woody
06-03-2008, 11:34 PM
I guess it is time to actually get to the story of my wonderful Maxine. When Maxine was purchased, it wasn’t supposed to be mine. We already own a Nissan Armada as well, and that was my baby.
My wife had recently been laid off and we were in need of bill reduction. She drove a Subaru Baja Turbo, but it only seats 4. I have 3 children from a previous marriage. We came across the Xterra and got a REALLY good deal on it.
When we got home, I started doing the research. We knew we had to sell our other toys, but I found many sites with information on the Xterra and modifying them. That is when I found RONIN and eventually met James. After meeting James, the conversation with my wife went something like this……..
Me: I am going to lift the X to take it off road.
Her: what kind of body damage are you going to do?
Me: Define body damage.
Her: Dents, large scratches, etc.
Me: You only need to be concerned if I come home and tell you I need to learn how to replace glass.
Her: Well, I can’t drive a vehicle to work with body damage. I have to uphold a certain image. (*Note: She is a Sales Manager for Coldwell Banker).
Me: Here are the keys to the Armada. It will never see a dirt road in its life.
So, now I get the Xterra. The Armada was already named “The Pig” by the family. Well, the Xterra needed a name. She is an 2003 and had 87K miles when we bought her. I passionately called her Maxine – like the grumpy old cartoon lady! It was perfect.
Here she is stock with the mud flaps removed.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02381.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/Stock-Dec07.jpg
At Christmas, I get the CB of my dreams and order the body lift from someone on Xterrafirma. Now, I want to get the lift on, but it is cold in my garage and outside, and I have surgery coming up to remove some hardware from my collar bone (another long story). We got the body lift on the weekend before my surgery.
I got a smokin’ deal on come Shrick sliders too, so those got purchased and put on. Only followed that up with a phenomenal deal on a Shrock bumper as well.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02510.jpg
Then the waiting game took place. I had already purchased the Crager Soft 8s and Mickey Thompson tires, but they were sitting in my garage. I was waiting for Uncle Sam to give me some money back that I loaned him the year before in taxes. Well, it finally came and Automotive Customizers were called. 3” AAL Lift kit, please.
Now came the part of finding time to get this done. See, James loves to work on these vehicles, as do I. However, I try to focus on one at a time where James would rather have the whole Rocky Mtn community come over so we can work on all of them at once. So, we started working at 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon. By Sunday lunch, all was done.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02547.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02548.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02549.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02550.jpg
Well, not quite. The front was sitting a little low at this time. Needed to re-index, but Cyclemut had just visually aligned in my driveway and I had steering components on the way. It was decided to leave it as be and wait till the steering came in.
The steering came in but I could never find the time to get it installed. Went wheeling Metberry Gulch, and after bending one TRA to 90°, I have one HD TRA installed and one stock. Two weekends later we took care of the CL and other TRA. Now I just need to get her aligned again.
Ain’t she purty! She got a new stereo put in her. There are a couple of other items I am going to do to her, but the wife has asked I wait a little. I have spent 3.5 mortgage payments in mods for her, and the wife wants some attention. I am ok with that. Maxine has gone from stock to lightly modified in ~5 mos. This is going to be a summer of fun!
There is still some minor work to be done, but she is getting there. I don’t have an updated pic, but you can see some in Skott’s Metberry trip report.
-=woody=-
My wife had recently been laid off and we were in need of bill reduction. She drove a Subaru Baja Turbo, but it only seats 4. I have 3 children from a previous marriage. We came across the Xterra and got a REALLY good deal on it.
When we got home, I started doing the research. We knew we had to sell our other toys, but I found many sites with information on the Xterra and modifying them. That is when I found RONIN and eventually met James. After meeting James, the conversation with my wife went something like this……..
Me: I am going to lift the X to take it off road.
Her: what kind of body damage are you going to do?
Me: Define body damage.
Her: Dents, large scratches, etc.
Me: You only need to be concerned if I come home and tell you I need to learn how to replace glass.
Her: Well, I can’t drive a vehicle to work with body damage. I have to uphold a certain image. (*Note: She is a Sales Manager for Coldwell Banker).
Me: Here are the keys to the Armada. It will never see a dirt road in its life.
So, now I get the Xterra. The Armada was already named “The Pig” by the family. Well, the Xterra needed a name. She is an 2003 and had 87K miles when we bought her. I passionately called her Maxine – like the grumpy old cartoon lady! It was perfect.
Here she is stock with the mud flaps removed.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02381.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/Stock-Dec07.jpg
At Christmas, I get the CB of my dreams and order the body lift from someone on Xterrafirma. Now, I want to get the lift on, but it is cold in my garage and outside, and I have surgery coming up to remove some hardware from my collar bone (another long story). We got the body lift on the weekend before my surgery.
I got a smokin’ deal on come Shrick sliders too, so those got purchased and put on. Only followed that up with a phenomenal deal on a Shrock bumper as well.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02510.jpg
Then the waiting game took place. I had already purchased the Crager Soft 8s and Mickey Thompson tires, but they were sitting in my garage. I was waiting for Uncle Sam to give me some money back that I loaned him the year before in taxes. Well, it finally came and Automotive Customizers were called. 3” AAL Lift kit, please.
Now came the part of finding time to get this done. See, James loves to work on these vehicles, as do I. However, I try to focus on one at a time where James would rather have the whole Rocky Mtn community come over so we can work on all of them at once. So, we started working at 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon. By Sunday lunch, all was done.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02547.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02548.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02549.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/triumphwoody/Maxine/DSC02550.jpg
Well, not quite. The front was sitting a little low at this time. Needed to re-index, but Cyclemut had just visually aligned in my driveway and I had steering components on the way. It was decided to leave it as be and wait till the steering came in.
The steering came in but I could never find the time to get it installed. Went wheeling Metberry Gulch, and after bending one TRA to 90°, I have one HD TRA installed and one stock. Two weekends later we took care of the CL and other TRA. Now I just need to get her aligned again.
Ain’t she purty! She got a new stereo put in her. There are a couple of other items I am going to do to her, but the wife has asked I wait a little. I have spent 3.5 mortgage payments in mods for her, and the wife wants some attention. I am ok with that. Maxine has gone from stock to lightly modified in ~5 mos. This is going to be a summer of fun!
There is still some minor work to be done, but she is getting there. I don’t have an updated pic, but you can see some in Skott’s Metberry trip report.
-=woody=-