"Lola" - WreckDiver1321's 2005 Frontier CC/SB Nismo Build and Adventure Thread

[wreckdiver1321]

I also found another possible rear swing out bumper plan!

EDIT: Pretty certain that I just figured out where I'm going for my rear bumper.







I really, really like the design of this one! The base looks similar to the Shrock, while the swingout design is similar to the Kaymar. Plus, it's got a Hi-Lift carrier! This bumper is built by Hefty Fabworks, who is known for their awesome quality and top quality customer service. Yes, the wait would be long because they don't keep them in stock, but the wait times are better than Shrock, and about the same time it'd take for me to get a Kaymar (12-15 weeks).

And, at $1200-$1400, the price is GREAT!

 

[NoahGenda]

Have you seen the TAG one, its more like $900

Also, did you sell your front bumper from the old Frontier?

 

[SpongeX]

I would avoid tag like the plague. Their craftsmanship is suspect at best.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I would avoid tag like the plague. Their craftsmanship is suspect at best.

This. I knew that they made one, and I did a bit of Googling to get an idea of their quality. The word "abysmal" got tossed around a lot. I even heard a story about a customer getting a bumper where all the welds were covered in black silicone because they were so crappy.

Seems like a good idea to avoid them.

 

[Weekender41]

That tag bumper looks like mine... (Means he was building inexpensive) would like to see better craftsmanship from a professional. Using the tow rings he and I do vs good shackle mounts to name one.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

That tag bumper looks like mine... (Means he was building inexpensive) would like to see better craftsmanship from a professional. Using the tow rings he and I do vs good shackle mounts to name one.

Agreed about the craftsmanship. I'm pretty sold on the Hefty Fab bumper.

What does the ExPo Nissan family think?

 

[SpongeX]

I was looking at the hefty for my Xterra. Overall I've been pleased with what I've seen from them in the past and I have their skids. There was a problem with their front bumpers tweaking under winch load and digging into the fenders but that may be fixed. The new stuff from boulder ironworx might be worth a look too.

 

[mortonm]

Agreed about the craftsmanship. I'm pretty sold on the Hefty Fab bumper.

What does the ExPo Nissan family think?

They look nice! Never see any of their work in person however

 

[Jack Stilts]

Hefty is good!

And I really like that Rotopax mount with the rear-facing LED.

 

[skibum315]

There was a problem with their first run of Xterra rear bumpers ... the hinges/arms weren't up to the task of lasting long term. They would slowly develop more and more flex/rattle and loose the ability to latch cleanly. I think they've addressed the design and may have fixed the issue ... but more research may be warranted. I had several friends bitten by this particular problem, and the customer service they received left a bad taste in my mouth.

I've also seen at least one of their 'loaded' Xterra bumpers (tire, high-lift, jerry-cans ... the whole nine) take out a back window upon descending a large ledge in Moab (may have been "The Drop" on Steel Bender, but don't quote me on location) ... this was a multifaceted problem that may be particular to Xterras, but bears mentioning. Has to due with how the high-lift is mounted (vertical), how close everything is to the window, and how much loaded inertia winds up back there on the arm(s) with everything kitted out.

Couple of folks have also complained about powder-coat longevity and quality ... to the point that some on TheNewX will only advise ordering from Hefty in bare steel.

Having said all that, though, I really do want to like their Frontier bumper that you've posted pics of. Particularly the rear lower rocker guards.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

There was a problem with their first run of Xterra rear bumpers ... the hinges/arms weren't up to the task of lasting long term. They would slowly develop more and more flex/rattle and loose the ability to latch cleanly. I think they've addressed the design and may have fixed the issue ... but more research may be warranted. I had several friends bitten by this particular problem, and the customer service they received left a bad taste in my mouth.

I've also seen at least one of their 'loaded' Xterra bumpers (tire, high-lift, jerry-cans ... the whole nine) take out a back window upon descending a large ledge in Moab (may have been "The Drop" on Steel Bender, but don't quote me on location) ... this was a multifaceted problem that may be particular to Xterras, but bears mentioning. Has to due with how the high-lift is mounted (vertical), how close everything is to the window, and how much loaded inertia winds up back there on the arm(s) with everything kitted out.

Couple of folks have also complained about powder-coat longevity and quality ... to the point that some on TheNewX will only advise ordering from Hefty in bare steel.

Having said all that, though, I really do want to like their Frontier bumper that you've posted pics of. Particularly the rear lower rocker guards.

