Quick update:
Picked up my trailer and have started on some modifications. Mainly swapping out the tail light connectors (some were starting to corrode) and swapping out the safety chains for some longer ones with hooks. Buying the steel for the roof rack this week. I have yet to do any more mods to the Xterra due to time constraints, but I'd like to get that front locker and the Titan brake booster done before the end of the year.
Went out labour day weekend and damaged a front fender and 3 fender flares. One of the rear ones was torn off and my antenna also snapped off. I have a lot of footage from that trail and every time I took damage (not including the antenna) it was the tires giving out or refusing to grip. I would be turning just fine and all of a sudden the truck would go straight even though the wheels are turned type of deal....for 9 hours. I will never buy AT tires ever again after going through that trail. Also ended up stuck in a mud hole because the bypass was too narrow (at least that's what I was told). Truck was in the hole for a while, passenger side took in some nasty water. The jeep on 37's that was supposed to pull me out lost power steering and then overheated mid-recovery. It was just one of those trails, took us 9 hours to finish, and at the end the FSR had a huge road deactivation a half mile before we got back to the main road. We had to navigate through the woods down a slope onto a river and back up the other side at like 10pm at night...it being 2020 and after that trail and road deactivation, I would not have been surprised if aliens came down or bigfoot invited us to his campfire. We were all basically laughing in disbelief.
When I pulled the carpets there was this sponge like foam completely soaked from the mud water, it was a bit of a downer and took a whole day to clean. It's been drying since. The mud hole also ruined my belt and what I'm guessing is an idler pulley because after I replaced the belt it still chirps on startup and at low rpm between gears. Oh ya, guess I should mention after the mud hole my truck screamed like a banshee for the remaining 3-4 hours on trail lol! Anyway the chirp now after belt replacement is impossible to diagnose alone and a bitch to do so with a friend since it only does it on occasion. Might be a dealer job at this point, it's getting cold and I don't have the energy or time to do it right now. Quote to fix the fender + flares is approx. $800 CAD cause the front fender paint will likely flake when being bent back into shape.
Custom licence plates came in "OFFROADX" but the DMV lines are so long, you have to take a day off work and line up 2 hours before opening to get in by the end of the day....not happening right now for me (again no time).
Some photos:
Good one of the front dent. It actually pushed the fender over the light (which I had to bend back) and the seams on the door and hood are off now. Oh ya that flare is cracked too.
This is me stuck in the mud hole, and after being winched back to get me out of the water while I wait for the recovery.
Next few are of the deactivation. As always happens the photos do not do it justice.