[RedStar]

I purchased the Axiom in the summer of 2009. I had a 1996 Nissan Maxima that was falling apart and I'd been looking for an excuse to get another SUV for a long time. (I owned a 1990 Cherokee while I was in high school 10 years ago.) I originally planned on buying an Xterra but came across the Axiom on a local car lot. I had forgotten they even existed until I saw it sitting out there. The fact that they weren't widely circulated really appealed to me. I liked the fact that if I owned it, I'd stand out. It's kind of fun to own something that no one else does. I went online, did some research, drove it and decided to buy it.

Anyway 2 years into ownership and I hadn't really done much to it. I put slightly bigger all terrain tires (245/70/17's) over the ones that were on it when I bought the Axiom (225/65/17's.) I bought some custom fit all weather mats and slightly tinted the windows.

Here's a pic this past winter just before the new tires got put on. The ones in this pic were the old 225's. I live in North Alabama and the day before we got 11" of snow, which is a pretty good amount for a 24 hour period in this part of the country. I went out at first light and the wife and I put the first treads in most of the snow. I drove all over town and hardly saw a soul. Snow completely shuts down this part of the country. We were out for 3 days, it was great.

I thought about doing some mods to my Axiom but never really had anything to compare it too. I thought about lifting it, or putting bigger tires on it, but couldn't find a picture of what it might look like.

Then I found the planet, and a pioneer named holger. holger had done many of the things I had thought about doing to mine, and it was great to see what mine could look like if I chose to start spending some $.

The wife and I are saving up for a house/baby so all the mods I get to do are going to have to be cheap. I don't have an endless bankroll. I wont go out of my way to do something unnecessary, but if something needs replaced or upgraded, I'm an opportunist, and rather than simply replacing it with what it had, I'll replace it with what I want.

Case in point, I've wanted to lift mine for a while, but couldn't justify it for the price. The Axiom was riding pretty rough and was sagging a bit in the rear, so Instead of replacing everything stock, I put the heavier duty OME 919's and longer, better shocks.

 

[holger]

Welcome to the board.

Having stock roof rack is an advantage. My vehicle did not have it originally.

What is the stock tire size ? Mine had 235/65-17 stock tires. Then I put 235/75-17, it fits nicely. Then I put 255/75-17, it required lots of cutting.

I removed the lower plastic "tubes" along the body.

What is your transmission and engine ?

 

[pbrooke]

Welcome!

 

[beto]

Welcome to the planet, cool axiom!

 

[RedStar]

Welcome to the board.

Having stock roof rack is an advantage. My vehicle did not have it originally.

What is the stock tire size ? Mine had 235/65-17 stock tires. Then I put 235/75-17, it fits nicely. Then I put 255/75-17, it required lots of cutting.

I removed the lower plastic "tubes" along the body.

What is your transmission and engine ?

I'll be honest, I haven't seen a whole lot of Axiom's out on the road, maybe 6 or 7 in the 2 years I've owned mine, and I've yet to see another one that looked like mine. Mine is the XS package and when I bought in in the summer of 09, the economy was at one of it's lowest points & the SUV market had bottomed out.

In other words, it was a buyers market

I got my Axiom with every feature imaginable. The Vapor Chrome wheels, the rear spoiler, heated seats, sun roof, fog lights, . . . It was a one owner with a perfect CarFax record. I got it for $6,950 walking out the door. That was 2 years ago and I've recently seen Axiom's for sale online with more miles than mine had then & less options in the $8,000 range. I don't know how I managed to get it at that price, but I didn't ask any questions haha.

My engine is the 230 hp 3.5 L with an L4 transmission. I've had one problem with my transmission since I bought it & I was pretty freaked out. I was 2 miles away from the dealership when my check transmission light came on, literally the day I bought it. I was pretty worried I had just purchased a lemon. I got it checked out and the Transmission Range Selector Switch had to be replaced, which the dealership paid for. Other than that, no problems out of it whatsoever.

What kind of gas mileage do you get? In the city I'm right around 16, which isn't great, but it's 3 miles from home to work, so that's not too bad. On the highway if I set the cruise on 65, I get a pleasantly surprising 22 mpg.

 

[holger]

What kind of gas mileage do you get? In the city I'm right around 16, which isn't great, but it's 3 miles from home to work, so that's not too bad. On the highway if I set the cruise on 65, I get a pleasantly surprising 22 mpg.

My mileage is not usually as good as yours. I have larger mud-terrain tires and a lift. It really depends on the conditions and on the speed. I do not do much driving around the town, this vehicle is for the recreation. On freeway, I have between 14 and 19 MPG of regular gas according to the dashboard computer. Taking into account the larger tires, it may be 15-21, and it really depends on the speed and the freeway condition - wind, surface, elevation, incline/decline.

 

[Trooper King]

thats a slick axiom you got there very nice

 

[RedStar]

Here's some more pics from the day I bought it in July of 2009 with the 225/65/17's

These are gonna be some good "Before" pics I can show later on when I start documenting my mods.

 

[RedStar]

Over the last week I've purchased shocks, yakima load warrior, light brackets & lights. Need to do the installs soon because we're hitting the road in 3 weeks.

But....

