"The Moose" 2012 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X Build Thread and some stories MNCarl
- Thread starter MNCarl
- Start date
MNCarl
The Moose
Fresh Meat , 285/75-16 BFG KO2's
Fresh Meat , 285/75-16 BFG KO2's
I was looking at Craigslist, like I do every morning and found these.
I have been wanting to replace my 32" 265/75-16 KO1's for a while now with 33" 255/85-16 or 285/75-16.
A younger guy named Jake had these brand new 285/75-16 BFG KO2's listed on Craigslist.
He said his grandmother bought them for him to put on his 2005 Acura MDX SUV ? What the heck ? Not sure I believe that.
Needless to say they where way to big to fit on his vehicle......LOL
So I got an extremely good deal $.$$ on the tires and went here.
They are a tight fit in the front...even with 3" inches of lift.
Freakin Awesome
Fresh Meat , 285/75-16 BFG KO2's
I was looking at Craigslist, like I do every morning and found these.
I have been wanting to replace my 32" 265/75-16 KO1's for a while now with 33" 255/85-16 or 285/75-16.
A younger guy named Jake had these brand new 285/75-16 BFG KO2's listed on Craigslist.
He said his grandmother bought them for him to put on his 2005 Acura MDX SUV ? What the heck ? Not sure I believe that.
Needless to say they where way to big to fit on his vehicle......LOL
So I got an extremely good deal $.$$ on the tires and went here.
They are a tight fit in the front...even with 3" inches of lift.
Freakin Awesome
bijanjames
Adventurer
The Moose got an early Christmas present.
See he is even smiling:
I purchased the Superwinch TS9500 "used" from a fellow Midwest Overland Society member.
Great addition. I was wondering if you could take some pics of how you sealed your tailgate?
MNCarl
The Moose
bijanjames.
Yes the superwinch will be a great addition although it is going to be a pain in the butt removing my Shrockworks front bumper to install the winch.
Here are some pics of the tailgate seal.
Problem is I am running my "winter configuration" on my truck now:
Different tailgate off a 2014 S model with the airfoil/wing , it was removed off a white colored truck so I plasti-dipped it black.
Removed topper/cap, added Access tonneau cover.
Removed Antec Sliding Bed Tray
Different wheels/tires off a 2014 Pro-4X model
So this tailgate pictured does not have the tailgate seal on the inside lower lip of the tailgate ,and my other tailgate with the rubber seal is all wrapped up and tucked away in a deep corner of my garage (Sorry no pics till spring time when I swap back)
You don want to try to stick the tailgate sealer to the lower part of the "truck bed" as it will not stick to the ruff surface where the spray on bedliner is.
So you will want to apply the tailgate sealer/rubber strip to the lower lip of the tailgate....where it starts to curve down ....if that makes any sense ?
Maybe wreckdiver can get a pic of the inside lower lip of the tailgate.
*EDIT*
*See on the pic below where the black plasti-dip spray is fading off into the white color of the tailgate by the hinge....you want to put the rubber seal write where the curve of the tailgate is curving down*
Winter config pics.....A lot less weight with no topper an the light weight small 265/75-16 P-Rated tires ......way better gas mileage and its like driving a sports car now...zoom-zoom, LOL
Yes the superwinch will be a great addition although it is going to be a pain in the butt removing my Shrockworks front bumper to install the winch.
Here are some pics of the tailgate seal.
Problem is I am running my "winter configuration" on my truck now:
Different tailgate off a 2014 S model with the airfoil/wing , it was removed off a white colored truck so I plasti-dipped it black.
Removed topper/cap, added Access tonneau cover.
Removed Antec Sliding Bed Tray
Different wheels/tires off a 2014 Pro-4X model
So this tailgate pictured does not have the tailgate seal on the inside lower lip of the tailgate ,and my other tailgate with the rubber seal is all wrapped up and tucked away in a deep corner of my garage (Sorry no pics till spring time when I swap back)
You don want to try to stick the tailgate sealer to the lower part of the "truck bed" as it will not stick to the ruff surface where the spray on bedliner is.
So you will want to apply the tailgate sealer/rubber strip to the lower lip of the tailgate....where it starts to curve down ....if that makes any sense ?
Maybe wreckdiver can get a pic of the inside lower lip of the tailgate.
*EDIT*
*See on the pic below where the black plasti-dip spray is fading off into the white color of the tailgate by the hinge....you want to put the rubber seal write where the curve of the tailgate is curving down*
Winter config pics.....A lot less weight with no topper an the light weight small 265/75-16 P-Rated tires ......way better gas mileage and its like driving a sports car now...zoom-zoom, LOL
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MNCarl
The Moose
Well kootenay , I guess great minds think alike ...I was just peeking at your "Expedition vehicle" thread today , I like that color of blue on your truck...
