. 

[knightrider]

also... is there anything on this site that you would recommend getting? I can get a greta price on a lot of these (wholesale price) and may be worth checking out...

http://www.4wheelparts.com/

only thing, is that its Jeep-heavy, but a few parts there fit my 04 Xterra

The 4wheelparts guys are great but honestly not much there to offer an xterra, even less probably for a 1st gen.  Like John said, having a wish list is great but don't be scared to go out exploring easy trails stock, it will help you to figure out what you actually need.  If your not confident going out alone(probably shouldn't if you've never been offroad) then start up a thread to get some interest started in a run, you don't have to know where you want to wheel, just give a date and see what ideas people throw out, you will get to see some other rigs, and get a little experience.  If you want to read up on a mostly first gen xterra forum, clubxterra.org is a great resource that has alot of 1st gen xterra info.

[CAWoody]

I'm not far from you.  IF you want to hit Santiago Peak or Trabuco Creek one weekend, just let me know.  Trabuco Creek is fun right now with all of the rain.  Little hill climbs, mud pits, river crossing, rock crawling, tec.