[Espo78]

I don't plan on rock crawling, but I really want my next truck to be capable off road. I live in a pretty flat part of Florida so I'm not sure I even need a 4x4 ( they are kinda hard to find). My thinking was that if I at least had a locking rear diff I could get through most stuff around here.

Am I correct in my research that the only aftermarket lockers are for the manual transmission 4x2's or any transmission 4x4? Leaving automatic 4x2's out of my search really limits the options available as those seem the most common but I really want to find a manual trans anyway. Doesn't seem like many manuals were made with the V6.

Bottom line, will be unhappy with a 2wd with a locker off road?

Edit: Well I looked at the sticky again, looks like even auto 4x4's have the C200. That sucks. Ok, another option....how difficult is it to find a rear end that will swap into this truck that you can get a locker for? Is there anything available that the axles will bolt up to? I'm kind of a newb when it comes to rears and gear sizes and what works.

 

[blitzburghnut]

that old saying always comes to mind ...
its better to have it and not need it , then to need it and not have it.

get a 4 x 4 you won't be disappointed

 

[chainsaw]

What year trucks are you looking at? There are alot og differnt combos depending on year. You would be way better off with a 4x4. A locker in a 2wd will only increase a 2wds off road prowess by maybe 20%. And thats experience talking, its rather disapointing.

 

[Espo78]

Sorry I forgot to mention I was looking at the 05+ trucks.

 

[frontyfan]

Get a 4x4 6 speed and drop an after market locker in the rear (probably would be cheaper than a Nismo or Pro-4x, but don't quote me on that).

 

[Espo78]

It's like finding a needle in a haystack around here. If I can't find a manual trans, what options would I have then for the rear? Is there some kind of swap?

 

[frontyfan]

Sure.....you can purchase an M226 rear axle assembly and do an axle swap (that's what I did....and a few others around here).

I bought just an SE 4x4, paid $500 for the entire M226 assembly with factory locker and had it put in, which still saved me thousands over buying a Nismo.

 

[MateoTheWombat]

that old saying always comes to mind ...
its better to have it and not need it , then to need it and not have it.

True that. Get a 4X4, I've only had one situation where I wish I had it, and that's all it takes. :crikey:

 

[Espo78]

Cool, that is definitely an option. How hard are those rear axle assemblys to find? I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I won't find the truck with everything I want that I can afford, so I'm going to be adding in the options I want at a later time.

 

[Titanws6]

Where in Florida are ya, I just moved from Orlando....I flew to Ohio to buy my Titan 4x4 Off-Road and drove it back in 14 hours....keep your options open, if your really set on something, expand your search and you'll find it, then a fun road trip back home.

Try cars.com, I was able to find (66) 4x4s with a 6 speed in the country and a V6

 

[Espo78]

yeah 66 in the country isn't really a lot to choose from, especially when I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible. On the other hand I could get a new truck with 0% financing right now.....found the perfect one too. Black king cab manual trans Pro-4x 4X4 in Alabama. If only my wallet was fatter..

 

[bigdog]

It is very hard to find an M226 with an elocker. If you can find a NISMO get it. All manual 6cyl have the M226, but only the Nismo has the elocker. If you get a truck with M226 and no locker, then you can add ARB. Expect to pay about $800 for the locker and compressor and another $800 for install.

Or wait and see what the Richmond Gear folks come up with for an auto-locker in the C200, but frankly finding a NISMO is your best bet.

 

[Espo78]

yeah get this. A few weeks ago I stumbled across an 05 2wd Nismo at the local nissan dealer with 35k on it and they only wanted 12,900. They offered me 1200 for the pos mazda truck I drive now (that I got for free) but because I hadn't researched these trucks much I wasn't ready to make a quick decision. There was a girl at the dealership also looking at the truck but I beat her to it by about 20 minutes. After I declined to buy it based on not enough research and a couple blemishes on the body she snatched it up. So now I'm on the hunt for the one that got away. I can only hope something was wrong with the truck that I didn't know about. It had 3 previous owners but only 35k miles and it showed more like it had 75000 miles. I dunno. Carfax was clean and it was bought local at the same dealer.

 

[mustard23]

I have wheeled with some pretty capable 2wd trucks. Alot of it is knowing how to drive, I have done runs and not shifted in to 4wd and fallowed trucks that are in 4wd and struggling. To many people use 4wd to compensate for lack of driving skill. But like said before it's better to have it for the piece of mind.

It is very hard to find an M226 with an elocker. If you can find a NISMO get it. All manual 6cyl have the M226, but only the Nismo has the elocker. If you get a truck with M226 and no locker, then you can add ARB. Expect to pay about $800 for the locker and compressor and another $800 for install.

Or wait and see what the Richmond Gear folks come up with for an auto-locker in the C200, but frankly finding a NISMO is your best bet.

or there are a couple mechanical locker options for the m226 that run cheaper.

 

[chainsaw]

Yeah but 2wd is alot more likely to tear up trails, and the extra throttle you have to use can be hard on parts.

 

[bwarren228]

2wd w/ a locker is awesome offroad if you have a driver who knows what they are doing. I go riding w/ 4wd guys all the time. Here's some pics of mine:

All of these pics were taken in Florida... FYI

 

[mustard23]

Yeah but 2wd is alot more likely to tear up trails, and the extra throttle you have to use can be hard on parts.

all depends on the driver.. 4wd drivers will tare up the trails just as baddly. The key is knowing when to let off the skinny pedal.

 

[Espo78]

Sweet pics! Judging by the color of the dirt you must be pretty far north in Florida. Pretty cool that a 2wd can go all those places though.

 

[roastbeef]

a 2wd with a locker is very comparable to an open diff 4x4. however, sand and climbs are always going to be tougher for a locked 2wd.

 

[colin123]

things are really looking up for us c200 guys as far as a locker goes. richmond gear plans to have the drawings done this week and then start on prototyping. going that far is a pretty large investment for them and the only way that can get that back is by atleast doing one run of them. it would really open up your shopping options and save you all the time any money involved in finding a good m226, you'd have more luck finding a thrashed one then you still have to put money in it. you got options any way you go but if they put this auto locker into production then an auto SE will be the perfect option for you since richmonds auto lockers have a much better looking price tag than the lockers for the m226. you won't regret a 4x4, 2wd are very capable but a 4x4 se auto will be much easier for you to find than a nismo/pro4x 2wd and should get you anywhere a good driver in a locked 2wd can then add a locker onto the 4x4 and your really in business. my .02 good luck on the search man, your already on the right track for the truck shopping since you want a nissan