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MUKIWA Build Thread

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27K views 116 replies 26 participants last post by  Devinjenks  
#1 · (Edited)
MUKIWA Build Thread (Pic Heavy)

I have a 2003 Nissan Xterra with 150 000kms. It's totally stock and as some of my "truck" friends say it's kinda a soccer mom vehicle... Not that I agree at all. I'm hoping to make it more of an expedition type off road vehicle. Not a jacked up rock crawler, mudding machine with 44" tires but a comfortable for the long haul and very sure-footed on a challenging trail expedition vehicle.

Stage 1
[x] Tires - 31' Kelly Safari TSR
[x] PML
[x] Bilstines all round
[x] Craggar Soft 8's
[x] Paint Roof Rails
[x] Dephep Rack
[x] CB with PA system
[ ] Front Lights
[x] Side Lights
[x] Rear Lights
[x] Rear Storage organiser
[x] Lobo Rack
[ ] Timing Belt
[ ] Resonator Mod
[x] Rear Sway Bar, Mud Flaps, and side step delete
[x] Raised rear diff breather
[ ] Exhaust (Flowmaster super 44)

Stage 2
[ ] Snorkel
[ ] Sliders
[ ] Skid Plates
[ ] ARB Front Bumper
[ ] Rear Bumper w/ Tire Holder
[ ] 3" Suspension Lift

This is the earliest pic I could find of the X.. Just tires.
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As it sits now:
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Tires - Kelly Safari TSR's great tires!!
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#2 · (Edited)
Wiring BLUESEA Fuse Box and CB

I finally got round to instaling my blue sea fuse box and cb radio/pa system today...
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The red wires running along the firewall are going to the cb. I'm going to put it all in that black hose stuff when I have all my lights etc wired up.
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The wires going throu the grommet... I only had red wire so I wrapped black tape every few inches on the negative wire to destinguish between the two.
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My wife drives the X to work most of the time and she didnt want the CB on the dash or anywhere in sight lol this works pretty good thou.
I had it all wired up and when I went to put the fuse in it kept blowing ... uuggg short somwhere... sure enough I had forgoten to tape up a connection and the two wires were touching at the connections. Its all working now thou.

I hooked the CB up to a 3' Firestik antenna with a rear hatch mount..
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#4 · (Edited)
After having piles of junk colecting in the back of the X I decided its time for a rear cargo organizer. I read every post on clubx and other sites like expeditionportal which have lots of info on the topic... Finaly I drew out a plan and went to town.

I dont have any pics of it being built as I was busy building it and forgot to take pics. But I have the finnished product so far.

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Bought the Drawer sliders at RONA for $20 bucks a pair
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Found some rubber sheeting at work and snuck it out lol
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The rubber worked perfectly to stop things from sliding around
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Bottom "Tool" Drawer
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Handles also from RONA $4
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The handle made lots of noise when I was driving so I put some rubber under the bottom screw... I"ll see how that works
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Top Drawer with a few parts for mods to come
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2 Rubber Maids or a Cooler fit in the open side
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Storage for my recovery gear in the space behind the seat... easy access
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There are a few more things I will be adding such as some sort of rack or bin on top so I can put stuff on top without them falling off the side. Also planning on putting my inverter on the side and a flashlight mount somewhere. Another thing I thought of after I had already started was sleeping in the X would be kinda hard with a huge box in the back, but I figured if I can take the box our where ever I'm camping and use it as a kitchen area... I was looking at another write up here on club X I think it was KUMA who made something similar with a fold over sleeping area which is another option in the future. But so far it works great and everything is neat and tidy...

On my last camping trip I had a rare lightbulb moment and though of using the box as a kitchen when at a campsite with no picknic table and it worked awsome

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I had a small safe kicking around and decided to put it into the back of the box so it is accessed from behind the seat. I bolted it down to the bottom of the box so if someone wants to steal it
they will have to run off with a big wooden box... good luck getting very far lol.

Cutting a hole in the back of the box.
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Safe in place bolted down to the bottom of the box.
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And finnaly I painted it with bedliner to take away the rough wood look and it looks much better. Im still trying to decide if I should put aluminum edging on it...
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I also painted the back of the box and finnished adding all the stuff including a shotgun mount. I wanted a hidden spot with easy access and this works the best.
Note: This pic is from the front seats looking back with the rear seats folded down.
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Thats it for now although I still have more plans for it... This is almost a thread within a thread! Inception.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Side Lights

I picked up some cheap lights at princess auto (2 for $30) and Im working at putting them on the roof rack as side lights right above the front doors...