I wonder if we both get Ham licenses if I can some how contact a repeater tower and talk to you? .... LOL... I have no idea.... but I guess I will find out after reading this book and getting my Level 1 Technician's license.
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wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Awesome! I'm taking a HAM class next month.
MNCarl
The Moose
Superwinch TS9500 install in Shrockworks plate bumper.
Superwinch TS9500 install in Shrockworks plate bumper.
I acquired a "used" Superwinch TS9500 winch , roller fairlead and a steel cable.
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Sunday it was finally warm enough here in Minnesota to do some work on the truck.
Removed grill
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My moms boy friend Herb (with lots of wood working skills and tools) helped me make this jib ? errrh buck ? not sure what to call it.
It attaches my extremely heavy plate bumper to my floor jack , allowing me to remove the bumper solo with no help.
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The winch will mount foot forward so I had clock the winch clutch handle 90 degrees so it will be accessible from the access opens on the underside of the bumper.
In addition I had to relocate the cabled winch remote plug off of the winch with an old power cord and relocate it to the top of the bumper otherwise there is no way you could plug in your remote controller with the winch inside the bumper.
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Winch installed in bumper
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It was a long day , starting getting dark, but its all installed and works !!!
[/URL][/IMG]
Superwinch TS9500 install in Shrockworks plate bumper.
I acquired a "used" Superwinch TS9500 winch , roller fairlead and a steel cable.
Sunday it was finally warm enough here in Minnesota to do some work on the truck.
Removed grill
My moms boy friend Herb (with lots of wood working skills and tools) helped me make this jib ? errrh buck ? not sure what to call it.
It attaches my extremely heavy plate bumper to my floor jack , allowing me to remove the bumper solo with no help.
The winch will mount foot forward so I had clock the winch clutch handle 90 degrees so it will be accessible from the access opens on the underside of the bumper.
In addition I had to relocate the cabled winch remote plug off of the winch with an old power cord and relocate it to the top of the bumper otherwise there is no way you could plug in your remote controller with the winch inside the bumper.
Winch installed in bumper
It was a long day , starting getting dark, but its all installed and works !!!
Trikebubble
Adventurer
I have the TS9500 as well. It's been a reliable faithful companion so far.
Sent from the Mountains
Sent from the Mountains
MNCarl
The Moose
Cranking up Radflo's and other Stuff
So I got some stuff done this weekend.....
Saturday:
Last week after I installed my winch and get every thing all buttoned up , I tested the winch and it worked great, then I went to test my ACI Off Road Spot lights that are mounted on my front bumper and the spotlight on the drivers side did not come on .... Crap....ola
I knew it was not the actual spot light it self as I could just unplug it and plug it into the plug/wire for the light on the passenger side and it worked fine.
Tested the wire/plug with a Volt/OHM meter nothing.
I traced all the wiring back to the relay and battery all looked good.
So I thought to myself F-it , I will just cut the female end of the plug off , sure enough I stripped the end of wire and tested with the Volt/OHM meter and 12.xx volts.
Then I cut the male plug off the wire going to the spotlight and soldered it to the wire gong to the relay then heat shrink and electrical tape.
Success both spotlights working :
Sorry about some of these pics ...some weird lighting the camera could not handle...
Sunday:
In addition to one of my spot lights not working after installing my winch the front of my truck dropped in height around 1/4 of an inch from the weight of the winch.
At this point I cant afford a fancy synthetic winch line and the illustrious Factor 55 prolink shackle mount , So for now its a heavy in weight steel wire cable and an old metal hook.
So time to crank up the Radflo coilovers to get my 1/4" lift height that I lost back.
Prior to installing my Radflo's I sprayed / coated them with LPS 3 rust inhibitor and then re-applied LPS 3 this fall before winter to try to keep the Minnesota road salt at bay.
It is a waxy / milky type substance....
It is the can left:
I wanted to take as many precautions as possible before trying to attempt to adjust the ring collars on the radflo coilovers.
Cleaning coilovers and removing LPS 3
I parked the truck in my driveway , jacked it up and removed the wheels.
Sprayed the coilovers with engine degreaser let it soak.
Pressure washed the coilovers
Sprayed coilovers with Simple Green
Took a tooth brush type brush and cleaned/scrubbed the coilovers
Then pressure washed again
The coilovers came out looking pretty good after one "pretty mild" Minnesota winter.
Then spayed the adjustable collars with PB Blaster
Now its time to try to break free the adjustable collars with the tiny little radflo C-spanner wrench....they did not budge.
Out comes the home made breaker bar.
So I cranked up the radflo's to a (total guessed) height.
Well as long as my stock P265-75-16 wheels and tires (That I run in the winter) are off truck , I might as well swap back on my LT285/75-16 summer/off road tires.
