# Cloud Rider Screens



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

I ordered up a set of Cloud Rider Stainless Screens for my XTy yesterday. Unfortunately they are going to take 4 weeks to obtain.

I went with the Spectre Mesh Screen in Black Powder coat. The quality of these screens far surpass the quality of others screens like Lund in perforation and finish. They are made locally in our sister city Regina, SK.

I'll post Pictures once I get them. I have already noticed small rocks embeded in my radiators, once the summer months come it'll be grass hoppers and bugs unless the screens are on to minimize that :thumbdwn:

Cloud Rider


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

I just realized I posted the wrong screen. I was thinking the pattern looked coarser than I thought it did. The above is the "Round Mesh"

This is the "Spectre Mesh" below 



















They look silver in that photo above, however they are black jack schelac


----------



## dubberwithanxtrail (Mar 14, 2005)

I actually drive by their building on my way to work. I know some of the guys that work there, they play on a roller hockey team in the same league as I do. The spring season starts next month, I should see if I could get a deal!


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

If your connected you may as well ask....  

I actually bought mine from a local shop (Tiger Automotive) as they were slightly lower in cost than the web price, which makes sense for us Saskatchewanites, for they don't want to under sell their dealers. My buddy in Calgary bought the same set of screens for his Honda CRV, the local Calgary dealers were the same price as the web, so he ordered his direct from the web. 

My Brother inlaw also gets me 20% off the Tiger Automotive price.


----------



## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

Gorgeous, that's the kindda things that balance perfectly function with look, I need to take a closer look & an interest talk with my wallet.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

Yes, I can't wait to get them and get them on. Now the snow is almost gone, the gravel thrown down during winter will really start to hit and get jammed in the radiators. Additionally I'm hoping it will clean up the lower 3 hole opening with a more seamless look.


----------



## stx (Mar 14, 2005)

I almost bought the screens installed on an X-Trail at my dealership. However, the $250 price-tag not including installation, was a bit high. The one made by Cloud Rider seem to be more reasonably priced. On their website, it mentions that drilling is required. Do you know what needs to be drilled Viper? I don't believe the ones I saw at the dealership required any drilling.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

The Centre piece requires 2 screw holes to mount, as that section is just a pseudo grill section with no holes in the actual grill.

Attached is a section from the installation PDF.



I suppose a person could attach this with dual sided tape or some other fastener with out drilling holes, however then they could be stolen easily as well. I don;t know how the other makers woul dsecure the centre piece on with out drilling. I think if done properly the holes will not be that noticable when the screens are removed. No biggie


----------



## stx (Mar 14, 2005)

Thanks. The screens at the dealer were mounted with screws. I just never realized the center grill had no openings, until you mentioned it. 

Let us know how the installation goes.


----------



## SCHESBH (May 25, 2004)

*Contacted company*

I would love a set.. but I looked at my X-Trail and went... oh oh.. I have the front bumper guard installed... so off went an email to the company.... I will let you know.

Stephen


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

Stephen, I was told that they are custom made, so it's a good chance if you provide them with th elower modified dimension, Cloud-Rider would make them for you.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

*OK, finally have them installed with lots of Pictures*

Well, after the long delay the Cloud Rider Spectre Mesh screens finally arrived. They had ordered them in stainless when I wanted the black power coat, so it took longer than expected.


So without further adieu...


Here is the package as I picked it up


Inside the box, the units waere blister packed


Parts all laid out


Right side screen attached


Full set insatlled.


Here is a stepped back look. The screens are very nude if you will, so much so that while it looked nice, it did not have the look I thought they would have. I though they would hide the diamond checker board of the stock grill more, turning my grill area into a meaner black hole area. Because the stock grills are a Gun Metal Gray finish, they really show up behind the mesh screen.


So I decided the stock grill needed to be painted black and yanked the grill off


Grill is masked off and ready for paint


After about 5 coats of Flat black spray paint


Here it is ready to be pinned back in. I reinstalled the grill and waited 24 hrs before reinstalling the screens



These next 2 pictures alone show reason enough to have protective screens. Look at the craters starting to form in my radiator after 2 months and 3500Km later.


Close up of a crater


Again the right side is on, notice how the stock grill is more invisible behind the Spectare mesh screen.


All Screens on, now this was the look I was after 


Another shot showing how the mesh is really fore front now, rather than the stock diamond grid grill behind the screen as in the first pictures


Distance shot showing how the screens makes the areas very clean and open looking. I like how the lower 3 holes look behind the Spectare mesh


Another shot where the diamond grill is barely seen behind the mesh. The lower area is really cleaned up as well, looking like it's just one hole rather than 3.

All in all I'm very happy with the look of the screens after the grill was painted. The kit is of very high quality and the instructions were top caliber. Installation takes about 1 hour or less and is very straight forward. Kudos to Cloud Rider for Engineering such a well design product.

