david despain
Adventurer
actually got off the pavement today!!!!
hooray! i actually took the new truck off the pavement today. i did more exploring today than i have in the last couple of years and i was only gone for the afternoon, but more on that later.
first to clear up a few things for any potential owners or curious parties, i talked to the parts guys at the dealer when i picked up my new plates last week or so ago and this is what he told me.
the trailer hitch does come with all required hard ware and they wanted about 190$ out the door for parts only.
the sat radio uses the existing head unit and has a unit that plugs into the back of the head unit and into the antena wire. there are 2 different units one for xm and one for sirius and they are not interchangeable. he made it sound like there was nothing else to it but i think you have to mount the antena still. it was about 300$ for parts and about twice that to have them put it in, i said ok thanks for your time i will use my sky fi unit thank you very much. he has been the most helpful and professional person at the dealership so far.
second, standard unistrut stuff does indeed fit the utili-trak rail perfectly and i am close to coming up with some mounting solutions for spare tire, hi lift, gas cans etc.
so today after i took a bunch of old aircraft nicad batteries and paint to the dump for recycling i had the afternoon off so i went up a road i had heard existed and found that it did and it was partially paved for a few miles then turned into a dirt road. went up and over the mountain to see what i could see and had a nice afternoon just chugging along. i used 4 low and the diff lock a few times even though the diff lock wasnt really needed i wanted to see how the truck behaved and how it worked etc. here is my initial impression with quite easy wheeling. compression braking in HI range sucks quite badly, its not absolutly horrible in LO range and with the rear diff locked it is not bad at all. i didnt think or feel that either tire was ever slipping so im not sure why it seemed better with the rear locked up. this trail had some pretty significant grades for a long enough distance to put some thought into this stuff both up and down hill. going up hill there was a few places i wanted to go slowly, putting the truck in low range accomplished this and provided adequate power, and great control. when slow speed wasnt required but it was still pretty steep i put it back into HI and it felt like i had more power. i think this is due to the hi vs. low range throttle and HP mapping. they dont want you to have too much power with the added gearing thus leading to possible breakage. (thats baad for the brand image you know). the more times i switched the transfer case from 2 to 4 to low the faster it got at turning the indicator to the desired postion, same with the rear locker, it was really slow the first few times. i figured out that if you are rolling slowly and turning it helps it engage. this is definitly a locker you want in before you need it. also in 4 low the truck automatically illuminates the VDC off light. this feature limits wheel spin by removing excess throttle and applying brakes to the proper wheel. it works great on the pavement and i can see where you would not want this feature sometimes off road so nissan was smart enough to give me a great big VDC off button on the dash. so why do they not think i would be smart enough to figure out when to turn it off when in 4 low. i dont even have it as an option to me at that point
also when the diff lock is engaged it automatically turns off the abs huh why dont they leave it on and let it work on the front wheels. there obviously wont be a difference in wheel speed between the rear wheels so it would never modulate the rear brakes but it could be useful in the fronts! why not tie the vdc off button to make the abs turn off when in 4 hi or 4 lo? anyway thats my automotive rant to the engineers and LIABILITY LAWERS for the day.
the oem bfg rugged trail tires did very well over the lots of sharp rocks and loose granite and tree branches. i left them at street pressure the whole time and while lower press may have made for a softer ride of the washboardy sections it wasnt required. i didnt do or go anywhere remote or crazy as i was by myself in a bone stock truck with no rear recovery point and no jack points so im kinda a poser still but i did find my way across a place i have wanted to go see for quite a while, had snack and amired the view at the top, saw some snow in june and had a relaxing day away from the wife and kids and work. :victory: sorry no pics as my wife had the camera today sorry for the long post. dave
hooray! i actually took the new truck off the pavement today. i did more exploring today than i have in the last couple of years and i was only gone for the afternoon, but more on that later.
first to clear up a few things for any potential owners or curious parties, i talked to the parts guys at the dealer when i picked up my new plates last week or so ago and this is what he told me.
the trailer hitch does come with all required hard ware and they wanted about 190$ out the door for parts only.
the sat radio uses the existing head unit and has a unit that plugs into the back of the head unit and into the antena wire. there are 2 different units one for xm and one for sirius and they are not interchangeable. he made it sound like there was nothing else to it but i think you have to mount the antena still. it was about 300$ for parts and about twice that to have them put it in, i said ok thanks for your time i will use my sky fi unit thank you very much. he has been the most helpful and professional person at the dealership so far.
second, standard unistrut stuff does indeed fit the utili-trak rail perfectly and i am close to coming up with some mounting solutions for spare tire, hi lift, gas cans etc.
so today after i took a bunch of old aircraft nicad batteries and paint to the dump for recycling i had the afternoon off so i went up a road i had heard existed and found that it did and it was partially paved for a few miles then turned into a dirt road. went up and over the mountain to see what i could see and had a nice afternoon just chugging along. i used 4 low and the diff lock a few times even though the diff lock wasnt really needed i wanted to see how the truck behaved and how it worked etc. here is my initial impression with quite easy wheeling. compression braking in HI range sucks quite badly, its not absolutly horrible in LO range and with the rear diff locked it is not bad at all. i didnt think or feel that either tire was ever slipping so im not sure why it seemed better with the rear locked up. this trail had some pretty significant grades for a long enough distance to put some thought into this stuff both up and down hill. going up hill there was a few places i wanted to go slowly, putting the truck in low range accomplished this and provided adequate power, and great control. when slow speed wasnt required but it was still pretty steep i put it back into HI and it felt like i had more power. i think this is due to the hi vs. low range throttle and HP mapping. they dont want you to have too much power with the added gearing thus leading to possible breakage. (thats baad for the brand image you know). the more times i switched the transfer case from 2 to 4 to low the faster it got at turning the indicator to the desired postion, same with the rear locker, it was really slow the first few times. i figured out that if you are rolling slowly and turning it helps it engage. this is definitly a locker you want in before you need it. also in 4 low the truck automatically illuminates the VDC off light. this feature limits wheel spin by removing excess throttle and applying brakes to the proper wheel. it works great on the pavement and i can see where you would not want this feature sometimes off road so nissan was smart enough to give me a great big VDC off button on the dash. so why do they not think i would be smart enough to figure out when to turn it off when in 4 low. i dont even have it as an option to me at that point
also when the diff lock is engaged it automatically turns off the abs huh why dont they leave it on and let it work on the front wheels. there obviously wont be a difference in wheel speed between the rear wheels so it would never modulate the rear brakes but it could be useful in the fronts! why not tie the vdc off button to make the abs turn off when in 4 hi or 4 lo? anyway thats my automotive rant to the engineers and LIABILITY LAWERS for the day. the oem bfg rugged trail tires did very well over the lots of sharp rocks and loose granite and tree branches. i left them at street pressure the whole time and while lower press may have made for a softer ride of the washboardy sections it wasnt required. i didnt do or go anywhere remote or crazy as i was by myself in a bone stock truck with no rear recovery point and no jack points so im kinda a poser still but i did find my way across a place i have wanted to go see for quite a while, had snack and amired the view at the top, saw some snow in june and had a relaxing day away from the wife and kids and work. :victory: sorry no pics as my wife had the camera today sorry for the long post. dave
