Hi everyone, I recently purchased a 2015 Frontier S King Cab (manual) and I have been loving the truck, its been a wonderful addition to my family as a light work truck. However, I am extremely disappointed in the experience I had with my local Nissan service department.
I currently live in Georgia, and although we do not get a lot of snow here, I will be traveling this holiday season for work and expect to encounter it going east during Christmas (I like to prepare). Yesterday I decided to get about 300 lbs of all purpose bagged sand and threw it in the back of the truck over the axle. This is common in Ohio where I am originally from for 2WD trucks for added traction in the snow.
Before I started my trip I stopped in at the local Nissan where I purchased the vehicle for another minor issue, nothing major just a very quick fix. There I was talking to a "master" technician and telling him about my trip and how I had thrown some sandbags in the back for added traction in case I encountered snow. The "master" technician then replied that "I was going to burn the transmission up faster" and that "the vehicle has traction control and there is no reason to add weight to the vehicle". I was kind of dumbfounded because this is such a common practice everywhere that snows, especially if you're driving a 2WD truck.
I guess what I am trying to say is, I am very uneasy now about Nissan technicians, especially when a "master" technician does not have any clue what I'm talking about and makes claims that simply are not true. At worst the max cargo capacity for my truck is 953 LBS. With 300 Lbs of sandbags in the back and my 180 LB weight, and about a 50 LB tool box for my trips I'm looking at 423 LBS or so under MAX cargo capacity. I explained this to the technician who apparently could not understand what I was talking about.
I ended up telling the guy that if I was going to burn up my tranny faster with 300 lbs in the back then maybe I made the wrong decision to purchase the Nissan. I then proceeded to walk out and made sure to tell him I wouldn't be bringing any future business back.
How has your guys experience been with your service departments?
I have the 4 cylinder XE (same as S ) Frontier. I always carry three 80lbs bags of sand in the bed of the truck. I don't have traction control though. Maybe the 2015's do. i agree with your conclusion that he is incorrect with this statements of transmission damage. Your truck and mine can carry up to 1000 lbs in the bed of the truck. In a very remote sense the "master mechanic" might be overstating the case that extra weight requires more energy and horsepower to move that weight so it may have some minor effect on tranny life and increased wear on brake pads but if you follow your owner's manual maintenance schedule it should have only a minor effect on your truck's "usable life".
My 2011 has the traction control or VDC. Dont know when they started using this. Don't give this fool the time of day. If you carried 3 people around every day, normal use for a vehicle it would be more weight than that. Time for a new service department.
I am totally satisfied with the service dept at the nissan dealership I take my truck to. The guy there that you speak of apparently has his head up his butt. The truck is a good truck, I've owned both 6 and the 4 cyl versions of the 2nd gen and 1st gen and these trucks are the best mini/mid trucks out there, IMO. That's why I keep buying them.
Yes, miscellaneous dopes can appear most anywhere. I agree with the others -- be happy in your purchase and in your better wisdom and move on. Enjoy your Christmas and stay safe in your travels.
People even use the method of putting weight in the trunk for cars. Maybe we're stuck with the old way of thinking but can't really agree with what the tech said.
But was the person really the "master" tech and what does that mean? ie anyone who passes the certs or whatever is considered the master tech or was the person actually the head person there?
Mainly based on people that I know that were hired by dealerships, I don't really believe the mechanics at dealerships are necessarily always cream of the crop. Where some of the people I know are just starting out and trying to gain experience. And even mechanics that I somewhat trust kind of surprise me and kind of give me doubts sometimes. ie I take my Frontier to a shop that gets pretty decent reviews on multiple sources. But I was kind of surprised/worried when it was apparent that the owner didn't understand how 4WD works in trucks. ie you have to manually engage it. To be fair their specialty are Hondas and Toyotas and probably meaning their sedans.
But I figure as long as they do things by the book it shouldn't be a big issue and doesn't mean that they won't do a good job.
