I think the best argument for a Titan Swap is for rollover prevention. When you raise the center of gravity on your Xterra or Frontier, without increasing the track width, you're in danger both on and off-road for rolloevers. You're definitely in more danger on road if you remove the sway bars, which many people do.
Well, you didn't HAVE to get Titan front brakes or 35" tires! I'd much rather have my Titan swapped Xterra than not Titan swapped and I overland, but it's not strictly for overlanding. Gas mileage is negligibly different, and if you're complaining about the cost of gas, you really shouldn't be offroading, or driving a Nissan for that matter, lol.
Haha, true. And I'm not complaining about the costs associated with it. I knew what I was getting into. But, I would say for most people that have a stock truck and hear all of the things about "titan swapping" but just want to hit gravel forest service roads to go camping, it's not necessary. If you want a badass truck that is more capable and looks awesome and you're ok with the additional costs, then by all means, swap away, :D.
I think it’s perfectly fair to complain about the cost of gas and still enjoy off-roading or just cruising. The idea that you can’t complain about paying more for something you use is just weird and doesn’t make sense. Which is why you added a very nervous “lol” at the end
I like to have Hella more towing capacity for a 2 horse trailer. And all the other stuff that's a pro. I've used this thing like a tractor a lot though.
As someone who owns a Titan Swapped 05 Frontier 4x4, I’d have to disagree with some of your points. 1. Yes, the wider track width does make it inconvenient for tighter trails, but you blame the track width for almost “flopping” your rig which is most likely due to the nature of IFS suspension in general & driver experience level. 2. You talk about the significant hit on MPG which the Titan swap has little to do with, rather your decision on 35” tires and zero modification to gear ratios… of course you’re going to see a hit on fuel economy. 3. You mentioned that parts will be a headache to find, but the Nissan Titan was massively produced with parts (especially suspension components) to be at the ready and in most cases at a very cheap rate. Anyone who has Titan swapped would know not to ask for frontier spec parts at any auto parts store, and the smarter ones would look to Rock Auto to get there parts ordered. With that said… I do agree that titan swapping is definitely not needed for overlanding, but if you know you’re going to hit trails that require the clearance and articulation… you’ll very quickly find that frontier “lift” spec suspension will reach its limits very quickly. No disrespect, but just putting some of my thoughts as a T-Swapped owner of 3 years traveling most of west coast and British Colombia, Canada.
Great points. There are definitely advantages and a few cons. I still think most people (especially in America where our trails aren’t as challenging) don’t need that much capability to do most of what we’ve got. I love mine though and have really enjoyed its capability on the trails!
totally agree, I just rementioned it up top. I love my titan swap. I use RC 18" shocks standard springs, I get a nice lift / compression when hop off the curb or speed bumps because wheel travel is limited to shock travel, so frickin stable especially in heavy rain. People keep borrowing my truck: I'm outa gas. His short shocks and tight springs messed him up. They need to stop tightening the coils. it prevents shock travel compression.
I agree completely. I did metal masher and top of the world in Moab in a Frontier that was basically stock aside from running 33s. Since then I have also done half of the Kentuck Adventure Trail, and had no issues. Spend the money on quality stock parts, good suspension, and lockers and our trucks can go just about anywhere we have any business going, and probably several we dont....
Great to hear it. I’m a Nissan guy and I love the T-swap but it’s just a lot of money that most don’t need to spend when you could get other stuff to enjoy your trips more!
For a titan swap w/UCA's is around 900. And, with 18"-20" ($5 -1k) shocks you get good shock travel which gives you good wheel travel. If you have to travel slightly off to the side titan swap width helps not to flip over. Also, keeps your wheels from floating. Titan swap is adding stronger parts for minor performance. But you guys are happy that's the main thing.
So I just deleted a short book worth of reasons the t-swap is great for overlanding & why most people still shouldn’t, rather probably wouldn’t do it… but the shorter version is that most I’ve experienced considering it have less technical know-how than is probably needed when it comes to a long term build plan that supports a proper Titan swap. As for the 35’s- they’re fantastic but there’s about 100 reasons why they’re a really bad idea for x’s and frontys unless you’re planning to do quite a bit more than a t-swap.. most notably new gearing and a new front carrier. As a person who’s invested 25k+ after sticker price and done a lot of the work himself I can honestly say most the people asking about these swaps are because they saw a cool rig on the interwebs are better off just using their money to upgrade a used jeep for whatever du jour overlanding trip. Love my Xterra, don’t regret a single dollar spent! That said.. making yours look like the “videos” is not for the faint of heart… or faint of wallet. 😂
Haha, yep, totally true. Just finished swapping in a Titan rear axle (open carrier) and installing a spicer e-locker and it turned into a much bigger ordeal than I thought it would be. Love the truck and Nissans in general, but it takes a lot (time and money) to get them upgraded.
