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#41 ·
Yeah, maybe they blink as well but i'd have to wire into the blinker but then they'd still have the parking lights providing power. IDK, i'll mess around and see.

Yeah, i got rid of my halogens years ago. For the parking lights, tail lights, etc i just got the Sylvania LED's in the corresponding size at Autozone. They look like bulbs. There's an LED inside with a bulb shaped light diffuser and come in all different types of colors. I tried the blue one for my shifter since i changed my interior lights to blue but it was way too blue.

Well, here's everything i just typed with pics. I searched before i hit the send button. Thats a really cool thread there on changing your interior lights to whatever color you want:
 
Discussion starter · #42 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Yeah, maybe they blink as well but i'd have to wire into the blinker but then they'd still have the parking lights providing power. IDK, i'll mess around and see.

Yeah, i got rid of my halogens years ago. For the parking lights, tail lights, etc i just got the Sylvania LED's in the corresponding size at Autozone. They look like bulbs. There's an LED inside with a bulb shaped light diffuser and come in all different types of colors. I tried the blue one for my shifter since i changed my interior lights to blue but it was way too blue.

Well, here's everything i just typed with pics. I searched before i hit the send button. Thats a really cool thread there on changing your interior lights to whatever color you want:
Click to expand...
Man that’s awesome, I’ve not even considered changing the gauge and control lights. Now that’s next on my list lol
Will it still be pretty easy to do considering I still have the original dash a speedo style? Or would I need to swap it out before the light change? I’d love to get the back lights blue or possible red. Shifter would be easy and probably the gauges as well. Not so sure about the a/c controls though.

I’ll probably be doing the fog light and taillight led conversion soon. Just depends if you get those new headlights working and how they look.
I have three weeks left of this college semester then I’ll have the summer “off” (gonna be working my butt off) but I hope I’ll have a little more time to check some things off the list. Money is kinda tight right now (gas is expensive) so I’m forcing myself to only do an upgrade about once a month, even the little ones. This month is the leather seat upholstery. Next month will be the lights.
I’m planning on building a camper to mount in place of the bed for fall and winter time. I’m a big camper, hunter, and outdoorsmen so this would be an awesome addition for me. I’ll just stick the stock bed back on the rest of the year for hauling purposes.
Hope I’m not bugging you or anything, I’m just desperate for tips and experience on these awesome trucks.
Might should meet up someday in the future so I could pick your brains on everything you’ve done to your Frontier lol.
Thanks man, I appreciate it.
 
#43 ·
Go over that thread posted earlier. I changed the Climate Control Lights out too. Only thing i didn't do was the lights on my driver side window/lock control. They're still white. Your 2000 has tons of bulbs in the back of it but the facelifted speedo has the lights built into it with just a few bulbs on the back. Look in that thread and you'll see the back of the speedo cover is blue and just about any light like for the shifter and climate control have a blue nipple on it. So any light you put in the speedo is filtered by the blue thats all over the back of the speedo cover so they don't require blue nipples on the lights. All your other lights have blue nipples. There's pics of all of it in that thread.

Being you have a 4x4 i'd definitely lift it. You can do this for cheap and if i had it to do over again i'd just go the Poor Mans Lift (PML) route. Can all be done for about 200 bucks and all you do is crank your torsions to lift the front suspension 1.5'' which will level the truck. Then a 2'' Body Lift will allow for 33's. You and a buddy can body lift it in a day.

For the rear if you want a rake and don't want the truck leveled you can add some adjustable shackles from 4x4Parts.Com and choose your rear height. Factory rake is 1.5''. OR since you said you're an outdoorsman and load the bed or haul things you can get the HD Springs from General Spring. They have an extra leaf in them that gives 1.5'' of lift in the rear. If you do the PML you'll want to put a shackle or Leaf Springs in the back for your camper bc that camper is heavy enough on its own to make the truck squat. You and a buddy can swap Leaf Springs in an hour.
Doing the above will lift your truck 5 Inches and you can still get a factory alignment.

Check out my "How To Lift" thread in the sticky section at the top of the 1st Gen Hangout.

JMO but i think all the 4x4's should be lifted and it makes them look super tough and super mean.
 
#44 ·
Do you have more pics of your truck. Your avatar looks like it may have some lift on it already and those tires look pretty big. The Avatar Pic is pretty small so hard to tell a whole lot.
What size are those tires???

