OK the swap has begun!!!!!! and here are pics to prove it!!!

getting redy to start....












And this is whatr I think of IFS.....


PARTS!!!!

this is a big job.....everything has been done myself so far...I hope I get some help tomorrow!!!!

............Next day.............................

Well I am done....sort of

I have everything on except the drive shaft, the skidplate, breaks and the wheels!

as I should have known I don;t have enough B.S. So Nick is going to send me the 1" wheel spacers that he has. "Thanks Nick!!!!!" that should solve all my issues. I can't wait to ave this thing on the ground. oh well. here are some more pics!

Looking good. I am a big fan of your theme. Can't wait to see the finished product.

schweet.

Solid. Looks like you need new rotors too..

I think I hurt my neck looking at a couple of those pics.

Love the paint scheme.

Definitely a good looking Xterra before.
Definitely going to be a great looking X now.
Also can't wait to see the new stance

Gonna look great... get the wheels on.

yeah I can't wait to get the wheels on! the wait is killing me!!!!

the stance is going to look strange for a little while because I need to spring the rear over. but I ran out of time. so I think I ma going to dial the fron down till I gett time to re do the spring over. he kevin, do I need to take it to get aligned if I dial the sus down and up????

and is there an easy way to do that? I know they are adjustable. but I don't have the directions for them.

Looking Good
Can't wait for the after pics.

Looking awesome.. Keep us updated..

awesome. by the way, you will loo-ooo-ooo-ooooove what it does for your truck offroad (I mean, duh - but just to add extra emphasis). I went from no SL and 32's (with a body lift) straight to the SAS, and shortly thereafter got my 35" boggers. (I was dual locked with ARBs before and after - so no change there) The difference is incredible. It's amazing what the truck will do now - and what's even more amazing is that I almost never touch my skidplates any more. I just cruuuuise over whatever the truck is pointed at... and the feeling of the suspension flexing underneath you is cool. I like it even driving over speed bumps and stuff sometimes - you can really feel it (especially since I was too cheap to get the front sway bar).

It is definitely worse on the road - but it's still perfectly driveable.

I highly recommend you replace the steering stuff - either with a new custom setup (many threads - search) or with a new Jeep tierod/draglink that'll have fresh ball joints on it.

Look good. After you finish - total cost?

yeah I don't have the sway bar either. so does it still handel well enough on road? I figured that it still has to drive better than the X did with my worn the hell out steering and swaybar. I am really not worried. the only thing i need to do now is dial the front end down a bit.

Kaiser. is there a good like on how to lower the front with the foxx coilovers? will I have to have it re aligned after I do that????

I have the Trophy truck look right now....which is acually kind of cool looking. but I still want it to sit slightly more level. so any help with this will be awesome!.

I can't wait to get it out on the trail and flex the crap out of it!!!!!!

more pics to come!

Lowering the front coilovers is easy... you just get the weight off of them, loosen up the little hex locknut thingys on the lower collar, get the top lock ring freed up on the two upper ones, and then unscrew 'em as far as you need to to lower them down. I'm not sure how you're supposed to set the distance between the top pair and the lower collar... I just kept the distance between the two the same as when we first set it up (with specs from someone else who'd done it before).

As far as realigning, no - it won't make a noticeable difference.

I scared myself when I had to swerve out of the way of someone trying to merge with me a few weeks after I did my conversion so I put my rear sway bar on (I bought the full Calmini rear end kit which comes with extended swaybar disconnects). It doesn't help much, but it's better than no sway bars. 'course having tighter steering helps a lot with that too.

By the way, just in general make sure you check all of the important bolts frequently to make sure none of them are coming out or anything (the trackbar one is important ) - but also keep an eye on the axle mount welds. One weld on the driver side is on the cast iron diff housing.... mine cracked after awhile.

Also, make sure your joints all sit in the middle of their range of motion... I occasionally have to readjust the johnny joints on my radius arms because they twist a little and will be sitting all the way to one side. This is particularly important on the trackbar. I think the reason a lot of people have had trouble with the trackbar is because they didn't keep the two heims lined up with each other correctly to allow for the full range of movement. Even when my truck is flexed out I can grab the trackbar and move it back and forth - no need for extra misalignment room on mine. (I bought some misalignment washers and was going to do the double shear thing etc... but I've been keeping a close eye on it for a year now and haven't seen any indications of trouble... the bolt hasn't moved a bit, the welds are still solid, and the joints still look fine)

Me too. Sucks bein' old and decrepit!

I have wanted to make an "Army" Canteen Xterra just like this, especially after seein' (and drivin') Rondo's "Army" YJ.

Nice work! What kind of tires/rims will you run?

ok guys I need some help. the X drives great! I love it........but it won't stop!

I bled the lines and there is no air in them. but the front breaks are not grabing anywhere near the full force they should. has anyone had this issue? do I need to replace the Master cylendr? or should I still try to find the air in the lines. it acts like air because you can pump the breaks just like if air was in there.
please help with any info. I needed this thing on the road yesterday. oh well.

Don't expect the pedal feel you used to have... these wagoneer calipers are much bigger than the stock Nissan ones and the master cylinder has a hard time filling them up.

I can push my pedal all the way to the floor if I step on it hard - but it stops just fine and I have no plans to change anything.

People have talked about putting in a master cylinder from a Titan or a 300Z - but I don't know if anyone has done it and what kind of adapters it takes.

Clay (silver Fronty SAS'd) did a GM Master Cylinder swap, seemed to work out well.

Did you use those rusty rotors, calipers, and pads as shown when the axle was on the jack stands? If so I would at least get some better rotors and new set of pads to start with.

Make sure the calipers are installed correctly with the bleeder screw on top, seen a couple of people make that mistake and have them outside down.

My brakes work fine with the 35’s and stops on a dime with the stock MC. I used new rotors, pads, and rebulit calipers. My SAS pathy didn’t so much until I install a Proportioning valve on the rear line. ~ $40 from summitracing.com The waggy calipers need more pressure so my reducing the rear pressure more is given to the front.

Same here mine is softer than stock but... it brakes just fine by pushing the pedal further.

I'm sure glad Alpine as I've had you follow me on the trails.

it is ok guys I am just a tard. I figured it out today working on it. I installed the breaks on backwards. but it is all fixed and running fine. I did not use the old nasty ones in the pics. I got new everything for the breaks. it was only 50 bucks for new rebuild calipers and pads! now the X stops just fine. it is not a huge difference from stock. if I really push them I can get it to the floor but if i break as normal it stops without a blink. now all I need to do is install the DS, get an alignment, install the new leafpack and dail in the coilovers. right now it has the trophy truck look. what do you guys think???

THAT IS AWESOME!!!

Is that a custom rack in the rear (spare attachment)? Any more pics of that? And pics of your rig in action? Thanks!

Looking great man...

What leaf packs are you going with for the rear??