paulforeman
Active member
Seems you took full advantage of the long weekend. Looks good! (Hopefully drives good too).
2019 Frontier SV 4x4 Crew Cab LWB weekend adventure truck build
- Thread starter sideburns
- Start date
MountainRecipe
Member
About to order the ADO complete kit. Would you have gone with the 150lb springs or are you happy with +100lb? I called and they said they’d probably recommend the 150 for the long bed having more weight up front plus I plan to get a bumper. Has the bumper brought you below 2” net? Looks great btw, going for something similar myself!
sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
So I've only got a couple hundred miles on them so far. Maybe 80-100 on gravel. So I'm not sure how much they've settled or if they'll settle more. I was at 19.75" front(center hub to fender) stock with 200lbs of tools between the backseat and toolbox at the front of my bed. Added bumper and winch on stock suspension, only for a day, dropped me to 19". I'm currently at 21". I do have the 1/4" top plate spacer too. So I got 1.5" out of the medium springs and 1/2" out of the spacer. Right now I'm happy with +100 medium springs, they don't feel like they bottom out too easily, and they soak up speed bump sized bumps nicely. Once I add a camper and put 400-600lbs of gear in the back seat and bed, I'm pretty sure I'll want the 150+ heavy springs, especially if I add sliders and/or skids. Might even want to go heavier still. But I'm probably a year away from a camper, so I didn't want to get heavy and regret it for a year, I'd rather just upgrade in a year.
If you're going just a steel bumper I think the mediums are definitely a good choice. But if you add more than one of the following too; winch, bigger battery, skid plates, or a heavy passenger you'll probably want to get the heavy springs for sure.
sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Ordered a bunch more stuff the last two days. Bye Bye $$$
12v Aux system:
Used Valence U27-12XP LiFePO4 | 12V 138AH battery from ebay
Renogy DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC battery charger with MPPT Solar charging - BT2 bluetooth monitor/programmer (Vehicle charging only for now, no good place for a 200w solar install till I get a camper, this charger slows DC charging down to match panel output, so a small panel makes for slow DC charging, I can get a full 50amp DC charge with no panel)
Switch panel:
Motobilt Switch Panel Housing - Top Surface Mounted (mounting in front of shifter)
OTR Contura V switches for winch power lockout, winch in/out, fog lights, driving lights, rear lights, rear locker(sasquatch lights till I get a locker), and air compressor
12v Waterproof Fuse/relay panel from Amazon/Online LED store
Extra 12v stuff:
Wire/terminals/tools for 12v aux battery install and switch panel install
OBA air up/down system:
Rest of the 3/8" tubing and air fittings for my DIY UpDownAir
Etc...:
Rokblokz mudflaps
12v Aux system:
Used Valence U27-12XP LiFePO4 | 12V 138AH battery from ebay
Renogy DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC battery charger with MPPT Solar charging - BT2 bluetooth monitor/programmer (Vehicle charging only for now, no good place for a 200w solar install till I get a camper, this charger slows DC charging down to match panel output, so a small panel makes for slow DC charging, I can get a full 50amp DC charge with no panel)
Switch panel:
Motobilt Switch Panel Housing - Top Surface Mounted (mounting in front of shifter)
OTR Contura V switches for winch power lockout, winch in/out, fog lights, driving lights, rear lights, rear locker(sasquatch lights till I get a locker), and air compressor
12v Waterproof Fuse/relay panel from Amazon/Online LED store
Extra 12v stuff:
Wire/terminals/tools for 12v aux battery install and switch panel install
OBA air up/down system:
Rest of the 3/8" tubing and air fittings for my DIY UpDownAir
Etc...:
Rokblokz mudflaps
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MountainRecipe
Member
Thanks for the insight!. I run a 550-600lb camper in the back and have my SO and large dog usually with me, so I may end up going the heavy route to try to maintain that 2” after bumper.
MountainRecipe
Member
How much rake did you end up with the Broverland leaf pack? Doesn’t look like too much from the photos, maybe an inch?
sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Added about +3" compared to stock springs. So an inch more rake than it had stock with this load, 200# just a bit back from center. About 2" of rake. Hope to be at level with a 350# pop-up on it.
sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Got a few more things installed or partly installed. Took it for a test drive to figure out rough dirt road tire pressures. Liking 30psi, 25psi was cushy and ate up washboards, but on faster corners it seemed a bit too squirmy. Running 40psi on road, will likely bump that up when I get it loaded down more.
