I have a 2003 xterra 4wd with stock rims
since i head up north to VT/ maine/ NH for skiing alot in the winter and with unexpected storms .... I figured i need some snow tires as the tire I have now are good but I'd like much better grip especially when when cutting through the notches in the white mountains. That and where I work is a no salt area in boston in a hilly area.

Tires I have now are all weather yokohama Geolandar H/T-S?? I believe

I have 265/70/16 with stock 6 lug 5.5" pattern

What size rims should i start to shop around for ? 15" 16"?
what size winter/snow tires???

If I can get some cheap steelies , great.... but for a quieter ride maybe some better rims

thanks !

Do you offroad it too?

If you do, I would go with 15" steel wheels. Check out Cragar Soft 8's.

For tires, well I don't think you need studded ones or anything - any good A/T tire should be fine for snow - depends on how deep.

I have a 2003 xterra 4wd with stock rims
since i head up north to VT/ maine/ NH for skiing alot in the winter and with unexpected storms .... I figured i need some snow tires as the tire I have now are good but I'd like much better grip especially when when cutting through the notches in the white mountains. That and where I work is a no salt area in boston in a hilly area.

Tires I have now are all weather yokohama Geolandar H/T-S?? I believe

I have 265/70/16 with stock 6 lug 5.5" pattern

What size rims should i start to shop around for ? 15" 16"?
what size winter/snow tires???

If I can get some cheap steelies , great.... but for a quieter ride maybe some better rims

thanks !

If you just want snow capabilities, the stock rims are fine (You can wax them btw)

For the less than the price of new rims, you can make some modifications that will greatly enhance your snow performance.

I would recommend the following:

Do a 2" Body Lift, add a set of longer rear shackles, adjust your torsion bars to lift the front end ~ 1.5", swap on a set of 305/70/16 BFG AT ko tires.

That will make you almost unstoppable compared to what you have now.

The 2" BL makes room for the larger tires by essentially raising your wheel wells more out of the way.

The 1.5" front and rear lift gets your frame up out of the snow so you are less likely to high-center, etc.

The taller tires pick your diffs and axles up out of the snow, and lift the frame, etc, up out of the snow more as well...AND they raise the center of the tire's leading edge, so it climbs OVER the snow a lot better...AND the longer contact patch of the taller tires gets better traction on low traction surfaces (Think tank tread).

The WIDER tread provides more lateral bite, and, better flotation on the snow to avoid bogging down.

In the old days, skinnier tires were used for snow, but, skinnier tires were used more in general back then, etc....before modern tire construction made a larger tire work better, etc.

ahh... just to clarify... i dont offroad it.... :)
so the response from TJ TJ might not apply to me

ahh... just to clarify... i dont offroad it.... :)
so the response from TJ TJ might not apply to me

Well, sure it does, if you ALSO off roaded it I would have added longer shocks, skid plates, etc.

:D

The above makes it killer in snow.

If you want to downgrade to less killer, limit the tires to 32" diameter instead of 33's....skip the BL, keep the shackle and t-bar adjustment for ground clearance.

If you want to have your winter set on different rims (A spare set), then for the above down grade, get 32x11.5/15 BFG AT ko's on the above recommended steelies.

:D

If the snow is not deep, and is hard packed/icy, then do a set of Blizzaks instead of the AT ko's.

Another thing - if you use a 15" wheel, the tires are cheaper.

Do you offroad it too?

If you do, I would go with 15" steel wheels. Check out Cragar Soft 8's.

For tires, well I don't think you need studded ones or anything - any good A/T tire should be fine for snow - depends on how deep.

I looked at Cragar soft 8s as suggested. But I was surprised to see "6X4.5"". I thought my 16 inch alloy wheels were 6x5.5. But at the link below they say these fit 00-08 Xs. ????

http://www.supertruckusa.com/products/92601_523.htm

Here ya go

http://summitracing.com/parts/CRR-3975860P/

Here ya go

http://summitracing.com/parts/CRR-3975860P/

Thanks Shaun! Hopefully it will be at 2 or 3 years before I need new tires but it is nice to know what to plan for. If I keep these rims in good shape I hopefully could at least get enough money to make the rim swap even money.

I looked at Cragar soft 8s as suggested. But I was surprised to see "6X4.5"". I thought my 16 inch alloy wheels were 6x5.5. But at the link below they say these fit 00-08 Xs. ????

http://www.supertruckusa.com/products/92601_523.htm

haha that is funny cause the 00-04 have one bolt pattern and the 05+ have a different bolt pattern....

how do you adjust the torsion bars to lift the front end?

how do you adjust the torsion bars to lift the front end?

http://image.fourwheeler.com/f/9294272+w750+st0/129_0301_03z+nissan_xterra+torsion_bar.jpg

thats the location of the bolt you need to tighten, it goes through the cross member and 2 nuts, put a wrench on the top nut, then tighten the bottom bolt with a socket and it will rise...depends on the sagging that has occurred in your x.

do i need to jack the x up before i do this or can i just go for it?

This upcoming winter will be the first one since 1990 that I haven't driven a front wheel drive vehicle. My BFG Longtrails will be 6 months old. I attached a pic so you can see the tread style. Since my X is a 2WD I would appreciate any tips for winter driving. Sandbags? Thanks!

when you do work on the torsion bars, what does it do to your suspension and/or aligment?