Right side shot (uncompressed)	Right side shot (compressed)
Close-up of bolt-on bracket	The whole thing in place

what does it do?

The steering stabilizer is one of those things that you don't realize you needed until you've installed and driven with it. The stock Xterra is a bit "twitchy" in steering as it is, and adding larger tires and/or off-roading (called "bumpsteer") only makes it more obvious. You also notice that the truck, like many vehicles - will move about when passing a semi-trailer rig or in high-wind situations.

Installing one of these, available from a few places (mine is from SLR who utilizes a Rancho shock) is straightforward and easy. The payoff is well worth the effort and is one of the lower cost mods you can make.

Once installed, the steering firms up a little bit and you'll notice that potholes, wind buffeting or any other road surface irregularities seem to vanish or diminish drastically.

some notes

When installing the kit, make sure that you turn the steering wheel from lock to lock (which may require help of a friend) while you keep an eye on what's going on underneath... You must make certain that none of the brackets or other parts come into contact with the oil filter - this would be bad.

Also, pay attention to the bracket on the left (passenger side) as its bolt comes awfully close to an A/C line. I gently pryed the line a little further away from the bolt with my hands.

Finally, when dealing with the skid plate screws, use a 10mm socket, not a screwdriver as you'll surely strip the slots otherwise. When re-installing them, tighten them just to snug and very little more. These heads snap off way, way too easily and in my opinion a cheesy thing on Nissan's part. I've replaced these screws with screwdriver only, zinc-plated screws with integrated washers. This way, when the dealer does the oil change, their monkeys won't break any either (they've already broken four of them and didn't bother to fix them). Either way, apply some oil to the threads of the screws when you re-install them to prevent issues next time around.