2010 Nissan Xterra
Discussion
I figured some folks on here may find this interesting, especially because it was mostly produced for the North American market, and certainly never in Europe, but a bit of background first. I moved to Canada in March of 2018 and with interests that involve being in the backcountry and exploring, I wanted a 4x4. They make a lot more sense here than in the UK, and I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee (thread here). Great vehicle but not very reliable (though it never left me stranded) and a bit agricultural.
Since I built myself a squaredrop camper trailer recently (thread here), the Jeep has proven to be a little on the slow side up some of the bigger mountain passes here, and while it's not a big problem, I've been looking for a reason to move it on and get into something different for a little while now.
I've had my eye on a few different things but the Xterra always tickled my fancy somewhat because it's a 'proper 4x4' with low range transfer case, options for locking diffs etc, a solid rear axle on leaf springs and IFS up front all in a body-on-frame type package based on the Frontier/Navara pickup truck but with an SUV body. Whether or not any of these things are good are subject to debate but I like the idea. The Xterra has commanded pretty high prices of late with COVID pricing especially on anything 4wd here in Canada, and I was somewhat priced out of the market with only high mileage Gen 1s available that are also a bit long in the tooth now, not great on power unless you get the supercharged version, and somewhere between a bit ugly and absolutely gopping to look at, depending how you feel and if you're looking at the facelift or pre-facelift.
The Gen 2 Xterra is somewhat more refined/modern and much easier on the eyes, but also a lot more expensive. I've had my eye on FB Marketplace for a while and this high mileage 2010 gen 2 Xterra came up, at roughly 350,000km or 220,000 miles. Price dropped from $6k CAD to $3,800. The ad read like an honest car that's been well maintained and I had a good feeling about it. Went to take a look and it doesn't look a bit like it's on that kind of mileage inside or out, nor does it drive that way, and again had a good feeling from the seller and with a good stack of paperwork struck a deal at $3,650 - an absolute steal for what it is, knowing that it needs some brake pads right away and front struts.
So here it is in the obligatory dark car park post-purchase shot. Picked up tonight I already had a small victory in turning off the airbag light (hopefully permanently), and first impressions are good, it drives great and is considerably quieter, more comfortable and faster than the Jeep. Next steps are to remove the running boards and mudflaps as they'll be the first things to get damaged when it goes off road.
Sorry for rambling and thanks to anyone that made it this far - hopefully this piques some peoples interest as a somewhat interesting vehicle, to anyone that doesn't live in North America at least.
Since I built myself a squaredrop camper trailer recently (thread here), the Jeep has proven to be a little on the slow side up some of the bigger mountain passes here, and while it's not a big problem, I've been looking for a reason to move it on and get into something different for a little while now.
I've had my eye on a few different things but the Xterra always tickled my fancy somewhat because it's a 'proper 4x4' with low range transfer case, options for locking diffs etc, a solid rear axle on leaf springs and IFS up front all in a body-on-frame type package based on the Frontier/Navara pickup truck but with an SUV body. Whether or not any of these things are good are subject to debate but I like the idea. The Xterra has commanded pretty high prices of late with COVID pricing especially on anything 4wd here in Canada, and I was somewhat priced out of the market with only high mileage Gen 1s available that are also a bit long in the tooth now, not great on power unless you get the supercharged version, and somewhere between a bit ugly and absolutely gopping to look at, depending how you feel and if you're looking at the facelift or pre-facelift.
The Gen 2 Xterra is somewhat more refined/modern and much easier on the eyes, but also a lot more expensive. I've had my eye on FB Marketplace for a while and this high mileage 2010 gen 2 Xterra came up, at roughly 350,000km or 220,000 miles. Price dropped from $6k CAD to $3,800. The ad read like an honest car that's been well maintained and I had a good feeling about it. Went to take a look and it doesn't look a bit like it's on that kind of mileage inside or out, nor does it drive that way, and again had a good feeling from the seller and with a good stack of paperwork struck a deal at $3,650 - an absolute steal for what it is, knowing that it needs some brake pads right away and front struts.
So here it is in the obligatory dark car park post-purchase shot. Picked up tonight I already had a small victory in turning off the airbag light (hopefully permanently), and first impressions are good, it drives great and is considerably quieter, more comfortable and faster than the Jeep. Next steps are to remove the running boards and mudflaps as they'll be the first things to get damaged when it goes off road.
Sorry for rambling and thanks to anyone that made it this far - hopefully this piques some peoples interest as a somewhat interesting vehicle, to anyone that doesn't live in North America at least.
Edited by samj2014 on Saturday 24th September 08:30
gambba said:
Quite common here in the Middle East. Decent off-roaders, especially with that 4.0L V6 pushing them along.
They were cool when they looked this rugged, as did the Pathfinder, but both now look a little soft.
Agreed - I'm not a fan of the 'marshmallow' styling of most modern SUVs - the Toyota 4runner and the other few that seem to have escaped the trend seem to command pretty high prices, the Xterra being a notable exception, I think thanks to its simplicity, which to me is a big selling point.They were cool when they looked this rugged, as did the Pathfinder, but both now look a little soft.
Today I picked up new struts & shocks to fix the front end creak. I picked up a tow hitch and proceded to fit, though despite it being a 'bolt on' Curt hitch, none of the holes lined up. Great.
While I was there the steel rear bumper had a few rust patches which I did my best to remove and paint over, and removed the running boards and mud flaps for aesthetic purposes. Excellent
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|https://thumbsnap.com/sqqXFQck[/url]
Edited by samj2014 on Wednesday 28th September 16:13
mattdavies said:
Looking forward to your build.
