June 2nd, 2011, the morning after I took delivery of the X
About three weeks later the clutch was toast. Now I had anticipated something like this happening so it wasn't a big shock but all in all I was still upset. I was without the X for about 2 weeks. But I got her back as good as new with some trimmed fat thanks to JWT.
Well three days later on July 1st I was heading home from work and I was slowing at a stop sign. Naturally I pushed in the clutch and went to to take the X out of third to neutral. Somewhere in the middle of this transition the gearbox froze up and the X was stuck in third. So I limped off to an empty parking lot and called AAA along with my mechanic who replaced the clutch. He told me to bring it in and he'd try and get it fixed immediately. They took the whole shifter assembly apart and could not find anything wrong with the seating that would cause it to get stuck. So I was again X'less. I let it sit at the shop for about a week and a half trying to decide where to take since my mechanic said a tranny shop should deal with this issue because it was very strange. He wanted me to bring it to a very reputable place in Providence but he said they are very costly. But one of my moms friends recommended this small shop close by where the head mechanic who had a very deep background with cars and Nissan's since he used to customize them extensively. So I brought it to him around the middle of July. I told him the story and he was dumbfounded. He gave me all possible scenarios on why this could of happened including the shop using the wrong gear oil, not enough, or even putting no gear oil in. Soon all these scenarios were non existent because as dropped the tranny and removed the flywheel he couldn't find any evidence of the bearings over heating and when he drained it no metal particles fell out. Everything seemed fine from the outside. The next step he took was to open it up. When he went to go open the case up it magically popped out of third. He called me and said he could not even believe that happened and that he was going to take a magnifying glass to every gear and tooth to see if there is any evidence of damage. Upon further inspection nothing was wrong. He was dumbfounded, I was dumbfounded, and everyone I spoke to was dumbfounded. He said that he'd put it back together and that he'd keep the X and use it for a couple of days to see if it would happen again. In the beginning of August I finally got my X back. It was a freak accident that cost $600 but I was more happy to finally get my truck back after being without it almost all summer.
August 2011, As soon as I received the X back I tore off the step rails, mudflaps, and bedlined the grille black.
October 2011, I was sick of seeing the X stock and I knew I was due for new tires. At this point I was still trying to find the direction of my X but after looking at the IZVERG build on thenewX I wanted mine to come out similar but couldn't afford a titan swap just yet. So I promptly ordered top-gun spacers, PRG AAL, 285/75/16 Goodyear Duratracs, and after a long debate with myself I pulled the trigger on Pro-Comp 7089-6868's.
Before:
After:
November 2011, I was getting bored and wanted to do some small mods to the X so I took up the rear breather mod, the 09 headlight mod which is one of the cheapest best mods you can do IMO, and I added some PRG variable height shackles. Also during November I set up an epic Shrockworks group buy on thenewX which I ordered a winch bumper and some sliders.
Breather mod (and yes I removed the sway bar since this picture
)
09 Headlight mod
Shackles in (middle hole)
January 2012, My sliders arrived two months exactly from my order date.
March 2012, Was by far the best month of the year for the Xterra. My titan swap was an official go and my shrock was on its way. I spent my spring break modding the X while taking my paid vacation from stop and shop (grocery store in the north east). Now my titan swap was not a "full" swap as I have a manual and did not want to re-gear so I purchased the extended R180 shafts.
Shrock:
Titan Swap:
one side done
complete
Rear
Fat trimming
Since these initial pictures I've raised it in the front a little. I'll post some in the next few days Hopefully in the summer i'll be able to buy new packs but mine still have plenty of life in them for now.
March 30th 2011, I obliterated a duratrac on a fire road going about 40mph. I know stupid but I just wanted to test the front radflos out a little. I should of waited until my rears rads were in because the back end was so bouncy it caused me to try and correct the truck left because the back end kicked right and a tree stump took a duratracs life instantaneously. The story gets better though. I didn't have a spare tire after meaning to get one for about 5 months and just never have, so that bit me in the ass pretty bad. So I had to leave the X in the woods
(, but on the other hand the place is safe and I rarely see someone on it) on my spare rim. I found a duratrac the next morning luckily and put it on. Lesson learned have a spare and yes I now have a spare.
