[Smacaroni]

*copied from my intro post in new member's forum*
New to the forum, new to Frontiers. Bought a new to me 03 5spd Ext Cab RWD 4cyl on Saturday and have put 820 miles on it in four days. Which isn't much considering that it came with 237,000 miles. But I will certainly keep it rolling since I drive a lot for work.
Before this, I had an S10 in the same format, put 43,000 miles on that since January 2015. But it was getting kind of rusty and it while it only let me sit once when the fuel pump died, it was doing some things that made me nervous about taking it on more unnecessary 300+ mile one way trips.

FWIW, first impressions are good, it's obvious to me that this was engineered in a right hand drive country, even though it was built in the US, the brake release is on the right hand side of the wheel, the shifter is offset to the right, things like that. But I like the way this feels, plenty of power for a compact truck, handles well, brakes well, it's super quiet compared to the happy tappy, leaky, squeaky S10.

The owner's manual schedule of maint. doesn't go up to the mileage I'm at. If you were me, besides the obvious (fluids, hoses, belts), what would you replace right away? Like a fuel pump? How concerned should I be about water pump and timing belt? I'd expect it's had a few by now.
Is there any Nissan Coupe I can swap a driver's seat into this? I need an ext cab because of the tools I carry for work and flipping the seat forward does not retract the seat like a regular ext cab or coupe seat would. Maybe I just need the seat base.
While I'm on the subject of seats, if there's a passenger's seat that folds flat, I'd love to install one of those too. Only one I've heard of is in a Grand Prix, but I've yet to actually find one. See this photo front seats have latch to fold forward? - S-10 Forum I'd love to be able to pull my laptop out and use the passenger's seat as a table instead of trying to balance it on my lap. Not while driving of course.
Mine doesn't have cruise control, since I do 90% highway driving, I really liked having this, probably going to try adding either factory or Rostra. Probably going to apply stuff from this thread: http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f9/adding-factory-cruise-control-151993/
Last, it's got light truck tires on which, imho, are overkill. It doesn't weigh anywhere near what my Wagoneer does and that came with passenger car tires from the factory. Who runs crossover or passenger tires and what brand/model do you like best? When I have to haul stuff, it's a couple hundred pounds of customer equipment on a skid so you won't see me loading this up often. Although I did put nearly a ton of dirt in the s10 one time and the tires were fine, truck was too. I had Goodyear Integrity on the S10, but the wet grip on those suck, so I won't buy them again. If I can reduce the unsprung weight even by a few pounds, it should make a measurable difference in fuel mileage, which is very important to me right behind looking presentable for the customer.

 

[Fishguy]

4 banger frontiers have a timing chain sooo Yaaayyy. The chain guides do wear out after a while though so make note of any odd sounds from under the hood and ask in the forums.
For maintenance schedule you can just extrapolate from the owners manual. 10,000 mi maintenance every 10,000 miles, 25,000 mi maintenance every 25,000 miles etc.
I would crawl under and check out the tie rods and other steering components. Give em a good shake to make sure they don't rattle (worn). Jack up the front and give the tires a shake left to right, top to bottom to make sure the ball joints are still good.
With proper maintenance these trucks run for a long time. You may find that with the miles on your truck the leaf springs may be a little saggy, but load it up and see. It is common for the right leafspring to sag first as a result of carrying the weight of the fuel.
Basically just give everything a good inspection like you would for any vehicle with an unknown history.

 

[Smacaroni]

Engine is super quiet compared to the Sonoma, so I think everything is A-OK there.
Checked all the fluids, pulled all the wheels, pulled the plugs and examined the wires. From what I can tell, the PO took good care of this. I will replace all the fluids and belts and hoses soon - I'm leaving next Saturday for three weeks, fortunately, I don't have to drive my vehicle across the country. Only thing I've found so far is there's an exhaust leak in the muffler at the weep hole and the cat isn't performing - CEL went on about 900 miles after purchase. Oh, and the battery was just good enough to last for a week, but it was from 2011 and the vehicle sat on the back lot for six months at the dealer.
I noticed the springs are really light. I had 500lbs of salt for the pool in the back and it definitely felt loaded going over ordinary bumps in the road.
So what's the best route for leaf springs? Are the 4X4 springs a heavier rate than the 2WD? If so, can I just swap them? What about adding another leaf from salvage yard spring packs? I'd rather not spend a grand on new springs, I'm probably going to have this at best, three to four years, realistically, probably two to three years. On my Jeep Wagoneer, I installed some 4dr Exploder springs that were at least 15 years newer, as well as an inch longer and that made a huge difference. There's got to be a low-tech, low cost solution to the factory springs.

 

[Fishguy]

If I remember correctly the leaf springs are not the same on the 2wd and the 4x4. I think one is mounted above the axle and the other below. You could get an add a leaf, which would shore up the old leafs a bit, but also it would raise your rear end an inch or two as well. If you go with an add a leaf I would recommend one of the long versions that basically runs the full length of your pack (more or less). They require the disassembly of the leaf to insert the new layer/leaf. The cost should be $100 - $200 depending on where you get them. From what I've read the helper springs that clip on to one side/end of the leafs can eventually cause the leafs to fail because they put excessive force on a localized spot on the leafs (not sure how true it is though) so I would probably avoid them. Some of the other guys here probably have more experience with this than I do though. Also try the search for add a leaf etc. There are plenty of videos online for installation.