Hey everyone, I am finally getting a lift and new tires for my 2002 Xterra.

I am wanting to get a 2" suspension lift and add 32" tires.

I currently have 30" on stock rims.

would the 2" lift be enough for the 32" tires?

I am not wanting to get too high, just enough to be taller and a little more meaner than the "soccer mom" Xterra's.

What do you guys think?

Ok I just got the Rancho lift for my X. Due to shipping and the 4th of july week coming up it wont be installed until july 10th. I had to get the upper ball joints from Nissan for this lift also. I will have pics up the day I get to drive it home.....

Ok I just got the Rancho lift for my X. Due to shipping and the 4th of july week coming up it wont be installed until july 10th. I had to get the upper ball joints from Nissan for this lift also. I will have pics up the day I get to drive it home.....

Sometimes the anticipation is almost as good as the finished product! :biggrin:

Definitely post pics when you're done. Also, if you're into it, an installation guide which we could put in the how to section would be cool.

Good luck with your install :thumbsup-big:

Ok the lift is on and alignment was done.

Seems to me that the front end sits a lot lower than the back. Was told that the X is built that way, called it the rake? from front to back, but wouldnt I have noticed it before the lift?

Does this happen to all lifts? and do you level it out?

I Have thought about the torsion bars, the last time I was under the truck was to check a leak.

I have no knowledge of mechanics whatsoever!

THanks

Well, yes and no.

Rancho's SL = 2.5" isn't it?

Anyway - the problem with larger tires is that they take up wheel well room.

The problem with Xterra's up front, is they have very little (IFS) wheel travel.

When you do an SL, no matter the inches of lift...the tire still compresses up into exactly the same spot as it would WITHOUT a lift.

This means that an SL does not let you fit larger tires, unless you are a poser/mall crawler who doesn't flex the suspension.

Kits generally include bumpstop extensions, which prevent the tire from rising up and hitting the well...and robbing you of what little wheel travel you had to begin with.

Tests of the Rancho lift for example showed A REDUCTION in RTI scores, as it was LESS able to articulate than STOCK.

A better solution to fit larger tires is a BL, as it is independent of travel, and merely makes the wells have say 2" more travel room, so you would not need articulation robbing bumpstop extensions, etc.

The BL of course does nothing for ground clearance, other than the extra provided by the larger tires they'd allow.

If you haven't already, take off the rear sway bar...you don't need it....and that will restore rear travel to the Rancho's stiffening effects, and allow some rear flex.

As for the front, you are stuck w/o the BL.

The 2" BL is easy, and with the 2.5" SL, you could fit 33's instead of 32's....and with the Rancho as is, w/o the stops, you could really only stuff 31's anyway.

(The fronts are your bogey.)

I did 3 BL's in one day in my driveway, and a few others one at a time here and there (2" BL's)...takes about 3 hrs for 3 people to do one, not bad.

The 3" BL takes more like 8 hrs for the same people, and is a PITA....but the 3" BL lets 35's on.

:D

The front is designed to be lower than the back...about a 1/2 - 3/4" or so.

This is to facilitate cargo loading..as in NOT having the nose in the air when you load up the butt.

:D

You can crank up the T-Bar tension to raise the nose if its sagged more than that...and, it had to be cranked some already just to install the SL to start with.

As long as your UCA bumpstops have at least 1/2"-3/4" clearance at ride height, the T-bars have enough tension on them...less clearance = too much tension/height.

Hope that helps!

Yeah man that helps a lot. I thought I did my homework on all this stuff, but there just seems to be more stuff to find out as you go along.

All I really need to run is 32's. The front did go up, just hope it is enought to fit my 32's.

This will sound really bad but, I have no idea about where the t-bars are, or where to crank them at. But if I am going to need another alignment I will wait on it any way, I bet I can search and find out where to find these things. Hopefully there are some pic.

I take it a shop did the install then...

Laydown next to your drivers door on the driveway, and look at the front wheels.

There are two arms coming out from the truck's frame, an upper and a lower control arm (UCA and LCA)...each grabbing the hub from the wheel well side...

Notice that there's a round bar going into the lower control arm (LCA)...that's a torsion bar.

There's one on the other side too, going into the passenger side LCA.

http://xterrafirma.com/albums/TJs-X-Winch-Stuff/Where_Middle_Plate_Mounts_To.sized.jpg
Passenger side T-bar (Silver) going into LCA

Follow the bar towards the rear of the truck...it goes into a cross member...thats the adjuster end.

Both ends of the bar are splined, they have grooves to keep them from slipping...they fit into anchors, which have matching grooves (Splined too), so when the bar is inserted into the anchor, it won't spin.

To hold up the weight of the truck, you twist the bar outwards, so that the end in the LCA turns, and pushes down the LCA, picking up the truck on that corner.

