for any of you who are serious about making your Xterra big, a steering upgrade is vital, as our xterras along wit the rest of nissans fine trucks have weak steering. centerlinks wear out fast, break easily. a high lift and big tires w/o beefin up the steering is asking for trouble. i just ordered a custom centerlink from a guy i know that makes them, he mods/reinforces the stock ones. when you install it, you send him your stock one back. this particular center link is more heavy duty than calmini's($489 not shipped), and less than 1/2 the price. so, anyone serious about makin your xterra large and in charge, this is something you will need, either before or after something breaks. pm me if you want one, ill get you a quote

One of the best place's (to me the best place) to get your steering is L&P Performance (http://www.lpperformance.com).

You are right about the steering be weak, but it is only vital when you do a SL. There are guys still running the stock steering. And they wheel alot and hard.

here are some pics of one of the CL's mentioned above(1st one he made)
mine got shipped today, install shouldnt be hard, i just gotta drill the idler and pitman arms to 5/8", i wonder if the drill i have at the house can do it...


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/Ricer-X/CL1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/Ricer-X/CL2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/Ricer-X/CL3.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/Ricer-X/CL4.jpg

got the centerlink on last nite, took 2/3hrs. drilling out the pitman and idler arms to 5/8 was the hardest part, but a pnuematic drill sure helps. i have no ball joints on my pitman and idler anymore, just a hinge with teflon bearings in it. what little bump steer i had is non existent now, the handling/steering is so incredibly solid now it was weird when i first drove it. the centerlink was ever so slightly longer than stock, alignment this morning took care of that. so tonite i will be picking up and installing my idler arm brace(free stuff rules) and then i think ill be set for a while as far as steering goes. im sending my stock one back to bryan(fabricator) so if anyone wants one, he will have another reliatively soon.

i wonder if the drill i have at the house can do it...

not a snowballs chance in hell, in fact, even less of a chance than that!