Xterra Talk-Budget Suspension Walkthrough (Nisstec, Freedom Offroad UCAs, Rough Country, Bilstein)
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- On this episode of Xterra Talk, I'm talking you through my longterm build of my suspension lift for my 2005 Nissan Xterra. I found a way to build it up pretty inexpensively and it's really capable and reliable (and comfortable) a this point.
I'll walk you through the front setup (Nisstec coils, Freedom Offroad Upper Control Arms, new ball joints) and the rear (Bilstein shocks off of an Offroad trim Xterra, Rough Country 2.5" extended non-adjustable shackles, overleaf helper springs, etc.).
To learn more, check out the video!
Thanks for watching and if you enjoy the video, please click the thumbs up and click subscribe and the bell to be notified when new videos drop! Lots of new Xterra content coming in the future!
Here are links to the products mentioned in this video:
Nisstec MK84 Coilovers: bit.ly/2YafK8C
Freedom Offroad UCA's: ebay.to/346D2zW
Overleaf Helper Springs: amzn.to/2Y9UAHF
Rough Country 2.5" lift: amzn.to/3hwfqt0
For shocks, there are a couple of options. I went with the Bilstein 4600's which are slightly shorter. If you want more droop, you could go with the Bilstein 5100's. Here are links to those:
Bilstein 4600's: amzn.to/3tfiP53
Bilstein 5100's: amzn.to/3tbcO9w
Don't have Amazon Prime shipping? Try it free for 30 days: amzn.to/37zKapE
A huge thanks to my featured partners:
Overland Addict (any type of Overlanding gear you could want): bit.ly/3dQ0MNC
The Last US Bag Company (great quality Overlanding bags, check them out!): bit.ly/3fB7Xdh
Moore Overland Expo (let them know that you're interested in attending here!!): bit.ly/2SlRjS6
Northology Adventures (Sign up for their FREE monthly magazine and check out their events!): bit.ly/3jvJG7J
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Flech! Keep up the good work! Love you content! I listen to your podcast every morning on the way to work. I hope to meet you one day!!! Take care and stay safe my friend.
Hey Paul, thanks man! Hopefully I'll meet you someday too! What state do you live in? Thanks for listening and watching!
@@AllThingsOverlanding Awesome ! I live in Florida at the moment. I've jumped around for work since 2013, from seattle to tennessee to georgia and now back to miami. Hopefully this Feb at the expo we can meet ! Would love to see your rig!
@@paulalvarado4411 Yeah, sounds great!
I just installed a 2in lift on my 05. Went with the spacer and greasable shackles. And removed the front and rear sway bars and it handles way better off-road. I definitely want to upgrade the shocks to a set of Bilsteins.
Nice! They did make a big difference on my truck.
Thank! Killer simple set up. Exactly what I have been looking for.
Awesome! Glad it was helpful!
Cool. Thanks for showing off your suspension!
No problem! Hope it was helpful!
Thanks for the Xterra content. Have a 2011 and looking to do some work in the next few years.
No problem! Hope it's helpful. Congrats on the Xterra! They're great trucks.
@@AllThingsOverlanding q
Great Video Man Very Informative..
Keep it up with Videos...
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
The OME rear springs are fantastic. I have the medium duty springs with OME shackles and I get no sag after a year of having an RTT and about 250lbs in the cargo area.
Great info! I've always heard good things. I think I've about exhausted my options for cheaply keeping the OEM leafs at this point so replacement is the next step, :D. Thanks for the comment!
I’ve got the same leaf pack but not installed yet. What are running for the front and shocks?
I'm guessing your asking ADK^^, but if not, I'm on Nisstec MK84's up front. Again, disregard if you're asking them, :D.
@@robertpoirier8520 I'm running the heavy OME springs because Ihave a winch up front, rides nice. I would recommend the medium spring if you don't have a winch or bumper up front. The best option is seen in this video as you can adjust lift height based on loaded weight.
All Things Overlanding I think you have a great channel. Keep it going. I have 2 Xterra’s. Both 2005. One is an SE 4WD with 383,xxx miles. Did the SMOD, cats and chain guides. The other is 6 speed true off-road with locker and 210,xxx miles. Got the best of both worlds. These engines can run. Subscribed. 👍
I'm watching this video again and damn the leaf springs are flat
Haha, yep. Totally worth the upgrade to the General Spring HD leaf packs that I did not long after this video, :D.
