Long story. My first experience with anything 4WD was a rental YJ back in the late 80s. My dad was stationed on Oahu and he took me out of school for a week to go to Maui and see the Humback Whales migrate. Out rental car was a red YJ with half hard-doors and a bikini top. Later we moved to Colorado and my dad's POS VW Sirocco shot it's transmission all over the highway (only 90K on a manual trans? Really VW?); it was replaced with an '89 Pathfinder. The day after that brand new SUV came home, my dad woke me up before the sun rose, we snuck the car out of the garage and took it up Old Stagecoach Road; this was back when it was still dirt. I'm sure today it would seem like a tame graded dirt road, but there were mud puddles to splash in. We brought the Pathy back
covered in mud. Mom was not happy.
The Pathy got us out exploring Colorado and plowing through Front Range snow storms, but it had a bum ticker and spent its first birthday in the shop getting a new short block. A year later it started to burn oil as a fast as fuel, so we traded it in on an FJ80 right before moving to Utah. I learned to drive in that 80 series and cut my teeth on Moab slickrock. When I got older the family bought a red XJ that was kind of my defacto car; it too was a lemon and was constantly in the shop. It was sold to make way for a Honda Civic, which was far more practical for a grad student in California.
I moved back home and kept driving the Civic until it was rear-ended by an inattentive teenager. The car was repaired, but I took the chance to get rid of it in favor of something more sturdy. I had been a fan of the FJ Cruiser and set out of find one, only to be disappointed by the cave-like interior and poor visibility. The JKU was another option, but they were going for big money on the used market and Chrysler had failed as a company with no sign of investment to keep them afloat. I still had a sour taste in my mouth from the XJ, the Jeep reliability numbers were not good, and I didn't want to buy into a brand that might not exist in a year.
With a great deal of arm-twisting I looked at the XTerra. I didn't think much of them at first, mostly because I was used to the "cute" yellow ones being driving by air-headed girls to the mall. A Nissan fan set me right on how capable and tough they really were. I started looking for a manual with the locking rear diff, which are apparently made of unobtanium. One popped up for sale in my city and I snatched it up. I never really intended to mod the vehicle, but I joined the local owner's club to connect with others and make new friends. At the first meetup, I was running a stock rig with some decent tires and a bunch of cosmetic junk (side steps, brush guard, etc). The mods started by removing those factory accessories and selling them; but with
@Maxterra 's rig (and a few other guys) as inspiration at every meet, it is hard to not get the itch.
Overlanding just seemed like a natural use for the way the build has gone. Honestly, I'm probably overweight and over-armored for this, but my XTerra was never intended to be just one thing. It's my daily, my tow rig for motorcycles, the bug out vehicle, the snow stomper, rock cralwer, Home Depot hauler, hedge remover, and everything else I need in a vehicle. That's why I've never made a drawer system, I actually need that cargo space.
