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

[wreckdiver1321]

Because I was really sick and tired of the check engine light from the stupid vent control valve on my charcoal canister, I caved and installed a new canister and vent valve. I also ran a breather from the canister to behind the driver's side tail light. It's got a filtered valve cover breather at the end and a 1/2" inlet/outlet fuel filter in the middle. All check engine codes are now gone! And my tank fills up faster now, without any stopping during the fill or any back splash when it's full. I'll post up pics of the process ASAP.

 

[Blackdawg]

Not gonna lie..your stock diff looks super small. What is the ring size of the two diffs?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Not gonna lie..your stock diff looks super small. What is the ring size of the two diffs?

Yeah, it's one of the biggest weak points on these trucks. It's actually a repurposed rear axle from the 350Z.

Stock is 180mm ring gear. Titan upgrade is 205mm.

 

[Blackdawg]

Yeah, it's one of the biggest weak points on these trucks. It's actually a repurposed rear axle from the 350Z.

Stock is 180mm ring gear. Titan upgrade is 205mm.

Good god that is tiny haha smaller then my front diff.

But the titan is a good upgrade. There is a kit coming out to swap in an 8'' diff from 2nd gen tacomas into 1st gens.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Good god that is tiny haha smaller then my front diff.

But the titan is a good upgrade. There is a kit coming out to swap in an 8'' diff from 2nd gen tacomas into 1st gens.

Haha yeah it's pretty chinsy. I've got a buddy with an Xterra who is going to 33s. He's barely done any wheeling, and his rig is a manual. I told him he better start shopping for an M205 soon because he's gonna break it haha. I'll be honest, I'm really surprised mine held up as long as it did. They're known to be made of glass if you start spinning the tires.

I always told myself when I blew up the front end I'd do the diff swap, and honestly it cost me less than fixing or replacing the broken R180 would have. I've yet to hear a report of somebody snapping the M205 with 33s on the Xterra or Frontier. There's a guy over on CF that runs 35s and he's snapped several CVs but never the diff. It's a solid diff and a good upgrade for these trucks.

That sounds like a great upgrade. I'd be interested to see it. What's the size difference? Is there a width difference? The 2nd gens are a bit wider I'd assume.

 

[Blackdawg]

Haha yeah it's pretty chinsy. I've got a buddy with an Xterra who is going to 33s. He's barely done any wheeling, and his rig is a manual. I told him he better start shopping for an M205 soon because he's gonna break it haha. I'll be honest, I'm really surprised mine held up as long as it did. They're known to be made of glass if you start spinning the tires.

I always told myself when I blew up the front end I'd do the diff swap, and honestly it cost me less than fixing or replacing the broken R180 would have. I've yet to hear a report of somebody snapping the M205 with 33s on the Xterra or Frontier. There's a guy over on CF that runs 35s and he's snapped several CVs but never the diff. It's a solid diff and a good upgrade for these trucks.

That sounds like a great upgrade. I'd be interested to see it. What's the size difference? Is there a width difference? The 2nd gens are a bit wider I'd assume.

You should be totally fine on 35s with the 8'' ring you have now. Im pushing it as my stock diff is 7.5'' ring gear.

A 2nd gen taco is 8'', just like the diff you swaped in now. It is wider though. Front range offroad is making an adatper for the side tube from a 1st gen to fit so it'll bolt right in. Otherwise, it's not like yours where you can just swap it straight across. Sadly. Even 1st gen tundras use the 7.5'' front diff i have now. So have to wait for the adapter kit to come out.

My biggest issue is the 8'' taco front diffs don't have 5.29 aftermarket gear sets. Lowest you can get is 4.88..so that sucks. Can't do it to Frankenstein. But probably will on my other just for peace of mine. 33s are fine on my current diff usually. but can't hurt. May end up on 35s at some point anyways haha

Very easy swap for you though. I'd do it before tires probably if i had one. Seems straight forward and a no brainer considering how tiny your stock diff is. Kinda odd it's so small with as big a motor you have.

 

[Expedition Montana]

Awesome build!!:drool:

 

[wreckdiver1321]

You should be totally fine on 35s with the 8'' ring you have now. Im pushing it as my stock diff is 7.5'' ring gear.

A 2nd gen taco is 8'', just like the diff you swaped in now. It is wider though. Front range offroad is making an adatper for the side tube from a 1st gen to fit so it'll bolt right in. Otherwise, it's not like yours where you can just swap it straight across. Sadly. Even 1st gen tundras use the 7.5'' front diff i have now. So have to wait for the adapter kit to come out.

My biggest issue is the 8'' taco front diffs don't have 5.29 aftermarket gear sets. Lowest you can get is 4.88..so that sucks. Can't do it to Frankenstein. But probably will on my other just for peace of mine. 33s are fine on my current diff usually. but can't hurt. May end up on 35s at some point anyways haha

Very easy swap for you though. I'd do it before tires probably if i had one. Seems straight forward and a no brainer considering how tiny your stock diff is. Kinda odd it's so small with as big a motor you have.

Yeah haha I don't really see myself busting it with the 33s. The peace of mind from that is a nice thing.