Interesting. I've been reading a lot about them, and I can't find much on them that's negative within the past two or three years. I've seen close up shots of the swing arm design, and it is damned solid. I'll send a PM to the guy over on CF who has one and see what he says about it.

If the coating is that bad, I'll order it bare and have a friend in town coat it for me.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[skibum315]

PM Mudlover55 on TNX ... he was the one with the broken window. There was some discussion about powder coat in this thread: http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=112074&highlight=hefty+powder+coat ... and as far as the original swingarm design, this happened back when the first Xterra rear bumpers came out from Hefty ... so would probably have been at least 3 years ago.

Part of the cust. svc. controversy was how HF handled the social media aspect (on FB and TNX, mostly) ... which I can definitely see both sides of; so I'd say if you're comfortable with what you can find out about their design (you're certainly capable of research, so no problems there ... and if you still have concerns, call them and chat with the guys directly ... I ordered some lights from Chris and he was very responsive to my questions and easy to work with), I'd see no reason not to pull the trigger.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

PM Mudlover55 on TNX ... he was the one with the broken window. There was some discussion about powder coat in this thread: http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=112074&highlight=hefty+powder+coat ... and as far as the original swingarm design, this happened back when the first Xterra rear bumpers came out from Hefty ... so would probably have been at least 3 years ago.

Part of the cust. svc. controversy was how HF handled the social media aspect (on FB and TNX, mostly) ... which I can definitely see both sides of; so I'd say if you're comfortable with what you can find out about their design (you're certainly capable of research, so no problems there ... and if you still have concerns, call them and chat with the guys directly ... I ordered some lights from Chris and he was very responsive to my questions and easy to work with), I'd see no reason not to pull the trigger.

Sort of my thoughts. I might just have my friend coat it. He does good work, and I don't mind waiting a little extra to have it done right. I haven't heard of any issues regarding craftsmanship or design, at least as far as the Frontier bumper is concerned. I'll wait on hearing from sudingusnavy over on CF and see what he says. He's had it for about a year and a half, so I figure any issues with it would be making themselves known by now.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Truck is going in today for a major purchase

 

[Expedition.Report]

On recent trips, a couple of things have been really bugging me about my RTT. Primarily, it's the closure straps under the cover. When you close the tent, you use these Velcro straps to the top half of the tent to the bottom half.



You pull the long strap through the D-ring and then fold it back onto itself, then connect the two pieces of Velcro. Now, these do work, but they have a couple issues. Primarily, they don't hold that well. Try to cinch it too tight, and they simply pull apart and detach. This causes another issue...







As you can see, pulling it tight is causing the stitching on the Velcro to fail. It's pulling away from the strap quite badly, and I've not been actually pulling on the straps that hard or trying to cinch them overly tight. It's also causing the rough side of the Velcro to tear the threads out of the soft side, making the system work even worse. The system itself just isn't optimal. For a few weeks, I've been thinking about how to fix it. My fiancee is great with sewing, and she has one hell of a nice sewing machine, so my original thought was to get some extreme duty Velcro and have her sew it onto the original strap with better thread and better stitches. Then I told her about how Eezi-Awn uses a buckle closure, and she suggested getting buckles to sew on there. I really liked this idea. Then I saw a buckle in the local camping/hiking/backpacking shop that solved all my problems. They cost me a total of 11 bucks.

The buckle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//B00BTO3H42/ref=twister_dp_update?ie=UTF8&psc=1



This buckle has a little stainless steel screw that holds it to the strap on one side, which means you don't actually need to do any sewing to put it on. So, I grabbed a set of needle nose pliers and pried the old D-ring off the tent. It's not welded together, so all you have to do is put the tip of the pliers in there and use a little muscle.



Once that's out of the way, pull the screw out of the buckle.



The pop it back into place where the D-ring was. I then ripped the already loose Velcro bits off the other strap, pulling out all the loose threads I could. All the threads that wouldn't come out got melted down to the strap via a lighter. Pop the buckle apart and thread the long strap through the buckle. Then clip the two halves back together and voila! I now have a buckle closure holding the tent closed instead of that crappy Velcro!



It's a lot simpler to open and close the tent now, it looks cleaner, and it's much more solid.

Great idea! I saw this over in the other thread then stumbled my way onto this thread!

I decided to see where I could pick some of these clips up, low and behold there is a store below my work that had then for $4.99!! So I bought two and will be doing this mod tonight for sure!

Thanks for the Idea!