New to me Xterra...
- Thread starter Maddmatt
- Start date
paulforeman
Active member
Are those some leaf spring load helpers on there? Did you install them? Do they help at all?
Thanks!
Maddmatt
Explorer
Yeah, cheap Autozone helper springs, I think they were $40. 10 minute driveway install, couldn't be easier. They make a surprisingly big difference, I tow a boat weighing about 3500lbs from time to time, these springs level everything out and if I even notice them when it's empty, I think they might make it ride a little better. Some day I'd like to put airsprings on it, but these were a great budget interim solution.
Maddmatt
Explorer
Thanks! It's my second one, the kids took my first.
To be honest, I have no idea what load rating, whatever Discount Tire's computer spec'd. No complaints at all.
YMMV, but: this is my third set of Duratracs on an Xterra (i have them on mine, and on the kid's X) - when I bought my first I was a dedicated BFG KO fan, but the Duratracs at the time (2014?) were slightly cheaper, and I liked the look. Within a month I had the opportunity to cross Colorado in Winter during a blizzard, what should have been a 6-8 hour drive turned into 14 as we drove back and forth looking for open passes - by the time we hit Durango I was completely converted to Duratracs - best All Terrain snow tires I've ever had.
They do start getting loud at around 40k miles, even with regular rotations, but on my first set Discount was pretty generous in pro-rating the tread life warranty, so it made the decision to get a new set pretty easy.
The hard core trail guys complain about the strength of the sidewalls, but for my use which is daily driving / weekend skiing / weekend boat pulling / 3-4 easy trails per year, they are great.
On my Pro-4X, after a lot of back-and-forth thinking, I went with the stock 265 size. I only have about 1/4" clearance in the garage with the ski racks on, but I'm kind of wishing I had gone with the 285's, purely for looks. If I blow out a sidewall or have other reason to activate the warranty on these, I probably will upsize - the rubber gasket on the bottom of the garage door is already torn anyway, I can probably tear out enough to make the truck fit....
Maddmatt
Explorer
3/29/23 - Hitch plug relocation
Wow - almost 2 years since I've done anything to my Xterra but drive it, and this barely rates mention, but this is where I track everything.
Finally relocated the hitch plug - pretty easy job, not worth a write up, except to say there was no purple wire (following the instructions on the new plug) on my Xterra, but process of elimination determined that red equals purple in this case. Slightly better departure angle (the plug on my 1st Xterra is completely mangled....)
Kind of went overboard with the Hopkins 7 blade/4 pin combo, but for the extra $10 I like not having an adaptor. But it is a little big, I'm going to find a tiny "NO STEP" sticker for it....
Pics or it didn't happen...
Before
After
Wow - almost 2 years since I've done anything to my Xterra but drive it, and this barely rates mention, but this is where I track everything.
Finally relocated the hitch plug - pretty easy job, not worth a write up, except to say there was no purple wire (following the instructions on the new plug) on my Xterra, but process of elimination determined that red equals purple in this case. Slightly better departure angle (the plug on my 1st Xterra is completely mangled....)
Kind of went overboard with the Hopkins 7 blade/4 pin combo, but for the extra $10 I like not having an adaptor. But it is a little big, I'm going to find a tiny "NO STEP" sticker for it....
Pics or it didn't happen...
Before
After
paulforeman
Active member
Nice! That looks really nice. Not having an adapter will be nice if you ever find you need one and don't have one.
Maddmatt
Explorer
6/17/23 - Fridge Slider
Pretty basic DIY fridge slider. I have a LION-COOL fridge I've had for some time, it's pretty cool (get it?), with the built in Lithium-Ion battery, you can somewhat lessen the worry about the truck's battery, in practice in hot weather, I find I get 6-8 hours of cooling time from a full charge, so in a travel situation, there are no worries, in a stationary situation, I've gone as many as three days with 80-90+ degree days just by plugging it into a portable solar panel during the day, and then letting the onboard battery run at night.
AND - later model Xterras have a 12v plug in the cargo space that's always hot, so less modification required.
First step was to replace the 12volt outlet with Anderson plugs, that made a huge difference in the fridge's abilities, those 12volt plugs are just bad.
Then I bought a general use fridge slide (Iceco) from Amazon, and the rest came from home depot. Basically plywood, some bolts, and a cheap rug.
Finished product is below:
And I was able to maintain access to the lower storage compartment
More information and discussion is here, https://www.thenewx.org/threads/bas...fridge-slide-install-diy.285682/#post-4410622 if anybody is interested.
Pretty basic DIY fridge slider. I have a LION-COOL fridge I've had for some time, it's pretty cool (get it?), with the built in Lithium-Ion battery, you can somewhat lessen the worry about the truck's battery, in practice in hot weather, I find I get 6-8 hours of cooling time from a full charge, so in a travel situation, there are no worries, in a stationary situation, I've gone as many as three days with 80-90+ degree days just by plugging it into a portable solar panel during the day, and then letting the onboard battery run at night.
AND - later model Xterras have a 12v plug in the cargo space that's always hot, so less modification required.
First step was to replace the 12volt outlet with Anderson plugs, that made a huge difference in the fridge's abilities, those 12volt plugs are just bad.
Then I bought a general use fridge slide (Iceco) from Amazon, and the rest came from home depot. Basically plywood, some bolts, and a cheap rug.
Finished product is below:
And I was able to maintain access to the lower storage compartment
More information and discussion is here, https://www.thenewx.org/threads/bas...fridge-slide-install-diy.285682/#post-4410622 if anybody is interested.