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Build thread - My QX 'Squatchy'


Zero
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6 weeks ago I got an 01 QX4 in great condition. Nearly immaculate really. In fact I still have all the original nav system disks, the leather booklet from the dealership and even the pen that was used to sign the paperwork that says Infiniti on it.

 

A week after I bought it a box truck clipped it while it was parked on the side of the road. Only the front fender was damaged.

The insurance company salvaged the truck. I got to keep it and got a sizeable chunk of change, which I've been using to make some mods to it.

 

I took it hunting a week ago and it got the name Squatchy the Sasquatch Hunter.

 

Anyway, here's a quick photo progression.

 

 

Day 1

 

BAD0GdP.jpg?2

 

 

 

Week 2

 

Is8q4NO.jpg?1

 

 

 

Week 4

 

9DlNFgu.jpg?1

 

 

 

Week 5

 

THenZ5Q.jpg?1

 

 

 

Week 6 (yesterday)

 

TwbYia1.jpg?1

 

 

I have a 4x4 design (fleurys) 2.5/2" spacer set in it, 2" wheel spacers, 18" wheels and 32.1" Cooper at3 tires. Had to trim the front fenders and splash guards to get them to fit without rubbing. I'll be putting a 2" lift spring in the rear as soon as I can so it doesn't squat and top out with load in the back. I put a Rola Vortex rack on top shortly after getting it, have Warn Hubs that are going on this weekend, and am just about to order a curved light bar to mount on the rack.

 

Tucked behind the rear seat there is a 48" hi-lift jack, D handle shovel, boys axe, tire air compressor, spare oil and water, roadside emergency supplies, survival pack and supplies, rations for 2 people for 2 days, and a wool blanket. (probably 100lb+ of stuff over rear axle) Still have PLENTY of trunk space though. The goal was to do a loadout like an Search and Rescue rig. I'll include pics if you guys want.

 

It's been a fun few weeks so far.

 

Edited by Zero
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I like how this is coming along. It's not every day that people go with 18" rims on these lol. Looks good, but that won't give you a lot of room to air down your tires.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Crapatalk

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Sorry for the hit but I appreciate the pic of the front flare damage & removal.

Mine are getting really brittle in the AZ sun.

I'm pretty committed to removing all of them this winter along with the bumpers and some additional fender trimming.

 

One of the other things I have always disliked about our Q are the running boards.

It's a non-functional step because it's too close to the door opening.

That looks way better with them removed.

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Sorry for the hit but I appreciate the pic of the front flare damage & removal.

Mine are getting really brittle in the AZ sun.

I'm pretty committed to removing all of them this winter along with the bumpers and some additional fender trimming.

 

One of the other things I have always disliked about our Q are the running boards.

It's a non-functional step because it's too close to the door opening.

That looks way better with them removed.

 

The running boards were completely useless to all but my 6 year old kid. For me they were just something I hit my leg on every time I got in and out. It's much cleaner and easier to get in an out sans running boards.

 

The hit wasn't bad. Any day now my big "That'll buff right out" sticker should be here, I'll slap it on the fender and call it good. I don't even really care if I find another flare or not (though if anyone has one for sale, I wouldn't mind hearing about it)

 

Taking the flares off the Q isn't exactly hard but my issue with it is that there are big holes along the wheel well for those plastic panel fasteners. If you pull all the flares off (and the door panel trim) you'll look like someone shot the truck full of holes. You'll either need to fill them or find something to cover them with.

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I like how this is coming along. It's not every day that people go with 18" rims on these lol. Looks good, but that won't give you a lot of room to air down your tires.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Crapatalk

 

I'm not planning on doing a ton of airing down honestly. I might bleed a little bit out if I have to crawl over a log or something but I'm building it as mostly an expedition style rig for light/med trail use. I'm not planning on turning it into a mudder or crawler.

 

The 18" wheels means I have a slightly shorter sidewall and I can tell the difference in road handling. It has very little sway from the tires, and my movement feels responsive and precise.

 

Not to mention it looks sweet. haha

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Hey, your Q has the automatic 4-wheel drive system, right?

I don't think that is compatible with manual hubs.

 

 

As long as you don't run in Automatic mode there should be no problem.

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Hey, your Q has the automatic 4-wheel drive system, right?

I don't think that is compatible with manual hubs.

 

I have over 40K with manual hubs on the Q since 2011, you just keep it in 2WD mode.

If I have not been wheeling it recently I go find some loose dirt area and lock them in.

Then I run it through all the modes while doing some figure eight turns, this is just to keep everything lubed up.

 

The only issue I have had (I've documented it here and no one seems to be able to explain it) is that occasionally the 4WD light will come on when on the highway. Others have commented that they have observed the same thing.

It's not every time.

Some times it's after 15 miles.

Some times it's after 150 miles.

Some times it does not come on at all.

 

It sort of freaked me out initially but I have checked.

It's not engaged, nothing is locking up.

It's just weird that way.

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Man these rigs depreciate hard. "total Loss" because of a fender flare!!!

 

First Search i did came back around $500 painted from the factory!! So if we know that insurance companies generally consider a total loss when the damage exceeds greater than %80 of the vehicles worth, That means they see the cars value as less than a thousand bucks!! WTF!!

 

Sorry but i've had a hard time trying to get insurance recently for my Z, (because im under 25), so im just pissed at all of them now! :headwall::headwall:

 

at any rate, welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing more of your rig.

