BrettX's 2011 Xterra S, Ivan

BrettX

Test Drive
Username: BrettX

Make: Nissan
Year: 2011
Model: Xterra
Trim: S
Color: Night Armor
Code Name: Ivan, the Xterrable


Hello everyone,

Had the Xterra for 2.5 years now, this thread is everything that's been done so far!

Mods
Interior:

Alpine iLX-207
Alpine HDE-C1100 backup camera
Alpine KTP-450A inline amp
Gentex GENK50 backup mirror, amber display with HomeLink V3, compass, temp, and auto-dim.
Nissan light w/ fog light stalk
Backlit Nissan steering wheel controls w/ Axxess ASWC-1

Exterior:
BFG TA KO2, 33"
Curt trailer hitch
Magnaflow 12580 muffler, y-pipe delete
Voltant CAI intake (unintentional stock horn delete)
Hella Sharptones
Nissan factory fog light install (fog light cover delete)
Pneumatic conversion for hood
Rear Arch repaint
LED HID Retrofit headlights with DRL Strip

TO DO:
Mount the 1/4" PRG spacers for the front, get rid of some of the rake.
Get and install HID retrofit headlights

WOULD BE COOL: (some long-term goals that I hope are reasonable in the scheme of life)
Front/rear bumper
snorkel (hence the volante)
2" lift
I'd totally love to Titan swap the front end and engine, but that's a ways off if ever.

So this is the 2nd Xterra I've owned. First one was good, a bit lacking in the power dept, and towards the end of its life a bit lacking in the keeping oil below the rings. But it was a 5 speed manual, and I wanted another body-on-frame with a manual. Well it turns out a newer Xterra was available locally with sub-50k miles.

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New VS old(new on right)



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Within a week I had all-new speakers while I figured out which head unit to buy. Here's the tweeter install for the JBLs, I eventually replaced the really poorly crimped connection with a soldered connection so it's secure. I also reused the stock connections, so I didn't have to chop up any of the harness. (I did for the crossovers though) I went with JBL Club 6x9 components up from and JBL Club 6.5 in the rear doors, sounds was better but it was still the stock CD player w/ AM/FM radio.

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For a head unit I was throwing around Pioneers, Kenwoods, Sonys. I had used an Alpine in my previous Xterra and it was a champ for 9 years. When they came out with an Android Auto/CarPlay head unit, with all the bells and whistles I cared about, I was pretty sold.

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Here's the final result of the head unit. GPS antenna is on the blanking plate between the defrost vents.
I didn't have the RF system, but took a page from it and connected my AUX and USB inputs to that blanking plate on the right. Microphone was routed on the drivers side A-pillar by the mirror.

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Here's a closer picture of just the center console, went with a Scoshe trim piece.

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A few months later, stock fogs installed

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One of the tires finally died, so new ones were required, definitely didn't get HTs again. got a set of 285/75-16 BFG TA/KO2s. 33s are a much better stance than the stock 31s. Had to melt the inner fender liner, as it has been well-documented, to clear but it worked just fine.

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Got my autodim Gentex GNTX-453 rearview mirror installed finally, it was warmer that weekend I did it but it was cooling off by the time I wrapped up. I really missed have a temperature gauge and compass in my vehicle.

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Took the side steps off before winter again.

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Got my Alpine backup camera installed too. Wired into the reverse wire on the drivers sill, it engages when I put the vehicle in reverse. Parallel parking is soo much easier now. I don't do it too often anymore so it's quite nice.

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While installing my backup camera, I noticed water coming from the OG muffler, so that was replaced with a Magnaflow 12580. Y-pipe was removed in the process.

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Got my Volante installed, and had 1/2 of the stock horns zip-tied in-place. I did a piss poor job with the zipties if I'm honest and purposefully neglected to take a picture.

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And with the stock horns not fitting, I elected to replace if I had to make a new harness.
So I delicately removed the grille, breaking almost every last fastener. I've got a new bag from the dealership waiting to go on.

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Painted up some bar stock with a few coats of black, mounted the bar stock to some existing holes in the core support structure.

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Made a custom harness, didn't use a relay as I've heard people have had good results with the stock system over years. I did manage to find a Chinese supplier of the female end of the horn connector, so that's a win for me to not have to cut into the stock harness.

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All wired up behind the grill. Definitely sounds different but they're very directional too. For the price, it was worth it. Great way to try some new things.
 
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BrettX

Test Drive
Yeah. I'm gonna need a write up on the rear view mirror install. I need one of those.