They have been waiting patiently all winter:
I was wondering what the side by side comparison would look like:
P265/75-16 Rugged trail & LT285/75-16 KO2
Tire war:
Whats wrong with this picture ? LOL
All Done
Of course when I thought I was done (front tires back on and torqued)...I measured my front lift height and I did not crank up the coilovers up enough.
So I had to go thru the whole procedure again jack truck up , front wheels off, crank coilovers , wheels back on , re-torque.
Front is now 23" and 1/4" from center of wheel hub to top of fender arch
So I got some stuff done this weekend.....
Saturday:
Last week after I installed my winch and get every thing all buttoned up , I tested the winch and it worked great, then I went to test my ACI Off Road Spot lights that are mounted on my front bumper and the spotlight on the drivers side did not come on .... Crap....ola
I knew it was not the actual spot light it self as I could just unplug it and plug it into the plug/wire for the light on the passenger side and it worked fine.
Tested the wire/plug with a Volt/OHM meter nothing.
I traced all the wiring back to the relay and battery all looked good.
So I thought to myself F-it , I will just cut the female end of the plug off , sure enough I stripped the end of wire and tested with the Volt/OHM meter and 12.xx volts.
Then I cut the male plug off the wire going to the spotlight and soldered it to the wire gong to the relay then heat shrink and electrical tape.
Success both spotlights working :
Sorry about some of these pics ...some weird lighting the camera could not handle...
Sunday:
In addition to one of my spot lights not working after installing my winch the front of my truck dropped in height around 1/4 of an inch from the weight of the winch.
At this point I cant afford a fancy synthetic winch line and the illustrious Factor 55 prolink shackle mount , So for now its a heavy in weight steel wire cable and an old metal hook.
So time to crank up the Radflo coilovers to get my 1/4" lift height that I lost back.
Prior to installing my Radflo's I sprayed / coated them with LPS 3 rust inhibitor and then re-applied LPS 3 this fall before winter to try to keep the Minnesota road salt at bay.
It is a waxy / milky type substance....
It is the can left:
I wanted to take as many precautions as possible before trying to attempt to adjust the ring collars on the radflo coilovers.
Cleaning coilovers and removing LPS 3
I parked the truck in my driveway , jacked it up and removed the wheels.
Sprayed the coilovers with engine degreaser let it soak.
Pressure washed the coilovers
Sprayed coilovers with Simple Green
Took a tooth brush type brush and cleaned/scrubbed the coilovers
Then pressure washed again
The coilovers came out looking pretty good after one "pretty mild" Minnesota winter.
Then spayed the adjustable collars with PB Blaster
Now its time to try to break free the adjustable collars with the tiny little radflo C-spanner wrench....they did not budge.
Out comes the home made breaker bar.
So I cranked up the radflo's to a (total guessed) height.
Well as long as my stock P265-75-16 wheels and tires (That I run in the winter) are off truck , I might as well swap back on my LT285/75-16 summer/off road tires.
They have been waiting patiently all winter:
I was wondering what the side by side comparison would look like:
P265/75-16 Rugged trail & LT285/75-16 KO2
Tire war:
Whats wrong with this picture ? LOL
All Done
Of course when I thought I was done (front tires back on and torqued)...I measured my front lift height and I did not crank up the coilovers up enough.
So I had to go thru the whole procedure again jack truck up , front wheels off, crank coilovers , wheels back on , re-torque.
Front is now 23" and 1/4" from center of wheel hub to top of fender arch
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Looks just about ready for a narrow, steep, winding trail in northern Wyoming!
I just replaced my spherical bearings on my Radflos a couple days ago. Montana doesn't put down road salt at all, and after about two years with the Radflos they were completely shot. I can't imagine how quickly suspension components corrode for you. Good idea to keep them protected like that. Those lower bearings are really exposed.
I feel your pain. Adjusting coilovers sucks!
Sounds like you're almost exactly the same height as me in the front now. Looks great!
I just replaced my spherical bearings on my Radflos a couple days ago. Montana doesn't put down road salt at all, and after about two years with the Radflos they were completely shot. I can't imagine how quickly suspension components corrode for you. Good idea to keep them protected like that. Those lower bearings are really exposed.
I feel your pain. Adjusting coilovers sucks!
Sounds like you're almost exactly the same height as me in the front now. Looks great!
MNCarl
The Moose
Wreckdiver.....
Yes almost ready for overlanding !!!
I just have to put my topper back on (its hanging from the rafters in my garage)
I also purchased a "used" Wilderness rack/basket thing to put on top of the Thule cross bars on top of the topper.
Radflo's , I spray mine spherical bearings with Tri-Flow once in a while ...not sure if it will help or make it worse ?
Also I just had my Radflos rebuilt prior to installation , I purchased them "used" , and I kept my old stock Bilstein coilovers with the spacer lift for when it comes time to send the Radflos back for rebuild.....
Or wait you can DYI replace the spherical bearings?