[coulsonlegal]

I'm likely buying a 2002 from a friend for $1500. No lockers but has LSD. Auto front hubs that will likely be replaced with manuals. The big thing is it has a rear main seal leak but comes with a VG33 that's been rebuilt PLUS most of the parts for the supercharger (SC, lower intake, bypass, belt tensioner). I've been looking at what the swap takes and mild builds for these and I'm pretty excited. The engine swap/SC conversion will be the most ambitious project I've ever done so we'll see how it goes. My previous toy was a 1996 4Runner with rear lockers, OME 3" lift, ARB bumper, RC winch. Nothing crazy.

I'd love to hear about what it takes to do the SC conversion as easily and robustly as possible. The goal is bulletproof with everything. Same with lift and possibly lockers. It doesn't have to be pretty but it needs to be robust. My mechanical ability is right in the range of capable of getting myself in real trouble then calling mechanic friends to figure out where I screwed up. Good to meet everyone.

 

[M-U-R-P-H]

I'm likely buying a 2002 from a friend for $1500. No lockers but has LSD. Auto front hubs that will likely be replaced with manuals. The big thing is it has a rear main seal leak but comes with a VG33 that's been rebuilt PLUS most of the parts for the supercharger (SC, lower intake, bypass, belt tensioner). I've been looking at what the swap takes and mild builds for these and I'm pretty excited. The engine swap/SC conversion will be the most ambitious project I've ever done so we'll see how it goes. My previous toy was a 1996 4Runner with rear lockers, OME 3" lift, ARB bumper, RC winch. Nothing crazy.

I'd love to hear about what it takes to do the SC conversion as easily and robustly as possible. The goal is bulletproof with everything. Same with lift and possibly lockers. It doesn't have to be pretty but it needs to be robust. My mechanical ability is right in the range of capable of getting myself in real trouble then calling mechanic friends to figure out where I screwed up. Good to meet everyone.

Welcome to the forum!

As to the rear main leak, there is a product out called Blue devil, the stuff is liquid gold in my opinion, stopped mine and many others.

A member @Blackberry will probably help you out with the supercharger questions whenever he gets on here, as he is a Nissan genius and has done the supercharger swap himself.

LOKKA makes a lunchbox locker(an automatic locker) for the front diff, there are some write ups on here to the process.

PML( Poor mans lift ) is a simple cheap lift that gains 1.5" of ground clearance, plenty of how too's on here, i just did this a couple of weeks ago and am pleased with the outcome.

4x4parts.com and Calmini.com make 3" suspension lifts, but i wouldn't do this unless you plan on dropping the diff to gain proper CV axle angles.
personally i don't think it's worth the effort, cause once you do it, your to the point of no return, and then you will be upgrading everything in the front end (The steering components are a week point on the first Gen) to withstand the bigger tires, idler arm brace, tie rod ends and adjusters, center link, but plenty of people have done this and have quite the setup when finished!

Body lifts are to gain tire clearance only, 4x4parts.com makes 1" 2" and 3" BL's
With just a 2"BL you can clear 33's and that is the biggest tire the truck will run without re-gearing the diffs. I plan on doing this when it's time for new tires.


There are some amazing Trucks on here!

The administrator @RacerXXL and
@Bklyn.X have done pretty much everything possible to Xterras
and should be able to tell you all you will ever need!

 

[coulsonlegal]

Welcome to the forum!

As to the rear main leak, there is a product out called Blue devil, the stuff is liquid gold in my opinion, stopped mine and many others.

A member @Blackberry will probably help you out with the supercharger questions whenever he gets on here, as he is a Nissan genius and has done the supercharger swap himself.

LOKKA makes a lunchbox locker(an automatic locker) for the front diff, there are some write ups on here to the process.

PML( Poor mans lift ) is a simple cheap lift that gains 1.5" of ground clearance, plenty of how too's on here, i just did this a couple of weeks ago and am pleased with the outcome.

4x4parts.com and Calmini.com make 3" suspension lifts, but i wouldn't do this unless you plan on dropping the diff to gain proper CV axle angles.
personally i don't think it's worth the effort, cause once you do it, your to the point of no return, and then you will be upgrading everything in the front end (The steering components are a week point on the first Gen) to withstand the bigger tires, idler arm brace, tie rod ends and adjusters, center link, but plenty of people have done this and have quite the setup when finished!

Body lifts are to gain tire clearance only, 4x4parts.com makes 1" 2" and 3" BL's
With just a 2"BL you can clear 33's and that is the biggest tire the truck will run without re-gearing the diffs. I plan on doing this when it's time for new tires.


There are some amazing Trucks on here!

The administrator @RacerXXL and
@Bklyn.X have done pretty much everything possible to Xterras
and should be able to tell you all you will ever need!

Awesome. Thank you! Your response leads to a ton of questions for me that you can feel free to answer or not. Between the PML and a 2" BL will it clear 31" MT's without rubbing? That's likely the largest I'd go. I'm not trying to build a hardcore rock crawler; probably on the more mild end of things despite my desire for lockers. They're just so good for getting out of trouble. I'll probably want to do things in stages so if the Blue Devil can keep the motor solid for a while I can do the fun bits first while I wait to get the second motor squared away. I'm seeing that I need a dedicated SC OEM ECU/ECM for that. If that lets me do suspension and steering first that would be rad.

 

[M-U-R-P-H]

From my understanding you can clear 32"s without any mods whatsoever and 33"s with a good bit of fender trimming😬, i currently have 31" R/T's on mine, but will be going to 32"s or 33 when i get a BL.

I currently haven't done it yet but the idler arm brace is usually the first Suspension upgrade.

I agree with the locker statement, i think it's one of the greatest things to gain traction and get out of a pickle!

 

[M-U-R-P-H]

before and after the pml with 31"s

 

[MeToo]

Stock size is 265/65-16, which calculates to 30½", so going to a 31" tire is only half an inch or maybe a whole inch. PML will clear the larger tire and you may not even need it.

If you have the 4.90 gearing, it's an LSD. It's probably worn out, and if the diff fluid was never changed, or changed but no friction modifiers added, then it's about as good as an open diff. I have the 4.90 LSD, but it's a one-tire-fryer, so it's a 4.90 open now.

Maybe someday I'll consider an air locker, but not now anyhow. I'd love to have one, though!