To raise the truck more, you twist the bar more, pushing harder on the LCA downwards.

To twist the bar, the adjuster is IN the cross member.

If the bar is a pipe, think of the adjuster as a pipe wrench on its end...called a finger (A lever on the end of the bar to turn it with).

The bar has no finger, its on the anchor, whhich is gripping the bar...

So - you pull the finger up, and it turns the bar in the anchor more.

To pull the finger (W/o getting a fart, etc...), there's a bolt running through it...the head is pointing at the driveway...the threaded part points straight up on top of the cross member.

There's a nut on the threaded part, resting/braced on, the top of the cross member, and all you are doing is turning the bolt so it goes up through that nut...making the bolt head rise higher as you turn it...

The bolt head, as it goes through the finger, draws the finger up with it...raising the truck.

http://xterrafirma.com/albums/TJs-X-Winch-Stuff/IMG_0104.sized.jpg
The T-bar goes into the cross member, where one end of the adjuster anchor has a hold on it....

....the finger is extending in the pic to the right of the t-bar...the silver bolt sticking up to the right of the bar is the threaded part of the bolt you turn to adjust the tension/twist on the bar

(There are two nuts on it, the bottom one is the one that's important, the top one is just a lock nut to hold it tight...they are silver here because they are slathered in anti-sieze compound to prevent rust)

Just below the threaded part, protruding just a smidgen below the cross member, is the HEAD of the bolt, the part you TURN to draw the finger up.

As suspensions sag with time normally, this adjustment is built-in, so you can compensate for sag...and all you are doing is proactively pre-unsagging it.

:D

I hope that helps explain it...when you see it, it will be pretty obvious.

:D

wow, looks pretty easy when it is explained like that.

So, jack up the truck, to relieve pressure, then turn the head of the bolt that is facing the driveway until I get the height I want. Now will the nuts that sit on top of the cross member need to be loosend before I lift the truck, or will I need to tighten them down after?

is that right? I should use something to hold the truck up while I do this besides the actual car jack...correct.

Right - never work under a truck with just a jack...jack it up, but use jack stands to hold it, taking the jack out, or at least off loading it.

The stands go under the cross member, so that the tires can hang, or if you had sliders, they could go under them, etc.

Also - yeah - that top bolt is pulled against the cross member...and turning it, or the bolt through it, changes your ride height....so you want it to stay still....so you use that second nut (on top of it) to tighten against the adjuster nut, locking it (And your ride height adjustment) in place.

So - to adjust the bars:

(A week before you start typically - spray the anchors, nuts, bolts etc, with Nut Blaster to disolve the rust welds)

Each side is the same -

1. Measure the wheel arch heights to the ground to get a baseline of your current height.

2. Chock rear tires/set brakes

3. Jack front cross member up so both front tires are hanging

4. Take off the very top nut (lock nut) off the adjuster bolt (Save)

5. Put a wrench on the adjuster nut, put a socket on the adjuster bolt head, and turn the bolt up into the nut (More and more threaded section will appear above the adjuster nut as you turn...)

6. Turn the adjuster bolt up until the space on the UCA bumpstop is 1/2" to 3/4" (That gives ~ 1.5" lift, but retains ability to get an alignment/decent ride/handling)

7. Repeat for other side.

8. Check ground to wheel well arch heights to attain a level attitude, confirm the lift height.

9. Drive around the block a few times/bounce the truck, to settle the suspension.

10. Check for level and height again, adjust if needed.

X's come from the factory sometimes a bit uneven, like 1/4" - 1/2" different from driver to passenger side differences, etc...so if you're within 1/4" or so, that's close enough.

:D

When satisfied with your adjustment, put the lock nuts back on....and, YOU are DONE.

:D

Now, you go get a wheel alignment...which will work if you managed to keep that gap on the bumpstop above.

:D


http://xterrafirma.com/albums/TJs-X-Winch-Stuff/P_side_susp_from_front_detail.sized.jpg
The bumpstop in theis pic is the bump right under the middle of the silver UCA (Aftermarket UCA, SLR's version...but the stops are in the same place...)

Hey man, after all this searching this is the clearest I have seen it explained.

Thanks again....

All I need to do now is see how soon I can get an alignment, and crank those babies!

Looks like I got some room to move there.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e123/chumpmann/liftview02.jpg

Here are some more pics of the lift.....

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e123/chumpmann/liftview03.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e123/chumpmann/lifted01.jpg

I am waiting on my rims and will soon get tires.....

So far, so good.

Now you need to get rid of the front mud flaps, the brush guard, and step rails...and you'll be ready to fit the tires and tackle some light wheeling.

:D

After the front mud flaps are off, you'll be snipping off a strip of plastic at the rear corner, from the little ledge that the flap mounted to.

