I need some feedback from the Xterra community in general. Would anyone be interested in a new front end for the X? I am talking about a long travel suspension kit that cycles 12-14 inches on a 1 inch uniball. It would also have a coil over shock conversion on 2.5 inches of lift and new upper and lower control arms with an increase of 6 inches to the front wheel base. New axles and fenders would be needed of course.

What say you?

From who ?
And where are you going to find a CV joint that works with that much travel ?

Sorry Ian. I have to give you one of those cheeky "I'm not at liberty to say at the moment" responses. I will say they are a reputable company and have some very successful aftermarket kits for a range of other vehicles.

As far as the CV joints, I'm not the engineer, I can't answer that. I just need to gage what the overall interest in something like this would be. I will be able to post more data later. Let's just say I am under agreement at the moment not to give out too much info.

That being said, are you open to the possiblity of something like that?

Nope.
Your description matches Total Chaos\' kit exactly but 4WD was not possible with their system (where you going to put the axle shaft?). It will also be pricey, and for that kind of money I'll put a solid axle under it and buy a lot of beer.

Travel like this is tempting though...

For what I suspect such a kit would cost, I'll go solid axle

A SAS swap would be cheaper and deliver better results. IFS long travel kits are $$$.

Damn Yota's

That is one Ugly-ass bumper on the Yota.
I would kill for that kind of suspension travel, but the Bank account wont allow it.
SAS would be easier/cheaper, etc..

Price is an obvious concern. As your description sounds like the TC effort I'll assume you are crypticly refering to that. Your post is pretty vague when it comes to some of the details. How about price? How much lift? Are they using the lower pivot points and using the lower controll arm in the stock location and just disconnecting the t-bars?

How much fabrication custom is involved in instalation in man hours?

Again, I'm guessing that you are talking about the TC option.

The lift spindle on the prototype requires the use of a 17in wheel and can clear a 34. I would like to see them be able to clear a 33 with a 16incher at most. At the time I saw the kit, they still hadn't done any steering,center link idler arm or pitman arm modification. I did like the tie rods though.

The rear end of the X requires a body lift to clear a 33inch tire. Getting extended travel out of the rear end and clearing those tires (that they tuck) is going to be a problem because of the gas tank. Short of a fuel cell, you are going to have restricted bump (up) travel.

What's wrong with torsion bars? For most aplications, a coil over concersion is costly overkill. You are talking about $600/per Sway-A-Way coil over. This is a VERY cost concious group. A 300M t-bar at $295 and 7100 shocks @ 2 X $175 would do the trick Vs. coilovers at $1,200.

I've seen the numbers for this kit tossed around in the 5-6 thousand dollar range. If you itemize the costs that is a lot of dough.

Upper arms - Custom from billett from a reputable fabricator at MOST - $500

A custom lower controll arm as offered in the F150 done in Petersen's mag would run at MOST -$750

Tie rod assemblies - ?$200-300?

Full centerlink working with modded idler arm and pitman arm - $500?

The previously mentioned coil overs - $1200

Various hardware and incendentals - 100-150?

Total that up and then factor in the unknown price of the spindle at X # of $.

Then add the cost for a Deaver rear leaf pack at $500 or so and another $350 for your 10 inch stroke rear shocks you now hovering in the 5k range.

Are we going to bolt through the floor and go with a 12-14inch stroke shock? Then we're going to have to fab a rear shock cage. $$$$

Now you are going to need the required fiberglass fenders - $450.

Do you want to paint them yourself in a matching factory clearcoat? Have you ever prepped and installed a set of fiberglass fenders? - $300-$400


The costs keep on mounting.

You can trim those costs be emiinating the need for the spindle lift and the coil overs.

A comperable lift for a Toyota with the coil overs and without the steering is $3,500. Subtract that $1,200 and turn it into 300M bars and that brings you to a very reasonable $2,600. That's a big difference.

Here's a $3,600 kit from JD Fab for the new F150. Bigger arms and the best shock you can buy.

JD Fab

One of the problems with aftermarket companies getting vehicles for free (actually a dollar) from manufacturers is that they their eyes are wide open with posibilities and the sky is the limit for them. The vehicle costs them nothing, they are able to manufacturer products in-house at the minimal expense of hourly labor and matterials and they can shoot for the stars.

Often times these "$1" cars show up in for sale ads with all of their prototyped aftermarket goodies. That is how a manufacturer can recoup some of the money spent on R&D. The TC truck, being a joint effort with Nissan has been making the rounds on the Supercross circut and Nissan has been able to show off a heavily modified Frontier that looks great with lots of expensive goodies.

It's great if you got the truck for a buck and have a shop full of tools,aluminum and steel and the personell to use them. But I think that it would be a lot more practical of they actualy used their extensive know how and experience as well as the truck to make a more practical kit with a little bit more real world affordability.

I just don't see more than a couple of people throwing down five or six thousand dollars for this.

I miss mine.