We do something like this. The recommends list is on the right and has thumbnails.
Check it out:
http://www.demolaystore.com/customer/product.php?productid=36&cat=21&page=1
Here's how it works (may vary depending upon your version of x-cart):
Code:
<CENTER>
{section name=num loop=$recommends}
<A HREF="product.php?productid={$recommends[num].productid}&cat={$cat}">{include file="product_thumbnail.tpl" productid=$recommends[num].productid image_x=$config.Appearance.thumbnail_width product=$recommends[num].product tmbn_url=$products[product].tmbn_url}
<font class="ProductTitle">{$recommends[num].product}</FONT>
{/section}
</CENTER>
You can make the change in 'skin1/modules/recommends.tpl' but I created a new template in the same directory called 'menu_recommends.tpl'.
Then I added the following code to the right hand VertMenuBox area.
Code:
{if $main eq "product"}
{include file="modules/Recommended_Products/menu_recommends.tpl" }
{/if}
And I commented out the call to recommends.tpl in 'skin1/customer/main/product.tpl'.