Rokblokz mudflaps installed and fender liners trimmed/melted/screwed into place. Might trim a tiny bit more so when my tire are mud/snow caked they don't rub it off, I only have about a half inch of clearance.
Paranoid Fabrication ARB fog light brackets for Baja Designs Squadron-R lights. Went with the Sport wide cornering with clear lenses, 5000k is too white for me for a fog light, maybe for a driving light. So I ordered some Amber lenses. Still waiting on my Motobilt switch panel so I can start wiring everything up. Want to put the fogs on a 3 way switch, Highbeam linked/off/ignition linked.
Morimoto is coming out with their XB LED Hybrid lights for the Frontier! Probably around the 1st of the year, for $1000ish. Going to get a set of those for sure. Maybe I won't need to spend $500+ on a set of driving lights that aren't even street legal.
Not loving the blocky winch control box sitting on the bumper, looks very 90's on a 00's truck. It's a hair too big to fit behind the grill, cables are too short for it to fit on the drivers side of the winch behind the bumper, doesn't quite fit on the passenger side. I'll probably order up some more 1/0awg or 1awg cable and make longer cables so I can put it behind the bumper on the drivers side or in the engine bay.
Only saw about a 1-2mpg drop around town. So I went and double checked odometer with a 10 mile highway trip. Showing 9.8 miles in 10 miles driven. Adjusted the speedo so it's nearly dead on, now odometer is showing 9.7 miles in 10 driven. Wanted to get speedo to read a touch high, so at 50% wear it was dead on. But then odometer would be about 9.6mi/10mi, and average about 9.7mi/10mi over the life of my tires. I'm more comfortable with it being 2% off on average over a set of tires and speed reading dead on with new tires and 2-3% high with worn tires. Not sure how accurate it was before though. And I only had a few partial tanks for town only miles to compare it to. Looks like I'll get 14-15mpg around this hilly town and 17-19mpg on the highway(haven't done a highway only tank since I recalibrated the speedo/odometer). Probably go test a 65mph highway 120+ mile loop I did before the mods to compare.
Next project is a 60% rear seat delete since switch panel is a couple days out still, 1/2" plywood platform and rear wall panel, for fridge, battery, inverter, and charger. Hopefully I can make it low enough to open the fridge far enough to take the baskets out. It's just a bit too tall sitting on the seat, plan to make the platform about 2in lower.
Rokblokz mudflaps installed and fender liners trimmed/melted/screwed into place. Might trim a tiny bit more so when my tire are mud/snow caked they don't rub it off, I only have about a half inch of clearance.
Paranoid Fabrication ARB fog light brackets for Baja Designs Squadron-R lights. Went with the Sport wide cornering with clear lenses, 5000k is too white for me for a fog light, maybe for a driving light. So I ordered some Amber lenses. Still waiting on my Motobilt switch panel so I can start wiring everything up. Want to put the fogs on a 3 way switch, Highbeam linked/off/ignition linked.
Morimoto is coming out with their XB LED Hybrid lights for the Frontier! Probably around the 1st of the year, for $1000ish. Going to get a set of those for sure. Maybe I won't need to spend $500+ on a set of driving lights that aren't even street legal.
Not loving the blocky winch control box sitting on the bumper, looks very 90's on a 00's truck. It's a hair too big to fit behind the grill, cables are too short for it to fit on the drivers side of the winch behind the bumper, doesn't quite fit on the passenger side. I'll probably order up some more 1/0awg or 1awg cable and make longer cables so I can put it behind the bumper on the drivers side or in the engine bay.
