Kirk's build thread; My love/hate relationship with my '03.

[kirk]

Date of purchase: 12.20.15

Now:

Suspension:
- Bilstiens for 3" lift
- Removed rear sway bar


Steering:
- AC idler arm brace
- Moog greaseable idler arm


Braking:
- Stock w/new ceramic pads


Wheels/tires:
- 5 Bronze Nismo Rays 16 x 7 wrapped in 265/75/16 BFG Rugged Trails


Engine:
- New Radiator / timing belt / water pump / all drive belts
- Seafoam treatment every oil change, running only Mobil1 oil w/a Mobil1 oil filter
- Seafoam treatment every fourth tank of gas


Exhaust:
- Magnaflow two in one out muffler, deleted factory Y. Upgraded to 2.5" pipe


Driveline:
- All stock, 4x4, 4.9's, LSD
- New GL4 fluid in trans
- New LS Fluid in front/rear axles


Body:
- Mudflap delete


Electrical:
- JVC Media Player w/all new speakers


Recovery:



Other:
- GPWS sticker


Up Next:

- Replacing rear leaf springs
- Resonator delete mod
- 3" front UCAs - Tires; General Grabber At 2

 

[kirk]

When I bought my Xterra, I was super stoked. Always wanted a 5spd 4wd, and when it popped up on Craigslist two hours away, I went and picked it up. When I got there, a huge thunderstorm rolled in, and kept me from inspecting it as closely as I should have, a move I would pay for in spades later.

It had open recalls, so the next morning, I ran it to the dealership to have those fixed and get a free 250pt inspection.

Apparently, even though it only had 125k miles, no maintenance had been done, at any time, ever, other than oil changes. Plugs are original, as are belts, and all fluids. The shocks, well, yeah, I'll get to that. It also couldn't be aligned due to a messed up idler arm and tie rod.

After tons of research, I opt for the Bilstiens from 4x4parts.com. I take the front wheels off, go to remove the shocks and:

These may be the worst condition shocks I have ever seen in my life, ever. Does kind of explain why the Xterra has been wallowing all over the road when I hit a bump.

They were rusted solid to the bottom mount. So solid that I had to use a sawsall to cut the shock, then a grinder to remove the bolt. Unfortunately, as I ground the bolt off, the shocks set the oily rag below me on fire. That was interesting for about five seconds. I had to destroy them all to get them off.

Next, I noticed that every single stinking time it rained, my floorboards were full of water, and my hands got wet. Off to the glass shop.

Turns out, its rusty around the frame, and had to be replaced and resealed. Okee Dokee.

Next I fixed the idler arm and tie rods. Went ahead and used the brace, and beefier parts. Was pretty damn easy honestly. Then had the timing belt (and all drive belts) replaced, and oddly, it had much more power after I did. Like noticeably.


Now that it wasn't actively forcing itself off the road with a jacked up front end, I started looking for ways to make it more freeway friendly. Reading threads here (again say thankya) I decided to get a bigger tire. Scored a nearly perfect set of 265/75/16s off Craigslist on the super duper cheap. Figured a bigger tire size would really help on the freeway (it has), so I headed on down to get fitted up.

Turns out, every single lug nut on the drivers side rear were rusted tight, and all but two broke/stripped out as they were removed. Yay. Me.

Luckily the dude was super cool, so I walked two blocks to O'Riellys, bought six new lugs and studs and came back. With my loaner hammer and air gun, I beat them all out, put the new ones in, and was on my way. Whew!

I like the slightly bigger tires, and its much nicer on the freeway.

 

[kirk]

I went to have it aligned, and they can't, again. I mean they got it close, but whatever adjustment nuts/bolts in the control arms are rusted tight, not allowing full adjustment. Also, it appears one of my rear leaf packs are weak, as it leans to the passenger side some, and in looking at them, the angle of the shackle on the passenger side one is different than the drivers. (Something I read here maybe?) Seems like its been something non stop since I got this thing. I'll measure how it sits and report back.

Anyone ever have their brake pads wear unevenly? An ungobblely screeching was heard this morning as I drove to work. In lieu of my typical sandwich at my desk, I drove to my buddies house thinking I would throw some brake pads on and head back to work with time to spare. As with every other repair on Ter, I was to be disappointed.

As seen here, the pads are wearing in a 45 degree pattern. And when I did a visual inspection of the pads before, I never noticed the bottoms were wearing uneven from the tops.

I assume its related to this, the caliper bracket slide, all four of which are frozen solid.

I pounded those sonsa*****es every which way, and nothing gave. Not nothing, not no how.

So I pulled the bracket.

Put it in a vice, got some heat, put a pipe wrench on it and beat the **** out of it until it let go!

After they were free, I spent about 45 minutes sanding rust out of and lubricating each damn slide hole, polishing each slide on my wire wheel, and oiling it all. Finally, after a two hour lunch, I got it all back together. My boss was sure interested in my greasy hands and PB Blaster cologne smell when I got back late from lunch.

Aint nothing easy I guess. Hahahahah

 

[kirk]

Well I'd love to get to the fun stuff, but overdue maintenance and repairs come first. I'm thinking a PML is coming when I replace the leaf packs.

 

[ThompsonXterra]

Good work so far man. Tough luck not being able to fully inspect it before the purchase, at least you're learning your way around the X though!

 

[Muadeeb]

It's like they left the front end submerged or something.

 

[kirk]

Exactly. Wonder what I'll find when I try and adjust the torsion bars.

 

[Cruecible]

Exactly. Wonder what I'll find when I try and adjust the torsion bars.

