water crossings are also a bit easier with an auto tranny than a manual. put it in low range and go, typically somewhere around 10 mph. with a stick on teh other hand you have to be in teh appropriate gear BEFORE hitting the water. shifting under water can let water between the flywheel and clutch and will act like little bearings and not let the clutch fully engage. It will once it dries out, but when it's wet and you nail the gas and barely move while crossing a creek, that is a SUPER BAD feeling.

Haven't had my X seriously stuck yet, but my worst stuck I was wheeling alone in a scout II. Went up over a rock and lost a bead, truck slid and high centered the passengers side on a boulder. all i had was a shovel, so i started digging. took me two days to move enough dirt from under that rock to get it to sink low enough that i could drive off.

Justin

Um, yeah, if you have one of those open transmissions where the manufacturer actually forgets to seal the transmission to the block.

Just wondering for those that have gone to MOAB. Has anyone tried to attempt either the Swamper Eater (a 30 foot cliff that has a reputation for flipping rigs end over end) or the Gator's Back (a huge boulder that requires you to climb at a 50-degree angle)? What about Bowling Alley (a steep climb up a ravine filled with huge sandstone boulders that is unforgiving and can cause you to expeirence diff hang like no other)? I read that in the Jun 04 issue of Fourwheeler Mag. The reason that I added the stuff in parathesis is for the poeple that haven't been there before (like myself) to get an idea of some of the popular things that they have there. Also has anyone seen someone attempt one of the first two things and actually flip??

Worst Stuck

Happened last year (1 year and 1 week ago today exactly, as it so happens), on an otherwise delightful Sunday afternoon.
It was a mud/water pit on the right side with a soft mud path to the immediate left of the pit. I was the lead vehicle, and when I saw the pit I knew I didn't want to go into it (seeing the large boulders that would drop me into the pit reinforced that feeling) , but the path to the left didn't look hard at all. So, I took the soft mud path - but managed to get stopped about where this picture was taken.

I had the drivers side rear and passenger side fron wheels trying to go up on rocks in the mud at the same time, and the passenger rear and drivers side front wheels in the muck, so I just spun tires at the end (you can see the rock the front tire got stuck on in the first pic, just infront of the ARB, tucked under the headlight bar). When I tried to backup, the rear pivoted/slid towards the right setting me up into a line with the exit and the mud pit. After sliding over, I could neither move forward or backward, and I managed to bury myself while trying to get out of the position I was in.
(notice very carefully how the right rear tire is completely submerged)

After assesing the situation, the conclusion was reached that the Xterra could be extracted by winching her forward - but now the problem was that there were no vehicles ahead of me, because I was leading at this point. And with the way the X was stuck there wasn't any room to get another vehicle around me, and of course there was no Snatch block to be found (which would have concluded this situation). So, the decision was made to pull the X Backwards to make room for another vehicle to go around. So I hooked up my tow strap to the hitch by opening up the hatch, lying down in the back on my stomach on my spare tire, and reaching down into the muck to hook it up, while gracefully coming inches from falling completely into the mud myself. And manage to pull my X with the tow strap into this position


There still wasn't enouch room to get another vehicle around, so...
Since we weren't getting far by tugging (since the other vehicle was spinning tires on the muddy path) we hooked up the winch to the hitch and managed to pull the X back so the rear tires were up on the rocks.




Once we got a vehicle in front, we tried winching her out. We got to here (about 4.5 hours after the original stick, if I recall correctly)

before the X wouldn't budge at all with what we had. Being Sunday and all, I had difficulty tracking down someone to help extract me - and when I finally did find someone who could help, they couldn't help until the next day

And then, because of weather (rain - and lots of it) that day turned out to be a 4 day wait
By then the Passenger side tailight was completely submerged under water.

Damages (cause otherwise someone will ask):
$300 for the winch out
$195 for the tow to the Mechanic
$3805 for: fluids flushed (oil, Coolant, Tranny, Transfer case); hubs repacked; differentials drained, inspected, and refilled; Gas Tank replaced (dented when it dragged across a rock as I was finally winched out of the pit); I Broken Shock (eye of shock cracked); replacement of interior carpeting; Battery replaced; Vent control Valve, Vapor Canister, purge volume control valve and EVAP system pressure sensor, a window regulator, and to have the interior cleaned.

Um yeah Jeff I remember that day all to well....

Ouch, I feel for ya man! Reminds me of a poor Hardbody owner on another board that got stuck once near the shore of a lake. When they returned the next day with help to get him out, they had released water from the dam upstream and they found his truck with water about halfway up the sides. Took him a few months including a new transmission to get it back to 100% after that, related issues kept surfacing.



Brent

If I remember correctly they were showing off parts of Upper and Lower Helldorado. An Xterra (in IFS form) will not conquer this trail. If attempted you should plan on having more body damage than an Iraqi tank! External roll cages are common on these trails. Other trails worth mentioning by name are Rusty Nail (which meets up with the Golden Crack and has plenty of 40 - 50 degree sections that last a mile at a time). Another one is The Proving Grounds. Behind the Rocks has been attempted by Xterras but not without using by-passes. On most of the 3.5+ trails in Moab (which are plenty) there are obstacles that can not be conquered by an IFS Xterra.

Roll overs... its happened, just search and find write ups on Jorge and Weelit. Its part of the risk you take but worth the ride!

Rocaholic, those are some really impressive pictures. Just glad it wasn't me stuck with hat $3800 bill

well, seeing as how the Xterra uses an external slave cylinder, there is a rather large hole that could pass water. yes, the boot is a tight fit, but it is still possible, expecially as the boot ages. second point is the drain hole in the bellhousing. why do you think nissan would have put that there if they didn't expect water to get in the bellhousing? (there's actually a sticker down there that says to remove the plug after deep water crossings). Thirdly-if the plug for the bellhousing drain were to come out (it happens quite often) there would again be an open path for water into-you guessed it- the bellhousing. Water in the bellhousing+shifting=bad things. I'd rater play it safe.

Justin