Home Base:<\/strong> Snohomish, Washington<\/p>\n Occupation: <\/strong>Aerospace Mechanic<\/p>\n What\u2019s the Year\/Make\/Model\/Mileage of your rig?<\/strong><\/p>\n 2006 Nissan Xterra SE with 130K miles. I’ve had this vehicle for seven years now.<\/p>\n Overlanding Since…<\/strong><\/p>\n Since I bought the vehicle. I always slept in the back, before I knew overlanding was a thing. We slept in the back up until about two and a half years ago when we got our first used RTT from a friend at CVT.<\/p>\n The drive. No matter what the trail or fire road is or where it leads. We sometimes find ourselves driving over ten hours in a day just because we are enjoying the ride, the scenery, and the navigating. We get itchy staying in one place longer than 12hrs because we love the aspect of exploring.<\/p>\n Not sure what the longest would be. One of our longer trips was six nights and seven days on the WABDR. We saw one truck and a dirt bike the entire time. Most of our trips are three days.<\/p>\n I was in the market for a 4WD capable vehicle that I could sleep in the back of for snowboarding and other activities. That was all I cared about at the time. I wanted it to be easier for me to stay at the mountain and snowboard.<\/p>\n I rode in my friend\u2019s first gen supercharged Nissan Xterra and I was sold. Seven years later I\u2019ve not regretted that decision once.<\/p>\n Uniqueness – I try to make it as different as possible from other Nissan Xterra\u2019s. But what I think is cool is the Xterra is not a common build that you see on the trails or on the roads. Far and few between are the built ones.<\/p>\n The roof. I have always liked the curve in the roof, since I first saw the Xterra. It\u2019s a little different.<\/p>\n Nissan. I love that I drive a Nissan Xterra in what seems like a world full of Toyota\u2019s in the off-road community.<\/p>\n Quite a few. Here’s the run down.<\/p>\n Simple Titan swap is what is on the truck currently. This is when you take Nissan Titan suspension components (stock or aftermarket) and bolt them on to the Frontier or Xterra as they are all on the same build platform.<\/p>\n This involves the upgrade to a front Titan M205 differential and axles from the stock R180. (Learn more about a Titan swap here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The rear axle we rebuilt and then did a 4.56 nitro gear set with a ring gear spacer from Nisstec. This is paired with an RD149 ARB air locker. Then capped it off with the Ruffstuff\/Offroad Gorilla diff cover.<\/p>\n Currently in the process of installing the onboard air system to run said locker, air up tires and run air tools.<\/p>\n Camping & Kitchen:<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently we just use a Camp Chef Sherpa table that works out great for us, along with a camp chef dual burner stove. We use a 5lb propane tank in the back next to the drawers for that.<\/p>\n Organizers that came with it worked perfectly for our left drawer which keeps coffee\/tea, utensils etc. all organized and easy to grab. Right drawer is the pantry with some tools and fluids on the bottom.<\/p>\n Shelter:<\/strong><\/p>\n Have been using an old CVT Shasta but recently upgraded to a clamshell style aluminum tent from a company I am really excited about, that I will be working with as the west coast rep.<\/p>\n Electrical:<\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing special yet though there\u2019s big plans for the future. As of now we are using a Goal Zero Yeti 500x paired with a 52l Costway fridge and it works great for that and charging cameras and phones, etc.<\/p>\n Lighting:<\/strong><\/p>\n So far all I\u2019ve done for lighting in the Nissan Xterra is put on some ditch lights and different headlights. I changed the projector and the bulb in the headlights (now using Morimoto 2stroke LED\u2019s) but still plan to retrofit my old ones myself.<\/p>\n Storage:<\/strong><\/p>\n We have built a nice dual drawer storage system in the back out of \u215c birch and some outdoor marine carpeting. There\u2019s more storage underneath the drawers with the weird floor storage area that comes in the Nissan Xterra, and more storage on the sides of the drawers.<\/p>\n We also did a rear seat delete and have a platform for the dog and fridge, with storage underneath.<\/p>\n I plan to add a rear tire carrier swing out hopefully before Christmas. It will be a custom one off design, which I have lots of ideas for.<\/p>\n I’m also planning to make full skids. Was going to before the prices skyrocketed. There are some sliders sitting in the garage right now that I need to put on as well. I\u2019ll eventually get a little rowdy with it and build a VK56 block and put that in it, and I would SAS it as well.<\/p>\n None so far on this Nissan Xterra. I\u2019ve helped with trail repairs before though. Replacing CV axles, changing a flat, bending back a tie rod and chasing a loose ground are some trail repair memories.<\/p>\n Toilet paper. Definitely toilet paper<\/p>\n Basically anywhere in the mountains with a good view.