2 1/2 inch spacers on the front of the Xterras is way to much, should not be any more that 1.5 spacers in stock front if you want to keep your upper control arms at a good angle and still have a decent ride. Nice setup now. Im working on a mint 2006 Xterra off road !
Yeah, technically the "spacers" are 1.5" I believe but the end result is about 2.5" of lift over stock with the spacers. When I went from my Rough Country spacers on stock springs up front to the Nisstec coilovers, the difference in ride was night and day and it also stopped all coil bucket contact. Congrats on the Xterra! They're great trucks and I miss mine every day.
When you had 1.5 spacers (2.5 lift) in front did you get the stock upper control are slapping into the top of the shock tower very often ? quit common and bad with big spacers. @@AllThingsOverlanding
@@beardumaw24 Yep, I did have a good amount of coil bucket contact. Then I switched to Freedom Offroad UCA’s and that resolved it.
Cool thanks for the reply, think im going to go with these Freedom UCAs as I don't do any serious rock crawling, but do alot of Back country Forest and Fire Roads and definitely need more travel. As far as I know Nisstec is out of Bis and no longer makes the coil overs so I'm looking at the Bilstein's or a better option if I can find one, Any Sugestions ? Thanks ! @@AllThingsOverlanding
@@beardumaw24 no problem! Pretty sure All Dogs Offroad has some options that are nice! Just did a quick search and found this Dobinson’s kit on their website: www.alldogsoffroad.com/dobinsons-2nd-gen-nissan-xterra-ims-suspension-lift-kit
I just learned if you don't fix diff vent, they plug up on nissan and blow your axle seals!
Yeah, on any vehicle with a stock diff vent, not adding the breather/extender can be really bad if you submerge your axle. I'd honestly be more worried about getting water in it and fouling out everything inside the axle, more so than blowing the seals. That happened to me when I first bought my truck. I got stuck in water for about 15 minutes and it didn't go well, :D.
Looking at the shape of your rear springs, I'd say they are done. Should be more bow in them by far. I doubt it would even be enough to do a double add a leaf.
Yeah, full leaf pack is my next upgrade, :D. They're still OEM, 16 years old and 135K miles, haha.
@@AllThingsOverlanding My Next thing is a combo 2" lift, springs and shocks. Likely the OME. Also higher gearing. I finally figured the X's limits. Pulling the trailer (with RTT, gear, etc) up numerous 300-400' 18% grades, with rocky road, 4 low 1st gear, foot literally in the floor and speed rapidly approaching zero. Mine isn't the off road version, so the gearing isn't very high. First time I've ever had to give up. Got turned around, found a great camping spot, unhooked and Ol Bessie charged up the remaining two miles no problem.
@@stlouisarch2162 Sounds like a solid plan! I'm surprised it would have that much trouble with an overlanding trailer (that's what you're talking about, right?).
@@AllThingsOverlanding Yep. It was extended stretches of steeps, and I only have the 3.13 gearing
@@AllThingsOverlanding Want to hear something *really* stupid? I thought you just turn the dial, and hey, the 4lo light flashes. I got to looking, and it turns out you have to stop, go into neutral, and foot in the brake. Soooooo...I could have made it up that flippin' trail after all. *grumble grumble*
Did someone not use a castle nut on the upper control arms? Tisk tisk! Gotta use that cotter pin my guy, lol!
Haha, of the 15 or so months I’ve had the truck, it’s been broken for about 6 of them so I’ve barely even taken it out or checked it out. Good eye though so I’ll get that remedied. 😀
Ok thank you for the reply! I have an Xterra and I feel like the brake pedal is too low and not powerful enough I’ve done everything possible to fix it new everything and checked by a pro shop needless to say I’m still not happy with the brakes
Ahh, totally get that. The brakes do sort of suck on these things. You could always upgrade to better rotors and pads and I’ve really been considering getting a set of stainless steel brake lines to help with the mushy pedal feel. I think of you did those things it would be a great improvement. I believe that Nisstec sells a stainless steel brake line kit. Hope that helps!