For those of you that are wanting the flashier "Bling" I would recommend the chome Silver Stainless kit over the black Spectare mesh. I did not want that typical tuck accessory look on our X-Trail, and rather just wanted the more sedate look. More so I was really just wanting protection for the raidators more than anything, and the Cloud Rider Black Spectare mesh does it in style and elegance, exactly what I wanted.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

Here is a comparitive shot of the Gunmetal gray grill. I never really like the grill pattern or the 3 big un protected holes at the bottom.



















I would like to paint the gray plastic X-Trail Euro Plate, however I need to find the right type of paint and color. I could take it into the body shop, but they would charge me more than I want to pay


----------



## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

I Guess somebody is gonna order a set :thumbup:


----------



## ValBoo (May 19, 2003)

*Euro Plate*



ViperZ said:


> I would like to paint the gray plastic X-Trail Euro Plate, however I need to find the right type of paint and color. I could take it into the body shop, but they would charge me more than I want to pay




Or you could make your own plate like I did !


----------



## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

Very nice handy work there Viper :thumbup: 

Too bad that they only make this screen for Series II exy's which wont fit in mine 

I guess there wouldn't any market for it in Canada, because you guys don't have Series I, so that it fair enough.

Am gonna have to keep looking in hope to find something for my Series I exy, as my radiator is taking big stone hits and am very much concerned about the possible damage this may cause if not covered soon.

Not sure why Nissan didn't think of that in the first place either.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

Thanks Jalal. I would hope that sometime somewhere somebody would make a set for the Series 1. A person could place regular screen door screen behind the grill assembly. There certainly is enough room behind there to work.


----------



## XtrailRookie (May 17, 2005)

Thanks for heads up on this company.
I received my stainless steel classic screens on Friday and installed them on Saturday. They only took about 45 minutes to install. I went for the "flashier bling" as Viperz would say. I think they add just the right touch with my Sunlit Sand colour. 
I ordered the screens on May18th, and were at the Purolator outlet by the 26th. Good turnaround!

Cheers, :cheers: 
Rookie


----------



## XtrailRookie (May 17, 2005)

Marc,

I love the front plate that you made !!
Unfortunately, here in Ontario, legally, we have to have a front licence plate. :thumbdwn:


----------



## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

*Problem Solved*



ViperZ said:


> Thanks Jalal. I would hope that sometime somewhere somebody would make a set for the Series 1. A person could place regular screen door screen behind the grill assembly. There certainly is enough room behind there to work.


Hi Viper,

I have solved the problem myself 

My weekend project included a trip to supercheap auto (local auto store) and I stumbled across this wire mesh for $29.50AUS





After some fiddling around for about an hour to get the correct size, I managed to stuff it up  and cut it too short, but this was rectified later.

I had to remove the front grille to be able to slide the mesh from behind and slot it in just in front of the radiator, where it's being held by 6-7 existing screws.

I have re-inforced it as well with a couple of cable ties, so it wont rattle.

There are many colours available of this mesh (black, blue, red and chrome) and of course you know what colour would I chose 

So here is the end result and I can drive safely now, knowing that my radiator wont be taking any nasty stone hits.


----------



## SCHESBH (May 25, 2004)

*I did it..*

OK.. I purchased a set today the same type since you have the same color and I was chosing between two models... thanks for your help! I will not be able to install the lower grill due to my guard.... I spoke to them but.. I might modify it.. Will let you know how it goes.

Stephen




XtrailRookie said:


> Thanks for heads up on this company.
> I received my stainless steel classic screens on Friday and installed them on Saturday. They only took about 45 minutes to install. I went for the "flashier bling" as Viperz would say. I think they add just the right touch with my Sunlit Sand colour.
> I ordered the screens on May18th, and were at the Purolator outlet by the 26th. Good turnaround!
> 
> ...


----------



## poruchik_r (Jun 1, 2005)

*Grills*

Hi Guys. Those grills look sweet. But what about air flow to the radiator and air filter?


----------



## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

poruchik_r said:


> Hi Guys. Those grills look sweet. But what about air flow to the radiator and air filter?


The air flow would not be impacted at all to the radiator as the the mesh still allows for the air to flow freely, the air-filter intake is in a different location all together and it's not covered by the mesh (well, not in my case anyway)

I have not noticed any temp. increase as a result of this mod at all.


----------



## ViperZ (Feb 9, 2005)

Good Mod Jalal! :idhitit: 

Xtrailrookie, if you can, please post pictures of the Chrome Stainless screens on your XTy. I bet it looks nice!

I bet the chrome ones would look good on my silver as well, but I was going for a more stealth look. If and when the Black powder coat needs to be refinished, I thought I would remove the black coat and go Silver then. Sort of a Win Win situation 


poruchik_r I don't think the flow is restricted much (if any) with the full mesh screens. If you chose a winter front style such as...










Then yes, it would effect the flow :balls: However that is desireable here for the winter months when the average temp is -36C


----------

