updates on the LEDs and front end swap?

 

Alright a quick update:

Here are the LED Roof lights on/off:






A short offroad drive up to Santiago Peak in Orange County:




After this little run, the rear suspension seemed to really start to sag. It initially was about 1" higher when I first installed the rear bumper carrier. Decided to jump on a deal of a 3leaf Add-A-Leaf since the Deaver/Alcan custom jobs would run approximately $500-600. When I had the mechanic replace a few A/C parts and got it working again (cold air finally, yes!), I had him install the leaf pack. It shot the rear end up 3 full inches, if not more. So the Xterra had an extreme rake to it. Looked horrible, so I cranked the torsion bars to lift the front end as high as the OE upper control arms would give me without messing the suspension geometry. Net gain was about a 1-1.5" front end lift and a less extreme of a rake. It still looked horrible and there were creaking all over.

 

Took a trip up to Monache Meadows a few weekends ago with Expedition Portal forum guys. It was pretty awesome and nicely secluded. A great little off road drive with some really nice campsites right off the Kern River. Only had a few pictures of the site:

 

After a 600 mile trip including off roading, I felt the rake was getting ridiculous, even fully loaded. The rear end was really stiff and wouldn't really budge at all. So, instead of taking out a leaf or two from the AAL, I ordered Calmini UCA's. Comes with greasable bushings and ball joints. This will net me a maximum of 3" lift from the way the UCAs are designed. Will probably just give it a 2.5" lift.

Tomorrow morning will include the installation of the UCAs along with removing one leaf of the AAL pack (probably the smaller one).

Here are the UCAs:

 

The X is more evened out now. Torsion bars are cranked near maxed out. Got a lifetime alignment at Firestone woohoo!
Had to replace my battery since it was a Duralast and it was dead. Got an Optima Yellowtop:



Here are the UCAs installed and evened out suspension lift:

 

looking nice!

are those gas cans in the back ? and do you know of any laws with requiring them to be red?

 

They have to be CARB legal, stamped or labeled for use, post-2005. Fckin California will beat you to death with restrictions and regulations. And those CARB legal "Spill-Proof Portable Fuel Containers" spill and leak when in use, and even not in use. The damage out of using these useless CARB legal units are more effective in harm than good. Such a waste of taxpayer resources and a guise for the EPA to continue their debacle.

 

Installed a Midland CB Radio and Firestik Antenna

 

Did some actual offroading just outside Big Bear with the Expedition Portal guys:



Found myself in a quite an off camber perdicament: