Xterra suspension

[manolo]

Thank you for accepting me in this post.

The squeek is not the problem on Ronald's car. He says there is a cracking sound which we will be investigating tomorrow morning. The Xterra is a complicated car but we hope to get around any complications. As for the squeek, the sprays will do the job.

Fingers crossed.

[Magnum]

I'm not laughing out of you guys, but I feel sad. You are spending lots of money and energy to bring your car out of balance, shifting the weights into abnormal positions and then wondering what's going wrong and some of you later ending with fatal accidents in a desert...

I know I'm a newbie in your eyes. However, I want to share a short story with you guys on the subject. I have a 2012 OR Xterra. I settled on the X after almost two years of desert driving in several 4x4. Its a great car. Mine has stock suspension but a tweaked engine.

On a hot Liwa day, while climbing straight out of a huge bowl. I bumped into a small bump, flew for less than a meter and landed on the beginning of another higher bump (those sand irregularities caused by other cars tracks). This scenario seems normal, correct? (and to be honest I didn't see the bumps). The car did not stop but had a hit on the front that I classified as not strong. No major damage on the front end; the Bumper was slightly affected.

However, given the speed, the amount of torque and the height of the chassis from the ground which is low, given the stock suspension, the chassis was bent as of the hit. I have a report from the agency stating the same.

It isn't really pleasant to have a 126k worth of an investment hurt that bad. The car is running (still using it till date, normally) and the insurance will take care of costs associated with repair, but at the end it hurts and it's never back again. I hope at that day, I had my lift installed (I already have a high end one, which was supposed to be fixed during the week after liwa weekend).

Long one, Huh?

What I want to say is; "your car needs to coop with your driving level (Trip level) and not the other way around".

Put a first timer in a Raptor and he will get in trouble, not out of the car's capabilities but his. put an experienced one and he will know how to use it. :060: If you are new to driving off road, likely, there is no challenges that a proper stock 4x4 cant take. Once you really feel that your car started to complain as a result of advancement in driving skills and terrain difficulty, start modifying according to your needs.

My 2 fils.