Pics of Xterras with body lift and brush guard?

[shyamrox]

Hey All,
So last night while I was reading a few threads, I discovered something I hadnt thought of...when you do a body lift either you need to get rid of the stock brush guard, craft and adapter (or weld it on), or leave the brush guard at stock height...

I'm hoping to do the 2" body lift sometime this summer, but I dont really want to get rid of my brush guard (this is my DD, no offroading yet).....any pics of how it looks with the 2" body lift and the brush guard at stock height? Have there been any better solutions/adapters created?

Thanks!
Shyam

 

[Macland]

You're not gonna have much luck getting a picture. I figure it's much like a anything else where you'd need to modify the mount on the brush guard to accommodate the body lift difference.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Lol, he might be lucky then, cause I did it....and I honestly really found anyone else who has. People discourage against brush guards since they're not functional, as well as them being considered "damage" multipliers...

At first we just welded on some L-brackets on my frame, drilled some holes in the it and bolted the brush guard on, held on with just some basic bolts. I think it was just to get the brush guard from layout around my uncles place. It looked like I wanted it to, but I wanted it actually functional and reinforced...However it did work ok; I pushed a co-workers Jeep Patriot about a block with it cause he ran out of gas and it didn't budge. Sorry I dont have too many pics of that, it was just a temp solution.

Then this year I went to a 4x4 fab shop to actually impliment my idea. Got 2x 2" square tubing welded to my frame rails, and the brush guard goes it to them. At least it's removable for whatever reason/needs, plus I can get other accessories made up to mate to it, or add other recovery points. This time it's being held with some big grade 8 bolts. Reinforcements were made up, and a new crossbar (in steel) was made too since the original once was bent. As much as it's probably strong now, my gripe with it was it's fitament. Their fab work is great, but missed on some detail and it's just not done to sit in the right OEM-lookiong position. It was suppose to get redone last week or this, but they haven't been getting back to me. So take it it is, call it version 2.0 with 2.5 coming eventually.

I'm anxious to get a final look of it with the truck with the 32's back on for the summer and my snorkel and take some pics

 

[Macland]

Would you look at that. I'd say lucky is an understatement. I'm glad someone was able to swoop in with such good experience.

 

[shyamrox]

Wow that's a clever idea! I may have to consider something like that....i gotta find some shops around me here in Cincy that can do something like that...

How about any pics with a body lift and the brush guard at stock height? Does it look OK? does it look ridiculous?

If i knew how to give rep points or any of that fancy stuff that other forums do, i would

Thanks!!
Shyam

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Thanks

How about any pics with a body lift and the brush guard at stock height? Does it look OK? does it look ridiculous?

The first pic is exactly that, it just not reinforced. The "stock height/fitament" issue "after reinforcement" should hopefully get resolved soon...I hope, cause it honestly drives me nuts as it is; it doesn't look right at all. I'll keep you updated when that happens.

 

[shyamrox]

Thanks!

 

[shyamrox]

Isn't the first pic a picure with the L-bracket welded on? it looks like its a proper height.... I thought you could reinstall the brush guard into the stock location without any modifications even after the BL...it would just be at stock heigh (not 2" higher..) Perhaps I'm missing something here....

 

[Intender]

I will state before hand that my brush guard was not for an xterra. I dont know what vehicle it was for, I bought it from a scrap yard for $20, and the measurements for the frame horns was exactly the same as the frame horns on the x. I dont have a lot of pictures of the work though.

This is what it looked like with the winch installed

And here is a crappy diagram I made to show somebody else what I did a while back

In the pic the red is the frame, the blue is the brush guard ends, and the green is a 1/4 inch piece of plate steel. I started by welding a piece of 1/4 inch angle iron to the top of the frame horns. I offset the angle iron towards the center of the truck by 1/4 inch so that I could then weld the plate steel to the angle iron and have the plate steel end up being flush with the outside edge of the frame horns. Then it was just a matter of measuring to drill the 3 holes on each side to mount the brush guard. I wanted mine mounted closer to the front of the x so I pushed it back in as far as I could. I drilled all the holes out to 1/2 inch to use 1/2 inch grade 8 bolts. The hardest part was getting the bumper back on after doing it this way. The xterra brush guard is slightly different from the one that I had so this might not work the same way for you, but it will give you an idea of how I did it.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

ah, i read that wrong then! I thought you meant with the brush guard at it's proper stock height compared to the body of the truck and how it's suppose to look on the truck. I thought maybe you had mistaken that my 1st pic was pre-body lift with the brush guard.