Hahahaha, hahaha, haha. Ha.

My truck was pretty well cared for and was rust free, but re-indexing and adjusting the torsion bars were the BIGGEST pain in the ass. Start drowning all of it in PB Blaster now, if it'll even help you.

I'm also curious, how'd you come across all 5 of those Nismo wheels? Sheer luck?

 

[kirk]

Somehow, me thinks, your laughter does not bode well for me. I'll start hosing it down, but I think you are probably right. As for the wheels, I bought them as I found them, so three are used, but two are new in box. I found a guy selling two, then a different guy selling two, and finally a guy who had one a spare, who didnt even know what it was. I only have three center caps, but I planned to run without them anyway.

 

[Cruecible]

Somehow, me thinks, your laughter does not bode well for me. I'll start hosing it down, but I think you are probably right. As for the wheels, I bought them as I found them, so three are used, but two are new in box. I found a guy selling two, then a different guy selling two, and finally a guy who had one a spare, who didnt even know what it was. I only have three center caps, but I planned to run without them anyway.

Yeah dude, the torsion bars suck. Hard.

That's awesome about the wheels though, I think I need to adopt that same method and piece together a set as they come up

 

[Jack Stilts]

Yeah dude, the torsion bars suck. Hard.

That's awesome about the wheels though, I think I need to adopt that same method and piece together a set as they come up

But...you already have the second coolest ones!

...who am I kidding. I'd probably do the same.

 

[kirk]

He has wheel jealousy. Its okay, I understand. Hahaha

 

[SKAVYNGR]

Man, great work! Super jealous on the rims! They're my favorite second to Desert Runners.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kirk]

Catching up on the overdue maintenance continues, aint this the greatest build thread ever?!?! /Sarcasmfont

Since the transmission and axles have never had new fluid, I took advantage of the nice weather to get it done.

Got this stuff for the transfer case and the transmission. I had to order it, and only enough for the transmission came in. I read all the arguments over GL4 vs GL5, but since the manual asks for GL4, thats what I'm going with, even though its more expensive. The axles got standard LS 80-90 Castrol. When I do this again I'll probably go with the Mobil1 Synthetic LS, but it was outta stock locally. Anywho, in effor to make boring things sound less boring, lets continue!

Next time I do this crap I'll buy a damn pump.


Rear axle looked fine. Its been changed at some point. Front however, looked like rotted milk byproduct.

Transmission fluid was super watery, like THIN, but that front axle stuff was GROSS. Glad I did it. Maybe one day I can do something that's actually fun instead of boring ass maintenance. :erm:

Next up, replacing my weak rear leaf springs, and adding shackles. (I surrrrrrrrre hope those torsions aren't rusted solid.)

 

[ThompsonXterra]

Next up, replacing my weak rear leaf springs, and adding shackles (I surrrrrrrrre hope those torsions aren't rusted solid.)

He...he he he. I'll pray for your sanity through that operation.

 

[kirk]

Ill....just leave this here....

 

[Cruecible]

What size tires? And.... rugged trails??

 

[kirk]

Same 265/75/16s I had before, yes to rugged trails. They will stay until i replace my leaf springs and PML when it warms up. By then ill be ready for new Generals.

 

[Cruecible]

Ohhhhhhh.... those are the same exact tires you had before on the old rims right? Makes much more sense now lol

 

[Prime]

gobble those wheels are sexy.

 

[kirk]

I like them so much better than I thought I would. I only have three center caps, so I'm thinking about just running two in the rear and leaving the fronts off.

 

[Prime]

That's how I'm still running it on my DRs. It's tolerable.

 

[kirk]

Yeah, but the odds of me finding one bronze cap is pretty unlikely.

 

[Prime]

Keep an eye on eBay. Search for volk rays te37x and see what you can find. They show up every so often.

 

[kirk]

Good idea. I have the fourth, but the little tabs are broken off. I was thinking of seeing if I could make it work some how. Modify up some new mounting tabs or something.

 

[kirk]

 

[kirk]

New codes to fix. Yay me. Thoughts?

 

[cpalka9]

The knock sensor code won't even really effect the performance of your engine unless you are supercharged. You probably had the code long before your SES light came on. My ultragauge always gives me the p0328 even though my SES light doesn't come on.

 

[Muadeeb]

This. Knock sensor won't set the cel for us. Just ignore it and focus on the evap code.

 

[kirk]

so it's not worth the trouble to repair? that's good to know, I have my own code reader so when it pops up I can clear it.

 

[Muadeeb]

The knock code won't clear until you fix it or bypass it. You won't fail inspection with it since it doesn't set the light. I've had that code for YEARS and never had an issue. Bet yours had been on that long too.

 

[kirk]

Oh, the knock sensor isn't the one that turned on the engine light today? interesting.

 

[Muadeeb]

Nope. It's the evap code. Check your gas cap, but you'll probably have to smoke it

 

[kirk]

shoot, I can handle that. Thanks A lot, I appreciate you guys. I was reading threads on how to replace that and wasn't feeling very optimistic.

 

[Muadeeb]

Yeah, for the knock sensor, the lower intake has to come off. I had enough fun with just the upper when I did my valve covers.

 

[kirk]

My suspension leans. Measured it today:

passenger front

passenger rear

 

[kirk]

drivers front

drivers rear

 

[kirk]

rusty muffler and Y pipe replaced tomorrow. stoked.

 

[kirk]

more pics to come

 

[kirk]

Clearing out my phone. I forget to post pics in here. Cause boring. Tree fell on me.