I bought my son a 2004 Frontier a few years ago. Since then we have added a Xterra. We have enjoyed the vehicles, unfortunately, the truck was rolled. I registered to post to get some advice on possibility resuing some fo the 2004 parts. Looking forward to seeing what everyone says.
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Hey.
It depends on what else you end up with.
The 2004 Frontier was designated "D22" by Nissan as a chassis code. It was derived from the "D21" truck, originally called "Hardbody" when it debuted in 1986, but was largely just called Pickup by the end in 1997. The two share a substantial amount of similarity once you get past the exterior body sculpting.
Like how the D22 Frontier shares a lot with the WD22 Xterra, the D21 Hardbody shares a lot with the WD21 Pathfinder built from 1986 to 1995.
Depending on what's salvagable, you may be able to use certain parts from that Frontier on any of the above vehicles, but bear in mind that if you wanted to do something like a drivetrain swap to put the 2004 motor and transmission into an old Hardbody you'll probably have to use a substantial part of the wiring harness, the computer(s), and even have to figure out how things like the ABS and airbags work to determine if they can be simply left out, if they can be defeated somehow, or if you need to source those parts and somehow use them in the new truck.
When I had my last '95 Hardbody I'd been thinking about drivetrain a lot. The 2.4 with the single overhead cam was not especially strong and it was only a 2wd. The only way it was going to be practical to go to something like a 4x4 with the supercharged 3.3 would be to find one with a bad cab and bed and swap my cab and bed onto that frame and drivetrain, and to do all of the work necessary to retrofit the wiring, computer(s), dash cluster, etc.
What I really wanted to do was to find a Mexican Hardbody Crew Cab's cab and rear doors, get those parts imported, find a CC LWB 2001-2004 Frontier and drop that crew cab on along with a 6' Hardbody bed and the other required parts to have a CC LWB Hardbody. Obviously that didn't happen as there's a 2015 Frontier sitting in the garage as of last month.
It depends on what else you end up with.
The 2004 Frontier was designated "D22" by Nissan as a chassis code. It was derived from the "D21" truck, originally called "Hardbody" when it debuted in 1986, but was largely just called Pickup by the end in 1997. The two share a substantial amount of similarity once you get past the exterior body sculpting.
Like how the D22 Frontier shares a lot with the WD22 Xterra, the D21 Hardbody shares a lot with the WD21 Pathfinder built from 1986 to 1995.
Depending on what's salvagable, you may be able to use certain parts from that Frontier on any of the above vehicles, but bear in mind that if you wanted to do something like a drivetrain swap to put the 2004 motor and transmission into an old Hardbody you'll probably have to use a substantial part of the wiring harness, the computer(s), and even have to figure out how things like the ABS and airbags work to determine if they can be simply left out, if they can be defeated somehow, or if you need to source those parts and somehow use them in the new truck.
When I had my last '95 Hardbody I'd been thinking about drivetrain a lot. The 2.4 with the single overhead cam was not especially strong and it was only a 2wd. The only way it was going to be practical to go to something like a 4x4 with the supercharged 3.3 would be to find one with a bad cab and bed and swap my cab and bed onto that frame and drivetrain, and to do all of the work necessary to retrofit the wiring, computer(s), dash cluster, etc.
What I really wanted to do was to find a Mexican Hardbody Crew Cab's cab and rear doors, get those parts imported, find a CC LWB 2001-2004 Frontier and drop that crew cab on along with a 6' Hardbody bed and the other required parts to have a CC LWB Hardbody. Obviously that didn't happen as there's a 2015 Frontier sitting in the garage as of last month.
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