What you mean is the stock height at in the brushguard is installed as OEM, but there's a body lift on the truck, so the brush guard is too low compared to the body...

Oh, and the mod/fabwork only cost me $200

 

[shyamrox]

Thanks guys!! I'll have to keep these ideas in mind when I eventually do my body lift.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Pics of the readjustment:

 

[TJTJ]

Wow, that's a cruelly vandalized approach angle!

:confuseded:

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

Wow, that's a cruelly vandalized approach angle!

:confuseded:

Possibly, but we`ll see, it shouldn`t be that bad. I`ll have to remeasure, but when I checked a few years back, i figured it was the same loss as putting on a winch bumper. At least my advantage is that it`s easy to remove if need be.

I didn`t want a winch bumper, but I wanted something for the front. This was my own doing, so we`ll see how it goes...

 

[TJTJ]

Possibly, but we`ll see, it shouldn`t be that bad. I`ll have to remeasure, but when I checked a few years back, i figured it was the same loss as putting on a winch bumper. At least my advantage is that it`s easy to remove if need be.

I didn`t want a winch bumper, but I wanted something for the front. This was my own doing, so we`ll see how it goes...

It will be WAAAY worse than a bumper...its not just the low clearance to the ground, its that it occurs even further forward.

The simple way to measure approach angle is to take a sheet of plywood, and slide it along the ground under the front end until it hits the tires, then raise it until it hits something under the rig that stops you from raising it further....like the grill guard, etc.

Then measure the angle from the bottom of the plywood to the ground with a compass/angle finder, phone app, etc..., or, simply measure the height from the ground to the raised end of the plywood, and the length of the plywood from the raised part to the end that's against the tires.

IE: Measure a piece of plywood, slide one end against the tires, lift it as far as you can, and measure the height to the the raised end. That way to have the opposite leg and hypotenuse, and can calculate the angle, etc.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I'm not going to argue that I've made it better, of I know I didn't, but I don't claim otherwise that the difference in what I've done is something significant enough that I'll regret or have issues with comparing to having a Shrock bumper. Also the advantage is that I can easily remove it, if need be. I part of my brush guard is to be functional with a certain look and style to the truck. I don't need a winch mount, but I wanted some sort of protection in the front. I also wanted the truck have a stock-aggressive look without the cookie-cutter look of a modified X, nor do I have a want or an idea for a custom tube bumper. It's also as far as I know, a first of it's kind for an Xterra mod, so I wanted to try it out.

But that's good info you provided. I'll measure that angle when I get the bumper/brush guard back on the truck.

 

[TJTJ]

I'm not going to argue that I've made it better, of I know I didn't, but I don't claim otherwise that the difference in what I've done is something significant enough that I'll regret or have issues with comparing to having a Shrock bumper. Also the advantage is that I can easily remove it, if need be. I part of my brush guard is to be functional with a certain look and style to the truck. I don't need a winch mount, but I wanted some sort of protection in the front. I also wanted the truck have a stock-aggressive look without the cookie-cutter look of a modified X, nor do I have a want or an idea for a custom tube bumper. It's also as far as I know, a first of it's kind for an Xterra mod, so I wanted to try it out.

But that's good info you provided. I'll measure that angle when I get the bumper/brush guard back on the truck.

If making a comparison, you'd use the same sized tires at the same PSI, etc...as the PSI itself raises and lowers the truck a surprising amount.

You can check your rear (Departure angle) the same way if you're in research mode too...stuff like a hitch, how low the spare is mounted, etc, make a surprising difference.


What some others (Above too) have done is essentially address the way a brush guard mounts on the X....essentially bracing it to be more like a bumper than a brush guard. What you want to do if mounting a brush guard-bumper is to NOT have the mount loop down under the frame and back up again, and to go straight to the frame horns, with triangulation to keep it from being pushed into the grill/hood, etc.

This is hardest because the wall thickness of the guards is very thin compared to the real bumpers, so the guard LOOKS beefy, etc, but is mostly air with a thin coating of metal, so the tubes collapse under impact/stress, etc. Added bracing where appropriate can beef that up to take at least some force.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

If making a comparison, you'd use the same sized tires at the same PSI, etc...as the PSI itself raises and lowers the truck a surprising amount.

Of course, but I was mesuring on the mouting points and on how much the bumper sticks forward from where I had planned to have my brush guard installed.

