Out with the old.. in with the new!

[Impact619]

Hi all...

Someone asked me to post some pics of my old and new Xterras...  I had an '02 that I bought in early '03, and went on a couple of rides with some of the folks on here when I first got it, and then eased up on the offroading to make my 'daily driver' last as long as possible!  ; D

Well, with almost 200K miles on it, I picked up a new Pro-4X two weeks ago today, and passed the old one on to a buddy that I work with at my 'night job'.  Before I got rid of the old one, I took a few snaps of the two together... it's interesting to see how much they've changed, but the core DNA is still there!

Here are some of the pics...

[Impact619]

And just a few more...















Enjoy!

-Thomas-

[Blackx]

Great to hear you got 200K miles out of your last one.  Let's hope this one does the same for you.

[zachbiz]

needs more lift

[Alex]

I like the comparison between 1st and 2nd Gen interiors.
It's good to hear that 1st Gens get up to 200k: I'm up to 130k in my 2002 right now. Have you had any particular problems in the later miles?

[Impact619]

BlackX: yep, thanks!  Hope yours does as well!

Zach: hehe, yeah... a little early to start modding.  Not even sure how that sort of thing would affect my warranty!  lol

Alex:  Yep, I was fairly easy on it for most of the years I had it, so that probably helped...  a whole lot of freeway miles... a number of long road trips, very little off-roading, so it probably makes sense that a generally beefy vehicle would be pretty darn durable for 'normal' commuting use..

Issues, let's see... I had to replace a power window motor, but that was probably at 70 or 80K.  The biggie I had was exhaust manifolds and cats at about 120ish... that was painful... about $2400, and I hadn't paid the truck off yet!  : O  Since then it's mostly been maintenance and wear and tear items, brakes, shocks, etc.  My stock shocks made it to about 170K!  Again, of course, shocks will last longer on the freeway than on trails.  Just about a month or so ago I had to put in a new battery and starter.  I think that's the only time since the manifolds and cats that I was actually close to being 'broken down'.

Your mileage will vary, of course, depending on how, and how hard, you drive yours.  Good luck... I hope you get at least another 100K!  I sold mine to a friend, so I hope HE gets another 100K, too!!  lol

[Alex]

Thank you! My passenger side exhaust manifold cracked about a month ago. I can hear the difference in the exhaust, but I don't see it to be detrimental to the engine, so I'm going to wait until I have enough funds saved to buy headers. The rest of the exhaust is looking good.
I found out the previous owner did a great job on keeping the X maintained, keeping a log of all oil changes and other maintenance items in the user handbook, so I'm really happy for that. Yeah, the power window motors are getting slow, no biggie though. Thanks for the info!

[zachbiz]

you dont have a first gen if you dont have slow windows, a cracked exhaust manifold or a leaking rear main seal. My windows are getting slow and my passenger side manifold is cracked. I'm also going to save for headers but the trick is going to be sneaking past cali emissions. you second gen guys are lucky with your carb certified headers.

and also the only real problems ive heard from high mileage engines are really the tolerances getting looser and getting things like rocker arm clatter and what not. I heard thicker oil fixes that though

[Impact619]

Yep... something to keep in mind, though... do NOT go to long with a cracked manifold... apparently that is what had happened to me, too, and that's what killed the catalytic converters.   Made the repair more than twice as expensive!

And yeah, my driver's window was definitely noticeable slower the last year or two... obviously that's the one that got the most use.  Was more of a fluke that one of my rear ones died as early as it did. since I was in the thing by myself the bast majority of the time.  I think the repair was about 430 bucks, but luckily my extended warranty was still in effect at that time.  The manifolds and cats came out of my pocket... ouch!

Zach... I pretty much always put synthetic blend oil in mine right from when I got it with 29K miles... and that Max Life high mileage stuff the last couple years... I think that helped keep the engine in good shape.  Like I told my friend that I sold the car to... buy cheap gas, but expensive oil!  ; )

-T-

[zachbiz]

yeah i think you can get new exhaust manifolds on ebay for less than 100 and fix it yourself.

[Impact619]

So Sunday was the truck's first trip out to the desert... no 4-wheeling, per se, but we hit a few of my favorite photo taking spots in and around Borrego Springs.  Here's some highlights... definitely more visually interesting than the first bunch I posted!  ; )










Bonus points for the first person who can tell me what's 'wrong' with this photo....  ; )


This one I already know what's wrong with... the funny looking guy standing next to the truck!  lol

[FrankB]

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Bonus points for the first person who can tell me what's 'wrong' with this photo....  ; )

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This one I already know what's wrong with... the funny looking guy standing next to the truck!  lol

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Well, how about the tire tracks don't seem to match up to where the truck is sitting.

I'm curious as to where you shot those too.

[Impact619]

Hehe, nope... I moved the truck a few times while I was shooting the pics, so that's probably why the tire tracks don't look right.

This is a dry lake bed just... northeast?  ..of Borrego Springs, just off the road that takes you to the Salton Sea.  Rockhouse Canyon is what you want to look for.  The other location is an old abandoned gas station on the other side of town.. on the road as you come down from Yaqui Pass.

[GUANO]

I have an 04 X with the SC @ 110k miles... I moved about a block away from work so that helps out!  The only thing I've had to replace so far was the radiator...   And also the rear windows are slowing down like you guys mentioned...  I hope to get 300-400k out of my x... My next OR truck will have to be a '72 bronco, international scout, old land cruiser, or similar...

[Impact619]

Yeah, when my lease is up this fall, I'm thinking about moving closer to work as well... trouble is, last time I did that, I had lost the job by time I had finished moving!!  : O

But yeah, that'll save a lot of mileage and gas, and my insurance will get cheaper too, if my annual miles driven comes down.