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FAQ'S
Lifts
1) Install a custom stereo
2) Install a CB radio
3) Install a Body Lift
4) Install a Suspension Lift
5) Install a light bar
6) Install a cold air intake
7) Disclaimer & Legal Notices - Please Read!
Please remember all instructions are for a 2000 Xterra- they may or may not work with other models / years. If you have questions, please submit them on the FAQ page.
So lets get that Xterra built!
Ok, so you want to put a custom deck in your Xterra. Luckily, this is a very easy and extremely affordable mod. The first thing you need to do is get a stereo - I personally have a Sony Xplod. Nothing massive, it was $100 at Wal-Mart. If you are looking to really shake with power, you may want to choose something more powerful- Note however, that I have never had any issues with the Sony, and I have never found it lacking.
I would also recommend you buy the wiring harness and consider a dash kit as well. Both of these make the install much, much easier.
Ok, lets get at it. The first thing you need to do is start opening up the dash, to remove the old stereo. If you remove the ashtray, you will see four screw heads. Go ahead and pull the bottom 2 (should be black). The black trim around the stereo will then pop off, revealing 4 screws that hold the stereo unit in place. Remove these and the stereo unit will slide out. You have to disconnect the power and speaker wires, but then the old stereo is free.
Now its time to get the new stereo ready to mount. On my X, the stereo was a double tall unit, so I had to go with the dash mount kit. Unscrew the old stereo from the mounting bracket, and put the dash kit and new stereo on. At this you should splice the wires from your wiring kit into the wires coming from the back of the stereo itself.
Lets get it mounted! Go ahead and put it back in the car, plugging in the speaker wires to the speaker wire receiver in the dash. Plug in the antenna and run the power wire through your fire wall to your battery- I recommend going to the passenger side for this - From the engine compartment, stick a straightened hanger through the firewall, reach up and pull it down with another hanger, attach the power wire securely, and pull it through.
Reassemble your dash and just like that you have a custom stereo! Congrats!
Ok, so you want to talk to some people over a CB - no problem - this too is a very easy modification. The first step here is to pick up a CB - I have a Midland 1001z. It was $35 on Amazon. You'll also need an Antenna - I have a 4ft Firestick II, and all necessary wiring.
Next Step - decide where you are going to mount the radio. I used the empty space under my stereo deck - it fit perfectly - I would definitely recommend doing this at the same time as adding a stereo. I simply cut a small notch in the plastic dash mount kit so it would fit right in.
Go ahead and mount the antenna- after much research I decided to go with a hood mount- I bought a perfect bracket that bolted to my hood rail - it has been very sturdy and performed very well. Wire the coax from the back of the radio through the firewall to the antenna. From the engine compartment, stick a straightened hanger through the firewall, reach up and pull it down with another hanger, attach the wire securely, and pull it through.
Now run the power wire through the firewall as well - mount your mic, reassemble your dash and you're done!
How To 3: How to install a body lift.
So the Body Lift (BL) for the Xterra is a tricky thing. There is only one company that makes them, regardless of who it comes from, and as such it is a monopolistic situation. The kit sells for $185 + Shipping - if you piece the parts together from a hardware store, you can do it for around $70. So if you'd rather just pay and get it done quickly, buy the kit. It is available at 4x4parts.com. If you'd rather save the money and piece it together, here are the instructions for that route: Click Here. Either way, you going to need installation instructions. Even if you buy the kit, for all intensive purposes, you get no instructions. You get one sheet of paper, with unnecessary step, and lacking necessary steps. Here are some useful instructions: Click Here. Good Luck and may all your body bolts come out smoothly!
How To 4: How to install a suspension lift.
A suspension lift (SL) it one of the easiest and cheapest mods you can get for the Xterra. At least this one is ;)
Let me explain- a suspension lift pre-droops your suspension, so your whole car is higher - let me be clear- a suspension lift does not allow you to put bigger tires on you car - that is what a body lift is for. But if you're looking to get a 2" SL for around $70, you're in the right place!
It only takes about an hour!
All you need to do is buy some some shackles to lift the rear of the car- the ones for the 2000 Xterra are right here. The shackles go in between the end of your leaf packs and the frame. So you need to do jacking in 2 parts...because you have to get the weight off the shackle, in order to get it off. You should loosen the shackle bolts first. The best way is to jack the frame up until the shackle is loose and put it onto stands. Go ahead and remove the stock shackles-then jack it up another couple of inches...and set it onto stands. This way you can get the longer shackles to line up with the holes properly. Use a separate jack - even the one that came with the truck to jack the axle as needed to fine tune the leaf springs' ends until the new shackle's holes line up properly with the holes on the car. Put the new shackles on, and set it down.
Alright, that is good and all, but now you're truck is leaning forward 2 inches.
Here is a document I came across - it explains how to adjust your torsion bars to level the truck -
**DISCLAIMER** There are no guarantees in this HOWTO, expressed or implied. I am not responsible for ANY damage, troubles, problems, malfunctions or whatever in doing or related to doing the below procedure. I am not a trained technician or an auto mechanic. I am only relaying my own experience in doing this procedure. Be aware that it is possible that doing this modification will void your warranty. Will it void it? Probably not, but this is a disclaimer so I fell that I need to say this. NOTE: If you do not know what the purpose of adjusting ones torsion bars is, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS!!!!!!! If you need to do this process, you should know you need to do it, what it accomplishes and what its effects on the performance, stability, reliability and warranty of your vehicle are.