I documented it pretty poorly, it was a bit of a hurry since daylight is short that time of year. I had a ground, 12V power switched, and 12V power constant. Went to the cigarette lighters in the dash/console. Apparently there's a good constant/switched source in the drivers a-pillar, not sure what that is for but it's definitely close. Grounded behind the glove box as I went down the passenger side and met up with the temp wires. Temp wires went through the passenger side, covered with a 3/8" plastic wire cover the whole way, dab of silicon was put onto the hole in the grommit that I made. Temp gauge was just 2 wires to the temp sensor which I mounted on one of the steel supports for the bumper, it's pretty accurate when the vehicle has airflow and it doesn't get heatsoaked by the engine/rad. Otherwise, same blade mount as the stock one. I've had it for around 1.5 years and it's been rock-solid. It was a bit more spendy since I wanted temp, compass, auto-dim,and homelink but it's nice not having an opener fall off my rearview mirror.

I bought it off of eBay as a kit, came with a wiring harness, temp sensor, mirror, wire cover, and had the LED converted to amber. It's a Gentex GENK50 and some other letters, but that'll get you to that mirror at least.

Thanks!
 

Zack.

Has been dubbed Arnold
Supporting Member
Location
Livermore, CA
I did manage to find a Chinese supplier of the female end of the horn connector, so that's a win for me to not have to cut into the stock harness.

Got a link for this? IIRC I used like a bullet connector backwards or something + electrical tape. Would be nice to do it right.
 

BrettX

Test Drive
Just got the headlights polished as well. Sealed for now with a 3M sealant that was wiped on. I've heard it'll last for around 12 months.
Aside from some mild pitting from rocks etc, they look almost new! I couldn't believe the difference.
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BrettX

Test Drive
Just finalised this mod, been in the works for about 3 months now since buying the controls on black Friday of 2019!
Here's the "finally done" picture of my install of Pathfinder backlit steering wheel controls with an Axxess ASWC-1
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Thankfully my wiring colors lined up with what had been reported elsewhere on the internet. It wasn't too bad in hindsight but it was all very new to deal with the steering wheel. It was an informative but slow process. I'm glad it's done.

Here's a brief guide I put together
View: https://imgur.com/a/YaXEnzc
 
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BrettX

Test Drive
Posted this elsewhere but I'm buttoning up this build log. So I had noticed some rust coming out of the trim piece on the wheel well where it seals against the rear door. I didn't deal with it last spring but did over the summer.

I did buy new paint, primer, and clearcoat from www.automotivetouchup.com I also picked up some color matched paint in a bottle for rock chips etc. Took it off and yup, it's rusty alright. But an angle grinder, wirewheel, rust converter, denatured alcohol and new paint saw me through.

DISCLAIMER: I'M NO PROFESSIONAL BODY SHOP GUY

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Taped off pretty tight to the sanded area and primed with an etch primer. If I do this again, pull the tape up at the paint edge when you switch from primer to body color to clear, that'll help it blend. I'd probably also do a gentle sanding to reduce the lip between existing and new. These are realisations I made after I had finished this project.

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Pulled the tape way back for the body color and waiting on clear. I had "finished" the job and then sanded it down to help it blend. This is all int he door jamb and mostly covered so I didn't care too much.

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It sure ain't new, but it's also not orange rust so I called it a win. Cleaned out the trim with rust converter after a good brushing and replaced after it fully dried.

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I got some undercoating, the rigid stuff not rubberized and sprayed that into the wheel well after wire wheeling and converting that area. ALWAYS PREP YOUR SURFACES. Popped the trim piece back on and called it a day.


The last thing I had in the works was new headlights. I ordered some stock chrome Pro-4X (no black trim) headlights with an Apollo 3.0 retrofit, DRL strip with harness so it'd have a diffused white LED strip when on and then swap to amber for the turn signals in addition to the standard bulbs. I had a bit of an issue aligning it and sent them back early Dec.

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Had them installed for 2 weeks while I tried to adjust accordingly, but ran into an issue, and sent in for warranty repair.

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A week afterwards I was hit in the Xterra. I wasn't going too fast at the time and everyone was okay, but the Xterra was totaled. Given that I have a family now, the backseat is nothing to write home about for space, I didn't get a 3rd Xterra in a row. I miss that vehicle and had lots of fun working on it. I've appreciated the information in the community and what everyone brings to the table to help improve their vehicles with project. I've certainly enjoyed doing and helped expand my horizons. Thank you all for your contributions.
 
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