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I have a 2" lift with 33's. I also have a 2011 Pro-4X. I became disabled in 2015, got divorced, no longer have a house, etc. Unless I have the money to do this stuff, and the physical ability to do it myself,it's not worth it. Even if I manage to un-disable myself, and go back to work for more money, my condo association isn't going to let me perform repairs in the parking lot!
All great stuff man. I do love my Titan swap. I just get asked a lot if it’s “worth it for overlanding” and I usually say, “what do you consider overlanding.” Those folks usually say something like they hit gravel roads into their local National Forest once every month or two and for that, I’d say to spend your money elsewhere. If you’re doing desert runs and hitting Moab, it makes a lot more sense. Thanks for all the info! Appreciate you sharing!
@@jakewatson6854 I don't have a Titan booster. I agree the pedal feel is a bit softer than before, but I actually don't mind it. I get what you're saying though and I imagine it would probably help to upgrade the booster.
I just went to an off-road park with a friend in a Titan swapped Frontier and it was interesting to see the differences. Definitely did most everything he did other than the more rock crawling sections. I found my 2” lifted truck more than capable enough to get up and over obstacles and through the water crossings. I also like the tank range of 300 plus miles compared to 240/250 miles with a TS.
240/250 miles on a TS? What in tarnation were you doing? I have an 05 Xterra and run 35s on TS with 4.56 gears and get over 300 per tank, that's with 600 extra pounds currently. When it was stock with 33s and 3.36 gears I would get over 400 per tank. Not really sure how you used your datsun man. And that's me without adjusting the timing, if I cut to -2 degrees I get 30 miles more, I lose power obviously but get more range. Maybe your ride height was eating up that mileage 🤔🤔 quite interested to know
'14 Frontier Pro-4X owner/overlander here: I'm currently sitting on a 2" suspension lift with 33s, and it's sounding like I've dodged a bullet with my budget rig by not running the Titan swap. So, let's see... money for the swap (and all other components like brake lines, spacers, etc), money for 5x wheels and 35s, money for more gas (we do lots of Texas highway to get to remote destinations), money for gears to not use quite as much (but still more) gas, money for a tire carrier because a 35 spare won't fit under the bed... I think I'm happy going the simple route.
Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has its benefits and I’m happy with mine, but I think everything you outlined is spot on for most people. I’m looking at switching up wheels and tires right now and it’s easily $3k plus for the 5 wheels and tires.
I am in the process of buying a 2006 xterra with 97,000. It’s not flawless but a good starting point for my project. I plan on running this for perhaps the next 10 years, I like projecting on my vehicles and it seems from my internet search that the 2nd gen xterra is a increasing popular 4x4 alternative to Toyota and Jeep. As a daily driver I won’t be focused on doing any hard core off roading, I ride MTB for my off road high these days, had 4 Jeeps, and 7 on/off road motorcycles. Mild upgrades like tires, small lift and better suspension, rust reduction, keep it clean and running excellent. My gas mileage is important for my miles to ski areas and MTB trails. Seems the xterra has been a perfect choice for my investment 😎😎😎. Great videos! Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! If you look back at some of my older videos, I used to have a second gen Xterra and so there are definitely some ideas in those vids that might help you with your build! Welcome to the Nissan fam and enjoy it!
I agree! Titan swapped Xterras & Frontiers are AWESOME! But, my '09 X OR has been a bulletproof overland rig. I've managed to eeek through some tough stuff where a burlier rig would have been ideal. But, that's like 0.01% of my routes. Meanwhile, for the other 99.99% of the route, my Xterra has been a champ! I figured, any saved cost = more time off work & more gas money which = bigger better adventures. 🍻
Exactly! Glad you got what I was saying. Everyone seems to think I'm saying you should never titan swap a Nissan and I'm really specifically talking about whether the cost is worth it for most Overlanding, :D. I miss my Xterra all the time. All of the 4.0 trucks are pretty great though!
Titanswapped 17 MT on 35s. Fine on really long trips. More comfortable day to day. Fantastic articulation in all circumstances. Would never go back. Also getting the Dana m205 with titan CVs and heim steering makes the truck significantly stronger. If your downsides are it's worse on gas and wider I don't get why you are into offroading.
Haha, agree with you. I don’t care and I’m willing to pay the extra money for gas, tires, etc. But when most people ask if they should take their stock Frontier or Xterra and Titan swap it for most Overlanding (different from off-roading) I would say in most cases it’s unnecessary.
