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Monkey bought a dirt machine - 2012 Xterra


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This thread is going to be my piss-poor attempt to try to be more active on Ratsun again. 90% chance it won't work but I'm gonna give it 10% effort!

I impulse bought an Xterra mid-way through 2020, back when the world was ending and Covid was killing everyone in New York and California. My family always told me daily driving old Datsun's and my 350Z wasn't very adult, so I thought I'd prove to them that I could make a semi-good decision.

Jokes on them.

49974093166_537072051f_h.jpg_DSC2985.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

49973575128_3d63ae0a08_h.jpg_DSC2994.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

49974095726_8e4c151455_h.jpg_DSC2995.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

50010470712_77ae11b549_h.jpg_DSC3264.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

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Stock didn't last long. It was on the dyno within the first week, tuned on 93 making a fair bit more power.

49984510706_fc63baf9a6_h.jpgUntitled by Matt Yates, on Flickr

49984520561_725566af1f_o.png

After that, we played the waiting game for parts. Ended up with a mild lift, and a nice set of mud terrains that suited its "party in the dirt" attitude.

50513225717_7cd4f3da9b_h.jpgDSC_1216.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

50513233112_b18327dfeb_h.jpg_DSC5502.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

50512353093_5aa272ec38_h.jpg_DSC5497.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

51295013459_c05c6c24a6_h.jpg_DSC8566.jpg by Z1 Motorsports, on Flickr

51294475793_9ae11274ee_h.jpg_DSC8572.jpg by Z1 Motorsports, on Flickr

51295013744_79f4dd587e_h.jpg_DSC8575.jpg by Z1 Motorsports, on Flickr

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It's been mostly the same (visually) since then, other than the addition to a NISMO steel bumper and a much better front suspension.

51718188931_2592f9d18f_h.jpg_8002699-HDR.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

51831343803_e08090c76d_h.jpgDSC00400.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

51975538978_943bad015f_h.jpgDSC01932.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

51975756289_c17d8c2a28_h.jpgDSC02442.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

51976029520_a4093a8c65_h.jpgDSC02438.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

Edited by metalmonkey47
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This one really looks the goods. Missus Kelmo has a 2012 Pro4X as well and she loves it. The only thing I would add is some step rails but that is because I am a short fucker.

The other reason is they keep me from dragging my ass off the seat getting out and that wears the outer bolster of the lower seat pad out prematurely. Would also like to steal the front seats and put them in the 510 wagon. We bought it in 2016 as we live in a somewhat rural area and she was a hospice nurse roaming all over the country side.

 

This is me helping out with the 10% thing.

 

KRAP (Keep Ratsun Alive People)

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On 4/16/2022 at 9:12 AM, KELMO said:

This one really looks the goods. Missus Kelmo has a 2012 Pro4X as well and she loves it. The only thing I would add is some step rails but that is because I am a short fucker.

The other reason is they keep me from dragging my ass off the seat getting out and that wears the outer bolster of the lower seat pad out prematurely. Would also like to steal the front seats and put them in the 510 wagon. We bought it in 2016 as we live in a somewhat rural area and she was a hospice nurse roaming all over the country side.

 

This is me helping out with the 10% thing.

 

KRAP (Keep Ratsun Alive People)


Thanks Kelmo! My lady has been bothering me for over a year for some step rails since I took the stock ones off. I'm taking it as permission to order a nice set of rock sliders haha
 

On 4/17/2022 at 4:35 PM, petercscherer said:

Great looking rig! I've been coming around to the styling on the Xterra. You work at Z1? I just ordered a Nismo Exhaust through y'all for my 3.8 Frontier. 

~Peter


Thanks Peter!  I do work up at Z1, been here for many years now. How are you liking the new powertrain?? 
 

 

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On 4/18/2022 at 4:42 PM, metalmonkey47 said:


Thanks Peter!  I do work up at Z1, been here for many years now. How are you liking the new powertrain?? 
 

 

It's a night and day difference over the old 4.0. I've towed up to 5600lbs with it and it performs better than my old V8 dodge van. Transmission is super smooth and always finds the right gear to stay in the power curve. I loved it so much that I sold my 2017 VW Golf and just daily drive the Frontier now. The Nismo exhaust sounds great by the way, sorry to hijack the thread! 🙂

~Peter

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  • 10 months later...

Went offroading....er....I mean mudding (basically all it is this time of the year) with some folks last month. 

52694401676_d35f87ce81_h.jpgDSC08770.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

 

52694478436_0ca0d87067_h.jpgDSC08883.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

52694416771_9b1f2e6f44_h.jpgDSC08801.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

52693898622_4ce0beb0c7_h.jpgDSC08799.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

 

52694501041_6de2eb4f40_h.jpgDSC08959.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

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This was just days before we decided to pull the 'terra into the shop and pull the front driveline apart to swap in some slightly more appropriate Titan suspension. This is basically a mid-travel swap for guys that want a bit more travel and better steering radius. You get a bit more width up front too, which is nice.

52717393346_ba7e8c86f7_h.jpgDSC09864-HDR.jpg by Matt Yates, on Flickr

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8 hours ago, metalmonkey47 said:

This was just days before we decided to pull the 'terra into the shop and pull the front driveline apart to swap in some slightly more appropriate Titan suspension. This is basically a mid-travel swap for guys that want a bit more travel and better steering radius. You get a bit more width up front too, which is nice.
 

 

 

 

More details please.

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14 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

 

 

 

More details please.

A basic Titan swap consists of one of two combinations:


The simple swap:
1: Stock Titan lower control arms

2: Adjustable Titan upper control arms (I'm running the Z1 Offroad billet arms)

3: Titan inner and outer tie rod ends
4: Longer axles for the R180 differential.
5: An appropriate length coilover

The better swap:

1: Stock Titan lower control arms

2: Adjustable Titan upper control arms (I'm running the Z1 Offroad billet arms)

3: Titan inner and outer tie rod ends
4: Titan M205 front diff (100% drop in, just be sure to match ratios)

5: Titan front CV axles.

6: An appropriate length coilover

Ideally, you'll do the latter of the two, because the outer CV angle at full lock and full droop with R180 diff and axles is not good. This is the setup I'm running because I was too cheap to track down a Titan M205 in time.

The R180 front likes to grenade the case and ring gear, so if you wheel hard on one, it's just a matter of time before you break something.

Coilovers are a pretty expensive part of the kit since there aren't many options. The only two off-the-shelf options I'd consider at this point is Radflo or Dobinson's extended travel. I'm running Dobinson's IMS extended.

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