Things you need to do the job: 1. Magic Marker (preferably a sharpie marker) 2. Tape Measure 3. 19mm socket with wrench (preferably a ½" wrench or breaker bar) 4. 19mm wrench 5. Pen and paper.
How to do it: 1. Make sure your X is parked on level ground.
2. Use the tape measure to measure from the ground to the bottom of the frame on each side of the truck. Write these measurements down. You can also use the distance from the top of the tire to the frame.
3. Locate torsion bar adjuster bolt and housing. This is on the crossmember in the middle of the truck- 1 on each side.
4. There are 2 nuts on top of the adjuster bolt. You need the 19mm wrench to loosen the top nut or "lock nut"?, and move it up the bolt about half an inch or so. Though the top nut is a normal turning nut, if you are laying under the truck looking up at it, it turns the opposite direction then the adjuster bolt. (Remember! Righty tighty, lefty loosy, BUT the reverse is true if you are laying underneath looking up!) NOTE: Make sure that you hold the adjuster nut in place with the wrench while you turn the adjuster bolt.
5. Mark the bolt head of the adjuster bolt (the big brass looking nut looking thing on the bottom) with a small straight line with the sharpie marker on the side closest to you. (Mark ½ the top of the bolt to the edge and down the side). This marks where your start point is for turning the bolt.
6. Begin turning the bolt head with the 19mm socket wrench. If you are under the truck looking up at the adjuster bolt, it needs to be turned clockwise to tighten, counter clockwise to loosen (righty tighty, lefty loosy). Remove the wrench every two or so turns to make sure you are lined up and count the turns as you do. A 360 degree turn equals one time around.
7. You should start out with 3-4 full turns and see what you get, measure again and compare to what you started out with and keep turning if need be. The more turns on the bottom adjuster bolt head, the higher it is. This being said, it is not necessarily wise to crank them through the roof. There are a few schools of thought on how much you should turn it. My take is that you should turn it just enough to clear the tires you are attempting to fit. Just remember the more you turn it the more it limits you tires downward travel or articulation. In other words, the more you crank it the less your front tires can droop down when offroading, which is bad. So only do it as much as you really need to. The other issue is wether or not you will be able to get an alignment. You can crank until the bumperstops (look at the arm coming from the engine compartment to the front tires - its a small round half dome on top of this arm) is touching. But you will not be able to get an alignment. You can get an alignment with about 1/4" of lift. Not to mention that at or more then 1.5" your truck can become a bit unsteady if you are not used to it and this may put undo stress on you CV joints and other parts of your suspension. You have been warned. (See Disclaimer)
8. When finished turning the adjuster bolt head, tighten the lock nut back down. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
9. "Rinse and repeat" on the other side of the truck. Follow the same steps turning the exact same amounts on both sides of the truck.
10. Bounce the front end of your truck a few times and then take it for a spin around the block and make the front bounce around and flex on curbs or whatever. Now take measurements off the frame where it begins to curve in the front. The 2 sides *should*? match in height. It is VERY important you drive it around before measuring, otherwise it looks quite deceiving as to how much you have adjusted up and if they are level.
With a stock or little modified X (i.e. no bullbar, tumbleweed guard, skid plates or any other heavy objects mounted on your X) you should get about 1" to 1.5" of lift from this process. Your results may vary. It is also recommended that you get an alignment after doing this procedure. Not critical, but a REALLY good idea.
Ok that should be it. Good Luck - and if you have any questions submit them on the FAQ page- otherwise reference this article.
How To 5: How to install a light bar.
So a light bar is a really cool and really easy mod for the Xterra, since it already has a nice roof rack. The best thing to do is buy a 1" x 1" piece of aluminum long enough to go across the roof rack. I painted it black. Drill evenly spaced holes for however many lights you want to mount. Bolt the bar to the roof rack. I mounted 4 lights. I brought the wires from 2 together so I only had to run 2 wires down to the car. I brought these 2 wires down along the sloped arm of the rack. At this point I drilled a hole in the roof, under the foot of the roof rack, and ran my wires through it. They continued down along the windshield frame, behind the plastic, until they were behind the dash. Then I ran them to the switches, and from there to the battery. From the engine compartment, stick a straightened hanger through the firewall, reach up and pull it down with another hanger, attach the power wire securely, and pull it through. To ground the lights, you can screw the ground wires to the aluminum bar, and run 1 ground wire down as well. Test it out and hopefully it works!
How To 6: How to install a cold air intake (CAI).
A CAI is a great way to increase your Xterra's performance and increase gas mileage. There are several brands that are very popular, including Airaid, AEM, K&N, Nismo, and Volant. I personally have an Airaid, and I have been very happy with it. If you ever plan on putting a snorkel on (which is next on my list :D), you'll want to get the volant, because it is the only one that seals. Essentially all you will be doing is replacing your stock air box with the new filter system. Have fun!
7: Disclaimer and Legal Notices.
Ok so here's the disclaimer and legal notices. I am not responsible for anything you do ever, regarding your Xterra or anything else. Anything you choose to do, you do of your own free will. I cannot be held accountable for anything you try. I am not a mechanic or a technician. I have no official knowledge of anything regarding Xterras, but am simply relating my own experiences. DO EVERYTHING AT YOUR OWN RISK. ANYTHING YOU DO MAY VOID YOUR WARRANTY OR RUIN YOUR TRUCK. Death or injury, serious or otherwise may occur if you try anything on this page. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.