[AndysLog]

Same. I’ve been driving daily for a month now on a stock ROM. Have had no issues. Now that I know everything is good I think I’m going to unlock the throttle plate restriction and Clean up the tune a little.
All in all, very easy swap. I probably spent the same amount of time laying out and welding the exhaust as I did the actual swap part. Also Probably way cheaper to just buy a wrecked donor truck.

so you are or arent having issues anymore your posts are kinda confusing?


depends on what your swap consists of, i did mine for 2k with a whole titan. deals are out there you just gotta look.

 

[Sangster]

Those that have done this swap....is it easier to pull the front clip out of the truck to get the motor/trans in/out or remove the hood and lift up and out? My truck is lifted pretty good, so i'm not sure a regular engine hoist (still need to get one of those) would be able to lift that high.

 

[Loltus]

Same. I’ve been driving daily for a month now on a stock ROM. Have had no issues. Now that I know everything is good I think I’m going to unlock the throttle plate restriction and Clean up the tune a little.
All in all, very easy swap. I probably spent the same amount of time laying out and welding the exhaust as I did the actual swap part. Also Probably way cheaper to just buy a wrecked donor truck.

so you are or arent having issues anymore your posts are kinda confusing?


depends on what your swap consists of, i did mine for 2k with a whole titan. deals are out there you just gotta look.

My transmission problem was resolved when I swapped the frontier valve body with TCM into the titan transmission. I’ve been driving it now for a month and everything has been great.

 

[AndysLog]

My transmission problem was resolved when I swapped the frontier valve body with TCM into the titan transmission. I’ve been driving it now for a month and everything has been great.

ok cooooool!

that was the issue i had on my first VK swap i ended up selling at a large loss.
just wasnt enough information out and available at the time and now ive seen about 10 guys in the same spot i was and were all able to swap the frontier VB and solved all issues.

Those that have done this swap....is it easier to pull the front clip out of the truck to get the motor/trans in/out or remove the hood and lift up and out? My truck is lifted pretty good, so i'm not sure a regular engine hoist (still need to get one of those) would be able to lift that high.

the final pin that made me cool with pulling the whole front was my buddy is an AC tech and hooked me up with a fresh charge for free (200 at a shop lol). it makes it much easier IMO. i did also pull my hood off when it came time to remove the motor/trans combo.

 

[Loltus]

Those that have done this swap....is it easier to pull the front clip out of the truck to get the motor/trans in/out or remove the hood and lift up and out? My truck is lifted pretty good, so i'm not sure a regular engine hoist (still need to get one of those) would be able to lift that high.

for how much work you’re going to be doing spend the time to pull the front it really doesn’t add much work in the scheme. You have to pull the headlights and the grill which take a couple minutes. I left my front bumper in place and just pulled the core support. I was able to pull the motor with the trans with the only the front crossmember removed. If I was lifted I probably would have had to pull the bumper too.

 

[Sangster]

for how much work you’re going to be doing spend the time to pull the front it really doesn’t add much work in the scheme. You have to pull the headlights and the grill which take a couple minutes. I left my front bumper in place and just pulled the core support. I was able to pull the motor with the trans with the only the front crossmember removed. If I was lifted I probably would have had to pull the bumper too.

Ok, thanks. I'm going to pull it. I want to refinish my bumper anyway, so I'll pull it too.

 

[Sangster]

Next question....I'll be using titan JBA long tubes with my swap. I currently have a dual-in/dual-out magnaflow muffler with internal X crossover then dumped just over and past the rear axle. I want to keep that. So basically I'm keeping my existing catback exhaust. What did you VK swappers do between the headers and the catback?

 

[AndysLog]

i did the resonated pipes from cajun.

pretty cheap considering the bolt on application. you may need to slightly clock your cat back bolt holes.
i had to do a couple cuts and re welds, when i bolted it all together it was kinda aiming down more than i wanted.

now its all tucked and up above the frame.

 

[Robeartronic]

i did the resonated pipes from cajun.

pretty cheap considering the bolt on application. you may need to slightly clock your cat back bolt holes.
i had to do a couple cuts and re welds, when i bolted it all together it was kinda aiming down more than i wanted.

now its all tucked and up above the frame.

I was in the process of looking up what you did for your exhaust when I saw you commented. I feel like you should always have a Frontier because of all the **** you've done to your Frontiers and Xterras.

 

[AndysLog]

haha i am planning on at least for the foreseeable future having an xterra and frontier.

i really wish i had someone taking pictures and videos of certain things i come across. ive always wanted to do a much more in depth sharing about the rando work thats done.
between not having good internet and really losing the world around me when im working it never pans out

 

[Robeartronic]

Well if I ever win the lottery I'm gonna buy a cclb and video you modding it out

 

[AndysLog]

dude i barely know what im doing haha, but ill give it a go.

 

[Loltus]

Next question....I'll be using titan JBA long tubes with my swap. I currently have a dual-in/dual-out magnaflow muffler with internal X crossover then dumped just over and past the rear axle. I want to keep that. So basically I'm keeping my existing catback exhaust. What did you VK swappers do between the headers and the catback?

Are you trying to find something premade for the swap or are you able to fabricate or have something fabricated? I’m running shorties with high flow cats and fabbed my whole system from the headers back but the long tubes I believe should come out basically where the cat pipes would be on the frontier. An exhaust shop should be able to easily connect from the headers to your preexisting system. I have some pictures of my setup on my build thread if you want some reference with shorties. I’ve been writing up a more in-depth install write up with photos/videos but need to find some more time.