02:30 to get straight to the point
True, :D.
Hey dude love your channel. Can you tell me any extra info on the UCAs. Any problems with alignment or anything?
Hey man, thanks! I really like the UCA’s. One thing is that they are not adjustable so if they’re going on a stock height truck, you should be fine. I’m on a 2.5” lift so I have a bit of positive camber. I believe some adjustable cam bolts on the bottom would help with that, but it’s not bad so I haven’t messed with it.
@@AllThingsOverlanding so weird. Just got told by freedom offroad that their arms dont work on the pro4x version 🤔
@@stevenwarren8121 Huh, that is weird. I'm not even sure what the difference would be? Mine is an SE. I was pretty sure that the only difference was a bit of a longer spring and different shocks? Did you ask them why? Wondering if they are erring on the side of safety and saying since the Pro4X is taller, the alignment would be off so they just say they don't fit? Just a guess, but not sure why else they would say that.
@@AllThingsOverlanding he seemed short and didnt give an explanation. I thought they were all the same minus at a certain year they made one of the bolts easier to get to.
@@stevenwarren8121 Yeah, that's super weird. Not sure if there's a way to order them and return them if they don't fit? :D Or, maybe if someone close wants them to and you can test fit them when they order (if they're non-pro4x). Just grasping at straws here, but trying to help, haha.
Do the UCA's clear the coil bucket at all? I notice they have a Coil Bucket Bump stop.
Once I switched to the Nisstec coil lovers and these UCAs, I didn’t have coil bucket contact anymore.
Hi! Great channel and greetings from northern mexico.
I have a question, with that freedom UCAs did you get any coil bucket contact? I used to have spacers for lift but the cbc was horrible so I just removed them. Now Im planning put them again with new UCAs, so the question again is: Does that UCAs eliminate the contact?
Thanks!
Hey, thanks! I upgraded from the Rough Country 2.5" spacer lift to Nisstec MK84's and the Freedom UCAs at the same time and since changing that out, I haven't had any CBC. So, I do think they have helped remedy that problem. Also, they're way beefier than stock which is nice too. The only downside is that they aren't adjustable, but for the price, it's a heck of a good set of UCA's in my opinion. Hope that helps!
I have a titan swap so I don't have front/rear sway bars anymore and i have to get used to that lol
You don't need them! :D Titan swapped trucks are awesome, BTW.
How are the Freedom Off-road UCAs holding up, and have you had any issues with them? I'm about to place an order on them but read a lot of conflicting statements regarding them. Did you have to trim your coil bucket so they wouldn't rub?
Hey Ben, they're holding up great. I just greased them recently just to keep them in good shape. I didn't touch my coil buckets but I had a lot of coil bucket contact on the stock ones and I don't anymore. Hope that helps!
Nisstec made you pay for the replacement shock even though it was new ? MK84 are on my radar but if they don't warranty or offer any kind of assistance I may look elsewhere.
Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I was a little salty. But, to be fair, it wasn't actually new. I bought them used off of a friend and he had put about 15K miles on them. Once I replaced the shock though, they've been great and ride SO much better than stock or Rough Country spacer lift that I haven't worried much about it.
Hello. Love my 2010 xterra with 116,000 on it! Going strong but need need new leaf springs and want to replace the rear shocks as well. On a budget just with those two items what do you recommend? Oh I also have a 2.5” lift cheap lift all the way around
Hey Steve, I'm really happy with my set up. I was lucky and found brand new General Spring HD springs for about $300 (new they're around $500 which is still pretty cheap compared to most of the options out there). I also had a friend who upgraded his Offroad trim Xterra to aftermarket shocks so I got a pair of Bilstein 4600's for $50 total. Even new I think they're maybe around $200ish?
Unfortunately, the Xterra doesn't have as much aftermarket support so mods cost a decent amount. I'm assuming your budget lift is an extended shackle in the rear. I just kept my Rough Country extended shackle and slapped on the new leaf packs and shocks and it's worked great. If that's too pricey, you may want to check thenewx.org to see if people have built their own leaf packs using junk yard leafs? I've definitely heard of people doing that, but I've never done it. Hope that helps!
@@AllThingsOverlanding thanks so much for the info!
