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Author Topic: Joe's Xterra  (Read 114807 times)

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (bumper added 8/18/15)
« Reply #105 on: August 21, 2015, 04:05:08 PM »
Thanks Alex, and you're right, the middle horizontal support actually has little tabs on it for mounting lights. I'd love to put a pair of 7" HIDs or something on there, but I've gotta relocate my amber strobe lights from behind the grill first (because anything I mount to that horizontal bar will block them), and I don't know where to put them yet. :(

FrankB

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (bumper added 8/18/15)
« Reply #106 on: August 21, 2015, 04:16:34 PM »
Thanks Alex, and you're right, the middle horizontal support actually has little tabs on it for mounting lights. I'd love to put a pair of 7" HIDs or something on there, but I've gotta relocate my amber strobe lights from behind the grill first (because anything I mount to that horizontal bar will block them), and I don't know where to put them yet. :(

Is there a way to mount the amber strobes on the underside of those tabs and still be able to use them for driving lights on the top, or will that huge winch you are thinking of adding get in the way?

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (bumper added 8/18/15)
« Reply #107 on: August 21, 2015, 04:39:34 PM »


They do make small "L" brackets that I could use the way you are explaining. The light would mount to the larger surface of the bracket with the wires running through the large hole. Then I could drill a hole in the top of the bracket (the bracket would be upside down from the way it is shown in the photo above) and run a bolt through the HID light bracket, through the tab on the bumper, through the bracket for the strobe light, and put a nut on the other side. They would actually move forward from the tab, which would easily clear any kind of winch I would mount. I just don't know if I'll like them out in front like that. What I would prefer to do is surface mount them directly to the bumper on either side of the fairlead, or even better, have a shop cut out holes for them and flush mount them using a rubber gromet kit that is available:


Motorpig77

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (bumper added 8/18/15)
« Reply #108 on: September 08, 2015, 03:30:54 AM »
Blinky flashy yellow lights are AMAZING!!! :)

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #109 on: October 16, 2015, 09:26:14 AM »
OP has been updated. Even though it's only been a couple months since I updated this thread, I've done a lot of major projects so it was time for a refresh.

Gobi stealth toolbox installed on roof rack
Smittybilt winch installed 9/1/15
OBA added 9/12/15
Full skid plates added 10/2/15
Odyssey battery and ARB fridge added 10/15/15



Ghost65

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #110 on: October 16, 2015, 10:03:56 AM »
OP has been updated. Even though it's only been a couple months since I updated this thread, I've done a lot of major projects so it was time for a refresh.

Gobi stealth toolbox installed on roof rack
Smittybilt winch installed 9/1/15
OBA added 9/12/15
Full skid plates added 10/2/15
Odyssey battery and ARB fridge added 10/15/15




DV ready for sure...that's quite a list!  Can't wait to see this rig in person in a few days... :)
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RBduffer

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #111 on: October 16, 2015, 03:09:36 PM »
Joe, any photos of the OBA?  My Tsunami pooped out after CANVAZ so I've been looking toward you and Bromax for guidance :o ;D
Of all the things I've lost...
I miss my mind the most

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JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #112 on: October 16, 2015, 06:37:48 PM »
I posted a few photos in the "what have you done for your rig lately" thread as I was working on it. The setup consists of the ARB twin compressor (CKMTA12) and ARB 1 gallon aluminum air tank. The compressor has a built in relay and pressure switch, so all you have to do is wire it to the battery (using the included harness) and run one wire from the harness into the cab for the switch (also included). Then run the air lines out to the tank, or directly to a fitting if you plan to run it tankless. Again, it has an internal pressure switch so it's super easy to hook up.

I mounted the compressor and tank to a bracket I made from some "angle iron" (I'm not sure the real name for the stuff, but it's what they use to mount roll up garage doors and garage door openers and I've always heard the installers call it angle iron) and shoved the whole assembly up inside my front bumper below the winch plate. I had some custom air lines made at a local hose shop for $9.00 to run between the compressor and the tank, and from the tank into a t-fitting which then has my lines plumbed into it. They run to a fitting in the front bumper near the winch and another fitting in the rear bumper next to the license plate.