 

-Kyle

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I have over 40K with manual hubs on the Q since 2011, you just keep it in 2WD mode.

If I have not been wheeling it recently I go find some loose dirt area and lock them in.

Then I run it through all the modes while doing some figure eight turns, this is just to keep everything lubed up.

 

The only issue I have had (I've documented it here and no one seems to be able to explain it) is that occasionally the 4WD light will come on when on the highway. Others have commented that they have observed the same thing.

It's not every time.

Some times it's after 15 miles.

Some times it's after 150 miles.

Some times it does not come on at all.

 

It sort of freaked me out initially but I have checked.

It's not engaged, nothing is locking up.

It's just weird that way.

 

I have yet to see that but I'll keep an eye out. Thanks for the heads up.

So far I've got about 200 miles on the Warn hubs and I'm pretty sure I'm getting better mileage. We'll have to wait and see.

 

 

Man these rigs depreciate hard. "total Loss" because of a fender flare!!!

 

First Search i did came back around $500 painted from the factory!! So if we know that insurance companies generally consider a total loss when the damage exceeds greater than %80 of the vehicles worth, That means they see the cars value as less than a thousand bucks!! WTF!!

 

Sorry but i've had a hard time trying to get insurance recently for my Z, (because im under 25), so im just pissed at all of them now! :headwall::headwall:

 

at any rate, welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing more of your rig.

 

-Kyle

 

The FMV (Fair market value) for my rig is $5500 (front bumper cover ding from prev owner) and the damage was quoted by the shop (most expensive shop in town) at $5000 in repairs.

New Headlight [Discontinued] -$1400 (had a teeny tiny scratch on it from the incident that is too deep to buff out. I can't hardly find it even when I'm looking for it)

Fender Flare [Discontinued] -$750 (obliterated)

Fender [Discontinued] -$750 (deep scrape into metal on fender. hard to see in pics)

Painting and blending - the rest

 

Apparently nobody makes aftermarket tooled parts for these rigs so you either source them from a yard or you buy the new parts which are no longer being made and so they're insanely expensive.

 

I'll take my sweet time and prowl the internet looking for replacement parts when I get around to it. Found somewhere in Washington that I can get a flare for $125. That's a start.

 

Honestly, totaling out the rig was a Godsend. I got it for free. Better than free. Really, I have no sour feelings about it at all. :laugh:

Edited by Zero
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I'll take my sweet time and prowl the internet looking for replacement parts when I get around to it. Found somewhere in Washington that I can get a flare for $125. That's a start.

 

The JY that I frequent sold me all the flares off an 02 R50 for less than that. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd sell the fender and flare for under $125...there's an 03 QX4 there. If you want me to check it out sometime, let me know.

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Hawairish, I could use a few small trim pieces from a rust free climate, if you are there!
Specifically, the lower outside door window trim pieces. Mine are rusted to hell and look terrible

Edited by patqx4
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Honestly, totaling out the rig was a Godsend. I got it for free. Better than free. Really, I have no sour feelings about it at all. :laugh:

 

Ha, I missed this part. Yeah, I'd be cool with that too!

 

patqx4: Certainly, I think I can work out a trip sometime. Though, is the rusting too bad that the couldn't be removed, sanded, and repainted? I swear I've seen another post where somebody did that. If anything, the pieces I'd find here probably have the black flaked off, but for sure in good shape.

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Very good looking rig! Crap luck about the fender bender, but at least you've been able to invest that in mods that make the truck more usable and look cool to you. I would like to see a picture of your hi-lift bugout setup, I always get a kick out of those, and have a bit of one in my pathfinder.

 

Oh and welcome, love the nickname for the truck by the way.

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The JY that I frequent sold me all the flares off an 02 R50 for less than that. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd sell the fender and flare for under $125...there's an 03 QX4 there. If you want me to check it out sometime, let me know.

 

Yes please. I'd be willing to pay a small finders fee on top of whatever the fender and flare cost to make it worth your time.

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Very good looking rig! Crap luck about the fender bender, but at least you've been able to invest that in mods that make the truck more usable and look cool to you. I would like to see a picture of your hi-lift bugout setup, I always get a kick out of those, and have a bit of one in my pathfinder.

 

Oh and welcome, love the nickname for the truck by the way.

 

Thanks, I like the name of the truck too.

 

I'll have to snap a picture of the setup one of these days. It's kind of a pain to unpack everything and then repack it so I'll wait for a time when I'm pulling it out to reorganize.

 

I'll try to snap a shot of how it all sits in the trunk though so you can get an idea of how it's all in there.

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Yes please. I'd be willing to pay a small finders fee on top of whatever the fender and flare cost to make it worth your time.

 

Cool, I'll see what I can do. I'll try to cross-ref the fender too, to see if that opens up some options for two older QX4s that are supposed to be there. If you wanna PM me with some close-up pics of the damaged areas, and the fender in general (perhaps both sides of the truck) for comparison, that'd be great. Not sure I can get there this weekend, but we'll see.

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  • 11 months later...

All right, so it's been about a year. Any updates?

 

I just stuffed a 33 x 10.5" BFG from my buddy's 4Runner on my Q and someday I think the flares are gonna just have to go. I wanna see what you've come up with and how the manual hubs are working out.

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  • 8 months later...

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