S/C Xterra info

[onehundredoctane]

Leaving this thread here since it's not S or Z chassis related.

I'm getting to the point where I need to start getting the S13 taken around to a few different places to finish it up. Namely the dyno to be tuned/ have engine break-in, then to a friends shop to have the cage put in. That said I'm looking at getting rid of my daily driver Honda Accord to pick up a 02 Supercharged Xterra to use for towing duty. First off yes I know they are bad on gas and heavy, but I'm wanting to keep it in the Nissan family and can't afford anything newer, plus having a dog it would be nice to have a cargo area that's enclosed, so this serves two purposes.

1. I already have a spare supercharger laying around that I planned on re-building and installing on my S14, but re-building it and putting it on the Xterra makes more sense. The Xterra already has 163k miles on it, so this would serve as preventative maintenance.

2. Does anyone have past knowledge of common problems with the supercharged Xterras? I'm mainly into Z's and 240s for the most part and only know that they are 3.3l V6s with Eaton M62s.

3. Are there any concerns I should have with towing a bare bones S13 (gutted interior, no hvac, etc, etc) with it? Towing is rated up to 5,000 lbs.


Thanks in advance for the input guys!

[TheWolf]

timing belts but you knew that if you're a Z person.


if you had a heavy trailer that towing might suck. A standard light steel trailer with a S13 in race trim will be fine to tow.

Now if you do something like buy a landscape service trailer with a solid 1/4" steel plate deck then you might be pushing it.

[Edwin562]

I daily my 04 xterra. only issue i ever had was the timiing belt. 2nd time i replace it.. 65xxx miles apart. if your dont keep up maintenance constantly MPG goes down the drain fairly quickly...I have towed my s13 a few times on my xterra, never had an issue besides running abit hotter at slight uphills when towing. great truck if its 5 spd, like mine.

[onehundredoctane]

Ugh, timing belts, just what I was hoping to get out of, I did the one on my Accord at 110k miles and was trying to get rid of it before it was due another one.

From taking to the seller they don't seem to know too much about cars in general so you can bet that service history is out the window. Plus it currently has 22" chrome wheels, NOT COOL. First order of business would be to sale them in the ghetto, and quickly. I REALLY like how Enkei RT-6s look on them, so that might be the way to go instead of hunting down oem wheels. . . then again I should probably start looking for another Xterra instead of this one.

[!Zar!]

Towing with an Xterra... it isn't all about tow capacity, but wheelbase. And the short wheelbase of the Xterra makes towing sound scary.

[onehundredoctane]

I have towed using my fiance's 4runner a few times, I can't imagine it would be much worse.

What sucks is I've only found one that's 5 speed with 4x4, and it's a little out of my price range. I don't like auto slush boxes at all.

[TheWolf]

the x terra is really a z31 300zx vg30 motor bored out to 3.3L

They changed the cam/crank gear to rounded notches instead of square ones and stuck on a slightly different belt to accommodate. Thats about all there is different.

pretty reliable motors if maintained.

[deolio]

i borrow my parent's 02 frontier sc from time to time. sadly it's an automatic. only had one sketchy experience when towing a willies truck uphill in the rain/wind. other than that it's never had any issues. still running strong at 80k miles. manual would definitely be much nicer.

[brndck]

i love my xterra. (2wd v6 auto) but it only gets 18-19mpg at best. i have yet to tow with it but i wouldn't hesitate to as long as its an open trailer thats pretty light. i wouldn't haul an enclosed trailer or anything super heavy with it. my timing belt was done at 90k and i've only got 123k on it right now.

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by TheWolf

the x terra is really a z31 300zx vg30 motor bored out to 3.3L

They changed the cam/crank gear to rounded notches instead of square ones and stuck on a slightly different belt to accommodate. Thats about all there is different.

pretty reliable motors if maintained.

I think I remember my friend telling me that, when he was building his Z31 he used an intake manifold from a Pathfinder or Xterra because it had longer runners and would yield more torque.

