[duffman87]

I am looking at an 08 frontier nismo edition 4x4. I love this truck. I am just wondering if anyone has any insight with what goes wrong on it or anything like that. I hear about the dana 44 going out and that scares me a little bit. I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I have been doing alot of researching of this truck and the trans cooler and dana 44 scare me the most. also the other thing that the dealership can't answer is how much weight can I put in the bed and how much is a safe weight load to tow. so the trans cooler won't blow. the website says its payload is 1500 which doesn't sound right my dads f150 is only 1000 .

thank you in advance,
I really want this truck.

 

[dubie2003]

I know you mentioned that it has a D44 but it doesn't. It had a modified D44 which is an m226 in the Nissan world. The main issue is with the earlier models (05s and some 06s) that had 2 spiders. They have now made it a 4 spider set-up so for standard daily driving you should be good. If you abuse it offroad, then there will be issues. If you try and do burnouts and drifting onroad, you will have issues.

The trans issues is believed to affect all models thus far. The simple fix is to bypass it and if you want, replace the oem trans cooler with an aftermarket unit with a fan or heck, just had a pusher fan to the oem unit and you will be fine. I would also add a trans temp gauge if you intend to haul heavy loads or tow.

I am not sure exactly what the payload is but 1500 sounds about right. I know a lot have had 2k in the bed with no issues other then it riding low. If you plan on doing this a lot, you should look into air bags or a replacement leaf pack or etc.... to help handle the extra load. Then don't forget a brake upgrade.

As for towing, I would not go past the allowable gross weight limit. You should look at what you may tow and then find a truck that has the ability to do it with a little fudge room.

 

[BluJay]

Edmonds did a few tests on utube, pulled a trailer at 5k lbs in 115degree heat for hours and it did fine...

I has atleast 1200 in the bed going on a haul and it diddnt flex much just took a bit to get going and stopping was like i had a boat on my *** >.<

 

[duffman87]

well thank you that helps out alot. now when u said off-road with the mod d44 not serious for off-road. what would I be able to do as in off road. I want this truck for daily driver but my wife and I go camping alot and do some basic hill climbing and light mud. my dads f150 fx4 always served us fine and still runs like a champ.

Im just trying to get the inside before actually buying and buying always makes me nervous,

thanks for replying so soon.

 

[Espo78]

I am also searching for a Nismo Frontier...sounds like you found a good one. Towing capacity is 6500 lbs but personally I wouldn't tow the max rating in any vehicle.

 

[BluJay]

well thank you that helps out alot. now when u said off-road with the mod d44 not serious for off-road. what would I be able to do as in off road. I want this truck for daily driver but my wife and I go camping alot and do some basic hill climbing and light mud. my dads f150 fx4 always served us fine and still runs like a champ.

Im just trying to get the inside before actually buying and buying always makes me nervous,

thanks for replying so soon.

Well your dads F150 is a full-size truck, if you want full-size parts then stick with them.

The frontier is a midsize packing a punch, you wont find a midsize with more power or cab room/comfort. It has amazing capabilities when put to the challenge. I've never been not able to get to where i wanted to go... unfortunately it has been plagued with a few issues, but alternative means are available. Id say check the **** out of the tranny first if its solid, go for it!
:machinegunner:

 

[dubie2003]

well thank you that helps out alot. now when u said off-road with the mod d44 not serious for off-road. what would I be able to do as in off road. I want this truck for daily driver but my wife and I go camping alot and do some basic hill climbing and light mud. my dads f150 fx4 always served us fine and still runs like a champ.

Im just trying to get the inside before actually buying and buying always makes me nervous,

thanks for replying so soon.

Camping and hill climbing are not an issue but mudding may pose an issue if you are heavy on the gas. Basically if you are in 4wd with the rear locked heavy on the gas and the tires are slipping, then one catches but the other doesn't, you have a high likelyhood of blowing the locker. Same thing goes for the front diff. It is completely open and if you are spinning and then catch a rock or etc.... it will shock the driveline and pop, the diff is gone. It is the spiders in the rear that usually break and then the front is a toss-up between the spiders and the whole case (diff center section) cracking. This is why people have started to upgrade from the r180 to the m205 for more serious wheeling.

 

[duffman87]

well thank you everyone this really helped make my mind up against the taco. the taco doesnt shift on the fly like they say it does takes about 20 seconds. this is my first non domestic vehicle. this is also my first truck so thats the reason for all the questions.
also i wont be doing serious mudding just the random muddy grassy areas where cars usually get stuck.
my plan would be to get a small lift and get 32s on it.
with the towing i was mainly trying to figure out if it could pull a camper and a full size boat 5 passanger 18 foot boat.
i think im going to get this truck. i will make sure i post some pics when i get it.

 

[Weps]

what kind of price are you looking at? i found i was able to get a 2010 for not much more than carmax wanted for high mileage used models.

 

[duffman87]

20k for an 08 nismo 4x4 king cab 35k miles.

it has a tonneou cover on it and when they took the picture of it they left it on with the tail gate down and looks really dirty which makes me think it was beat to hell. here is the picture. tell me what you think. also there is no records for any service done to it even oil changes which worries me to unless he did it him self or her self.

 

[Espo78]

Did you run a carfax? You're probably looking at an off lease vehicle used by someone in construction. The bed does look pretty scuffed. The images are too small to see exact the one of the bed. I've noticed the prices fluctuate a lot depending on where in the country you are. Do a search on autotrader for 05+ frontiers with less than 60k miles and you'll see what I mean. I found some sweet trucks in the 12-14k range but they are all 2000 miles away.

Also I've never dealt with carmax but I hear they won't negotiate price? If thats the case I would walk away as 20k seems steep to me for that truck.

Also, I did notice the truck had the utilitrack system, which is pretty nice. But why would you get that option and then throw a tonneau on it? Carmax probably added it to hide the messed up bed.

 

[Clint]

I'd pass on this truck as you're not comfortable based on how hard it appeared to be used. You'd think they would have detailed the bed area.

Clint

 

[duffman87]

right now im having it shipped from conneticut carmax to the illinois one so i can look at it. Im probably going to go look at first before I say no but I do like this truck and that price is actually 4k cheaper than blue book. I have been searching and no luck every truck is over 18k any way and this is a nismo.

 

[IvanVoyager]

How do you feel about dealing with Carmax? I had a bad experience. I'v bought a truck from them, fair price, but in about a year I had a lot of problems with engine. I should first find it in Carfax before buying. And just after that found many comments about Carmax on carmax.pissedconsumer.com/ . So, be careful and check everything before buying. :comphead: