2011 Xterra low lift w35s build and adventures

[Smileyshaun]

Sunday funday drive .
We decided to return to where we went last weekend to do some more roadside cleanup and some more snow fun . I had made these bags for my forester but never actually finished them so I finished up the last bit of sewing and made them work for the xterra . I will call these version 1.0 because there’s quite a few things I want to change but for hauling cans it works just fineView attachment 135128

Found quite a bit of snow and had a blast driving in it and just taking in the beauty of it all . View attachment 135125View attachment 135126View attachment 135129View attachment 135130View attachment 135132

On our way down more roadside cleanup . In total 107 cans and bottles and a bag of garbage .

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[Smileyshaun]

Shocks showed up , hope these work they where a super good deal at 17$ a piece. 15 1/2 collapsed 25 3/4 extended . View attachment 135154

 

[tjZ06]

Good on ya for all of that cleanup! I really like those bags too, I've been going back and forth on a rear bumper/spare tire carrier vs. just keeping the spare inside for now while it's still "just" a little 32". Without a rear-mounted spare all the typical trash solutions don't work, so I've been scratching my head, but really like your setup!

-TJ

 

[Smileyshaun]

Good on ya for all of that cleanup! I really like those bags too, I've been going back and forth on a rear bumper/spare tire carrier vs. just keeping the spare inside for now while it's still "just" a little 32". Without a rear-mounted spare all the typical trash solutions don't work, so I've been scratching my head, but really like your setup!

-TJ

thanks , it was a first attempt at sewing in a long time with probably the wrong material so there’s some mistakes but I figure it’s just for garbage so no sense in making something super nice lol . I will need a rear tire carrier soon because there’s no way a spare is fitting under it anymore . But it will have to wait till at least spring summer .I’m trying to keep from doing any welding project until then aside from making some sliders but that’s a quick and easy project I should be able to knock out in a day .

 

[EXPO_D1]

Kudos to you both for cleaning up your area! Sick build

 

[Smileyshaun]

Thank you , it’s getting there but trying to do everything on a tight budget and lifting it as little as possible has it’s challenges but sometimes thinking outside the box can have it’s reward. Now the real question is can I squeeze a SAS under it and 37s with around 4” of lift ..... time will tell .

 

[Smileyshaun]

Well I could t sleep last night and that led to my mind wandering , on top of the normal life stuff and thoughts of family future I of corse wandered over to “ what other ways could I get a straight axle under the xterra “ well after some quick measuring and probably being wrong I came up with a probably terrible idea .

Using a set of ford super duty axles ( cheap , strong , can come with 4.10s )
Maybe a SAS kit for a 98 and up Chevy 3/4-1ton
A set of Chevy rear springs from a square body (soft and long ).

With my ruff measuring the rear shackle hanger would land almost perfectly where the frame flares out at 38” and that’s convenient because the sas kit for the Chevy only works on frames that are 38.5” wide .
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or maybe use a set of shackle sliders . View attachment 135801

 

[EXPO_D1]

Well I could t sleep last night and that led to my mind wandering , on top of the normal life stuff and thoughts of family future I of corse wandered over to “ what other ways could I get a straight axle under the xterra “ well after some quick measuring and probably being wrong I came up with a probably terrible idea .

Using a set of ford super duty axles ( cheap , strong , can come with 4.10s )
Maybe a SAS kit for a 98 and up Chevy 3/4-1ton
A set of Chevy rear springs from a square body (soft and long ).

With my ruff measuring the rear shackle hanger would land almost perfectly where the frame flares out at 38” and that’s convenient because the sas kit for the Chevy only works on frames that are 38.5” wide .
View attachment 135800View attachment 135799

or maybe use a set of shackle sliders . View attachment 135801

Is there an option or kit to eliminate the factory vacuum hubs for the front axle?

 

[Smileyshaun]

Most vac disconnect can be swapped to a cable operated setup. Not 100% sure on the super duty 60 though , I never got that far into thinking about it lol

 

[tjZ06]

Is there an option or kit to eliminate the factory vacuum hubs for the front axle?

If he's SAS'in it he can set the axles up however he likes.





I love SAS'ed rigs, but it is a HUGE undertaking and a lot of work. It'll be amazing, but most of the wheelin' community has largely moved past leaf/leaf setups anyway. IMHO going to a leaf front and rear solid axle config on your X will soft of take away from a lot of what it has going for it (road manners, parts available anywhere, etc.). I'm not saying it can't be done, or even don't do it... but think long and hard on it. You'll be in building those SD axles deeper than you expect (I know, I'm always kicking around building a set for my WJ). I'm obviously biased, but if you want a solid front/rear rig I would STRONGLY consider starting with one...

-TJ

 

[Smileyshaun]

I know a sas is a lot of work for some rigs others it’s just a long weekend project (Toyota) I’ve done 11 of them over the years . Leafs can have fantastic road manners and ride quality it just matters on how they are set up and the leafs used . I probably won’t end up doing it , it was more of a late night mind wander than anything , the way my mind works is if something is said to be way hard or super expensive on a car I like to figure out why it is and if there is a simpler solution . Gotta remember I was told 35s would be a huge undertaking and almost not feasible without a large amount of lift and tons of work and it ended up only taking a couple hours of work and some creativity .
I think the xterra and frontiers still suffer from a bit of new car syndrome where they are still a new enough platform people are afraid to melt a little metal on them to see what could happen .

 

[Smileyshaun]

Fiancé has been down with the flu for the last couple days and that’s not normal considering she hasn’t been sick in 7 years even though she works in home heath care ( must be the probiotics and red wine ) but she really wanted to get out of the house so we just went for a relaxing drive up the clackamas River to explore a couple of backroads we have never been down before all while letting the great narration of Jim Dale fill our ears ... seriously if you have never listen to the Harry Potter audio books you are missing out on the talent of one amazing book reader , he puts so much depth and verity into a reading it’s actually quite amazing. On our little drive we saw some waterfalls , a bit of snow and some chunks of water pipe used for a waterline that if I had to guess where 10’ in diameter and stretch a good 15 miles.all in all a nice couple hours spent away from home . On a side note I need to get a little better about taking pictures and maybe having my better half write about our outing because to be honest I have the writing skill of a horribly trained baboon. View attachment 136128View attachment 136129View attachment 136130View attachment 136131View attachment 136132

 

[Smileyshaun]

Got bored waiting on a truck at work so I made some spacers that will hopefully lift the front 9/16 of a inch . Made them out of this rubber material that’s used for rubber bumpers on dock plates . I figured if it’s good enough for 50-80k trucks to back into for years a 5k rig should be no problem. Made some spacers for my Subaru and it worked out great. Hoping it will be enough lift to keep the tire out of the water outlet on the wiper fluid . View attachment 136133View attachment 136134

 

[TerryD]

Got bored waiting on a truck at work so I made some spacers that will hopefully lift the front 9/16 of a inch . Made them out of this rubber material that’s used for rubber bumpers on dock plates . I figured if it’s good enough for 50-80k trucks to back into for years a 5k rig should be no problem. Made some spacers for my Subaru and it worked out great. Hoping it will be enough lift to keep the tire out of the water outlet on the wiper fluid . View attachment 136133View attachment 136134

That for the jump stop?

 

[Smileyshaun]

That for the jump stop?

no for the strut

 

[TerryD]

Bump stop.... stupid phone...

Oh, ok. Biggy UCAs are hitting my inner fenders and I've got to add some spacers to my bump stops. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I did a thing View attachment 136498

 

[EXPO_D1]

Reminds me the "tacoma cut bumper mod"! Looks great

 

[JCWages]

I did a thing View attachment 136498

I'm going to do the same thing to my Canyon.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Got the fog light holes a bit more round now I just need to pickup some epoxy the glue them in place