Thread: X-trail

Wow, thanks for all the replies. We're heading up to Lawn Hill later this year with a few other National Parks. I was thinking it might get stuck in some bog holes what with all the rain. It having HT type tyres should stop in it getting into much trubble. I really dont think it will be going into anything to hard.
Its good to see a few owners of these on here, is there any thing else, besides the gear box getting hot, that we need to keep an eye on with this car.
To tell the truth, Im more worried that the Disco will embarrass me.

I don't mind the xtrail at all. The inlaws bought one... And gave my the Rangie... I can't ever complain about them again. (xtrails AND the inlaws)

I'd be concerned about the highway tyres on outback gravel and suggesting they replace them with a mild AT LT such as a Cooper ATR or Bridgestone Dueller D694 if it was me.
Add a recovery point for a snatch and, if they don't need low range and if the suspension, particularly the shocks, is OK then shouldn't you be OK?

Originally Posted by Marshall

...........................
Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance

I am impressed with your alliteration.
Clever use of the english language is quite rare in these parts.

Originally Posted by mos

We have an x-trail as our “family” car and in regard to the two factory front tie-down/tow points we have replaced the all mounting bolts with high tensile ones.

Now I know that this isn’t going to make a huge improvement, but when coupled with a rated equaliser or bridle strap to spread the load they should be strong enough for a simple snatch recovery if you are careful.

Just a idea to think about.

Cheers
MOS

Replacing the bolts will not suffice. If the tie down points let go in any way you will be held culpable for any injury in any court as they are not rated and never intended for this use. Why not just fit a set of rated recovery points, they are fairly cheap from most 4x4 stores, Repco and even Supercrap.

Originally Posted by garrycol

Drops back to 2wd until it cools down.

Garry

Maybe so, but often can be too late. I personally know of 3 vehicles (2006-2009 models) that have destroyed gearboxes driving on sand in Esperance and have had conversations with another 2 owners that have done similar on Stockton beach.
I would just love to be near the low tide mark and have it drop back into 2wd
Personally I f I had one of these I would look at uprating the gearbox oil cooling.
As pointed out most 4x4s dont have recovery points as standard, but should be the first thing people fit also if you have a Reece type towbar a rated recovery hook for this is adviseable.

Replacing the bolts will not suffice. If the tie down points let go in any way you will be held culpable for any injury in any court as they are not rated and never intended for this use. Why not just fit a set of rated recovery points, they are fairly cheap from most 4x4 stores, Repco and even Supercrap.

Thanks for your advice Craig, I thought about those generic recovery points but since the X-trail has a monocoque chassis anyway I don’t think those recovery points you are suggesting would be any great improvement over the factory ones. The aftermarket ones still need to bolted the chassis somehow and I don’t think that they will suit the factory mounting points.

I also wasn’t keen to go drilling additional holes in the chassis for any additional mounting points as I’m not sure if that would comprise the structural integrity of the monocoque chassis. (I may be being a bit overly cautious on this point but I’m not an engineer so best not to risk it on my vehicle.)

In regard to being culpable for any injury in any subsequent Court proceedings, the X-trail owners manual (Mine is a 2007 T30 model) talks about the front recovery hooks in the “In case of emergency” section.

In the event that your vehicle’s tires become trapped in sand, snow or mud, and the vehicle is unable to free itself without being pulled, use the recovery hooks.

So I’m not overly concerned with any litigation that may arise from using the front factory recovery points given the information in the owner’s manual.

Notwithstanding for any snatch recovery that I have done previously I always use a fairly heavy dampening blanket on the actual snatch strap and try to clear out any excess sand or mud from in front or under the bogged vehicle before attempting the recovery.

So I still believe that the factory recovery points are okay to use if you are careful and take the appropriate precautions.

Cheers
MOS