Should be getting to those headlights today btw
 
Discussion starter · #45 ·
The tires are 31s Maxxis Buckshots 2s. I measured for 33s and they will fit but I think it’s going to make the fenders look too full, so more lift is needed.
I’ve already added a leaf spring on each side in the back and re-arched them. Reindexed the torsion bars and got about 2 inches of lift out of them. If I get the 4x4 package control arms they have a different angle so you can get more lift out of them. I want to do the body lift but not sure if I would like how the frame is more visible since I took the running boards off.
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Discussion starter · #46 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Do you have more pics of your truck. Your avatar looks like it may have some lift on it already and those tires look pretty big. The Avatar Pic is pretty small so hard to tell a whole lot.
What size are those tires???

Should be getting to those headlights today btw
Click to expand...
This is a before and after the added leaf springs and re-indexing the torsion bars.
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#47 ·
Sharp looking truck and i don't throw out compliments very often. Yeah those leafs lifted your azz end. Yes, you will need a 2'' Body LIft if you want 33's. If you don't add a BL then the first time you compress your suspension all the way (even with the aftermarket 3'' SL) you'll stuff those big azz 33's up into your fender wells and do damage. I have a 3'' BL and it doesn't look bad. In fact, my truck gets compliments almost everywhere i go. In the last 300 miles a Nissan salesman offered to buy it and said it looked great. Then a earlier this week im getting gas, walking into the store, a guy is coming out and stops me. Says hey man i really like your truck it looks great. Those are just the people that get the nerve to strike up a convo. I catch people looking at my truck ALL THE TIME - especially at the gas station, i get uneasy sometimes bc i think they're eyeballing me but they're just checking out the truck.

SL is variable in height. BL is static - never changes. So compressing your suspension will make no difference with a Body LIft. The 2 extra inches is your protection. The 2'' BL gets the truck up and out of the way of the tires

A 2'' Body Lift wont make your truck look bad imo and probably most peoples opinion.

BTW i think 2'' on stock control arms is too much. You're stressing that ball joint out too much and putting it at an angle it shouldn't be in. 1.5'' is the common wisdom here at CF and CX. It is possible your torsions were "sagging" and by lifting 2'' you really put it back closer to 1.5". It's common, i've read on threads here and had it happen to me personally that after adjusting my torsions i had to readjust 10 or 20k miles later bc the front end sagged back down. Not sure how it happens but it does. Don't know if it can happen from the factory and over time tho but i do know its common to have to readjust to get back to the height you already adjusted for. I have theories why it happens but don't know for sure

Do you know if you have 4.63 or 4.90 gears? On your driver side door jamb there's a sticker with your truck details. At the very bottom it should say HG46 or HG49. At the top it'll have your Manufacture Date as well. Whats the date?
 
Discussion starter · #48 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Sharp looking truck and i don't throw out compliments very often. Yeah those leafs lifted your azz end. Yes, you will need a 2'' Body LIft if you want 33's. If you don't add a BL then the first time you compress your suspension all the way (even with the aftermarket 3'' SL) you'll stuff those big azz 33's up into your fender wells and do damage. I have a 3'' BL and it doesn't look bad. In fact, my truck gets compliments almost everywhere i go. In the last 300 miles a Nissan salesman offered to buy it and said it looked great. Then a earlier this week im getting gas, walking into the store, a guy is coming out and stops me. Says hey man i really like your truck it looks great. Those are just the people that get the nerve to strike up a convo. I catch people looking at my truck ALL THE TIME - especially at the gas station, i get uneasy sometimes bc i think they're eyeballing me but they're just checking out the truck.

SL is variable in height. BL is static - never changes. So compressing your suspension will make no difference with a Body LIft. The 2 extra inches is your protection. The 2'' BL gets the truck up and out of the way of the tires

A 2'' Body Lift wont make your truck look bad imo and probably most peoples opinion.