I would need another truck again to compare, but approach angle is maybe negligable...but depending on the height of the obstable. My brush guard sticks out more at the frame rails than a shrock bumper would, but the shrock bumper sticks out farther higher up because of the space for the winch. But arguments aside, I`m not doing to say that it`s better, than a shrock or a stock bumper, and just say that it`s not as bad and people say it is.

You can check your rear (Departure angle) the same way if you're in research mode too...stuff like a hitch, how low the spare is mounted, etc, make a surprising difference.

Absolutely, but in the end, those are just numbers. I still have and am keeping my OEM hitch and spare under the truck, and have off-roaded like this since I`ve owned her. Yes I`ve smacked the hitch a few times, but it`s never been an inconvinient or an issue, except when I smack my shin off of it. I COULD take out the spare and the hitch for a better departure angle, but i find I dont NEED to. I totally undertand why people do, but what I do to my truck in terms of mods is based on my desires and experiences, and not based on what others recommend and on the numbers (say in this case the mesuragle departure angle) saying why I should.

The rear I'm leaving as it, the brush guard, it may be a win, an ok or a fail, but I'm wanting and willing to give this a try to see the results, cause I wont know until I do...

essentially address the way a brush guard mounts on the X....essentially bracing it to be more like a bumper than a brush guard. What you want to do if mounting a brush guard-bumper is to NOT have the mount loop down under the frame and back up again, and to go straight to the frame horns, with triangulation to keep it from being pushed into the grill/hood, etc.

This is hardest because the wall thickness of the guards is very thin compared to the real bumpers, so the guard LOOKS beefy, etc, but is mostly air with a thin coating of metal, so the tubes collapse under impact/stress, etc. Added bracing where appropriate can beef that up to take at least some force.

Most what I tried to address. The brush guard is mounted above the frame horns, and the shop assures me that all is overkill for strength for the tubing both truck and brush guard end, as well as to brackets. The reinforncements aren`t done all the way to the top, but I dont think it`s necessary either. The reinformcements are done at bumper level, and with the truck lifted also, it should be hard and rare to have an impact only on the top section of the brush guard. Most of the damage I`ve seen is because the WHOLE brush guard (because of it`s lower and weak mounting points) folds back, and hits the hood/grill/headlights/etc. If the reinforcement on mine holds like it should, folding should be minor if it does (pending on the impact/force/object; this isn`t a tank), and the upper section that doesn`t have the sandwiched reinforcement plating, even if it`s much weaker, you`re still trying to fold it on it`s it`s own length rather than the width, so it should hold up better.

 

[TJTJ]

I hear you, just keep in mind guard tube walls are very thin, and they fold, and deer strikes do occur at the hood line as often as anywhere else. The more forward something is, the more it hurts the approach angles even if at the same height. Forward and low is the worst combination of course.

In perspective of course, you are not really trying to improve offroad performance or deer/impact protection per se...and are experimenting with what you can do.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I hear you, just keep in mind guard tube walls are very thin, and they fold, and deer strikes do occur at the hood line as often as anywhere else. The more forward something is, the more it hurts the approach angles even if at the same height. Forward and low is the worst combination of course.

In perspective of course, you are not really trying to improve offroad performance or deer/impact protection per se...and are experimenting with what you can do.

Indeed, it's "white metal" as they call it since it`s not magnetic, nor weldable. I'm assuming their saying aluminum.

Off-road performance; as long as it doesn`t impede me on anything off-road, no, not really. It`s mostly to actually push like bush/shrubs/etc out of the way. Also a place to tie some guide wires to clear branches away, and a place to hook my winch cable, rather than the shackles below, especially when I`m in water or mud and it`s burried. Lights, not sure yet...

Deer/Impact: A bit. Well not so much deer, I don`t have many concerns with wildlife as the only times would of when I was a biking as a kid and a deer flew between me and my sister, and last year was a moose, but it was HUGE, and I was in the Rx8, and could of probably driven underneath it. For impact, just in case. I`d like it to widthstand *something*, at least reduce pending damage, especially as opposed to multiplying it. It sounds like I'm talking like I have a history of rear ending people, but to be honest my record is clean of any accidents, at fault or not. The fab shops says that my frame will bend before their plates or welding breaks, so we'll see about that. Earlier this year I actually used it to push a co-worker who's car was stranded because he ran out of gas. Even with it just bolted up on temporary L brackets welded to the frame, and without any reinforcement, she didn`t budge. This should be many times stronger than that.

But indeed, there`s a big curiously factor in there as well, if it`ll work, how strong it`ll be.