That sounds like a cool conversion. Besides the adapter for it, are the mounting points the same? I'm assuming you'd be able to use any old first gen CV too? I'm surprised the Tundras had the same size diff. That being said, unlike the 2nd gen Nissans I haven't heard of a huge number of diff failures. I remember Box Rocket was running 35s on his first gen double cab and he didn't break a front diff as I recall.

Hahaha really? Already thinking about 35s for your DD? You, sir, have a problem.

I can see it being a worthwhile upgrade on Igor. That way you don't ever have to worry really. And with the popularity of the 2nd gens, it wouldn't surprise me if someone started making 5.29s for them fairly soon.

Yeah we're kind of spoiled with the ability to swap the Titan front end parts, but they should have just given us the M205 from the beginning. The tiny R180 should have stayed as a rear end for a sportscar. The ability to cheaply do long travel using Titan parts is cool though.

Awesome build!!:drool:

Thanks man!

 

[Blackdawg]

Yeah haha I don't really see myself busting it with the 33s. The peace of mind from that is a nice thing.

That sounds like a cool conversion. Besides the adapter for it, are the mounting points the same? I'm assuming you'd be able to use any old first gen CV too? I'm surprised the Tundras had the same size diff. That being said, unlike the 2nd gen Nissans I haven't heard of a huge number of diff failures. I remember Box Rocket was running 35s on his first gen double cab and he didn't break a front diff as I recall.

Hahaha really? Already thinking about 35s for your DD? You, sir, have a problem.

I can see it being a worthwhile upgrade on Igor. That way you don't ever have to worry really. And with the popularity of the 2nd gens, it wouldn't surprise me if someone started making 5.29s for them fairly soon.

Yeah we're kind of spoiled with the ability to swap the Titan front end parts, but they should have just given us the M205 from the beginning. The tiny R180 should have stayed as a rear end for a sportscar. The ability to cheaply do long travel using Titan parts is cool though.



Thanks man!

Yea it bolts right in. Hell it'll bolt right in right now but its 1.5'' too wide stock per side so no CV will fit. With the kit just stock ones bolt right up.

front diffs break a lot in our trucks. Anyone running 35s seriously tends to break at least one at some point. Adam only have 35s for a very short time and never offroaded with them. Was on 33s otherwise. He also never regeared, which i another reason he didn't really run the 35s. The front clam shell is a total bitc* to setup and im conviced thats what causes most of the explosions. They don't get set 100% good by someone that knows what they are doing and then the stress of the big tires gets to them..pop goes the weasel.

Yea..i have haha but long term. I'm looking at doing an LS swap in Frank and that would be sooo much power and torque that the 5.29s wouldn't be needed espeically with the new NV4500 tranny ratios and 3x the power and torque i have now. So really be the perfect opprotunity to swap Igors 4.10s back into Frank and Igor could get the 5.29s and then fitted for 35s too Then eventually swap in a 9'' rear in Frank and the 8'' front as well, 4 link the rear and cage the truck. Bam! Race truck status. Igor because overland truck.

Allllllll part of the plan

also no its not likely 5.29s will be added for the 8'' fronts sadly. Been out since 2005...haha no one has mentioned making them due to the fact that the 2nd gens motor and tranny drive 35s and even 37s great with 4.88s.

Yea when you gonna do that? Surely that is the next set Long travel man!!

 

[E.J.]

New cats and O2s are in, rendering my P0420/P0430 codes gone!

Did you use Nissan stuff or aftermarket? I've been throwing a P0420 and debating if the genuine OEM cat is worth twice the price.

 

[onemanarmy]

read the whole thing, and now I want a Frontier, and live in MT, and live in CA, and, and , and.....

Have you had problems with the timing chain? ( i may have missed it, but don't think so)

thanks

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Yea it bolts right in. Hell it'll bolt right in right now but its 1.5'' too wide stock per side so no CV will fit. With the kit just stock ones bolt right up.

front diffs break a lot in our trucks. Anyone running 35s seriously tends to break at least one at some point. Adam only have 35s for a very short time and never offroaded with them. Was on 33s otherwise. He also never regeared, which i another reason he didn't really run the 35s. The front clam shell is a total bitc* to setup and im conviced thats what causes most of the explosions. They don't get set 100% good by someone that knows what they are doing and then the stress of the big tires gets to them..pop goes the weasel.

Yea..i have haha but long term. I'm looking at doing an LS swap in Frank and that would be sooo much power and torque that the 5.29s wouldn't be needed espeically with the new NV4500 tranny ratios and 3x the power and torque i have now. So really be the perfect opprotunity to swap Igors 4.10s back into Frank and Igor could get the 5.29s and then fitted for 35s too Then eventually swap in a 9'' rear in Frank and the 8'' front as well, 4 link the rear and cage the truck. Bam! Race truck status. Igor because overland truck.

Allllllll part of the plan

also no its not likely 5.29s will be added for the 8'' fronts sadly. Been out since 2005...haha no one has mentioned making them due to the fact that the 2nd gens motor and tranny drive 35s and even 37s great with 4.88s.

