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

[wreckdiver1321]

Whoops, missed a couple!

Lol.

Wreck- check out Mob Armor for tablet mount/ phone mount. I like them over the RAM units, given they have something that fits the Samsung. Talk to Raul over at XpeditionOutfitters about them. We love ours.

I just picked up TRED 1100s and I'll let you know how they fare next weekend! Seem pretty well built but reality use will tell.

I know that feeling of the home stretch. I think I've reached that point as well. She's definitely come a long way from when you got Lola, and she looks and I'm sure performs great!

Thanks for the tip Richard, I'll have a look at those. Haven't heard of them before.

I'll await your report!

Yeah, it's a fantastic feeling. Not having to think too much about what mod to buy next and whatnot. I look at pictures of her from when I bought her, and then I see Lola sitting in my driveway. Weird to think what I accomplished and how much I've done in that short time.Super proud of it though! As you should be of yours!

I have a buddy who ha maxtrax and treds. Says the treds aren't worth it. Get the maxtrax

I have heard that as well. I think MaxTrax will be the way I go.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

For the holidays, I made another trip up north to see my family. We had great weather both ways, albeit cold. I did get a chance to flex the winch a bit when I helped an old guy out of a ditch on the side of the road. Otherwise, not a whole lot to report. Lola was flawless, as expected, and gave a pretty consistent 16.8 mpg average. Seems I'm losing about 1-2 mpg thanks to winter blend gas, but that's to be expected. These pictures aren't from adventures with the truck, but they are from the area during some snowmobile rides.







After this day, my family and I flew from Missoula to Madison, WI, where we attended my brother's wedding on New Year's Eve. afterwards, we flew back to Montana. Meanwhile, my brother and his new bride flew to the Bahamas. That's not quite fair.

Anyways, I did a little more exploring and got some great images.



















That's all for now folks!

 

[Bigfnhammer]

man. Montana... Love it

I notice my trucks gas mileage used to vary a huge amount.. I think it has to do with certain brands use ethanol mix where as shell v power is pure gas.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Soooo... Fun news...

Pretty sure my rear end blew up on the way home from work tonight. I heard a pop, then a bunch of chattering from the rear end as I went around corners. Now it's pretty much constant.

So there's that.

 

[Dmski]

Soooo... Fun news...

Pretty sure my rear end blew up on the way home from work tonight. I heard a pop, then a bunch of chattering from the rear end as I went around corners. Now it's pretty much constant.

So there's that.

And to think I was just coming in here to ask if you would purchase another fronty if you had to and swap all the parts over... Sorry to hear about the rear end. Spider gears I'm guessing? How easy of a backyard fix is that?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

And to think I was just coming in here to ask if you would purchase another fronty if you had to and swap all the parts over... Sorry to hear about the rear end. Spider gears I'm guessing? How easy of a backyard fix is that?

I fully intend to keep Lola running as long as possible. If there's some catastrophic problem where I'd rather just buy a new truck, then yeah, I could see myself doing that. But I'm not sure what kind of damage, outside of a really bad collision, would cause that to happen. If I needed to, I'd do it.

I'm not actually sure what it is yet. If it's just a pinion bearing or something like that (which I really doubt), I could do it myself. If it's the ring gear or the pinion gear, that's actually not all that bad to have them replaced. Worst-case scenario is spider gears or the like. That probably would necessitate a whole new rear end swap. Not the most difficult work for me to do, but not cheap.

We shall see what my shop says.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Thought about regearing? Now would be a decent time.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Thought about regearing? Now would be a decent time.

If the R&P set is broken, I might just do that. It really depends on exactly what's wrong.

 

[Blackdawg]

Better not be driving it either way. Sucks. I hate working of diffs. Not something I recomend doing. If you're not familiar with how to set the back lash on gear, don't bother. Have a shop do it. I've tore part my diffs three times and each time more **** went wrong I spent forever waiting on parts. Then again I could just be cursed to work on diffs.

Nothing is a simple as replacing a bearing though. Have to do the full race too. Then you have to dial in the R&P backlash again. And pinion preload.

If you have the money. Pay for em. If ECGS does Nissan diffs. Get those. 5 year warranty is so worth it.










Oh and just cause I have to since I'm gonna be you're annoying Toyota pal...