I got them all wired up with the wires going up the weather stripping for now
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A pic with the roof basket back on
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I have to finnish the rest tomoro as the hockey game is starting
 
#6 · (Edited)
Well the hockey game was a waste of time...
I got the lights all wired up and working so here's some more pics

Three "aircraft" switches, Im panning on adding rear and front lights too..
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Another Pic
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I used a 30A relay even though I think the switch could have handled the Lights
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Across the firewall.. Ill be putting all the wires in that black tube stuff when I'm finnished all the wiring.
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Thru the grommet
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The wires to the roof go up the weather stripping on the passenger side.. Also temp till I get everything done on the roof... I don't want to drill a hole and a few days later decide I need another wire up there so I'll wire everything like this and then clean it up later.
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And there was light!
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Ill post some nite pics when I get around to it. But I'm pretty happy at pulling this off as I'm a newb at wiring!

:lutscher-big:
 
#8 · (Edited)
I had nothing to do this afternoon so I decided to wire up a light under my hood as working at night on the side of the road with a flashlight in your mouth sucks!!!
Got a cheap flood style light and wired it up to my fuse box.. works like a charm!

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The switch looks kinda ugly but it works. My famous words are `Ill fix it another time`...

I also took off the mud flaps which took all of 5 mins, although I stripped the screws on the rear flaps and ended up cutting them off with my knife... whatever works
 
A
#16 ·
nice you and me have the year and color. i have a massive plan set out for lights but how did you wire yours to the center console? i was thinking of puttting it by the security light.
 
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#17 ·
how did you wire yours to the center console?
Click to expand...
Just run the wire through one of the grommets already in the firewall (passenger side is more direct but you have to remove the glove box.) and then under the dash to the shifter area. The plastic around the shiffters just pulls up so you can snake the wire through. You will have to un-screw the 4x4 shifter and take the plastic piece off to drill holes thrugh it for the switches. I was a bit scared drilling the holes as you only have one go at it but just make sure you have it all lined up, make some centre punches and go for it. I love it where I have them.

Just let me know if you want any pics of anything or help with anything else I've done... Good Luck with the build!!
 
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#18 ·
see my problem is that i will have about 6 extra light nad i kinda want to run them all off of 1 switch if i cna or 2 at the most. i am installing a light bar which has 4 light mounts to it and a ARB off road bumper which has 2 light mounts. so i am trying to figure otu a way to do it or how much it would cost to get it done by a garage.
 
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#19 ·
My advice is read lots of posts on wiring, search web sites etc and get a grasp of wiring basics. Its not all that hard once you understand how it works.
A few tips I've picked up:
1) I'd instal a BlueSea Fuse box (helps keep everything organised and safe)
2) Make sure you use a relay and make sure its large enough. (I would'nt recomend putting all the lights on one switch as thats alot of current... even for a relay)
3)Make sure you use large gauge wire (you can find wire guage charts online)

And again I'm by far an expert. If you want to get it done really legit you could go to a shop. Also there are lots of people on here who have much better electical knowedge than I do so read posts and ask questions.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Painting Roof Rack

Just finnished blacking out the roof rack rails. I havent done the plastics yet, ran out of paint lol
I took the rails off, sanded sanded sanded till all the chips and peeling paint was smooth then I wiped it down with some soapy water and let them dry. After a few mins I rubbed them down with a dry rag and started spraying primer. I did two coats and let that dry then sprayed a few coats of Rustoleum Flat Black. So far they look pretty good except for a few spots that paper stuck to when I was painting the bottom. :aufkopfhauen-big:
My Hepdep roof rack should be ariving in the next couple weeks... Cant wait!!

Painting...
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The X bald
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Voila!
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#25 ·
Mukiwa said:
Well I haven't done to much as of yet as I move super slow when it comes to spending money (a good thing sometimes) but I have lots of plans for the future.

I have a 2003 Nissan Xterra with 150 000kms

Stage 1
[x] Tires - 31' Kelly Safari TSR (My tires were already ratty so it was a good excuse)
[x] PML
[ ] Bilstines all round
[ ] Paint Rims
[x] Paint Rack
[ ] Dephep Rack (ordered)
[ ] Tire spacers (1.5') or maybe new rims with less backspace
[x] CB with PA system
[ ] Front Lights
[x] Side Lights
[ ] Rear Lights
[x] Rear Storage organiser
[ ] Timing Belt
[ ] Resonator Mod
[x] Rear Sway Bar, Mud Flaps, and side step delete
[x] Raised rear diff breather

Stage 2
[ ] Exhaust (Flowmaster super 44)
[ ] Snorkel
[ ] Sliders
[ ] Skid Plates
[ ] Rear Bumper w/ Tire Holder
[ ] 3" Suspension Lift



As it sits now:
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Tires - Kelly Safari TSR's great tires!!
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Click to expand...
Nice ride ,like the check off list !! How does the Kelly tires do in the rain ? Because i might be going with that brand,love the tread design they look sick!!!!
 
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