I have in the last year bought a Navara Kingcab and have gone down the Bilstein 5100 route, I think some of my bushes need replacing so thats next after i recover from doing a new head and timing chain.
New head?? Ouch. I have in the last year bought a Navara Kingcab and have gone down the Bilstein 5100 route, I think some of my bushes need replacing so thats next after i recover from doing a new head and timing chain.
Yeah I’ve got a few bushes that need doing too, mainly the rear sway bar. In due time… the leaf springs are my biggest priority right now. The ride is… not great…
So as mentioned, I had to get the leaf springs and front struts done. While I was there I did new springs and top mounts on the front, new (good condition used) rear shocks and added a 2.5" lift in the form of a top spacer up front and shackles on the rear.
Lift kit was Rough Country, shocks are Bilsteins. Looks good, rides better than it did and gives me a little more clearance off road. Might try to get it out next week for a drive, but for now, photos:
Lift kit was Rough Country, shocks are Bilsteins. Looks good, rides better than it did and gives me a little more clearance off road. Might try to get it out next week for a drive, but for now, photos:
Well as you might be able to just about see from the photo of the front strut, as a result of the lift, the upper control arm is now very close to the coil bucket, meaning I have very little droop before the UCA hits the coil bucket, limiting the negative suspension travel pretty substantially. Looks like I'm going to need aftermarket control arms which I can get from SPC for around $1000 CAD. This car modifying business is expensive...
Woohoo!
Woohoo!
I took the X out with the trailer for a road trip this week - camping and mountain biking in Pemberton. Temperatures were down to around -3 last night but the trailer stayed relatively warm inside, though I am thinking about a diesel heater. I'm also thinking about a roof-mount bike rack for the car as my North Shore rack isn't massively convenient with the trailer.
Well, this has been a bit of a saga lately. I’ve been chasing a knocking sound from the front end after some off roading back in December - first photo is of our annual trip to Squamish to get a Christmas tree. Second was to clear creek hot springs - about 3 hours off road each way to get to the springs (piped into hot tubs) and probably a 12 hour driving day overall from North Vancouver, Epic day.
We tracked down some bad front sway bar end links, I pulled off both sway bars. Might refit the front at some point. Noise not fixed so replaced tie rod ends and upper control arms for some aftermarket SPC items to solve some clearance issues between the UCA and coil buckets at full droop.
You can see my issue here:
Also a slightly better look at the SPC UCAs
Noise still not solved so replaced lower control arms. Once this had been done someone decided to run a stop sign and t-bone me, resulting in a scuffed alloy and caved in drivers door and wing just days before a planned trip. Thankfully it drove okay-ish. Cue a trip the garage for 5k worth of body and a new steering knuckle and another tie rod.
Photos don't do the damage justice but the door barely opened and it didn't close properly either. Old boy's car barely had a scratch.
While there they told me the clunking was one of the almost new ball joints - still having slight clearance issues do not massively surprised so they replaced them. Noise STILL NOT GONE. Getting to they end of my tether they’re certain it’s the new strut that’s f
ked so my buddy that did them has got a pair on warranty for me but can’t fit until the end of the month. In the mean time so as not to kill the expensive new ball joints I got to it with the angle grinder tonight to shave down the coil buckets and solved the clearance issues once and for all.
The photos don't fully illustrate it but there's about 10mm of clearance now. Much better.
Can’t wait to get that noisy strut finally taken care of. Sorry, no after photos from the bodywork yet but quite pleased, though I now have one pristine alloy and three crappy ones. I was thinking of painting them black anyway.
We tracked down some bad front sway bar end links, I pulled off both sway bars. Might refit the front at some point. Noise not fixed so replaced tie rod ends and upper control arms for some aftermarket SPC items to solve some clearance issues between the UCA and coil buckets at full droop.
You can see my issue here:
Also a slightly better look at the SPC UCAs
Noise still not solved so replaced lower control arms. Once this had been done someone decided to run a stop sign and t-bone me, resulting in a scuffed alloy and caved in drivers door and wing just days before a planned trip. Thankfully it drove okay-ish. Cue a trip the garage for 5k worth of body and a new steering knuckle and another tie rod.
Photos don't do the damage justice but the door barely opened and it didn't close properly either. Old boy's car barely had a scratch.
While there they told me the clunking was one of the almost new ball joints - still having slight clearance issues do not massively surprised so they replaced them. Noise STILL NOT GONE. Getting to they end of my tether they’re certain it’s the new strut that’s f
ked so my buddy that did them has got a pair on warranty for me but can’t fit until the end of the month. In the mean time so as not to kill the expensive new ball joints I got to it with the angle grinder tonight to shave down the coil buckets and solved the clearance issues once and for all.The photos don't fully illustrate it but there's about 10mm of clearance now. Much better.
Can’t wait to get that noisy strut finally taken care of. Sorry, no after photos from the bodywork yet but quite pleased, though I now have one pristine alloy and three crappy ones. I was thinking of painting them black anyway.
Edited by samj2014 on Thursday 23 March 06:35
Yep, that's why I like it!
A diesel heater is definitely on my list of improvements to make, though it's pretty low on my list of priorities right now. I've had one in a van before and they're great bits of kit, but I'm hesitant to bother unless I buy something decent, not one of those Amazon special pieces of junk.
A diesel heater is definitely on my list of improvements to make, though it's pretty low on my list of priorities right now. I've had one in a van before and they're great bits of kit, but I'm hesitant to bother unless I buy something decent, not one of those Amazon special pieces of junk.
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