 

[Sangster]

Are you trying to find something premade for the swap or are you able to fabricate or have something fabricated? I’m running shorties with high flow cats and fabbed my whole system from the headers back but the long tubes I believe should come out basically where the cat pipes would be on the frontier. An exhaust shop should be able to easily connect from the headers to your preexisting system. I have some pictures of my setup on my build thread if you want some reference with shorties. I’ve been writing up a more in-depth install write up with photos/videos but need to find some more time.

I don't have the ability to fabricate anything myself. Most exhaust shops won't touch it without cats. Brennan says the Titan B-pipes fit, so I guess I'll be going with JBA long tubes, cajun catless resonated B-pipes, and that should bolt up to my catback.

 

[Titansrus]

VK56 conversion harnesses now available! This makes the hardest part of this swap now the easiest! Simply plug your Titan engine harness into one end and plug the other end to your chassis, done! $120 each. If you would like to order one message me for now, website will be up very soon. Please specify what year engine harness your Titan is for as well as what year Frontier, Xterra or Pathfinder you have.


Hi I'm new to the forum I have a 07 4WD titan that bas a blown Engine but I have an 05 2WD Armada engine sitting around. My question is is it possible to install the 05 armada engine into my 2007 Titan using your harness that you've created, reason I ask is because the 07 engine harness has a few extra plugs, will it work?

 

[Justin Lillo]

Responding to this very old thread since it seems to be the most thorough discussion surrounding this swap on this forum. Im looking at VK's locally right now. A lot of them that are available locally in a donor vehicle are Armadas. Would it be more realistic to hold out for a titan? I noticed most (if not all) of these armadas have the floor shifter and seem to have a similar layout to the titan. Apologies if this was already covered.

 

[Loltus]

Responding to this very old thread since it seems to be the most thorough discussion surrounding this swap on this forum. Im looking at VK's locally right now. A lot of them that are available locally in a donor vehicle are Armadas. Would it be more realistic to hold out for a titan? I noticed most (if not all) of these armadas have the floor shifter and seem to have a similar layout to the titan. Apologies if this was already covered.

It shouldn’t really matter on the Titan versus armada. Even if the transmission is the wrong (column/floor) I swapped my frontier valve body and tCM assembly over to the Titan transmission and it took care of the problems created by the miss match. You’ll still use the frontier alternator and you’ll use the frontier oil sensor/switch but you’ll have to extend the connector to the Titan sensor location. You’ll lengthen the frontier starter signal wire Too the back of the valve cover and I also had to cut the connector off my frontier starter and wire it to the harness (male vs female connector Sides were backwards between the frontier and Titan for me). I used the vk56 ac compressor and lines. You opted to run the block mounted vk56 power steering reservoir over the frontier fender mounted one. get yourself some new Titan engine mounts and a frontier transmission mount (going to be out and they are most likely bad if not worn out anyway). Had to miss match some of the coolant and vacuum hoses between both frontier and vk56 and used new bulk hose in other places. I also recommend using UpRev to disable security and give your self tune ability as well as some other useful diag tools over trying to swap over the entire column and theft system.

Sorry trying to think of everything off hand real quick. I didn’t get to document the process as well as I wanted as I only had 3 days to do the swap on my daily and that included fabricating an entire header back performance stainless exhaust. I’m going to be doing another swap on what will become my new daily. I should have enough time to thoroughly document and hopefully video the process on that one since I wount be under a time crunch. Feel free to message me any questions you have or come up with and I’ll try to help you out the best I can.

 

[JonOpelGT]

It shouldn’t really matter on the Titan versus armada. Even if the transmission is the wrong (column/floor) I swapped my frontier valve body and tCM assembly over to the Titan transmission and it took care of the problems created by the miss match. You’ll still use the frontier alternator and you’ll use the frontier oil sensor/switch but you’ll have to extend the connector to the Titan sensor location. You’ll lengthen the frontier starter signal wire Too the back of the valve cover and I also had to cut the connector off my frontier starter and wire it to the harness (male vs female connector Sides were backwards between the frontier and Titan for me). I used the vk56 ac compressor and lines. You opted to run the block mounted vk56 power steering reservoir over the frontier fender mounted one. get yourself some new Titan engine mounts and a frontier transmission mount (going to be out and they are most likely bad if not worn out anyway). Had to miss match some of the coolant and vacuum hoses between both frontier and vk56 and used new bulk hose in other places. I also recommend using UpRev to disable security and give your self tune ability as well as some other useful diag tools over trying to swap over the entire column and theft system.

Sorry trying to think of everything off hand real quick. I didn’t get to document the process as well as I wanted as I only had 3 days to do the swap on my daily and that included fabricating an entire header back performance stainless exhaust. I’m going to be doing another swap on what will become my new daily. I should have enough time to thoroughly document and hopefully video the process on that one since I wount be under a time crunch. Feel free to message me any questions you have or come up with and I’ll try to help you out the best I can.

 

[JonOpelGT]

I used a 2011 Armada VK56 for my my 2005 Xterra when I did the swap last may. Is there a repository for info on vk56 swap. I have a list of P/Ns and years I needed. I have frontier parts, titan parts, armada parts and xterra parts. The whole thing looks completely factory.

 

[gingy_97]

Having gone through everything top to bottom again after a while, I've noticed a few workarounds for the MT conversion addressing the bell housing, clutch, and pressure plate. MT guys and pioneers of this thread that have gone and pulled this off what route has worked best for y'all and what kind of roadblocks can be expected in the process?

to gain clarity on a second topic, has there been any new workarounds regarding the VK56D wiring or is the winning bet on staying with a tried and true VK56DE?