Maybe i can add a view from europe... At first, we are not allowed to do a titan swap here. Btw, you can technicly do a titan swap also on the pathfinder. However, the technicle Inspektor will say no to this modification. You would never ever get a car like this on the streets (or trails) in europe. We are not even allowed steel bumpers. But even if we were allowed to do this, i still wouldnt do this. I am living in mid Germany. And in germany it is totally forbidden to drive offroad, exept for some dedicated offroad parks. So to get anywhere, where i can finally get of the road and do some wheeling, i first have to drive 1000km or more. This is quite a distance. So i want to stay there several days and I want to do as much offroad as i can. So for example... in Juli i am gonna drive to the pyrenees. This is 1500km to get there and of course 1500km to get back. As well as 2000km in the pyrenees, which will contain around 1000km (light) offroad. 5000km in total. Therefor i need a reliable truck. I dont want to break down several countrys away from home. And nothing is more reliable than stock. And cause of this, the truck stays stock. Only slightly bigger tires. I even cut down on Equipment whereever i can, to stay under the allowed wheight, so the weight doesnt cause any trouble to the drivetrain or the suspension. I didnt even lift the truck... and it is challanging here and there... i often need to stack rocks under the path or something like this... but on the other end, isnt this the whole thing about offroading? The easier it is to get through those trails, the more i have to search for a trail which is challenging for me. I mean, isnt it more exciting when it is sketchy? By the way, the alps, the pyrenees, the kaparthien mountains... they all need thinner cars. The turning circle of the pathfinder is bad from factory... no need to make it worse.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Over here, the default seems to be “bigger is better” (and even I was drawn to my truck because of the Titan swap but when people ask if I would recommend spending the money and doing it, for most people and most of the “overlanding” we have here, you could do the vast majority of it cheaper and more reliably with a 2.5” lift and 33” tires. Again, thanks for sharing your experience! Hope you get to take more of those trips even though they’re a lot of driving!
Cost is negatable there are some frontier/ xterra kits that are right inline with the cost of a titan swap. The real question if thinking about titan swap is what do you plan to do with your vehicle. This question gets missed by a lot of people when building their rigs. The biggest lift and heavy parts might not be best for your weekend trips on dirt/gravel roads. Titan swap is more of a performance swap imo. When it comes to Rock crawling and technical trails. Yes stock replacement lift parts can handle most that as well. Driver experience is learned as well on how your rig will act in situations. Seat time is the only fix for that.
Yep, totally agree with you. I love my TS'ed truck, but for most people in the US getting into Overlanding, it's not really necessary. Now, if you want max travel and the ability to run 35's or above, then it might make sense, depending on your goals. Appreciate the thought and feedback here!
Love my Titan swap for going to the desert. I don’t have 4wd. With the proper swap you gain even more travel. Then put a lift spindle and you don’t need so much lift and for going through the desert makes it smooth
2004 Xterra 3.3L V6 (non-SC) auto trans 4WD. Bought it with 2-3" suspension lift. It looks and works nice as-is. Highway mileage ranges from 17 to 21, depending mostly on speeds. 17 or 18 at 65-70, and 21 around 55. I like the looks of yours, but never gave any thought to why I would or wouldn't want to Titan--swap mine. Although, since it's a Gen1, not a Gen2, the swap would likely be hard or impossible to do.
The Titans swap definitely has some pros but I think in a lot of instances it’s kind of overkill. I do love it though. I’m sure your first GEN does just fine with the lift!
(2013 nissan frontier SV 4x4 Titan swapped) Very good understanding for the Overland world BUT here's my personal reasoning for my truck being titan swapped. I live in Florida not very much hard wheeling around here its a lot of sugar sand so the titan swap was a great alternative for a long travel/mid travel set up to deal with higher speeds needed. locally around me i seem to find a large amount more of titan parts and titans at junk yards over any frontier or xterra. I run a 17Inch Vors Wheels off of a Tacoma with custom 1 inch wheel adapters running a 265/70R/17 sits great also have a decent amount of wheel clearance averaging at 50-60MPH getting 18-22MPG and when around 70-80MPH i get 14-16MPG deepening on wind direction and this being at sea level. I looked into titan swap also using the Infinite QX80 Axle shafts that are thicker then stock shafts. Been running it for 2 years now with the fox 2.0 set up i had before, is it the best shock set up NO. added a 1 inch top spacer on the fox 2.0 but it gives me a decent amount of travel and it sits pretty level with a 2 inch lift in the rear never had any reason to change it for my purpose don't need the best of the best shocks most of its off-road life again is sugar sand and drive on beaches with the few times i needed to go threw ditches or areas i achieved a ample amount of wheel travel (Flex) without needing to activate lockers or even 4x4. Little different reasoning but when you explained when you where close to a tree and almost tipped over little confused on that subject cause technically the wider you are the more balance you'll have unless of course the angle was more because of the shape of the drop to the stock length of the frontiers to a titan swap or just being top heavy. I know this video is about why you Shouldn't but i looked at it as look at all the other vehicles out they're Tacoma's mostly and for them to have a 3inch plus lower control arm long travel/ mid-travel set up they cant go to a junk yard or auto parts store to get any parts for it where a titan swap it is still possible. So yes in a reason titan swap is not great for overlanding in some standings however is a great Prerunner dune rider set up for the average person (For the whole auto stores getting confused iv always told them i need this part for a 2013 nissan titan or for a 2013 nissan frontier and no ones had a problem with being confused)
That’s a good sub-genre to call out. For long travel needs, the Titan swap is a great option. I’m in the Midwest, so for me it’s mostly tight trails and lots of highway to get to a destination, so it makes less sense. Love all the detail and explanation in your comment so thanks for sharing!