Just discovered the cause to our no A/C problems. We've intermittently had our A/C go out of the past month. Blown fuses, motherboards, the wiring system inside the thermostat, etc... everything's been replaced. Luckily it's only 5 months old so everything's been replaced for free. But we live near the river and even though we're in the city, we're not really "in the city." We have a family of groundhogs living in the gully near our house, plus foxes, feral cats & plenty of raccoons. Anyway, apparently the Groundhogs have been eating through our electrical system. Traps have been set and tomorrow I'll be trying to eradicate the problem. The mods & installs may have to wait. But we're getting there!

 

[Castaway]

Seems like you got a good start so far. Maybe you can get them installed soon. Probably get it done with a good open weekend. Which shocks did you get? I don't need to replace mine but an upgrade I might could justify. Haha

I sure wish I could get my ac fixed since the summer weather is here..it works off and on. I manage though. I think it might be the compressor. Ouch. :shock:

 

[RedStar]

Load Warrior installed and I mounted and wired the lights behind the fairing so you can't see them unless it's flipped down. That took a looong time. The wire that came with the lights wasn't sufficient, so I had to do a lot of splicing. Still not sure I'm satisfied with it. May have to go back today and do a better job of hiding some of the wire.

Plan on doing the shocks sometime this week or weekend when I visit the parents. Dad's got all the tools I need. I bought the Rancho's. The Axiom has 137,XXX miles on it and I know the shocks have never been replaced, so it's time for them to be replaced anyway, might as well replace them with what I want.

Still haven't gotten rid of the Groundhogs. I sat on our back porch with a .22 for the longest and never saw one. Of course I know the next time I walk outside without a gun, they'll all be staring me and quietly mocking me, haha.

 

[holger]

Still haven't gotten rid of the Groundhogs. I sat on our back porch with a .22 for the longest and never saw one. Of course I know the next time I walk outside without a gun, they'll all be staring me and quietly mocking me, haha.

Get this guy: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/toyfoxterrier.htm

 

[Cronk]

I think I want an Axiom, the more I look at them, the more I like them! Sounds like you're well on your way to having a nice rig!

 

[RedStar]

I think I want an Axiom, the more I look at them, the more I like them! Sounds like you're well on your way to having a nice rig!

DO IT! There needs to be more. Plus it would be awesome to get more ideas & how to's for mine by seeing what other people are doing to theirs.

Here's my Rack & Lights at night:

Even more bright than I thought they'd be. I know I'm from Alabama, so I gotta explain the Colorado tag. I lived in Breckenridge for a little while and got the tag from a friend while I was there. Thought I'd commemorate my experience by putting the tag on the front.

 

[RedStar]

Still haven't gotten rid of the Groundhogs. I sat on our back porch with a .22 for the longest and never saw one. Of course I know the next time I walk outside without a gun, they'll all be staring me and quietly mocking me, haha.

Get this guy: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/toyfoxterrier.htm

We've got a leash law, and our back yard is a huge gully with who knows how many ground hogs :? Hopefully the rat poison we put out and the trap we set will get the ones doing the damage.

 

[RedStar]

After re-indexing the torsion bars, I got an additional 3" of lift on the front.

When I started there was 3.5" between the top of the tire and the front fender, and 5.5" between the top of the tire and the rear fender.

After installing the 919's and cranking the front, there's 6.5" between the top of the tire and the front fender and 7.75" between the top of the tire and the rear fender.

I can't believe how much different it looks, but it's pretty dramatic considering where we started.

I think she's ready for Moab.

Next on the list? Bigger tires & a basket extension. But I'm gonna have to find a helluva deal to justify getting the tires, and even then, I'm not sure I'm ready to start cutting to make them fit. The current tires are only about 3 or 4 months old.

 

[holger]

Looks cool. Have you got the new shocks ?

 

[Dae]

Looks wayy better now that the front is level. Nice truck!

 

[RedStar]

Looks cool. Have you got the new shocks ?

Yeah, and the ride is as good as it ever has been. Much better than when I bought it 2 years ago.

I'll eventually replace the fronts too, but they are farther down the list.

I've looked high and low for Axiom Rear Light Guards. Are yours custom made? I haven't been able to find them anywhere.

 

[RedStar]

Looks wayy better now that the front is level. Nice truck!

Thanks!

As usual, when I finish doing one thing, I start convincing myself that I need to do something else. It's a never ending process.

She's probably done for a little while, but here's a list of mods in no particular order that I'm still contemplating:

1. 245/75/17's Would love to get the Cooper Discover S/T's (Cooper is my last name, so I've always been partial.)
2. Custom Fit Rear Cargo Mat. (One thing I've never understood about SUV's & Trucks. Why are 99% of floorboards/mats/cargo areas covered in cloth? All they do is get dirty and need replacing. It would make much more sense to cover everything in all weather material.
3. Repaint the badges. The chrome film on mine is peeling.
4. Black-out Rims (Still haven't convinced myself to do this, I'm 50/50 right now.) I like the stock Vapor Chrome's that came from the factory.
5. Load Warrior Extension. It's an additional $120 for 18" of extra cargo area. Seems a bit pricey for a minimal amount of additional space. Hoping to find a used one.
6. Auxiliary hookup for my iPod.
7. Front nitro charged shocks to match my rears.