2001 Nissan Xterra - Project Xterra - Part IV

Air Compressor

The first question in installing the ARB's air compressor is, "Where?" So we went to Off Road Unlimited in Burbank. There, we found enough room inside our ARB front bumper to mount the compressor.

The next question is where to install the lockers' switches. We found the perfect spot on the plastic console right behind the shifter. ORU pulled the console, measured out enough room for three switches, cut the plastic and routed the air lines. Lovely.

Transfer Case

Because you must remove the Xterra's torsion bars to get to the T-case, first measure the ride height at both sides of the front end. The top of the fender lip is a good place from which to measure. Drain the T-case and disconnect the rear driveshaft. If the nuts are too tight, you can heat them a bit with a propane torch. (Kids, try not to set your truck on fire when you do this.) Then disconnect the T-case shifter linkage seen here. Index the torsion bars and remove them. Note: the torsion bar adjusters can be tricky to pull out. Remove the front crossmember. (If you have a manual transmission, drain the tranny too.) Finally, disconnect the electrical connections to the 'case.

Pull the T-case and bring it to your workbench. Remove the check balls and springs. Remove the neutral switch and the 4H/L speedo gear. Separate the rear output cover and pull the plastic oil gutter. Then remove the idler and input gears. After separating all the gears from the T-case housing, clean each component thoroughly. Once clean, remove all the factory silicone and grease the seals so that they do not get reassembled dry.

Once the 'case is clean, you'll have to make room for the larger gears inside the housing by trimming/cutting a total of about 11/48 inch off the transfer-case housing. Put the new low output gear inside the housing and mark where it makes contact with the oil gutter. Mark the depth of the cut. Then, measure and mark the gutter in the center T-case housing. Use a circular saw to grind away just enough material to make room for the gears.

Next, grind a relief into the bump that is located in the front housing next to the large end of the countershaft gear. Again, make very sure that you don't grind off more than necessary. Then cut a small notch into the shift fork. Now that you've customized your T-case for CalMini's crawler gears, you're ready to reassemble the T-case and reinstall it. Start by pulling the bearing from the large end of the countershaft gear. Press the CalMini-supplied bearing onto the small end of the new countershaft gear. Then do the same for the large end of the new gear.

Remove the bearing retainer clip from the old input gearshaft and separate the bearing from the input shaft using a bearing splitter. Then, pull the bearing from the OE input shaft and install it onto the new input shaft. Reinstall the retainer clip.

Install the countershaft-bearing reduction collar into the centersection of the case so that it is flush with the housing. Install the needle bearing onto the mainshaft and apply some lube, then install the new low output gear on the mainshaft. Install the high and low hub on the mainshaft, then reinstall the hub retainer.

After lubing the case housing and reinstalling the counter gear assembly, reinstall the input shaft at an angle and slide it into place. Apply silicone and reinstall the T-case cover. Then install the interlock plunger pin, making sure it is in the case between the holes for the shift rails. Install the high- and low-range shift rod and fork. Then install the 2WD/4WD shift rail, apply silicone to the edges of the case, and reconnect the parts.

Install the snap ring on the shift fork and then install the oil gutter and cover. Rebolt the rear T-case cover. Return the transfer neutral position switch, check balls, springs and plugs. After installing the speedo gear, check for unplugged holes where the check balls go. Then rotate the driveshaft output to check for binding. Reinstall the transfer case. You're done. Go rockcrawling!