[Espo78]

I am looking to buy a an 05+ Frontier and I can't really find any information about what changes were made between the different model years. I know it won't be major stuff but is there anything to look out for? Are the 05's just as good as later years? I know the first year vehicles usually have to get the bugs worked out and they make changes later on.

I missed out on getting a 2005 Nismo king cab but I found an 07 I might look at this weekend for a couple grand more. I'm not really interested the crew cabs because the bed is too short. I know there is a long bed option but what years?

I want a v6 for sure but I also really want a manual transmission but I can't find one near me at all! Are they rare? There is 1 manual tranny frontier on autotrader within 300 miles and its a 4 cyl.

Oh yeah and can the utilitrack bed system be found on king cabs or is it a crew cab only thing? And if so, can it be retrofitted to a king cab?

Thanks

Mike

 

[Hardbody]

For the 05+ Frontier:

A Nismo or Pro-4x Long Bed Crew Cab has not been offered.

Long Bed Crew Cabs with manual 2007-2010, will not be on 2011.

 

[dubie2003]

05-07 or 08, nothing changed except they added a nice little rubber thingy to keep your keys from clanking against the dash.

07 or 08-10 they did some minor exterior changes and re-did the dash. Kinda makes is harder to swap radios and other aftermarket items thou.

Utili-trac was offered on all beds, short or long. It can not be retrofitted thou so if you want it, you need to get it on the truck unless you are going to do a bed swap in the future.

Long Beds were introduced in 07 but are rare.

The turning radius sucks no matter what and a CC LB is just horrible.

I think that covers most of it.

 

[Espo78]

Thanks for the replies! So they changed the dash? Does that mean the nav option can't be retrofitted to the earlier years? Thats one thing I planned on doing if the truck I find doesn't have it.

 

[dubie2003]

The oem nav thingy that sits on top will work on all years I believe but if you change the stereo on the newer ones, I think you have to get a whole new center dash thingy instead of just a simple adapter.

 

[Clint]

05-07 or 08, nothing changed except they added a nice little rubber thingy to keep your keys from clanking against the dash.

07 or 08-10 they did some minor exterior changes and re-did the dash. Kinda makes is harder to swap radios and other aftermarket items thou.

Utili-trac was offered on all beds, short or long. It can not be retrofitted thou so if you want it, you need to get it on the truck unless you are going to do a bed swap in the future.

Long Beds were introduced in 07 but are rare.

The turning radius sucks no matter what and a CC LB is just horrible.

I think that covers most of it.

I'm on my third long bed crew cab and wouldn't have any other way. I had a short bed crew cab and dumped it. It's needs a larger area to turn but I just deal with it.

Clint

 

[openmind10988]

06 and later model doesn't come with the cam bolts for wheel alignment(camber/ caster adjustment). You could get em around $70-120 depending where you get it from. I wonder if anyone ever tried this, points out to the dealer and maybe they'll give em to you for free (when buying the truck).

 

[dubie2003]

06 and later model doesn't come with the cam bolts for wheel alignment(camber/ caster adjustment). You could get em around $70-120 depending where you get it from. I wonder if anyone ever tried this, points out to the dealer and maybe they'll give em to you for free (when buying the truck).

This is true and there is a TSB that if you buy the truck new and it is out of alignment spec, they can add the CAM bolts if needed.

 

[Clint]

From 2008 forward the wiring meets the CAN standard now.
The most significant change of all is, all 2010 trucks come with side curtain and rollover airbags as standard equiptment. Before that our trucks didn't fair well on side impact tests.
It raised the side impact rating.

Clint

 

[FitzIngarage]

At some point, Nissan removed the rear folding arm rest on the Crew Cabs to cut costs. '05's and '06s have it, but I'm not sure about years beyond that. Headlights changed too at some point and the rear inside tailgate liner was improved in the '07+ (?) with a more stout, scratch resistant design. Wheel designs too have been revised at least once over the years. In '05 a bunch of colors were offered, but most of these were dropped in '06.

 

[mike]

At some point, Nissan removed the rear folding arm rest on the Crew Cabs to cut costs. '05's and '06s have it, but I'm not sure about years beyond that.

I remember read about that but my brother just got a 2010 PRO-4X and it had the rear armrest. Maybe they brought it back.

 

[weymouthba]

Also I believe that ABLS and HDC became standard options 09+. I also think that you have to get leather to have the rear folding arm rest.

 

[FitzIngarage]

I remember read about that but my brother just got a 2010 PRO-4X and it had the rear armrest. Maybe they brought it back.

Good move on Nissan's part. I have a family and ours is used often. It also makes a nice place for a sleeping child to rest their head as they curl up and it also makes a great airstrip for kids pretending that the armrest is an airport.

 

[dubie2003]

My 07 CC has the rear arm-rest thingy.

 

[chijusa]

"body" particularities are importants, but y6ou should also take a loot to mechanical issues when looking at the year model. By my side, after reading a lot on that side, I found that there is some issues that ocurs on 2005 and 2006, but corrected for most recent models. Just take a look around site to see more.
my 2 cents

 

[Espo78]

"body" particularities are importants, but y6ou should also take a loot to mechanical issues when looking at the year model. By my side, after reading a lot on that side, I found that there is some issues that ocurs on 2005 and 2006, but corrected for most recent models. Just take a look around site to see more.
my 2 cents

That's actually more what I was hoping to hear about. Can you think of any specific examples?

I went to look at another one today that the dealer just got in. Black 06 Nismo CC with just about all the options. Kinda rough but it hadn't been detailed yet. The dealbreaker for me was that it had a sunroof. The rubber had already started to crack around the edges. After dealing with the one in my 240sx I don't ever want another sunroof. Ever.

 

[chijusa]

Some guys over here report contamination of trans fluid by cooling fluid. Seem to be on 2005 models. an aux trans cooler Will protect you against this. Some others talk about timing chain tensionner... There is a way to correct this. Take a look to your rear axle diff. Fluid must be change more regurarly if truck you are looking for towed alot. Other than that don'tseem to have a lot of major bugs on our trucks. Will continue to look around for info. Also take few minuts to look on reliability reports done by some well known review sites for troubles about those years. But don't worry about Frontier it's a hard worling truck. You can thrust me.

 

[FitzIngarage]

You can also take a look at Frontier TSBs to see what troubles plagued which years. But, despite what Nissan may indicate on the TSBs, some of the troubles came to trucks beyond the date/VIN range of the TSBs.

Nissan Publications

Click On ' Inside Publications ' thence ' Nissan TSBs '. An '05 might be just fine, but you might better your odds of success with the '07 you found.

 

[Espo78]

Well as it turns out the dealer didn't want to sell that 07 apparently. Listed online for 15,900, I offered 14,500 over the phone and was called back to tell me the price on the truck was supposed to be 18,500. Not sure how you sell a truck by raising the price?

The dealer is over an hour away from me but I have friends in that area that checked it out for me. According to the dealer it was perfect and mint, according to my friends it was in rough condition with paint chips all over that were beyond buffing. I've run into that a lot in the trucks that I've looked at, with uncorrectable paint problems. Not sure if the trucks just get used hard or if the paint is weak on these models and chips easily.

 

[ATLtoCO Frontier]

'09 was when they changed the dash. I had no issues changing out my factory head unit with an aftermarket one. It was pretty easily actually, I just used the free adapter plate from Crutchfield.

Yes, the paint chips easily. Especially, along the rocker panels and the front of the rear wheel wells.