Ok I've done some searching but not coming on this forum too much and being familiar I got easily lost.. Just a couple easy quick questions for everyone..

Car in question: 2003 Supercharged 3.3L XTerra with stock 17's

Wants:

Budget lift (PML) .. which shackles do I need and can anyone link to a DIY on the forum?? I need a DIY for the torsion bars as well..

Tires: Stock tires are shot and want some aggressive yet street worthy tires to go with my new 1.5" lift. What can I fit on the stock 17's (gunmetal OEM) and not rub in the least?

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.. again I apologize I searched around but I'm just getting lost and confusing myself. Funny thing is the XTerra is my fiance's car and she wants to lift it up and go bigger on the tires! Found me a keeper, now I just gotta' get it done for her ;-) I'm a DIYer, so please links and pics help.

Cheers!

Brian

Well, I'd go to


www.4x4parts.com

for the shackles.

As for tires, an aggressive street worthy tire like the BFG AT ko is perfect.

You can fit ANY size of the AT ko for example that is meant for a 17" rim, 32" or less in diameter, and 12" or less in width....but 17" rims have few choices.....so you'll be stuck looking at 265/70/17 or 275/65/17-ish sizes.



You will need to trim some of the soft plastic inside the FRONT wheel wells, right where your lower mud flaps used to mount to, to allow tire swing room, but that's about it.

If you want larger than 32's...you can add a 2" Body Lift.

There are several excellent write ups in this forum on t-bars, BL's, etc.

Will she (or you?) ever go off road, or is this just to "Un-Soccer Mom" it?

:D

Primary reason is to un-soccer mom the XTerra... but we've been interested in doing some offroading lately. Really just want the simple 1.5-2" lift and some meaty tires... she's due for some new rubber so I figured why not lift it a little and get some more meat on there.

I seriously can't find the DIY's I need for the shackles and the torsion lift... can anyone help with that? I'm ready to order the shackles and to the torsion lift, is there anything special I need for this install in a driveway?

Funny thing is I drive a 06 VW GTI and it's lowered a bit, and in response to my lowering of the dub, my fiance demands her car goes up... lol, then it got me started on what I would do to it... first lift, then tires, then an exhaust, then an intake or something as the supercharger is fun as hell at WOT

Thanks for the initial help!

as for tires, i run goodyear wrangler silent armor

i LOVE these tires, im on my second pair, got 60k out of the first set without rotating them

I've heard good things about those as well... but how big of a tire can I put on the stock 17's with the PML 1.5"? I don't want to rub, I just want them to fill out the wheel well when I bring it up 1.5"

http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2600&highlight=index+torsion+bars

to learn how to crank the t-bars.

the shackles are pretty straight forward idk if anyone has done a write up on them.


http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5256&highlight=shackle+install
this one has info on leaf pack install, but it shows how to loosen up tension on the leafs so that you can remove the shackle.

you cant realy go up to far in tire size unless you do a BL (body lift )

first gens can fit 31's with trimming i believe.

I can't up the tire size even a little with just the PML?? recon thanks so much for the links and info, that's exactly what I needed!

I can't up the tire size even a little with just the PML?? recon thanks so much for the links and info, that's exactly what I needed!

Not really, as the PML, like all suspension lifts, just raises the RIDE HEIGHT.

This means that on uneven terrain, speed bumps, etc....the tire will rise into the wheel well EXACTLY like it did before the lift....and, hit what ever it would have hit anyway.

So a SL makes larger tires fit at the mall, but, won't prevent rub/provide more clearance on non-flat surfaces.

Adding bumpstop extensions prevents that type of rub, and is a cheap fix for SL's that are to fit larger tires...but, the extensions merely rob you of uptravel/hurt articulation by not allowing the axle to move up with the terrain.

A BODY LIFT is what you need to make room for larger tires.

32's will fit a 1st gen with only plastic trimming inside the front wells...a 5 minute mod....very easy.

For LARGER than 32's, you typically add a 2" BL, which allows up to about 34's, but 33's are the choice of most for a daily driver.

An X with 33x12.5's, a PML and a 2" BL, or 32x11.5's and a PML, can be pretty capable...and are popular combos.

:D


The primary purpose of the BL is clearance for the tires...and taller tires raise the entire truck, diffs and all. This allows your taller TIRES to improve your ground clearance for both the axles/diffs, frame, break over, approach and departure angles, etc.

The primary purpose of an SL is ground clearance for the FRAME. It improves the break over, approach and departure angles by making the frame higher relative to the axles.

The BL has almost no impact on your center of gravity, as the body is light compared to the frame.

The SL has a noticeable impact upon your center of gravity, as it raises the frame (Which includes the body as well...)....and increases the polar moment of the sprung weight of the truck, etc...