Yea when you gonna do that? Surely that is the next set Long travel man!!

Cool, that sounds like a good way to go.

Ahhh, I didn't know that. I guess that's why I didn't see many offroad pics of his truck on the 35s. Do they hold up pretty well to 33s or is that starting to push it? Also, do you think you setting up the gears in your front diff may have been the reason you lost it in Alberta? Not knocking your skills, of course. I've set up a few diffs and I know how much of a pain it can be to get right.

That makes sense. With more power like that having the 2nd gen front diff and 4.88s probably would be just fine. Having the horsepower makes all the difference. Guess that's why I can get away with 33s on 3.36 gears haha. It'll be cool to watch Frank grow up into a race truck too haha. Maybe with the cage you could roll your truck again and it wouldn't be a problem this time! Also be cool to see what you have in store for Igor.

Haha, yeah not gonna go long travel with this one. The extra travel would be nice, but I haven't really been in a situation where I need it. Plus I like not camouflaging the entire truck whenever I drive through a puddle.

Did you use Nissan stuff or aftermarket? I've been throwing a P0420 and debating if the genuine OEM cat is worth twice the price.

Aftermarket. I used Walker cats. It's kind of a pain to do, but it worked out. PB Blaster was my friend. To be honest, my OEM cats were still fine and probably didn't need to be replaced, but the stupid Nissan ECU programming gets upset even if the cats are operating at 95%.

read the whole thing, and now I want a Frontier, and live in MT, and live in CA, and, and , and.....

Have you had problems with the timing chain? ( i may have missed it, but don't think so)

thanks

Haha, glad to ignite the dreams a little.

I had the timing set replaced back around 120k. I got the truck with the timing chain whine. I probably could have driven around on it for a long time (there's people with over 200k on their stock timing sets), but I didn't want to worry about it. I had the timing set and the water pump replaced, since they were pulling everything apart anyway. Now it's whisper quiet and works flawlessly.

 

[Blackdawg]

Cool, that sounds like a good way to go.

Ahhh, I didn't know that. I guess that's why I didn't see many offroad pics of his truck on the 35s. Do they hold up pretty well to 33s or is that starting to push it? Also, do you think you setting up the gears in your front diff may have been the reason you lost it in Alberta? Not knocking your skills, of course. I've set up a few diffs and I know how much of a pain it can be to get right.

That makes sense. With more power like that having the 2nd gen front diff and 4.88s probably would be just fine. Having the horsepower makes all the difference. Guess that's why I can get away with 33s on 3.36 gears haha. It'll be cool to watch Frank grow up into a race truck too haha. Maybe with the cage you could roll your truck again and it wouldn't be a problem this time! Also be cool to see what you have in store for Igor.

Haha, yeah not gonna go long travel with this one. The extra travel would be nice, but I haven't really been in a situation where I need it. Plus I like not camouflaging the entire truck whenever I drive through a puddle.

I think it blew due to my lack of skills setting the front diff. Very tricky to get it perfect on the clamshells..

33s are fine for our diffs. Usually. **** can happen but usually 33s are perfect for out rigs.

I'd probably go back to 4.10s if i had 450hp on tap haha Definitely a cage in store..haha some times wish i had one now...

Igor will be a very slow build. But should be nice when i get to that point. Will end up with LT front though. Camouflage is required when offroading and 14'' of travel up front is aaaMazing.

I'll show you this summer..haha

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I think it blew due to my lack of skills setting the front diff. Very tricky to get it perfect on the clamshells..

33s are fine for our diffs. Usually. **** can happen but usually 33s are perfect for out rigs.

I'd probably go back to 4.10s if i had 450hp on tap haha Definitely a cage in store..haha some times wish i had one now...

Igor will be a very slow build. But should be nice when i get to that point. Will end up with LT front though. Camouflage is required when offroading and 14'' of travel up front is aaaMazing.

I'll show you this summer..haha

4.10s are stock gears for the Tacos right?

Yeah it'll be cool to see how he takes off. Be interesting to see how you do a double cab. You getting along fine with the smaller bed?

Can't wait, sounds like a plan!

 

[Blackdawg]

4.10s are stock gears for the Tacos right?

Yeah it'll be cool to see how he takes off. Be interesting to see how you do a double cab. You getting along fine with the smaller bed?

Can't wait, sounds like a plan!

yep, well..sorta..Toyota is very...very odd about gear sets.

Usually its safe to say all 4x4 V6 trucks had 4.10s. It is a fact that ALL TRDs had 4.10s.

But..you can get 3.36 in some 4 banger trucks..or 3.90s in some prerunners...or some 4.30s in 4banger manual 4x4s..or even 4.56 in 4 banger autos...

AND some t4rs came with rare 4.88s..

All over the map.

Most though are 4.10s. Usually people have to check.

The double cab is nice. We used the cab a lot for our packing and i know i can improve that area of packing. I removed the rear seats which helped a lot. Will make a bracket for the fridge next time. Everything else packed up perfectly in the bed. even had a bit of room left. Yours is 5' too right? or is it 6'?