I’ve had quite the winter here in Lake Tahoe this season. Unfortunately we had way way…. way.. too much snow to even think about wheeling. This is of course if you don’t count the 4×4 endeavors on ice and over tall snow banks required just to get the grocery store! Although we had some insanely memorable snowboarding this season with record breaking snowfall, it’s time to clean up the rig, shift into 4-lo and start looking at hitting the trails!
Besides having some fun in the snow this season we still managed to forge ahead with numerous projects that were mentioned back in January’s newsletter. Here is a list of things that we’ve made progress on:
| Pathfinder/Hardbody 3.0L HD motor mounts | On the shelf ready to ship |
| Xterra / Frontier 3.3L HD Motor mounts | The parts have been cut, they are in welding and then need to be powder coated! These are right around the corner! |
| WD21 Pathfinder Long Arm 4-Link | Prototype kits are being installed on 3 trucks, Pictures can be found around the nissan message boards all over the web and are available upon request via e-mail. |
| H233B/D60 Front Diamond Axle | first axle is near completion, Configuring the brakes to use factory nissan calipers to maintain pedal pressure for proper braking. Inner axle shafts need to be cut and splined. Unfortunately this axle isn’t making it under a truck before GONE 2011. |
| Pathfinder / Hardbody SAS Kit | Will be using a H233B/D60 Diamond front axle. The time frame for completion is dependent on when the front axle is complete. |
| H233B 31 & 33 spline H233B Chromoly Shafts | Still on the list for being made. We don’t have a firm ETA. |
| H233B 3-link brackets | On the shelf ready to ship |
| H233B Carrier Adjuster Tools | On the shelf ready to ship |
| Rugged Rocks Winch Fairleads | On the shelf ready to ship |
| TX-10 transfercase doubler | Due to the order minimum with the manufacture, and extended wait times, this project is currently stalled. |
| Xterra / Frontier 3.3L V6 Doug Thorley Headers (SC and non-SC) | January’s order came through but we’re out of stock….Again..
No ETA on next batch but it will be at least July till we see more. |
| H233B 5.42, 5.57, 5.85 Ring and Pinion gears | 5.42 gears canceled. can’t justify engineering and cutting a min of 100 sets. Rugged Rocks is aiming to use the H233B front and rear for SAS’d vehicles, so compatibility with other axles isn’t a concern. 5.571 and 5.857 ratios are available. |
| pre-’05 Xterra / Frontier / Pathfinder – H233B 33-Spl Lockright Locker | Design is done and prototypes are next in line to be made. Richmonds Engineer that was working on this project has left the company. They are trying to find a new engineer asap. No ETA |
| Xterra / Frontier ’05+ C200K Lockright Locker | Currently in the prototype stage, production unit’s should come soon. |
| Advanced Adapters – 4 Cyl Pathfinder / Hardbody Atlas Adapter | working with AA to get this done, no ETA. |
| TJM H233B (31 & 33 spline) Air Lockers | There lockers exist! TJM is setting up shop right now is southern California, We should see these lockers on the market very soon. |
| ARB (M205) Titan Front Air Locker | on the list for production in Australia but currently there is no ETA |
| Superior M205 4.10 & 4.56 Gears | Due in Any Day.. yes they are still happening. |
Thank you for your continued support of Rugged Rocks and sticking with us while we complete these projects one by one. If you have any questions regarding any of these projects, please feel free to contact us. We’ll gladly help you out and answer your questions to the best of our ability.
See you on the Trails! I’m looking forward to meeting as many of our customers as possible at GONE Moab, 2011!
-Steven Lutz
President
Rugged Rocks, LLC