By COMBINING the BL with an SL, you get the benefits of both.

:D

wow, awesome info! Thanks! Must be honest, the truck has yet to see offroad conditions, but we will hopefully hit some light terrain with it when I am done. I just want to bring it up an inch or two and put some beefier tires as I need new ones anyways. Next up is some exhaust to make that 3.3L a little more pronounced. Love the supercharged on this thing, really screams at WOT!

So you think 32x11.5 will fit with a PML and nothing else? I might just stick with 31s... I don't want it to rub, the lady will have a fit as it's her daily driver

wow, awesome info! Thanks! Must be honest, the truck has yet to see offroad conditions, but we will hopefully hit some light terrain with it when I am done. I just want to bring it up an inch or two and put some beefier tires as I need new ones anyways. Next up is some exhaust to make that 3.3L a little more pronounced. Love the supercharged on this thing, really screams at WOT!

So you think 32x11.5 will fit with a PML and nothing else? I might just stick with 31s... I don't want it to rub, the lady will have a fit as it's her daily driver

32's will fit with no PML, and no BL....stock.....

....all you need to do is cut off a little soft plastic at the rear of the front wheel wells, the little ledge the lower mud flaps used to attach to...which makes the room you need for the 32's to swing through.

If you add a PML, it simply clears by more, at ride height....under compression, etc...it clears exactly the same as stock.

If you add a BL, it clears by more all the time, including under compression.

But for 32's you don't NEED anything but that little trim.

You CAN do the PML and/or BL of course anyway.

:D

Hi. Im in the EXACT same situation, except my SC 03 is red..lol.
Im also going to do the same thing.. how did your project fair out? did you end up doing any of the recomendations? any pictures? how was the experience?
Hope you reply as im doing it very soon since my tires are also bald..lol

Hi. Im in the EXACT same situation, except my SC 03 is red..lol.
Im also going to do the same thing.. how did your project fair out? did you end up doing any of the recomendations? any pictures? how was the experience?
Hope you reply as im doing it very soon since my tires are also bald..lol

I'm also in similiar situation. I have 31X1.5r15's on my 2000x, and I removed the plastic at the rear end of the front wheel well (easy) because my chains were trying to rip them off even after some trimming.

I also took off the front plastic trim at the front of the wheel well that covers the ends of the bumper. This way I can put some 32's on and still use my chains for going up the canyon. I plan on completely replacing my front bumper when I can afford it.

LOL

Yeah, tire chains require a bit of room too, typically, around another inch clearance to be safe....so, yes, with 31's and chains, fine, with 32's and chains, you'll be trimming more than most people with 32's.....and say go for the 2" BL at that point in fact, to be on the safe side.

still haven't gotten around to doing the PML and 32s... maybe before winter rolls around!

Noob question....

Easier to do the 2 inch BL before the PML or the PML before the BL? Or does it not make a bit of difference?

Gracias.

Noob question....

Easier to do the 2 inch BL before the PML or the PML before the BL? Or does it not make a bit of difference?

Gracias.

Zero difference....

Except that the BL gives more room to work on things...so for me...I do it first....

Also, if doing larger tires, the BL first makes sense.

wow, awesome info! Thanks! Must be honest, the truck has yet to see offroad conditions, but we will hopefully hit some light terrain with it when I am done. I just want to bring it up an inch or two and put some beefier tires as I need new ones anyways. Next up is some exhaust to make that 3.3L a little more pronounced. Love the supercharged on this thing, really screams at WOT!

So you think 32x11.5 will fit with a PML and nothing else? I might just stick with 31s... I don't want it to rub, the lady will have a fit as it's her daily driver

I'm also looking into doing the PML, just finishing up getting some more info for DIY before I start. I have a 2003 V6 XE with 16" alloys. Everyone is telling me to run 265/75/16's which equal out to about 31.6" and about 10.5" wide. On the stock wheels, you won't notice the width as much but I (like you) want to raise it a little bit to give it that beefier look. Even 32" tires usually fall under 32". They're probably about 31.5-31.8". If you google a "Tire Calculator", it will let you put the metric sizes in and get a result in inches. It really helped me figure out what tires I want. When I run the bigger (taller) tire, I know I will encounter some rubbing. If you take a look at your front fender near the tire, where everyone talks about doing the trimming. You can see the lines in the molding that you can trim. And, if you use your imagination, you can see you wont even notice a difference in the molding. You can also tell it will take like 5 minutes to trim both sides.

I know this isn't really advice for what your looking for but I figured as I am embarking on the same project relatively soon, some insight might help.

Good luck!

I'm running 33's and a PML without problems or a forsaken BL.

I'm running 33's and a PML without problems or a forsaken BL.

You must have done some cutting and NEVER hit ANY kind of bump