good advice! Indeed, I have a 2019 PRO-4X with an Old Man Enu lift and better 32" AT tires - like having you cake and eating it too - the 1-3/4" lift in front = 11" of clearance (up from 9-1/4" stock); the 2-3/4" lift in back nets 16" to the bottom of my hitch receiver when empty and 15" when loaded (the truck sets level when towing or loaded for overland) NO gas milage penalty and I get to keep my front sway-bar. It is my understanding that a Titan Swap on a Frontier requires half shafts from an Infinity that wasn't designed for wheeling a 35" tire. One of my You-tube contacts with a Titan swap snaped his half-shaft rock crawling.
Thanks! Definitely depends on what you want, but I think for most Overlanding (in the US anyway), it's an unnecessary expense. Don't get me wrong, I love the truck and I use it for Overlanding, but if I had to decide whether to Titan swap it or not, I'd probably do something similar to you and just do a decent lift and call it a day.
I'm t swap on 33s with only 2.5in of lift over stock. It's a good middle ground. Low enough to be stable, fits in parking garages. Buttt still tons of travel and more plush off road
My 2nd gen was Titan swapped and it's awesome, as I mention in the video. When I was overlanding that Titan swapped truck though, I used to get a lot of questions from folks about whether they should Titan swap their trucks for Overlanding. So, that's where this video came from. Just to say if you're just hitting gravel forest service roads and not really trying to wheel, you would probably be just fine with a normal 2.5" lift via normal, less expensive lift kits. But I do love the Titan swapped truck (and still have it).
I had a Chevy S10 that was a Frankenstein like that. I had a ford explorer rear dif. 98 camaro front brakes and a small block V8 so the parts store really loved me.
Titan Swap is expensive? I was a college student, working for $9 an hour back in 2009 when I did my Titan Swap. I want to say I spent $1200? To make a Titan Swap work just buy the OEM control arms, CV Axle, tie rod ext., longer brake lines, OEM coilovers with a spacer lift, etc.... it can get expensive if you go aftermarket name brands. And even then, it could be done for under $2,500. Between, I'm still on frontier rotors and brakes. For anyone interested in doing a Titan Swap, just visit the clubfrontier forum. And I'm on stock gears with 33" tires and get 17-18 mpg on the highway. 35" is overkill. Stick with 33" and you'll have minimal trimming and the truck still looks awesome with 33s. But yes, I do agree with the downside of a wider stance truck on trails. As an overland vehicle, midsize stance is what I'd go after too. Lifted Rubicon, Xterra, FJ are perfect overland vehicles.
Yeah, good points. There's a big swing in cost depending on how you do the Titan swap. Also agree 35's are overkill for most things. I do like the extra clearance and have been able to do some stuff my old Xterra on 33's couldn't touch, but if we're being honest, in the last year that I've owned this truck, I've maybe hit trails 3 or 4 times where the extra tire size was beneficial.
As someone with a titan-swapped rig the track width increase is is barely noticeable when it comes to navigating 'tight' trails and I wheel in the PNW/alaska and other mountainous terrain. If you want to experience a real long-travel setup that will actually increase the track width check out CJD's long travel kit, 8" longer per side and cycles 17" 4wd and 19" 2wd- you'll notice that track width then.
I have a 2019 pro4x but I wouldn't titan swap it because of my ocd. I don't want to cut my vehicle, I don't want the tires sticking out of the wheel wells, and the difference in the offset from front to rear bugs me.
Yep, totally get it. I ended up actually swapping in a rear axle from a Titan to make it equal, front to back. Not worth the money really, but it did solve that problem while also serving the purpose of replacing the stock axle, which I had broken, haha.
Good video brother! First one I've seen giving an opinion on why NOT to TS. I totally agree with you, mostly on your last point. If you're not hitting gnarly trails and needing that much improved wheel travel, TS is not necessary. I ran some really challenging trails in SoCal with only a lift from strut spacers and rear shackles, with no locker, and did fine. But to each their own.
Yeah, again, I literally own one and I love it. I'm not anti-Titan swap, but I have people ask me all the time if they should do it and rather than saying "YEAH" blindly, I usually ask where they live and what type of trips they take. Almost 100% of them say that they hit gravel roads and daily their vehicles, so in those cases, I would say to save your money and spend it elsewhere. I love mine, but I try to go to extremes and think it's mostly overkill for the majority of what I do, :D.
I have a 2011 PRO-4X that's lifted, bumpered with legit sliders and armored with a Snap TREEHOUSE on the back. While I do like the look of a Titan swap and after looking into how I use my PRO-4X mostly as a daily driver & overlanding rig, a Titan swap would be expensive overkill that wouldn't really suit my style of driving/exploring.
Yeah, kind of my thought too. Nothing wrong with it and I love my Titan swapped truck, but if it just had a 2.5-3" lift and 33's, it would probably be close to the same, capability wise.