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a never ending, forever changing build (but aren\u2019t they all) that I\u2019ve had much fun with. I\u2019d like to focus more on suspension and drivetrain upgrades from this point forth and improving its capability.Suspension:<\/p>\n Tires: <\/strong>Milestar Patagonia<\/p>\n Wheels: <\/strong>KMC Grenade bronze<\/p>\n Recovery: <\/strong>Running a Smittybilt XRC Gen3 9.5k full synthetic winch. This is sitting inside a DIY garage fabbed front winch plate bumper and front skid plate.<\/p>\n Security: <\/strong>Just my master lock steering wheel lock and manual trans is usually a good deterrent, but if they still feel like getting after that, there\u2019s still a fuel cutoff switch that\u2019s hidden. Good luck!<\/p>\n Nav\/Comm: <\/strong>Currently running a CB radio on my Nissan Xterra and looking at Midland GMRS options.<\/p>\n Up Next in the Member<\/a> Spotlight: Chris Solis<\/a> gives us the full run down on his vintage Camel Trophy Truck<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We recently took the time to talk shop with Overland Bound Member Blake M. about his Titan swapped 2006 Nissan Xterra build. Blake chose to be very hands on with his build and did many of the modifications himself. Learn how his love for snow boarding and snowy mountains was the driving factor behind his build process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":34401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"We recently took the time to talk shop with Overland Bound Member Blake M. about his Titan swapped 2006 Nissan Xterra build. Blake chose to be very hands on with his build and did many of the modifications himself. Learn how his love for snow boarding and snowy mountains was the driving factor behind his build process.\n\nYou typically won't find a Nissan Xterra on any top 5 overland platform lists, but his modifications and gear choices makes the Xterra a viable overland travel solution.\n\nName: Blake, Overland Bound Member #2055\n\nHome Base: Snohomish, Washington\n\nOccupation: Aerospace Mechanic\n\nWhat\u2019s the Year\/Make\/Model\/Mileage of your rig?\n\n2006 Nissan Xterra SE with 130K miles. I've had this vehicle for seven years now.\n\nOverlanding Since...\n\nSince I bought the vehicle. I always slept in the back, before I knew overlanding was a thing. We slept in the back up until about two and a half years ago when we got our first used RTT from a friend at CVT. What is it about Overlanding you enjoy most?\n\nThe drive. No matter what the trail or fire road is or where it leads. We sometimes find ourselves driving over ten hours in a day just because we are enjoying the ride, the scenery, and the navigating. We get itchy staying in one place longer than 12hrs because we love the aspect of exploring.\n\nLongest trip completed\/planned?\n\nNot sure what the longest would be. One of our longer trips was six nights and seven days on the WABDR. We saw one truck and a dirt bike the entire time. Most of our trips are three days.\n\nWhat influenced your Overland vehicle choice?\n\nI was in the market for a 4WD capable vehicle that I could sleep in the back of for snowboarding and other activities. That was all I cared about at the time. I wanted it to be easier for me to stay at the mountain and snowboard. I rode in my friend\u2019s first gen supercharged Xterra and I was sold. Seven years later I\u2019ve not regretted that decision once.\n\nWhat are 3 things that you *really* like about your rig?\n\nUniqueness - I try to make it as different as possible from other Xterra\u2019s. But what I think is cool is the Xterra is not a common build that you see on the trails or on the roads. Far and few between are the built ones.\nThe roof. I have always liked the curve in the roof, since I first saw the Xterra. It\u2019s a little different.\nNissan. I love that I drive a Nissan in what seems like a world full of Toyota\u2019s in the off-road community.\n\nWhat modifications have you made so far on your Nissan Xterra?\n\nQuite a few. Here's the run down.\n\nSimple Titan swap is what is on the truck currently. This is when you take Nissan Titan suspension components (stock or aftermarket) and bolt them on to the Frontier or Xterra as they are all on the same build platform. This involves the upgrade to a front Titan M205 differential and axles from the stock R180. (Learn more about a Titan swap here<\/a>.)\nWe upgraded to the UpTop Overland roof rack a few months back, so far so good.\nFront bumper\/skid with Smittybilt winch.\nRear storage build out.\nRear seat delete DIY storage platform.\nOnboard air for air ups\/air tools\/air locker.\nDitch lights and headlights that do pretty decent.\nPut a 4.56 Yukon gear set and yolk in the three-rib M205 Titan diff up front and rebuilt the diff.\nThe rear axle we rebuilt and then did a 4.56 nitro gear set with a ring gear spacer from Nisstec. This is paired with an RD149 ARB air locker. Then capped it off with the Ruffstuff\/Offroad Gorilla diff cover.\nCurrently in the process of installing the onboard air system to run said locker, air up tires and run air tools.\n\nCamping & Kitchen:\n\nCurrently we just use a Camp Chef Sherpa table that works out great for us, along with a camp chef dual burner stove. We use a 5lb propane tank in the back next to the drawers for that. Organizers that came with it worked perfectly for our left drawer which keeps coffee\/tea, utensils etc. all organized and easy to grab. Right drawer is the pantry with some tools and fluids on the bottom.