This will provide room for the swing of the rear edge of the tire when you turn.

You can wait until the tires are on to see where to trim...the plastic is soft and easy to cut off...and it doesn't show, because its in the well....mostly hidden by the tire. Just turn the wheel, and see where the back edge of the tire hits.

The brush guards are cosmetic, and in a collision, cause more damage than if you had nothing (They are worse than nothing)...plus, off road, they kill your approach angle...even on stock trails...making you less capable than even stock.

The step rails are flimsy aluminum, and work as steps, but fold on even the most mild off road contact, such as a simple cresting of a hill, etc (Break over angle).

Good place to get new steps that protect the truck (Sliders)

www.shrockworks.com

Enjoy!

:D

I will be cranking it this weekend.....

Should it be OK for a couple of days of driving back and forth to work for a couple of days until I get the alignment?

I will sustain anything dramatic until the alignment.

Yeah, if you are getting new tires, just get the alignment when you get the tires on.

:D

I just noticed that you seem to be getting 32's...but, some other posts have just wafted by, and for some bizarre reason...the 32's you are getting, it seems, are not the assumed 32x11.5/15's that would fit your stock rims..but are 265/75/16's?

:weird4-big:

Why, pray tell would you do this?





If I have confused you with some one else though, let me know.

:D

I am getting 16x8 wheels and will be putting on 265/75 them.

16x8 with 0 offset 4.5" backspacing.

But, WHY are you doing that?

You have 15" rims, and could just get 32x11.5/15's.

The 4.5" BS might rub under compression, the OEM rims are more like 5.5" BS than 4.5"...so the tires will stick outboard more.

The OEM are also more like 40 mm off set than 0 mm offset.

A 265 is a narrower tire than an 11.5 section width...

So, in essence, you are getting skinnier tires, on larger rims that stick out more...and generally, tires for 16" rims are more expensive than tires for 15" rims...

Why?

I don't get the logic of getting smaller, more expensive tires on larger rims.

Please explain.

I dont want the look of the 32's on the stock rims, I want the look of 32's on 0 offset wheels.

The rims I want do not come in 15's so I got 16's, which also come in 0 offset.

ALso, this is my daily driver, the wider tire would have more friction and use more power and gas to move it.

I have seen this set-up and that is the look that I want.

wow

I take it you don't off road then?

Well not a lot, like I said this is my daily driver, so if something breaks I am out a car for work.

I do minor stuff, and mostly trails for camping and hunting. more mud than anything.

Mine's my daily driver too. :D

I know what you mean.

I try to replace/reinforce what might break, before it does.

I'm just in shock over a guy who would spend all that money to change his off set 40 mm...and get skinnier tires even though he does mostly mud.

:D

I'll adjust....don't worry, I'm resilient.

:D

well I was thinking of the 275/70 it is a but smaller diameter tire.....but it is also wider.

You are in the classic conundrum...street vs mud

:D

For mud, you want as wide and tall a tire as possible...for the street, you want as wide and short a tire as possible for traction, or, as skinny as possible for mpg.

The 275/70/16 is a great street size for the X, over 31" in diameter, and around 11" in section width.

You have some lift, so it would fit fine.

The 265/75/16 is actually a taller sidewall ratio, so is more squirrelly in handling than the 275/70/16..despite providing only 0.25" more ground clearance.

The 265/75/16 has a section width of 10.6", the 275/70/16 has a section width of 11.1".

So, as far as taller/wider, and better handling, the 275/70/16 is a better size for you than the 265/75/16.

As far as mileage goes, the 75 series tire undergoes more hysteresis than the 70 series, increasing rolling resistance. This is why those funny looking solar powered cars, etc...roll on very very low aspect ratio tires...pratically just rim protectors...the taller the side wall, the more rolling resistance.

IE: Better mpg, handling, braking, mud, performance with a 275/70/16, than a 265/75/16.

:D

I may go with a 275/70.....

I had thought about that before, but wanted as big a radius as I could get, but it is only .5 extra....and I am gaining some extra width.

and with the lift only being 2.5" it may fit and look better also.

I have a friend that runs discount tires here, I can get him to put each size on so I can see what touches and will rub and look better.

thanks for the info....

The 40 mm off set change may make the tire stick out a bit much, but it sounds like the mild off road work you do won't involve full compression too often, so it might be OK.

For either the 265 or 275 you mentioned, you will still be trimming a bit of the plastic from the mud flap mounting ledge in the rear of the front wells, to allow the rears of the tires to clear when swinging by on full lock.

http://xterrafirma.com/albums/TJs-X-Winch-Stuff/Flap_Trimming_Required_for_33_s_001.sized.jpg
The trimmed part would look about like this.