Only saw about a 1-2mpg drop around town. So I went and double checked odometer with a 10 mile highway trip. Showing 9.8 miles in 10 miles driven. Adjusted the speedo so it's nearly dead on, now odometer is showing 9.7 miles in 10 driven. Wanted to get speedo to read a touch high, so at 50% wear it was dead on. But then odometer would be about 9.6mi/10mi, and average about 9.7mi/10mi over the life of my tires. I'm more comfortable with it being 2% off on average over a set of tires and speed reading dead on with new tires and 2-3% high with worn tires. Not sure how accurate it was before though. And I only had a few partial tanks for town only miles to compare it to. Looks like I'll get 14-15mpg around this hilly town and 17-19mpg on the highway(haven't done a highway only tank since I recalibrated the speedo/odometer). Probably go test a 65mph highway 120+ mile loop I did before the mods to compare.
Next project is a 60% rear seat delete since switch panel is a couple days out still, 1/2" plywood platform and rear wall panel, for fridge, battery, inverter, and charger. Hopefully I can make it low enough to open the fridge far enough to take the baskets out. It's just a bit too tall sitting on the seat, plan to make the platform about 2in lower.
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sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Got the 60% rear seat delete built and installed. Installed the inverter, battery, charger, and fridge. Didn't bother to paint or carpet it since it's all coming out in a year or so when I get a camper. Used the seat bolts and seatbelt bolts to bolt it down, then two turnbuckles holding it down in the middle where the under seat storage bins lock in. Not great photos, I'll take some better ones next time I take the fridge out. The fridge is a dual door and the fridge side door opens all the way, but because of the roof line drop down next to the truck door the freezer side door opens just enough to squeeze the baskets out, luckily there are two half height baskets in the freezer side.
Alternator seems to be able to feed 10-20A at 650rpm idle, and the full 50-55A at 1100-1200rpm slow cruising. So I don't think I'll need to replace the alternator just yet, we'll see what happens to my starter battery. Charger just wants to run at float voltage of 13.8v, isn't jumping up into boost voltage for some reason. It should charge fine up to 13.3v(95%) full with that voltage, then it'll taper off if I don't boost the voltage up to 14.6v, well it will taper off anyway, but it'll pretty much stop around 13.3-13.4v, you need more voltage to get up to a full 13.6v. Manual for the charger and Renogy support is a joke. No one on the forums can figure out which battery settings do what and if they refer to the house battery or starter battery voltage. Some are obvious, some seem to be, but must not be or it would be switching to boost charge at 13.2v instead of staying in float. Going to change the "Boost char return volt" to 13.1v and see what that changes tomorrow. Hopefully the fridge on and empty will draw it low enough even with 50-60°F temps overnight to test it tomorrow. I can always run something big on the inverter to draw it down too.
edit: Looks like it only goes into boost charge if there is enough current available to do a full 50A constant current/variable voltage charge for a minute or so. So should go into that just fine when not stopping at stop signs/lights all the time.
Alternator seems to be able to feed 10-20A at 650rpm idle, and the full 50-55A at 1100-1200rpm slow cruising. So I don't think I'll need to replace the alternator just yet, we'll see what happens to my starter battery. Charger just wants to run at float voltage of 13.8v, isn't jumping up into boost voltage for some reason. It should charge fine up to 13.3v(95%) full with that voltage, then it'll taper off if I don't boost the voltage up to 14.6v, well it will taper off anyway, but it'll pretty much stop around 13.3-13.4v, you need more voltage to get up to a full 13.6v. Manual for the charger and Renogy support is a joke. No one on the forums can figure out which battery settings do what and if they refer to the house battery or starter battery voltage. Some are obvious, some seem to be, but must not be or it would be switching to boost charge at 13.2v instead of staying in float. Going to change the "Boost char return volt" to 13.1v and see what that changes tomorrow. Hopefully the fridge on and empty will draw it low enough even with 50-60°F temps overnight to test it tomorrow. I can always run something big on the inverter to draw it down too.
edit: Looks like it only goes into boost charge if there is enough current available to do a full 50A constant current/variable voltage charge for a minute or so. So should go into that just fine when not stopping at stop signs/lights all the time.
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sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Fridge and charger are working pretty well, 30-60min of driving should be able to keep it charged in moderate weather, but I think it can do better. Going to install the voltage sense line for "smart alternators" and see if it'll pull the full 50A more often. It won't pull voltage below 13.1v at the charger, so depending on the alternator voltage it can pull anywhere from the full 50A down to about 3A. Hopefully with the sense line it will pull more amps. May have to put a switch in the smart alternator line if it doesn't.