Same year manual. I drive it daily and a ts might just be too much although I live in Co right next to trails. Still contemplating it once my current setup is shot in 20- 30,000 miles.
Me been a Nissan guy as well as I am currently on to my 2nd 1st gen Xterra and currently on 33s and I can say this I'm happy with the way it performs over all and if I was to do anything different at this point it be to go full locked and SAS but then it be trailered to and from most places, that been said I do currently drive my Xterra as a daily for the most part and even enter it in car shows during the spring to fall months when we are not exploring and camping. As you stated about been wider I can vouch for BIGGER or WIDER is not always the best for most overland adventures as I was running a 15x12 rim with 13.5 wide tire and I got hung up more than anything, did it look cool .... Well yeah but it was not easy on the trails and constantly cleaning it was a pain as well lol. But your build is yours and mine is mine we build to what we like and in most cases it's trial and error you just have to find what works for you.
Totally agree with you. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t really care if it’s practical. As a Nissan person, I love it. But when people ask if they should do it, i think it really depends on their goals and location.
Haha! I mean, I have a Titan swapped truck, so I like fun. But if people are looking at how to prioritize their budget, for overlanding, there’s a lot of stuff you could spend Titan swap money on to go overlanding instead of a Titan swap and get to 95% of the same places.
Ok this will long hear me out, back in 2010 I was rocking a 98 Jeep Cherokee for my off-roader, this was well before overlanding was my primary type of off-road travel. I had a budget build with a narrow track, at the time it was very popular to use spacers for a wider track however following the super swamper concept I opted for modesty in height at about 4" and standard width plus 2" for wider tires. I was able to navigate obstacles a bit better on this specific and at the time technical trail than the pro builds as the trails in my area tend to be narrow. However, my center of gravity was higher and I had a high rollover risk because of this. So about 4 years ago when I started building my Frontier I took the same approach and wanted to stay reasonably skinny, since adding the YUcca Pac Camper though I sometimes find myself wondering if the wider track would help with off-camber stabilization, however, while down in Moab this past couple of weeks I decided against the Tswap after 2 years of consideration for this very same reason. The truck handles the weight well and although my rollover pitch limit is now higher the type of off-road trails I take do not meet a crawler standard. The moral of the story, let your needs dictate your equipment, don't let your wants dictate your needs. Great video dude, I don't comment nearly as often as I should but I'm always watching from across the interwebs, keeping the Nissan fire going, great video my guy, and sorry for the novel haha.
Hey buddy, I appreciate the thought (and the novel). Totally agree. Granted, I bought my truck partially Titan swapped and it's pretty badass, but if I were building a truck from stock, I just don't know that I could justify the expense for MOST Overlanding. Again, I did it because I bought the truck built, but I wanted to put out this video because of the prevalence of "just Titan swap it" going around everywhere without consideration for the use case. Totally agree with your sentiment that it really depends on your needs, hence my argument that most people really don't need a T-swap for most Overlanding. Queue the haters that disagree with me, :D.
Just watched your video and subscribed as well. I just purchased an 05 xterra 4wd and I’m looking for ideas to build an overland rig. Your channel has a ton of content and I’ll be watching them to get some ideas. Thanks 🙏 👍
Your fuel economy is pretty crazy. Take a look at getting the Hypertech Speedo Calibrator. It's hard to explain but it changes the shift points on the auto transmission. Our T-swapped Frontier on 35s fully armored with a canopy and RTT gets around 15-17.5 mpg on the highway. But you are 100% correct. We took our stock Frontier almost every place we have taken our T-swapped truck. It's easier to do those trails now, but both versions did the same trails except for 2. Another point is with that tire poke, you get a lot of mud and road grime all over your truck, camping gear, bed, RTT, even if you are not trying to drive like a mud bogger. That was not an issue when we were stock, and the only options for full coverage flares are almost the same price as a full titan swap.
Great points! I’ve got some plans to help with the gas mileage coming in the next few months but I’ll also look into the Hypertech for sure. Thanks for the info!
Great video; especially for me as I'm planning on buying and building out either a new Frontier, or an X-terra (I previously owned a 2000 X-terra) specifically for overlanding as well as for use as a daily driver. I had been considering going the Titan swap route, but as a result of your video I think I will forego that and concentrate on building a good overlanding rig. If possible, could you do a video or three on building out either (or both) of these vehicle types for that combination of everyday use plus overlanding? I think a lot of folks, in particular those of us new to overlanding, would greatly appreciate it.
There are lots of great options in the Nissan vehicle lineup. I actually just picked up a brand new 2023 frontier that I’m gonna be building out but doing what you’re talking about and keeping it more stock and not planning to titan swap it. I’m sure I will definitely talk about the benefits of keeping it more stock as I build this new truck also!