Your truck (4 cyl manual KC) weighs in right about 3700. This configuration has a F to R weight ratio of 54/46, which is a very well balanced machine. I think 300 pounds is excessive though, especially if those bags got moved behind the rear axle/up against the tailgate like most people do. That'd be just like 300 pounds of down force from a trailer, and your truck is only rated to support 350 pounds of tongue weight. If you moved the bags ahead of the rear axle then you are increasing the overall curb weight of the vehicle and doing little to the 54/46 distribution level, doing little for added rear traction.
Centered over the rear axle, between the wheel wells, 100 pounds to 150 at most would be ideal. You'll have some additional traction, a much better ride, and probably take a small ding to MPG if it even matters. Clutch might not be delighted, but I wouldn't say the master mechanic was clueless as he does have valid points and concerns. There are well over 1000 Nissan dealers in the US, don't let one bum you out. Imagine how mad you'd be if he told you that you'd be fine and then burnt up the clutch next week.
BTW - why are you putting master in quotations?
A regular cab 2WD full size truck up thru early the 00's with a cast iron V8 up front and 6-8 ft bed probably had a 70/30 or at best 65/35 front to rear distribution, especially if the fuel tank is ahead of rear axle. Thats where 300 pounds of sand would be most appropriate, if this is what you are comparing to.
"Hey son, you see that empty truck bed over 'dere? Well don't ever put anything in there...you'll ruin your transmission." Said the Knucklehead.
Check my sig. Am using my truck 'bed' for that which it is intended. Original clutch remains. Geez.
My buddy has a Nissan Hardbody from the 90s with 265,000 miles...going strong & still on the original clutch, and he has worked it HARD its entire life. He says he can still get upper 20s on a dedicated hwy trip. I'm lucky to get 25 on the hwy, though my Gen 1 is larger/heavier.
GREAT little trucks. Use it!
Try a different dealership. Mine has been pleasant to deal with so far. Will have to see how pushy they get on suggested work now that the bumper-to-bumper has expired.
I just realized, since the O.P. is in Georgia, it is quite possible the technician has never even seen a winter in a cold climate and just doesn't understand. My Stepdad is from the south and rarely makes it up to MN and had never been on a frozen lake in the winter. Some of the family took him ice fishing and he lost his mind when they went to drill a hole in the ice. He thought the lake would come up out of the hole.
I am not happy with my dealership also. Before I purchased (Sept. 2014) the 2014 CC SL the test drive proved the tires were out of balance, Salesman also agreed the tires needed balancing. The salesman said the tires would be balanced before leaving the lot if purchased. Well, tires were not balanced and I returned the next morning. After roadforce balance I drove home, tires still out of balance. Returned the next morning and we (tech) took a drive and he agreed tires not balanced properly. The tire balancer said he could not balance the tires properly due to several tire issues. I was told return in two days and they would install new tires. New tires???, still not balanced and I returned again. While speaking with Service Mgr. I found out they did not replace old (new) tires with newer tires (they lied and it was on svs report). I was told to return in two days and new tires would definitely be installed. I marked tires and after they told me vehicle was ready, I checked for my marks and sure enough, no new tires. I spoke with the Svs Mgr and wanted to speak with Owner of dealership. They immediately had someone go get new tires and balance. After four hours vehicle ready and the tech and I went for a ride. Not happy and tech said that is the best they can do with this brand of tire made specifically for Nissan Frontiers. I had to go to a tire shop to get the tires properly balanced. Vehicle just turned 1014 miles after 4 months.
Had to return to dealership with faulty GPS (would not show map on screen).
Now I am smelling coolant when I start the engine and I checked the Radiator with no coolant in sight of top of tank. Back to the dealership again.
I have owned 3 previous Frontier Crew Cabs and this the first time I have ever had a problem with a Frontier.
Adding weight too far back can become very dangerous. It adds additional mass that creates additional inertia if you begin to spin out which makes it harder to correct. For straight line traction, it is the best though.
It's seems like a common mantra with car companies now that with modern traction control and good tires a rear wheel car should perform just as well in the snow, blah, blah, blah, but having driven rear, front and 4 wheel there really is no difference, rear is far and away worse. Sorry, it's just physics.
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