Got my Motobilt switch panel. Looks like it will fit awesome in one spot and work in a couple others. Will probably install it like the first two photos, with a small gap underneath so it doesn't rattle/rub on the transmission tunnel trim/cover.
Dodge is sold! I'm going to miss it real bad. My left knee not so much. Now I can order a camper, leaning OVRLND for the straight walls, wider resulting bed, and barn door option. Though I really like the headroom of the AT Summit, bigger side tent windows, and the windoors for side windows. At the end of the day I'm mainly going to be standing up to change clothes and shower 90% of the time. Maybe to use the bed as a standing desk occasionally or foul weather eating. I think I can install some port windows in the side doors of the OVRLND camper to get more light in if I really feel I need it.
Got my Motobilt switch panel. Looks like it will fit awesome in one spot and work in a couple others. Will probably install it like the first two photos, with a small gap underneath so it doesn't rattle/rub on the transmission tunnel trim/cover.
Dodge is sold! I'm going to miss it real bad. My left knee not so much. Now I can order a camper, leaning OVRLND for the straight walls, wider resulting bed, and barn door option. Though I really like the headroom of the AT Summit, bigger side tent windows, and the windoors for side windows. At the end of the day I'm mainly going to be standing up to change clothes and shower 90% of the time. Maybe to use the bed as a standing desk occasionally or foul weather eating. I think I can install some port windows in the side doors of the OVRLND camper to get more light in if I really feel I need it.
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sideburns
Idaho 2019 Nissan Frontier CC LWB
Switch panel is going slowly with this cold weather. I may just have to paint it inside or leave it unpainted. I know if I install it unpainted I'll never get around to uninstalling it to paint it.
Haven't gotten around to installing the alternator sense wire for my charger either. With the cold weather the fridge is barely running and staying fully charged anyway. Charger does shut down at 0°F correctly, so that's nice.
Sent my deposit in for an OVRLND camper. 9-10 months out. Going with full height barn doors, front and rear windows, an intake/exhaust roof vent/fan, roof rack rails, vinyl tent windows, third brake light, a side window and a side hatch. Probably get lift struts to make lifting the roof easier with a load one it, only really going to carry a ski box or kayak, not anything heavy. Might skip front and rear windows to save weight, I'm not convinced they'll be any good for looking out of while driving or backing up either since the barn door windows are so high and small you'll get real tunnel vision. Backup cameras are pretty cheap, even an always on one for rearview mirror replacement might be better than small windows.
Haven't gotten around to installing the alternator sense wire for my charger either. With the cold weather the fridge is barely running and staying fully charged anyway. Charger does shut down at 0°F correctly, so that's nice.
Sent my deposit in for an OVRLND camper. 9-10 months out. Going with full height barn doors, front and rear windows, an intake/exhaust roof vent/fan, roof rack rails, vinyl tent windows, third brake light, a side window and a side hatch. Probably get lift struts to make lifting the roof easier with a load one it, only really going to carry a ski box or kayak, not anything heavy. Might skip front and rear windows to save weight, I'm not convinced they'll be any good for looking out of while driving or backing up either since the barn door windows are so high and small you'll get real tunnel vision. Backup cameras are pretty cheap, even an always on one for rearview mirror replacement might be better than small windows.
paulforeman
Active member
Your wiring has been looking clean so far - i'm sure you're switches are going to be awesome.
That camper will be cool! Hopefully it's less than 9 months, but sounds like it'll be worth the wait.
moderndaynorseman
Active member
When I get around to ordering a new canopy to replace the one I've got right now (going with an aluminum ARE topper with a full height hatchback rear door and full length side doors, no windows to save cost), an always on rear view cam is going in place of the mirror and I'll get some tow mirrors at the same time to help out with side visibility as well.
The topper I have right now already cuts out a lot of visible area even with front, back, and side windows, so I figure a good camera will actually give more visibility than a full set of windows. If you wanted to go super high tech, you could even install some more cameras on the sides to cover your blind spots.
I have front and rear windows on my ovrlnd. I can see pretty decently out the back, plus they let more light in when in camper mode. just my 2c