baf6's ride "cliftonX"

after having the truck for over 2 years, its well overdue for a build/progress thread

a little background of the vehicles i've owned before the X:
1st car - 1990 Acura Integra GS 5SPD...fun little car, but had the chance to "upgrade" to my second car....i use upgrade lightly because it was a pile of shit

2nd car - 1991 Mercedes Benz 300E I6 - clean car, very pimp, had a nice aftermarket stereo...but it was boring to drive an automatic, and after overheating 4 times in the middle of newark on the way to/from school, and finally blowing a headgasket in the dead of winter (also on the way to school), my father and i rebuilt it and sold it off to get some cash for my 3rd car

3rd car - 1992 Dodge Sealth SOHC 5SPD - great love/hate relationship with this car....very fun to drive, but had LOTS of issues(wouldnt always start, ate alternators for breakfast, also overheated a lot)...which led me to the X (although i still have the stealth as a project car)

she is a 2000 SE V6 5SPD 4X4, with the "XTERRA XTREME" dealer package that you see every once in a while...bought her 6.5 years old with just 32K on the clock....

went to look at her in the beginning of december 2006, and went back with my father a few days later to check it out thoroughly....4 days later, i signed papers and drove it off the lot...this is what she looked like:



clean as a whistle, drove great, but WAYYY too much chrome on it for me


first mod for a while was a THULE 4-board snowboard rack...thats it... just enjoyed driving a nice, clean, dependable car...


then, about 4 months after i got it, i wanted to do some body modifications, so i did this at 40 MPH on some black ice into a highway divider on the way to class(do you notice a pattern with my unfortunate luck with cars and my commute to school? lol)...worst part was, i couldnt even take 10 minutes to just sit down and calm down because i was going to a midterm which i was already late for!


eventually got her fixed with aftermarket body parts, but she never did look the same

then, i made a cheap light bar out of some aluminum stock and 4 harbor freight lights....i wired it up and it didn't work, so i left it on the roof, unwired for months

a little while later, i started work on a carPC project, but that never really worked out for me...here's a pic of the flipout touch screen that i got for it though:

this pic also shows the new headunit i put in after my old one started crapping out and i punched the motorized faceplate so hard it ceased all function(was having a BAD morning)...also shows a few things that didn't get added until later

a few months later, i made yet another bad choice and added a brush guard i got off ebay....it honestly DID look ok, but wasn't great quality and i ended up just taking it off down the road...


a few months later, the goodyear bald-eagle GTs that came on the truck HAD to go, so i upgraded to some 265/70/r17 rubber in the for of a cooper discoverer ST all terrain (the wheels didnt get the herculiner until later though):


shortly after that, i ordered a set of calmini shackles for my PML....they sat in my room for a solid 3 months until i got off my lazy ass to install them:

(rancho shocks came LATER)

then, i added some miscellaneous offroading-related items like a CB and fiberglass antenna, tail light guards, inlinometer, NISMO shift knob, and a few other things

then, i decided to take it to the next step, and did the 2" body lift....i followed soccerbrace(james) excellent writeup about peicing it together myself, and did the whole,thing for around $80...big thanks to timb/queensxterra for the help (this was also the start of a great xterra friendship with tim, who has helped me countless times with my X):

then, i went offroading and got my X really dirty


then, i decided to really get dumb with the truck that i still owed $7K on, and i added a 3" suspension lift to the old girl:




at the same time, i got a few steering upgrades to help me control it, like some HD tie rod adjusters and an AC idler arm brace:
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this will soon be replaced with a full calmini steering kit!


then, i went offroading again:




then, things got pretty hairy....after seeing a few xterras with tube doors, i decided to bite some style from them and the jeep'ers, and did this:




this was single-handedly the stupidest thing i have done to my car yet, if not one of the supidest things i have done in general....my idea for wire disconnects failed miserably, and i went the entire summer without front speakers, power locks, windows, or mirrors....life SUCKED...6 months later and im finally almost back to full functionality of everything, the locks are still a little glitchy...

i must say though, those few times i had the doors off, it was GODLIKE!

then, i put in a call to Kennessaw Mountain Acessories for a custom-job front bumper....needless to say, KMA screwed me and i had to go through the credit card company after not receiving a bumper or even an acknowledgement of my payment for over 3 months

next, i dropped some serious cash from my new internship on some sliders, winch, acessories, and other useless shit, and then went to ECXC...i realized about a week before ECXC that i in fact STILL did not have a bumper to mount my winch to, so my friend helped me out and made me the bumper you see here:

ewwww


rest of the pics from ECXC are here:
http://s330.photobucket.com/albums/l408/cait_brian/ECXC 2008/

it was a great time, i learned a lot about what my truck can and CANNOT do, and what i was and was NOT willing to try...met some great people, and cannot wait to go again!

then, i decided to take off the that hideous piece of artwork attached to the front of my truck, and ran bumperless for a while...in the meantime, i started working with matt of WhiteRock Fabrication on a new front bumper...after 2 payments and a few weeks, matt came up with some awesome looking craftsmanship:



in order to ship the bumper, i made the terrible decision of having it shipped through Greyhound bus lines....LONGGGGG story short, they lost it and i am STILL waiting for the insurance money(legal action has now officially been taken)

after that, i went wheeling a few times :





next, i decided to do a mod just for the shit of it, and added an on-board air system for airing up my tires after wheeling, etc...
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later down the road, when i paid off some credit card debt and decided to bring up the front bumper fiasco again, i put in a another call with matt, who once again made a great looking bumper....a few weeks after it was done, i drove 1100 miles round trip to PICK THE BUMPER UP, since there was no way i was shipping the second one...



....and this is how she currently stands:




2 and a half years later, i owe $4.5K on her, have put 23K on the odometer, have lifter her a total of 6", have done some stupid shit with her, and she has not ceased to amaze me...i absolutely love my xterra, and cannot wait for another 2 and a half years with her

i've added COUNTLESS minor/mini modifications to her over the years, and a few big things i just dont have pictures of....i will do my best to take some pics of other things when i get some free time...im sure i missed a lot of things, and i will update this thread as i can

many people have given me advice, help, and even helped wrench on her with me...i owe them a lot, and the X could never be where it is today without their help!

ENJOY! LONG LIVE CLIFTONX!