@@stevepodraza6363 Anytime!
how long are these coilovers. they are an incredible price. another video mentioned I need an 18" shock length for my titan swap?
Hey Val, not sure exactly how long they are. Here's a link to the page where you can see more info though: bit.ly/2YafK8C. Also, they are super helpful at Nisstec, so your best bet may be to just give them a call and tell them what you're doing and I'm sure they could help!
Did you get any CBC when you had the spacer?
Yep, pretty badly too. The Freedom UCA's got rid of that along with the upgrade to the MK86's.
I had a coil bucket contact after I put 2"front & 2"rear, does that UCA eliminates contact?
It did for me!
@@AllThingsOverlanding Thank you
@@KenfurVinas anytime!
I’m actually looking to order the rough country kit. Just put on 33’s and I want to just get the small lift on a budget. Is it like the say “rough” after installing?
I ran it for about two years and it was OK. Basically rode pretty similar to stock because nothing changed in the suspension because it’s just a spacer lift. For the money it works great for fitting 33‘s. I only upgraded because I found good deals on used stuff.
@@AllThingsOverlanding thanks! I’m doing the melt mod as we speak to eliminate the rubbing. Don’t really think I’d ever go higher than that 2” lift but my leaf springs are looking kinda sad as well. Would you recommend the leaf helper you showed in the video?
@@CoachCole71 Yeah, it’s not a permanent fix but it bought me a few more years before I replaced the leaf pack.
A few problems with the leveling kits that I had issues with, is the shocks bottoming out, and the upper control arm hitting the top hub of where the shock sits in! So with that being said you won't get very good down,, or uo travel. I would strongly recommend you just get some after market struts with the some after market upper control arms, and after that slowly replace parts like, lower control arm, your sway bar, because even when I hit a pothole or bump on the street you can hear and feel the bang if the upper control arm hitting the hub and the shock bottoming out
@@christophergarcia4388 Coil bucket contact does suck with the spacer lifts.
Have you used bilstein 6112 coilovers for your Xterra before?
Hey Dennis, I haven't unfortunately. Did you check on the Nissan Xterra Facebook group or on thenewx.org? I'm sure there are people on there that have run them. Hope that helps!
Um having a hard time deciding between the alldogs offroad complete lift kit, mk84 lift kit or goin bilstein 6112 front 5160s inbthe rear. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Graham, great options there. Honestly, as I mentioned in the video, I was lucky to get a great deal on some used MK84's and I love them. I've heard great things about All Dogs too, so it kind of comes down to personal preference (and probably price/ease of install) as they're both great options.
I saw Ry the Car Guy's video on the All Dogs installation and that looked pretty easy so if you're going to do it yourself and want to just have everything included in a kit (and it's in budget) that may be the easiest. I pieced mine together over like 2 years, so it was not exactly easy for me, haha.
Sorry that's kind of a non-answer but I think you can't go wrong with either of those options. Just doing shocks (the Bilsteins) would probably make a bit of of a difference but probably wouldn't be as significant or as nice as the two other options. Good luck!
@@AllThingsOverlanding that actually helped a lot! Thank you!
@@albygreatwhite Awesome. no problem!
Hey, what did you choose for spring rate on the front coils?
Hey Kennan, I bought mine used off a friend, but I believe they're 600 pound springs.
That's next ,I want to lift my stock pathfinder ,any ideas???
Your Pathy is a 2005 plus, right? How much lift do you want?
@@AllThingsOverlanding it's a2007 , I want it 4 if possible . What would you recommend ??? Thanks brother ☠👍👍👍⛏💙
@@piratedredger1857 4" lift? I have the Nisstec MK84 coilovers up front and they're adjustable from 2.5" to 4" of lift I believe. They ride great and I really like them. If you hit up Nisstec's website, that is probably the easiest way to build out a full lift. If you want to save a few bucks, you could probably team a longer shackle with a 1.5" set of leafs and get about 4" of lift. When you get into that much lift though, there are quite a few other things you have to do to fix camber, which is why I'm only at about 2.5" of lift. Again, the easiest way is probably to reach out to Nisstec and have a convo with them about your goals and the could tell you what works best for that! Hope it's helpful!