It ALL comes down to tire size. If you are staying at 33" the TS is just more headache/maintenance. I live in NH. 33s can do everything in the north EXCEPT private hardcore parks. Also my Frontier on 33s has more difficulty than my xterra on 33s. Because wheelbase. The shorter length lets the X pick more lines, where the Frontier has to just forge onward. Only reason I keep considering 35s. Which may result in some sawzall&hammer time.
TS frontier on 33's owner here. I personally don't overland, but I do occasionally do day trips around the PNW. I agree with some things and disagree with other things. I think quite a few of your issues were related to going to 35's and not related to TS, because my mpg stayed at 15 when I did the titan swap. You mentioned that the track width increases making it harder to fit in places, but the turning radius also improves, and makes it easier to make turns that you couldn't before. I also think your almost tipping event shouldn't count, because there may be a different situation that you'll get in where you would feel fine, and those other vehicles may be nearly tipping over. You mention that parts are hard to find, but the only custom parts are usually just the coilovers, not to mention the Titan parts are quite a bit beefier to begin with. All in all, I personally don't regret my TS, but I can also understand that it's not for everyone.
All great points! And you're right, the 35's are a bigger contributor to the MPG's than the Titan swap itself. I just know that the Titan swap was specifically done for longer travel suspension and the ability to fit the 35" tires. Proper gearing or a VK swap would remedy it, but then that's an additional cost. I love my Titan swapped truck, but think people need to think about priorities and whether it is something they really need. A small lift and 33's can be achieved without TS'ing and that would suit most people doing Overlanding trips just fine. Thanks for the great feedback!
I have a titan rear end in mine now and the reason most people don't do it is the cost. I ended up finding a Titan M226 rear end without a locker for about $1500. Had to buy the offset axles to install a locker ($500). Bought the stock style spicer e-locker and install kit ($1800ish). Then paid a shop to move the leaf spring mounts to match the width of the Frontier and install it all and I was probably about $6K total into it after labor and misc. little stuff needed to install it. So, most people just keep the stocker Frontier rear axles and put on 2" spacers (with adapters to make the lug pattern 6x139.7 like the front axles on a Titan swapped truck).
08 Titan swapped Xterra. Primarily over landing but I get myself into tough situations on my own where the swap really helps. I still have Xterra brakes and use 31.5” tires. Average 17 mpg. The swap is not the problem. The problem is your particular swap. Only 3” wider stance on each side. Still smaller than most 4x4s and certainly was not the cause of your almost rollover. Too much weight up high or driver error (we’ve all been there). I did the swap because of the stock rollover potential. So much more stable now. All 4 wheels stay on the ground. Build to what you want. I built to get a more capable overlander and got it. You might want to rethink your build if you don’t like it.
Yeah, weight up high definitely contributed to the almost flop. And good point on building to what you want. I bought the truck this way, but will definitely be making some changes. I actually really like the truck a lot and I like to get into more technical and challenging trails too, so the Tswap is good for me. I don't dislike the swap at all, but I guess my point with the video was that for most people hitting gravel roads, the additional expense and capability may not be worth it. All good points in your comment! Thanks for the feedback!
@@AllThingsOverlanding I often consider going to 33's and then regearing for the gas milage hit because of it but my wife and I just did a 3 week CA. AZ. UT. trip without any problems. We went wherever we wanted in a fully loaded Xterra and never got stuck. Partially because of the articulation from the swap. If I were you I would go down to 33" or less for almost all trails and slap those 35's back on for when you are definitely going rock crawling. I've found that you only need 33" or above when the trail is the destination and the goal not the way to get to where you are going.
Was thinking of swapping my Xterra Offroad, but decided to keep the running gear stock. I just added a 2.5" lift, 1.5" spacers, and larger tires. Performs off road well, and looks cool.
@@Outlaw_Media Congrats to your buddy! Mine is titan swapped, so it's got Radflow 2.5" coilovers meant for a Titan up front (650lb springs) up front. Then in the back, it's got Old Man Emu heavy duty leafs with Nisstec shackles and Bilstein 5100 shocks.
I actually own a Titan Pro-4x, but still really miss my old Frontier. Kind of want to just finish paying this one off, so I can buy a project Frontier. 😅
I Have a Titan Swapped Xterra running 295/75R-16 tires. No upper fender trimming, no titan brake swap. A couple key reasons I swapped: With the typical extended travel lift, using Radflo coilovers (tuned by PRG) and SPC UCA's that I had before. It was impossible to get proper alignment in my case as the I was maxing out the adjustments just to get 'close'. Resulting in bad handling and bad tire wear. Where with the Titan Swap I have a wider adjustment range and perfect alignment. The other key reason, is ride quality on potholed and washboarded rough roads is immensely improved due to increased droop, as you are not topping out your suspension. Worth noting, you do not have to swap the titan spindles and brakes either. So you dont need to have a frankensetup with brakes/wheels etc, like he describes here with parts. OEM titan/Armada suspension parts are easy to source and affordable if/when needed. You will give up some stability on pavement but its a huge improvement in ride offroard, not just on the knarliest of trails. Find yourself on 5hrs of washoard rd out in the desert, and you'll be grateful you have a TS. Necessary? no. Would I do it again? 100%. We all use our vehicles a little differently. I dont agree with the blanket comment of, dont TS for overlanding.
All great points! Definitely just my opinion as I get asked a lot by folks "Should I Titan swap my truck?" Also, I'm in the midwest so while we do get some washboard roads, it's definitely not to the tune of 5 hours of consecutive driving on them, so that's a great point. Thanks for the comment!
@@thorpe31 Not harsh at all! I mean, if I'm being honest, I'm not going to pretend like I didn't think I'd get a lot of strong opinions one way or the other, but it's great to hear all the different view points! Appreciate the thought and discussion!
ha..nice video. I had an 06' Xterra and always wanted to do a titan swap. but after looking at the cost, decided not to. wanted to do the front diff as well. now I have a 23' frontier pro4x. I just got an all dogs lift and will leave it mostly stock, besides mild lift and tires. then maybe in a few years, 3-5, I may do a titan swap. its my daily driver...and brand new. lol
Right, I just got a 23 Pro-4X too and I had that exact same thought. Just gonna do the ADO RC Killa lift to start for a few years and then we'll see. Their Fox shock lift is super nice too so maybe after some miles, it'll make sense to upgrade to that.
You didn't mention regearing the differentials. You don't have to for 35" tires. But ... your gas mileage will be garbage unless you put it back to the stock gear ratios. Those gears used to be available. I'm not sure if they are anymore, due to the Xterra being discontinued.
You can definitely buy gears for these diffs and you’re right that the gas mileage is garbage. You just have to get around the initial cost of regearing.
I’m an owner of a 2022 Frontier and can’t relate. It would be great if and when your explaining your side, you should point it out physically on your truck. I was planning to pick up an older model Frontier to do this swap, the in’s and out!! Thanks
Those 2022's are nice. Congrats! Like I said in the video, it just kind of depends on your application. If you've got a 2022 for most easier stuff and light Overlanding trips, then it might make sense to go through the additional work and expense of Titan swapping an older Frontier for more aggressive trails and rock crawling. The purpose of this video was to talk about pros and cons and why Titan swapping for most "overlanding" might not make sense.
I've been debating whether or not to titan swap, I do want a little tire poke to help keep the sides off of dirt walls, but I wasn't sure if I wanted three inches of tire poke. Lol. But also want to swap an m205 front diff, and v8 pathfinder axles are quite pricy, and titan ones are a bit cheaper. Being near the Ozarks, I could definitely use the extra articulation and ground clearance, but also afraid of the wider track width would make it harder to navigate some spots. I'll probably still end up titan swapping eventually, but probably will stay on 33s
I think that makes sense. I did not realize how much tire prices bumped up from 33's to 35's! I plan to keep the truck for the next 6-8 years at least so I'm liking the Tswap and planning some other upgrades to help with reliability. Then it should be good to go for a while. Good luck with whatever you end up doing!
I replaced my gen1 Xterra with a V8 R51 Pathfinder fairly recently. I know the R51 isn't well renown for it's off-road ability compared to the Xterra because of it's IRS. I went that route for the factory V8 but also the better interior and a few features that I had in my gen1 (sunroof). In my quest to build it into a proper off-road rig (bit not a dedicated trail truck) while keeping it usable for long trips and towing. In my researching and asking questions, being suggested to do a Titan/Armada swap is very popular and apparently makes a big improvement in off-road performance. I personally don't want to go that route. First is width; I've been on trails with my gen1 where I've folded my mirrors in, or just squeezed through, and I'd like to keep that advantage, although the R51 is 2.4" wider, it shouldn't be an issue. Also living here in Quebec, they can be REALLY picky on tires that stick out from the fenders. I don't want big, ugly fender flares. I like the more "sleeper", unassuming look, especially here in Quebec Nissans are shuned. Unless you're a Toyota or Jeep, or one of the big 3 in the full size, it's crap. I'm going the route of front and rear lockers. My gen1 was open diffs with a manual transmission and a really flexible rear axle and did amazing on the trail. I've out-wheeled Wranglers and Titan-Swapped Pro-4X Xterras.
Nissans are shuned ? well that's their loss ! lol. Xterras are definitely better than Jeeps and on par with Toyota 4 runners ! I've owned 6 jeeps and never again ! Electronics are crap thanks Chrysler. and 3 Toyotas TDRs, great rigs but over priced. I now have a 2006 Xterra off road and am very happy with its off road performance, price vaule and reliability something lacking in the Jeeps !