\n\nShelter:\n\nHave been using an old CVT Shasta but recently upgraded to a clamshell style aluminum tent from a company I am really excited about, that I will be working with as the west coast rep.\n\nElectrical:\n\nNothing special yet though there\u2019s big plans for the future. As of now we are using a Goal Zero Yeti 500x paired with a 52l Costway fridge and it works great for that and charging cameras and phones, etc.\n\nLighting:\n\nSo far all I\u2019ve done for lighting is put on some ditch lights and different headlights. I changed the projector and the bulb in the headlights (now using Morimoto 2stroke LED\u2019s) but still plan to retrofit my old ones myself.\n\nStorage:\n\nWe have built a nice dual drawer storage system in the back out of \u215c birch and some outdoor marine carpeting. There\u2019s more storage underneath the drawers with the weird floor storage area that comes in the Xterra, and more storage on the sides of the drawers. We also did a rear seat delete and have a platform for the dog and fridge, with storage underneath.\n\nWhat would you add or improve?\n\nI plan to add a rear tire carrier swing out hopefully before Christmas. It will be a custom one off design, which I have lots of ideas for. I'm also planning to make full skids. Was going to before the prices skyrocketed. There are some sliders sitting in the garage right now that I need to put on as well. I\u2019ll eventually get a little rowdy with it and build a VK56 block and put that in it, and I would SAS it as well.Have you ever had to make a trail repair - If so what? If not, what are you prepared for?\n\nNone so far on this rig. I\u2019ve helped with trail repairs before though. Replacing CV axles, changing a flat, bending back a tie rod and chasing a loose ground are some trail repair memories.\n\nWhat's the one piece of overlanding equipment you can't live without? (Besides your rig.)\n\nToilet paper. Definitely toilet paper\n\nWhat\u2019s your favorite destination?\n\nBasically anywhere in the mountains with a good view.\n\nWhat else should we know about your rig?\n\nIt\u2019s a never ending, forever changing build (but aren\u2019t they all) that I\u2019ve had much fun with. I\u2019d like to focus more on suspension and drivetrain upgrades from this point forth and improving its capability.Suspension:\n\n2.5\u201d Radflo Coilovers w\/ 600lb Eibach Springs\nTotal Chaos Chromolly Rebuildable Titan UCA\u2019s w\/ 1\u201d Uniball\nNissan Titan boxed lower control arms\nNissan Titan Inner\/Outter tie rods\nAlcan Custom 4\u201d lift leaf pack +550lbs\nBilstein 6253 Shocks\nNisstec Adjustable Shackles\nTimbren Extended Bumps\nAxle Degree Shims for pinion angle\nU-Bolt Flip Kit\nExtended Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines (front & rear)\n\nTires:\n\nMilestar Patagonia\n\nWheels:\n\nKMC Grenade bronze\n\nRecovery:\n\nRunning a Smittybilt XRC Gen3 9.5k full synthetic winch. This is sitting inside a DIY garage fabbed front winch plate bumper and front skid plate.\n\nSecurity:\n\nJust my master lock steering wheel lock and manual trans is usually a good deterrent, but if they still feel like getting after that, there\u2019s still a fuel cutoff switch that\u2019s hidden. Good luck!\n\nNav\/Comm:\n\nCurrently running a CB radio and looking at Midland GMRS options.\nUp Next in the Member Spotlight: Chris Solis gives us the full run down on his vintage Camel Trophy Truck","_et_gb_content_width":"1260","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,20],"tags":[88,86,45,53,28,58,75,76,47,59,73,60,65],"class_list":["post-32290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-members","category-vehicle","tag-4wd","tag-4x4","tag-adventure","tag-camping","tag-expedition-2","tag-off-road","tag-offroad","tag-outdoors","tag-overland","tag-overland-bound","tag-overland-vehicle","tag-overlanding","tag-vehicle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/34401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Nissan](\"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BBX_2_1200-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is it about Overlanding in your Nissan Xterra that you enjoy most?<\/h3>\n
Longest trip completed\/planned?<\/h4>\n
What influenced your Overland vehicle choice of a Nissan Xterra?<\/h4>\n
What are 3 things that you *really* like about your rig?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BBX_Featured-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat modifications have you made so far on your Nissan Xterra?<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BBX3_960x1200-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Nissan](\"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BBX4_960x1200-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat would you add or improve on your Nissan Xterra?<\/h4>\n
Have you ever had to make a trail repair?<\/h4>\n
What’s the one piece of overlanding equipment you can’t live without? (Besides your rig.)<\/h4>\n
What\u2019s your favorite destination?<\/h4>\n
What else should we know about your rig?<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"Nissan](\"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BBX5-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n