@@AllThingsOverlanding thanks my friend, that's exactly the advice I need thanks again
@@piratedredger1857 Anytime!
where did you get your wheels im looking to get some steels
They’re just stick steelies painted matte black. I found a guy who had a set and bought them off him. If you watch the Facebook groups or the forums they come up for sale fairly frequently. Good luck!
are you able to still carry a 33" spare tire under it?
Yep! It just fits. Don’t think you could go any bigger.
Hey I know this video was along time ago. But since then what would you recommend now for the rear suspension to help hold the weight of heavy loads in the back trunk
Hey Juan, I upgraded to General Spring HD leafs about 7 months ago and they ride amazingly and support all the weight of my awning, roof top tent, drawer system, and fridge in the back. They’re pretty reasonably priced too and the install was really easy.
@@AllThingsOverlanding thank you so much! I’ll look into those.
What about the shackles as well?
@@juanquijano8688 I have my Nisstec MK84’s up front set to 2.5” of lift to match the extended shackles in the rear. I previously had a rough country spacer and shackle lift on the truck (which is also 2.5” of lift) so I left the shackles on the rear. There are several adjustable shackle options out there too that would work.
@@AllThingsOverlanding oh ok. Do you really need to upgrade the shackles or can I just leave the oem ones on? I’m not really looking into lifting. My X is a 4x4 off-road 2010 and the previous owner did replace the shocks to bilstien
@@juanquijano8688 Ahh, if you're not looking for a lift then you should be fine to just leave the stock shackles. You'll literally undo a few bolts and drop the entire leaf pack out and then simply replace it with the new leaf pack. If it helps, here's a link to the video from Ry the Car guy that I used when doing the swap: ua-cam.com/video/FNeLxwgiFEU/v-deo.html. He's installing a lift kit, but the same stuff applies for the most part when just replacing the leafs. Also, I ran into some difficulties when I was doing mine, so I made a shorter video just talking about how I overcame those which is here: ua-cam.com/video/mq1-9VOiBkk/v-deo.html.
Is there a way to install Titan brakes on the xterra
I haven’t done that and I don’t think you can on a stock Xterra. But, if you titan swapped the truck, I’m sure that would include the brakes.
Hey so my front Bilstein lift rides really rough. Do I need new springs or UCA?
What all came in your lift? New shocks and a spacer lift?
@@AllThingsOverlanding I simply ordered the shocks and with stock springs, new oem lca, and new oem camber bolts. The shocks are set at the high position which clearly preloads the springs, causing stiffness. I'm just unsure how I can fix the ride quality.
@@porterdallenbach1639 Hmm, I went full coils and am not familiar with your set up. Is there a way to change the shock settings to remove the pre-load and help with the ride? If not, I’d hop on thenewx.org or the Nissan Xterra Facebook group to see if anyone has already solved this issue. Sorry I couldn’t be more help but I don’t want to give you bad info.
@@AllThingsOverlanding Thank, I'll check that place out!
@@porterdallenbach1639 They're great resources. I'm sure you'll find what you need! Good luck!
You don't have armor underneath?
I do. I have a mix of P&P Engineering and Hefty fab 3/16” steel armor. Everything except the radiator and gas tank is armored.
Is that a solar panel on your hood?
Yep! If it's helpful, here's a link to a video where I walked around and explained the whole system: ua-cam.com/video/YwbIyPiOvA8/v-deo.html
what tires do you have?
Haha, good question. I literally bought a set of steelies with the tires already mounted on them. They're mixed MT's, but I'm not even sure exactly what all I've got. I think there are 3 different type of tires between my 5, :D.
Lightly used shocks at 50k miles? They should be replaced at 50k. Get your hands on a new set and pull that off and see the difference yourself.
I own a ‘14 Pro-4X and have the Bilsteins.
Mine were still OEM when I replaced them and had about 130,000 miles on them. So, yes at 50,000 miles compared to what I had before they are lightly used, 😀. They ride so much better than the old OEM SE sshocks thatI had.
@@AllThingsOverlanding I just actually ordered new 4600 Bilsteins this evening. Mine blew out on a trail last weekend (120,200 miles), so I was looking to lift, hence me watching your video, but I’m not ready to fork over 1200-1500 just yet.... so new shocks for $155.
@@radioman321 Yeah, makes total sense.