BTW i think 2'' on stock control arms is too much. You're stressing that ball joint out too much and putting it at an angle it shouldn't be in. 1.5'' is the common wisdom here at CF and CX. It is possible your torsions were "sagging" and by lifting 2'' you really put it back closer to 1.5". It's common, i've read on threads here and had it happen to me personally that after adjusting my torsions i had to readjust 10 or 20k miles later bc the front end sagged back down. Not sure how it happens but it does. Don't know if it can happen from the factory and over time tho but i do know its common to have to readjust to get back to the height you already adjusted for. I have theories why it happens but don't know for sure

Do you know if you have 4.63 or 4.90 gears? On your driver side door jamb there's a sticker with your truck details. At the very bottom it should say HG46 or HG49. At the top it'll have your Manufacture Date as well. Whats the date?
View attachment 388460
Click to expand...
Yeah I totally get what you mean about people eyeballing you. I’ve had a lot of people offer to buy it, get thumbs up on the road, and have had random people find me in a store asking if it was my truck.

I am pretty sure the torsion bars were sagging. I replaced all the bushings, upper control arms, shocks, pretty much a complete front end rebuild so I’m sure all of that made it get an extra 1/2 inch. I also got different cv ackes that have more ribs making them adjust to a higher lift easier in the future.
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#49 ·
Ha nice, yeah the Frontier wasn't really popular like the Xterra was but now the Frontiers are so rare that when people see a nice 1st Gen 4x4 they get really curious about what it is. Cant tell you how many times people have offered me cash right on the spot.

If it wasn't for the Xterras popularity you probably couldn't get many parts for the Frontier and could get almost nothing ever from a junkyard. I pick through the junkyards a few times a year for nice parts off Xterra's to keep my truck looking great

ok mines 01/00 and you'll have the 33 Spline shafts for future reference. It was a crapshoot they say on the 2000's but pretty sure all Crew Cabs got the 33 Spline. Mine did and it was made before yours. You can upgrade your gear ratio from 4.6 to 4.9. I went to the junkyard and got the front and rear carrier out of an Xterra with about 190k on it. The rear carrier is unbelievably easy to swap. Hawairish helped me in a thread where i swapped last summer. Got some power back by upping my gear ratio. Front carrier was relatively easy. I just got a cheap transmission jack from harbor freight and raised it back up to its mounting position, reconnected my CV's, and i was ready to go. Did it all by myself

Just throwing this out there in case you ever decide to take it to the next level and that options are out there. The 32's and 33's just sucked away all my power with the HG46/4.63 axle code/gear ratio. The HG49/4.90 gears made a noticeable diffference and power returned.

Hawairish is the Nissan Axle Master. Here's the thread:
 
Discussion starter · #50 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Ha nice, yeah the Frontier wasn't really popular like the Xterra was but now the Frontiers are so rare that when people see a nice 1st Gen 4x4 they get really curious about what it is. Cant tell you how many times people have offered me cash right on the spot.

If it wasn't for the Xterras popularity you probably couldn't get many parts for the Frontier and could get almost nothing ever from a junkyard. I pick through the junkyards a few times a year for nice parts off Xterra's to keep my truck looking great

ok mines 01/00 and you'll have the 33 Spline shafts for future reference. It was a crapshoot they say on the 2000's but pretty sure all Crew Cabs got the 33 Spline. Mine did and it was made before yours. You can upgrade your gear ratio from 4.6 to 4.9. I went to the junkyard and got the front and rear carrier out of an Xterra with about 190k on it. The rear carrier is unbelievably easy to swap. Hawairish helped me in a thread where i swapped last summer. Got some power back by upping my gear ratio. Front carrier was relatively easy. I just got a cheap transmission jack from harbor freight and raised it back up to its mounting position, reconnected my CV's, and i was ready to go. Did it all by myself

Just throwing this out there in case you ever decide to take it to the next level and that options are out there. The 32's and 33's just sucked away all my power with the HG46/4.63 axle code/gear ratio. The HG49/4.90 gears made a noticeable diffference and power returned.

Hawairish is the Nissan Axle Master. Here's the thread:
Click to expand...
Thanks man that’s really useful info. The current tires have about a year left on them, I plan on running them a little longer and doing the gear swap and body lift when I mount the 33s.
I would absolutely love to do an engine swap within the next year or so. I was debating between building the camper this year or doing the engine swap. I decided to do the camper.
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#51 ·
Well you can either put the SuperCharger on it which isn't difficult. It's just an intake swap or you could put a corvette LS V8 engine in it. You can also turbo it.

NISMO put the VQ35 in the Frontier but it didn't fit well enough to pass safety. In 2002 The Pathfinder that had the VG33 in it since 1996 got the engine upgrade (250 Horse) but the Frontier wasn't big enough so it didn't get the upgrade.

Frontier with Corvette LS V8 Engine - they're small V8's

This Guy Turbo'd His 1st Gen

More Details About The Turbo In This Thread Here:

3 Part Video Series in This Post Showing How Easy The SuperCharger Swap is on the VG33E
There's a couple of extra minor things that need to be done on pre facelifted frontiers. MANY People have done this swap on their 1st Gens. You can find the setups on Xterra's at the JY and i've seen Complete SC Intake Setups on eBay for around $500-$1k
 
Discussion starter · #52 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Well you can either put the SuperCharger on it which isn't difficult. It's just an intake swap or you could put a corvette LS V8 engine in it. You can also turbo it.

NISMO put the VQ35 in the Frontier but it didn't fit well enough to pass safety. In 2002 The Pathfinder that had the VG33 in it since 1996 got the engine upgrade (250 Horse) but the Frontier wasn't big enough so it didn't get the upgrade.

Frontier with Corvette LS V8 Engine - they're small V8's

This Guy Turbo'd His 1st Gen

More Details About The Turbo In This Thread Here:

3 Part Video Series in This Post Showing How Easy The SuperCharger Swap is on the VG33E
There's a couple of extra minor things that need to be done on pre facelifted frontiers. MANY People have done this swap on their 1st Gens. You can find the setups on Xterra's at the JY and i've seen Complete SC Intake Setups on eBay for around $500-$1k
Click to expand...
Yeah my plan is to use a LS corvette engine. Reason being I have seen numerous projects using that engine and the aftermarket adapter parts are plentiful. The supercharger is cool but when you do that you have to use premium fuel which is more expensive. I know that’s not a big issue but the performance does not really outweigh the cost. There was a Frontier for sale near me a couple years ago. It was mint condition, bright yellow 4x4 crew cab first gen. Looked completely stock. Under the hood has a Corvette V8 that put out 320 hp. That truck would be an absolute demon considering how light they are.
Not sure how much work it’ll be and I know it’s not going to be easy but having one of those under the hood would surprise a lot of people at the red light. Also I’ll be able to do some subtle exhaust work. Cause we all know the little v6s sound pretty trashy. But a little throaty rumble at about 3,000 rpm would be awesome.
 
#53 ·
320 is a lot. My 3rd Gen has best in class HP @ 310. It's not much bigger than the 1st Gen. A few inches wider. That thing is QUICK and imo it has plenty and more than enough for my needs.
 
#54 ·
OK GOT STARTED.

All Thats needed is to pull the grill off and 2 side corner lights and obviously the headlights. To get to headlights Grill needs to come off. This took all of 2 minutes to do.

Didnt get them in place but i hooked one up a BOY ARE THEY BRIGHT. They were blinding me in broad daylight when i got right into the path of the beam. PICS WERE TAKEN RIGHT IN BEAM PATH.
LOW BEAMS


Hard to tell in the pics but putting the high beams on was noticeable. Nothing crazy but noticeable:
HIGH BEAMS

Got the HALO's going too. They're not super bright but it is broad daylight. I can tell already they're not going to be the brightest halos you've ever seen but honestly i didn't buy them for to HALO's. They're not that blue. It's like just into the blue side of the white blue scale.


There's a breather tube that like to fall off and a grommet where the halo lights go into the housing. The breather tube i fixed with some 3M Weatherstripping glue - stuff works great for automotive especially on the little plastic weatherstripping between the fender flare and car. I will also add some to the grommet. I just dont trust it to keep moisture out.

BREATHER TUBE - black elbo snorkel looking thing - needs to be glued down.

Rubber Grommet that's going to get a dose of whetherstripping glue:


Power Box for the Projector Headlights hit 110F on a cool spring day and not in an engine bay with brights on. NOt sure how much im going to trust it but we'll see
 
#55 ·
ONE SIDE DOWN - Other Side Will Be The Same Thing. I'll Post Finished Results Probably Tomorrow When Everything is All Back Together.

Used Weatherstripping Glue for that grommet that goes into the Head Lights that Runs the HALO's. Should Be Air Tight Now. It's old glue - should be black but it still works. Glued That Elbow Vent Tube as well since these are continuously falling off.