Shoulda bought a tacoma

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Better not be driving it either way. Sucks. I hate working of diffs. Not something I recomend doing. If you're not familiar with how to set the back lash on gear, don't bother. Have a shop do it. I've tore part my diffs three times and each time more **** went wrong I spent forever waiting on parts. Then again I could just be cursed to work on diffs.

Nothing is a simple as replacing a bearing though. Have to do the full race too. Then you have to dial in the R&P backlash again. And pinion preload.

If you have the money. Pay for em. If ECGS does Nissan diffs. Get those. 5 year warranty is so worth it.










Oh and just cause I have to since I'm gonna be you're annoying Toyota pal...


Shoulda bought a tacoma

Yeah, I've got it being checked out as we speak, should know something by this afternoon. I've worked on a couple of diffs bPfore, and there's so much crap to worry about it's not worth it for me to try and do.

Unfortunately ECGS doesn't carry gears for the 2nd gen Frontiers. If I do change the gears, I'd have to go through Rugged Rocks, which is a Nissan-specific vendor. They're the only ones selling the gears that I'd need. Luckily they're a fantastic company to work with. But then I don't know if I'll be replacing them yet. We'll have to see what the diagnosis is.

Oh shut up Monte

 

[emtmark]

Yeah Monte


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[skibum315]

If it needs spiders, you're not stuck getting a whole new axle ... you can sometimes find the guts from folks who went ARB (check NewX or ClubFrontier, even TitanTalk or ClubTitan if you're looking for the m226 - which I think I remember that you have), that'd probably be your cheapest option. I believe both Rugged Rocks and 4x4 Parts will sell you an OEM replacement e-locker, which should replace the guts as well ... or bite the bullet and get yourself an ARB. Alternatively, some of the desert guys swear by the TrueTrac ... not a locker, but a helical gear limited slip. I recall reading about it on the Titan forums first, I think being done by a shop out in Southern California ... but I'm a bit fuzzy on it.

At any rate, that sucks ... sorry man!

 

[ExplorerTom]

I have Truetracs front and rear in mine. I just point it where I want to go and I go there. No issues on the street.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

If it needs spiders, you're not stuck getting a whole new axle ... you can sometimes find the guts from folks who went ARB (check NewX or ClubFrontier, even TitanTalk or ClubTitan if you're looking for the m226 - which I think I remember that you have), that'd probably be your cheapest option. I believe both Rugged Rocks and 4x4 Parts will sell you an OEM replacement e-locker, which should replace the guts as well ... or bite the bullet and get yourself an ARB. Alternatively, some of the desert guys swear by the TrueTrac ... not a locker, but a helical gear limited slip. I recall reading about it on the Titan forums first, I think being done by a shop out in Southern California ... but I'm a bit fuzzy on it.

At any rate, that sucks ... sorry man!

Skibum! Thank you!

Occasionally I have an attack of stupid and forget things. My truck is a Nismo, which means I have the factory-locked M226. Meaning I don't have regular diff guts, and if the small gears are broken I can just have the guts replaced with a factory e-locker from Rugged Rocks! Can't believe I didn't think of that. That means I don't really have to get a whole new rear end no matter what.

Since I already have the factory e-locker and the OEM wiring and switch in place, then I think it would be more work than it's worth to install anything different in there. I know the ARB is a great unit, but the updated factory e-locker is still plenty strong, and everything I need is already there.

TrueTracs are fantastic. When I had my Disco, the plan was for front and rear TrueTracs.

I have Truetracs front and rear in mine. I just point it where I want to go and I go there. No issues on the street.

I've heard nothing but great things about them. But I love my selectable locker. And since I've already got all the stuff to make it work...

 

[skibum315]

No sweat ... I know the feeling about attacks of stupid ... happens to me all the time!

I agree, it'll probably be the least headache to just do the stock e-locker replacement ... cost-wise (for the locker), it may not be significantly more to get the parts for an ARB, though. If you had thought you might ever go that route, now may be the perfect time. Especially since you just did your compressor install, you wouldn't need to buy that ... just the ARB wiring harness & solenoid pack along with the locker.

I'll agree with the comments about the gears, now may be the time for that as well, if you had thought to do it ever ... but having said that, I've heard install quotes all over the map (as low as $350 or so for a single axle that's not in the truck, from a garage buddy ... all the way up to $12-1300 for both ends, from a dealer - plus parts); so if you're not 100% that you want deeper gears - or can't stomach the budget hit to be buying the parts basically on a whim (at $500-700 per axle, depending on what exactly you get), it's probably not the end of the world to wait.