Fucking fuck, my budget isn't much more than $5,500 and the one I'm looking at is listed at $7,995. What's funny is kbb private party value (which is what you can expect to pay Joe Blow on the street) is $5,600 for one excellent condition, BUT retail (what you can expect to pay at a dealer, which is the biggest bunch of bullshit), is $7,000ish. It's crap, all because they offer on site financing they can run the price up. I wanna walk in there and throw down $5k cash and tell em to take it or I'll come back everyday and harass them until they take it. Here's a horrible craigslist pic of the victim in question. . .


With a set of these I think it would look baller.


Which would look something like this (yes I know it's a different year model Xterra). . .


Or these (yes I'm a Enkei wheels fan!)



I'm really dorking out here, what do you guys think of the wheel choice?

Originally Posted by brndck

Are those Volk replicas? Looks great!

[deolio]

those second enkeis look better, but neither of them look that great imo. those volks look cool though.

[onehundredoctane]

They would end up getting painted semi-gloss or black, feel free to post up other wheels!

[brndck]

Originally Posted by onehundredoctane

Are those Volk replicas? Looks great!

replicas??? HELL NO!!! they're nismo frontier wheels, manufactured by rays. basically the exact same as te37x, the only difference is nismo ones come in a different offset than the te37x were sold in.
thanks tho.

[Banana_Cute]

I could've sworn they were timing chain. Well the 05' atleast. I have one, which is due for that tune up. Probably just gonna change the tensioner, for the meantime.

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by brndck

replicas??? HELL NO!!! they're nismo frontier wheels, manufactured by rays. basically the exact same as te37x, the only difference is nismo ones come in a different offset than the te37x were sold in.
thanks tho.

HA, sorry man! First time I've seen those, I was thinking "Those look like TE37s, but they're 6 bolt. . . WTF?!"

Looks great tho! Called today to see if I could go up to look at the Xterra, the guys said it sold yesterday, whatever. So I guess my plan now is to pick up an auto 4x4 S/C then eventually convert it to 5 speed. So far I've only found two S/C models that were 5 speed and a billion S/C auto's. If you guys see anything hit me up with a pm, like I said my only requirements:

-prefer less than 150,000 miles
-S/C model
-4x4
-towing package
-price range $5,000-6,500 range if possible

[future]

FivE speed such a new car? I say ou wait till you find one that you like

[brndck]

i looked pretty hard for any 5spd before i found mine, i don't think i came across a single one. i know they're out there, just a really rare breed.

[onehundredoctane]

I'm searching craiglist, autotrader and ebay and like I said, all I've found are TWO S/C, 4x4, 5 speed Xterras. . . had no idea they were crazy rare.

BUT there seem to be a metric shit ton of 5 Speed, 4x4 that are NON-S/C, so you would think a 5 speed, 4x4, transmission would be easy to come across at a junk yard. We'll just have to wait and see

[biggie]

Still been trying to tell you the 3.5L Pathfinder is a better option. The only thing the Xterra would be better at would be offroad and doubt you'll be doing that.

[Aki180sx]

If you do buy an xterra replace the timing belt regardless of what the previous owner says, I did not and I regret it.

At least you will have the comfort in knowing its good for 100k.

[onehundredoctane]

Originally Posted by biggie

Still been trying to tell you the 3.5L Pathfinder is a better option. The only thing the Xterra would be better at would be offroad and doubt you'll be doing that.

Actually my family has over a hundred acres that we regularly go camp/hike/4 wheel, etc, etc. I've been wanting to ditch the atv and do some big boy off roading there forver. Plus the Uharries aren't that far and it's known for it's trails. So there is off roading in the future. This isn't going to strictly be a tow rig only.

Originally Posted by Aki180sx

If you do buy an xterra replace the timing belt regardless of what the previous owner says, I did not and I regret it.

At least you will have the comfort in knowing its good for 100k.

No doubt, people will say anything to sale a car sometimes, so I just let my eyes do the story telling.