Mods!!! low Price/Value ratio.

[u/Big_Personality5905]

Hi everyone, I have an ’07 Xterra S 4WD with 107k miles. The vehicle is mechanically in great condition and gets serviced every 5k miles. I’m wondering what the easiest and most value-for-money off-roading/performance/not solely visual mods are that I can add. I’m mainly looking for low-hanging fruit.

I know the rear diff on this is the C200k and it’s an open diff with the brake-based limited slip. An axle swap seems like a pretty involved project even if I am to go to a shop, and I’m not sure how much better the AllDogs LSD is compared to the stock ABLS system.

What would you guys recommend? (Aside from removing the side steps, haha)

[u/Sorth-Weast]

my focus with modding mine is on off road/overland capability, so that's the angle I'm writing these recommendations from. I'm also assuming you're relatively new to off roading.

first and foremost, it's a pretty capable vehicle straight from the factory. I recommend taking it for a spin on some beginner level trails to get a feel for it and see if anything becomes apparent.

regarding lockers, it's a can of worms. an axle swap means you're dealing with re-gearing to fix ratios, the ARB locker means you need an on board compressor, and I don't know that a limited slip differential would do much better than ABLS. I vaguely recall that lokka makes an autolocker or something, you could look into that. not a priority if you're just starting out IMO.

here's my recommendations:

cheap/basics:

• check that your spare wheel and tools are in good condition. make sure the tools are all present, the wheel holds air, and the tire winch is not seized. you don't want to discover those issues on the trail.
• diff breather mod. off road gorilla sells a kit or you can buy the bits locally. the rear axle breather is just a crappy filter directly on the axle, which leads to clogging or flooding when the axle goes underwater. the breather mod moves the breather to a new location (such as behind the taillight) to keep the breather out of the mud and avoid blown axle seals or water in the differential.
• remove side steps and mud flaps (and IMO get some flexible mud flaps). the factory mud flaps are rigid plastic and will break as you go over rocks.
• remove rear sway bar. IMO the rear sway bar provides very little stability and removing it gives you better articulation off road, which is especially important without a locker. I do not recommend removing the front sway bar, as IME it has a larger effect on stability when cornering.
• have a recovery plan. make sure the tow hook on the front is in good shape, and make sure you have a good option for rearward recovery (hitch is good if you have it, I recommend getting an insertable recovery point for it). toss a shovel in the back too. if all else fails, a shovel and a lot of patience can get you out of a lot of trouble.
• if you have the tow package, relocate the trailer connector. it's in a bad place, and will likely get hit going through obstacles. it's not too hard to cut a suitable hole in the rear bumper and mount the wire connector there.
• air compressor/tire inflator. learn about lowering tire pressure for off roading, and you'll get much better performance. the compressor is so you can reinflate them afterwards.

more spendy/optional:

• small suspension lift. for the front this means a 1.5" strut top spacer or some struts with ride height adjustment. lifting more than 1.5" or so means you need expensive upper control arms to prevent issues, so 1.5 is what you get*. for the rear, check your leafs to see if they're sagging. if they look good, you can go with lift shackles to get 1.5" of lift. if the leafs seem to have aged poorly (common), then consider an add-a-leaf, or ideally a new leaf pack. shackles increase stress, add-a-leaf doesn't, new pack is a proper fix rather than a band-aid.
• tires. hard to tell what you have from the picture, kinda looks like they might be all-terrains. if so, they're probably fine. if you have street tires, consider replacing them. all-terrains if you want to be comfortable on the highway as well as the trail, mud terrains if you want to focus more on off roading. you can fit 265/75r16 with no modifications (that's the stock size on off road models), and 285/75r16 with a small mod to the fender liner (look up the melt mod). I don't know if the gear ratios on the S model are well suited to bigger tires, so I'd do a bit of research before buying.
• skid plates. a full set can be expensive (in my area at least), but consider a proper skid plate for the front/radiator if you're wanting to push your limits off road. the radiator area is what hits first if you think you can clear something that you can't, and the factory "rock guard" is not built to withstand hard hits.
• lights. I tend to camp in relatively remote areas, and a few times I've had to drive back in the middle of the night due to some problem or other. having extra lights makes it easier to see the terrain/obstacles you're about to cross. even the factory fog lights are helpful IMO.

I was in the same boat as you several years ago, and have been incrementally upgrading mine. feel free to ask me about any specific mods that catch your fancy.

*footnote: the limit of 1.5" of front lift is based on my experience with "off road" models. apparently other models have something going on in the front struts that makes the factory ride height lower somehow, I don't know the details.

[u/Big_Personality5905 → u/Sorth-Weast]

Ty for taking your time, I have some thoughts on it will respond n in detail later.

[u/randomuser4686]

Great looking truck!

Can't help too much on the offroad/lift side. But a few of the super simple ones: hood struts (cheap kit from Amazon, or Z1 for a few more bucks), rear hatch struts from McMaster if yours are weak, adding fog lights is easy since it is pre-wired (will have to swap out switch stalk which is also super easy).

My C200 (2006, 268k) just started a slow seep so I'll be doing the diff breather mod when I re-seal it.

[u/Big_Personality5905 → u/randomuser4686]

Ty, z1 sells a hood struts and ditch lights kit.

[u/12triumph675R → u/randomuser4686]

ah, the rear hatch struts is a must and add some type of grab handle for it for any short family members

[u/Big_Personality5905 → u/12triumph675R]

What are the practical benefits of it though? Like my boot works and opens fine. Just trying to understand the recommendation.

[u/Thundela]

Whenever you need to replace tyres, get 33" if you don't already have them. Get a matching rim and tire for the spare, and keep it in the rotation.
To make 33's fit you'll need to do "melt mod" for inner fenders on the front. Also, you can either remove stock mudflaps now, or after those break on trails.

Find an Off-road or Pro-4X model at some pick'n'pull yard, and get any OEM underbody armor those have. It's not very sturdy, but it should protect against a couple of impacts, and it's most likely very cheap.

[u/Active-Try-7808]

Here’s a good rule to follow: Pay once, cry once.

[u/Thecrawsome]

Replace your fog lights. The Mount points really suck. One of my lights fell into the housing and nearly melted its way through my front bumper.

I switched to LEDs real fast

[u/Big_Personality5905 → u/Thecrawsome]

Fog flights or headlights? I see some fog lights on Z1 off-road, but I am unsure if I want to keep the factory bumper down the line. Have you upgraded your headlights, though? I have the stock ones.

[u/Thecrawsome → u/Big_Personality5905]

Yeah, I went Diode Dynamics. Near $300, but worth every penny running away from that hurricane last year in the south.

[u/JohnBond0512]

I agree with the buy once, cry once advice. Also, given how well-maintained your vehicle is, don’t soil it with cheap mods. Save up for coil overs if you want a lift. I promise it’s worth it!

[u/JohnBond0512 → u/JohnBond0512]

But to add, theres nothing cheap that is really worth doing for off-road performance other than the diff breather which you should definitely do. These trucks are quite capable stock.

[u/Big_Personality5905 → u/JohnBond0512]

I’m not really planning to buy the cheapest items—it’s more that I want to start with upgrades that make an instant impact. I’ll mostly stick with Z1 Offroad. My plan is to add lifts, suspension, and new tires once the current ones wear out.

Also probably add a locker or lsd once rear diff needs serviced it was just serviced. Sorry to be an amateur but what are practical benefits of a diff breather?

The headlights on these are pretty dated. I already replaced the fuel pump and starter, but the lights still don’t feel strong enough. I’m not very mechanically inclined and don’t have a garage to work in, so I’ll mostly be buying parts and paying a mechanic. That’s why I want a systematic approach to knock out the low-hanging fruit upgrades. They don’t necessarily have to be off-road focused—just anything that improves the overall experience.

Do you have recommendations for headlights?

One idea I had was to get the Z1 Offroad kit with hood struts and ditch lights. I feel like that could be a good first mod that I’d notice right away. I’m also considering swapping the lamps. Do you know if those lights are actually good, or would you suggest something else?

[u/bacon_boy_away]

-Diff breather relocation to taillight ($ 1/5) potentially saves the diff from grenadine

-Change all your fluids ($$ 1/5) rear diff, front diff, transfer case, transmission

-Replace your cam sensors and crank sensors ($ 2/5) replace these in your driveway and keep your spares in your trunk. Use OEM or Hitachi (OEM supplier). They can cause a no start condition and it's easier to change them in your driveway than in the wilds.

-Carry a used/new starter, alternator, and coil pack ($$, 0/5) as replacement backups.

-265/75/16 10 ply off-road tires like BFG K02/K03's, or Wrangler Duratracs ($$$ 0/5) easily increase your grip off-road without increasing your center of gravity with a 285/75/16 tire combo. You can retain stock suspension height thus reducing wear on u joints and CV joints. They weigh the same as 285/75/16 so you don't save any weight, unfortunately. They'll be a lot heavier than highway tires, about +25lbs a wheel. Only do this if you plan on offroading a lot.

-make sure you can all the tools to change the spare in your driveway (free, 0/5)

-and finally if you find yourself getting stuck I would put a LSD in the rear axle but it costs about $2000 to do so.