T Taped the Red & White Wire for the HALO's into the R/B Wire for the Parking Lights. I ABSOLUTELY HATE T-TAPS but this situation made using them really convenient. Even put a little Blue Zip Tie around it to make sure it STAYS SHUT & CLAMPED


For The Black Ground Wire Coming From The HALO Box with the Red & White Wires - I extended the Black Wire with a butt connector and a piece of small 20 or 22 gauge wire with green sheathing. Just grounded it it to a bolt near by that has ground on the Fender. May move it later to a better location but for now i just want to get things going plus i really don't care - its a tiny ground wire - so what.


Got One In And Tested It. All Is Well. HALO Works and So do The High/Low Beams
 
#56 · (Edited)
Got It Done. My Fogs Are A TRUE WHITE. Those HALOS Definitely Look Blue - I'll Probably Just Disconnect Them. Way To FVCK UP Some Cool Lights JACKASSES. I Have My FOGS Set Up To Come On With The Parking Lights Anyways. Don't Really Need The HALO's. I Absolutely Hate The BLUE HALO RINGS. Looks Tacky

These Are The Ones I Bought On eBay
www.ebay.com

Fits NISSAN FRONTIER D22 98-00 Pre-Facelift LED Halo Bi-LED Headlight Chrome LHD 772123791843 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fits NISSAN FRONTIER D22 98-00 Pre-Facelift LED Halo Bi-LED Headlight Chrome LHD at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

These Projectors Better Be Worth It or There'll Be A Brand New Set of Amazon Specials Going In. My Whole Front End Is New Anyways and Either Way I Go I Need To Add Some New Head LIghts. Again, These Better Be Worth It. I Had Some Bad Azz LED's In The Old Style Head LIghts Thats Were Pretty Damn Good. Plus This Thing Looks LIke It Has A Pair Of Eyeballs Watching Me Now So The LIght Output Had Better Be Worth It.

Anyways, I'll AdJust Them Tonight.

HALOS
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HEAD LIGHTS
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Couple More Pics of The T-Taps for the Halo's. Red & White Wires T-Taped Into The Red/Black Wire of The Parking Lights.
 
#58 ·
Disconnected the Ground Wire For The HALOs and Was An INSANT Improvement. God Those HALOs look Tacky.

In my opinion there's just a certain age or era of a truck that if you put something too modern on it just looks out of place. I think these headlights fit the bill for out of place but a lot of the "Out of Place" was diminished by simply deleting the HALOs. On The Facelifted 1st Gens, Projectors look excellent as the front end was modernized enough that adding Projectors doesn't look out of place. The early 1st Gens just look a little too old with something so modern staring you in the face but with the HALOs deleted they look OK as in alright but not great. Personally, i think the regular Halogens Head Lamps look better as the fit a 1998 truck better an look more appropriate.

The Light Is Really Good Tho - I like It and Will Keep Them ON. - HIGH BEAMS are INSANE! No pics of High Beams but man i could see forever down the road with them on.

Having said that i like the lights. I Angled them all the way to the inside and was going crazy bc i couldn't figure out how to lift the light up and shine further down the road. Adjust these with the Grill Off. There's an adjustment bolt on top and underneath.

Anyways there was just enough mist in the air to see the pattern. At the furthest point there's a street light right on the other side of street so keep that in mind
 
Discussion starter · #60 ·
TxDayTrader said:
Disconnected the Ground Wire For The HALOs and Was An INSANT Improvement. God Those HALOs look Tacky.

In my opinion there's just a certain age or era of a truck that if you put something too modern on it just looks out of place. I think these headlights fit the bill for out of place but a lot of the "Out of Place" was diminished by simply deleting the HALOs. On The Facelifted 1st Gens, Projectors look excellent as the front end was modernized enough that adding Projectors doesn't look out of place. The early 1st Gens just look a little too old with something so modern staring you in the face but with the HALOs deleted they look OK as in alright but not great. Personally, i think the regular Halogens Head Lamps look better as the fit a 1998 truck better an look more appropriate.

Having said that i like the lights. I Angled them all the way to the inside and was going crazy bc i couldn't figure out how to lift the light up and shine further down the road. Adjust these with the Grill Off. There's an adjustment bolt on top and underneath.

Anyways there was just enough mist in the air to see the pattern. At the furthest point there's a street light right on the other side of street so keep that in mind
View attachment 388728 View attachment 388727 View attachment 388732 View attachment 388730 View attachment 388729 View attachment 388733 View attachment 388734 View attachment 388731
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Could you change the color of the halos?
 
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