Again, if you want to run tankless, you can just bolt the compressor wherever it'll fit. It's an expensive sucker, but sure is easy to install and pumps a ton of air!

Here's the best photos I have of the installation:
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0887.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0889.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0895.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0896.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0897.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0919.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0920.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0921.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0934.jpg
Joe's Xterra


Clearance between the setup and the radiator:
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0905.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0906.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_0908.jpg
Joe's Xterra


« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 06:43:04 PM by JFanaselle »

RBduffer

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #113 on: October 17, 2015, 12:25:58 PM »
Dude, you are the photo journalist god!  That's exactly what I was looking for ;D

Your a pretty good engineer/mechanic as well ;)

Thanks, I'm gonna get crackin' on mine now.
Of all the things I've lost...
I miss my mind the most

KJ6YPO

chrishaynesusa

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #114 on: October 17, 2015, 03:12:47 PM »
looking good.

I would consider an aftermarket power-steering cooler.
NAPA has them for a few bucks.
The later models of Xterra went to the tiniest finned cooler possible.

Looks like a bottlebrush. :)

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #115 on: October 17, 2015, 05:02:37 PM »
As promised, here are some photos of the fridge mounting setup I got from a post on TNX. Consists of attaching the ARB mounting points (which are supplied with the $25 ARB fridge mounting kit) to the existing seat mounting brackets. These are installed on the smaller side of the rear split folding seat (the smaller side). The front brackets (with the red clamps for the seat bottom) already have holes in them that accomodate the nuts/bolts supplied with the ARB kit perfectly. For the rear brackets, I had to drill two holes in the existing seat brackets, which was super quick and easy (didn't even remove them to do this).

The straps that came with the fridge are just a tad too short to go through the brackets under the seat, reach around the edges of the seat and then reach the handles on the fridge. The guy on TNX was just using some generic cinching straps with a pull-tight buckle. I took the ARB ones to a really cool shop here in town called Rancho Army/Navy, and they removed the old nylon straps, cut me new lenghts of nylon webbing and folded them over the ARB clamps and sewed them in place with a box stitch like the original ARB ones were attached. Only cost me $15 (the generic utility straps were about $2.50 each, and I would have needed 4 of them, so it made sense to go this route and use the high-quality ARB metal clamps instead).

One thing to note - after I installed the 4 brackets and was running the straps through them, I realized I could have just not installed the front ones and ran the straps throug the existing seat bracket instead. Once you remove the bottom seat, there are just two little bars there that the straps would run through perfectly. Once I got the clampy-thingies (the pieces that actually attach to the handes on the fridge) installed onto the straps, I just leave them in place under the seat bottom. When I'm ready to put the fridge in the vehicle, I simply pull the seat bottom off, fold the seat back down, hook the straps to the handles and pull them tight, and plug it in. Takes about 45 seconds. :)

I ran a hard wire for the fridge to my aux fuse box and installed a quick disconnect. Fits in this space like a glove, and is super snug when strapped down. It sure beats my old method of wraping a cargo strap around a cooler sitting on the same folded seat - that would still bounce around a little because the seat back would move up and down (the strap was only wrapped around the bottom of the folded down seat) and you'd have to un-do the strap in order to get in the cooler.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1138.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1136.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1137.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1139.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1140.jpg
Joe's Xterra
« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 05:09:29 PM by JFanaselle »

chrishaynesusa

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #116 on: October 17, 2015, 07:00:53 PM »
Fill it up with Stone Beer and call it good!!

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #117 on: October 26, 2015, 11:28:47 AM »
Well, I took the X out for a little pre-death valley shakedown run yesterday and ran into an issue. Actually, I considered CANVAZ as the shakedown trip, and she performed flawlessly. But yesterday, while playing around a little in the hills near my house, I couldn't get the 4WD to engage.

I was cruising around in 2WD and when I approached a steep climb, I came to a stop (still on flat ground) and reached over to switch it into 4-HI. The display near the odometer showed the front wheels trying to engage for about a half second, and then the display shut completely off and the 4WD light came on solid. I put the X in park, switched the 4WD switch back to 2WD mode, shut the key all the way off and waited about 30 seconds before starting it back up. The display came back (and showed I was still in 2WD) and the 4WD light was gone, so I tried it again and the exact same thing happened. I backed out and left the way I came, and tried it a few more times throughout the afternoon/evening with the same results every time.

I'm pretty convinced that it's something electronic since it's resetting the error when I shut the car off and re-triggering it when I try to engage 4 wheel drive. I dropped it off at the dealer last night (still under warranty) and called Motorpig77 to see if he had any ideas. Ironically, he had a very similar issue earlier in the year and the dealership determined it to be a bad "module" for the 4WD system (that's what the tech told me), which they replaced under warranty.

Well, my tech (same guy who replaced the "module" in Motorpig's rig) just called me and said he was replicating the problem with every attempt this morning and was even getting a code when it would happen. He didn't tell me what the code was specifically, but it was something kind of generic like a 4WD mis-shift. In an attempt to see if he could throw a different code to narrow down the bad part, he flip-flopped two of the four relays that control the 4WD system and the problem simply went away. It will engage 4-HI, 4-LO, and go back into 2WD just fine now. He switched the relays back and still can't replicate the issue anymore. He did say that one of the two relays looked to have some physical damage on the top, possibly from a screw that pokes through the top of the fuse box cover that holds my dual battery solenoid in place. But that solenoid has been installed for over a year (and I presume the damage to the top of the relay was done when it was installed), and I've never had the issue, so I have a hard time believing that the relay was damaged to the point that it wasn't working right. Plus, it doesn't really make sense that it's working fine now if one of the relays in in-fact bad. I suppose the relay could be having intermittent issues and it stopped acting up for now when he manipulated it.

He's going to keep playing with it and has already ordered a replacement relay. Just curious what everyone else's thoughts are. My fear is that If I do have a bad actuator/module like Motorpig had, I want to get it replaced before the DV trip.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2015, 09:40:41 AM by JFanaselle »

Celt

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #118 on: October 26, 2015, 11:34:45 AM »
I had a similar issue a few years ago. Seems my throw out bearing and solenoid which is think is the "Module" issue Motorpig77 may have had as well went bad so the 4l wouldn't actuate. Was a big mess and cost me a sufficient amount of money. Since you said you are still under warranty I don't think you should have much to worry about if that is the problem.
Isaiah 6:8

JFanaselle

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Re: JFanaselle's Xterrestrial (updated 10/16/15 with OBA, skids, winch, fridge)
« Reply #119 on: November 02, 2015, 01:59:46 PM »
Got the X back from the dealer over the weekend. They couldn't find any issues with any of the other 4WD electrical components, so they just swapped out the relay and we're all crossing our fingers that it won't act up again. Had to give myself a face palm after checking out how bad I damaged the old relay. The weird part here is that the relay worked fine for over a year after my mod that caused this damage, and it worked fine again after the tech removed it and reinstalled it. Funny how finicky electrical components can be.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1198.jpg
Joe's Xterra


Took it for a little shakedown run in the hills not far from the dealership and the 4WD system performed flawlessly.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1190.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1192.jpg
Joe's Xterra


The road started to get very rocky and rutted about half way up the hill. I didn't have my skid plates reinstalled yet, so I came back that night after they were reinstalled and made it all the way to the top with my son with me (it was a fun little climb!). Beautiful 360 degree view overlooking Hemet, Murrieta/Temecula, Winchester and Menifee from the top.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/DSC_1210.jpg
Joe's Xterra


After I put my son back in his car seat, I walked around the front of the Xterra to head back over to the driver's side door and ALMOST stepped on this guy coiled up on a rock trying to gather the last warmth he could before he went to sleep for the night.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/12189848_911939195559641_8303727770013956992_n.jpg
Joe's Xterra


http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee234/jfanaselle/10151346_911939238892970_6888141304777853838_n.jpg
Joe's Xterra


It's a 4' long red diamondback rattlesnake, and he never even bothered to rattle at me despite the fact that I came about 6 inches away from stepping on him. I changed course in midair like I was in a bugs bunny cartoon and barely avoided him, and and grabbed my camera to get a couple shots before heading back down the hill. Just a reminder to everyone that snakes are very much still out this time of year, and are more likely to be in the middle of the roadway or a trail as the evenings get cooler and they're trying to gather as much warmth as possible.

 


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