How can i increase my C200 rear dif ratio on my 2011 frontier 2.5liter. i have 4.1 gears i think. I get stuck with a 2500 lb trailer when ever i stop on a moderate hill. I have to slip the clutch a lot. I understand there are some C200 diffs with 4.625 ratio and i would like that ratio. Or can i bolt on the H233b from the older frontiers which they came with 4.9 rear ratios some of them
Hey there, I wouldn't call myself any sort of rear diff expert and I'm not sure what all gears come in the different axles. I know there's some info on clubfrontier that might be helpful: www.clubfrontier.org/search/1083166/?q=rear+diff+gearing&o=relevance. Then this is also a great reference video for info on these rear diff/axle options: ruclips.net/video/S_v3tRs1nAY/видео.htmlsi=ZlZ8oCeFPDBGnZPp. Hope that helps!
@@AllThingsOverlanding i found info that the C200 difs came with up to 4.63 ratios, i am quite sure i have 4.1 so maybe i need to find gears from one of these. 4.63 would be good enough the 4.9 might be too much
Don't own one have a gen 1 but have done the math on it. The negatives for me are as follows. No sway bars, Aftermarket coil over shocks that use heim joints that need consistent rebuilds in the rust belt, high offset causing issues with everything from door dings to parking. Front width not matching the rear so it will track less effectively in deep snow or ruts.
thats not entirely true , on a second gen you can barely tell the difference with or without the sway bars , Heim joints are a choice , you do not have to use those . door dings your gonna get on the trail anyway , and parking .. i mean you fit in a space , not that hard. rear width can be fixed by a adaptor , or if you do it properly use the M226 Rear end from a titan , like the whole titan swap is supposed to have anyway.
Definitely pros and cons and for some it might make sense based on what they want and for others not so much. I love mine, but could easily do 95% of the trails I’ve done in a moderately lifted truck with 33’s.
I don’t really get where this whole it’s not a real Titan swap if it’s not both axles argument comes from. And when you add in the additional cost of sourcing the Titan axle, install, etc. then it makes the swap even more expensive, which again, could be a negative for some.
I have an 08 Navara, same as the Frontier but built for the international market...RHD, 6 sp manual with the YD25tti diesel...How much wider is the track after a swap? I dont need 35s but is any cutting necessary for fitting 33s? Not swap related but I hate the limited wheel choices for the 6x114.3, any experince using adapters to use 6x139.7 wheels? Thanks in advance
Those Navaras are sweet. You shouldn’t need to cut for 33’s but when flexing and the extra width I’m not sure you wouldn’t have contact. Maybe with a lift you’d be ok. I would say the track is probably 3-4” on each side wider.
I have a fully Titan swapped Xterra. Titan rear axle, 06 Titan brakes, 4.56s, 35s, manual transmission. Any time you go that big, you're obviously going to take a hit in the MPG space. However. The advantages of the swap greatly outweigh the downsides. Yes. It's wider. But the extra width makes removing the sway bars negligible. Even for street driving. The travel and dampening in the front end makes the truck a lot smoother and rough roads, fire roads, washboard roads, etc. The rear suspension is notoriously soft in factory form. Titan swap or not, upgrading the rear springs/shocks is crucial to the process. I ran the 35s on the stock 3.69 gears and the MPGs were easily single digits everywhere and 6th gear was completely useless. Upgrading to the 4.56s made an amazing difference in the streetability of the truck, 6th gear is back in play, and MPGs are ALMOST stock. 4.56s are a bit too much for the automatic if you're doing a lot of highway driving, due to only having 5 gears. My opinion is that 4.10s are the optimal for the automatic and 35s. The major advantage to going full titan is the brakes. The 04-06 Titan brakes are HUGE compared to the stock Xterra/Fronty units. It does require a 17" wheel for clearance in the front and obviously changes the lug pattern. And if you were comfortable running 18" wheels you could go to 07+ brakes and get even bigger. Of course to do it right requires changing the brake booster and master cylinder so you can move more fluid to correctly operate the larger calipers. However. The stopping power of those larger brakes on the smaller lighter truck is amazing. Even with the 35s, my truck will stop on a dime. I am a lot more confident in the braking ability of the vehicle in on and off road situations.
All great points. Even just with front Titan brakes on mine, it’s night and day over my Xterra. It is slightly limiting in that I have to run 17” wheels plus but there are quite a few Toyota or a Chevy wheels that would work. Overall I really love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Great point about the width and suspension for washboards. Hadn’t thought about that!
I want this but have purposely put off any research due to many other projects in front of it. 2012 manual Xterra pro-4x.. what is a good resource to start down this rabbit hole guys?
@@uploadtime1780 I learned the most on thenewx.org and clubfrontier.org. I believe the screen name of the guy dropping all the knowledge was Sinister06 (or something like that). Just search Titan swap and when you see that name, you’ll know you’re in the right spot. 😀
@@AllThingsOverlanding appreciate it man. I'm registered in thenewx I believe.. must resist the rabbit hole. I have the nismo front and rear bumpers on order since last year.. I was told I am #6 a few weeks ago so eventually those are coming and I'll need suspension once it does.
@@uploadtime1780 Good luck with whatever you end up doing! Titan swap definitely has some pros but a good suspension lift would also be fine and less involved. Just depends on your goals and needs!
Haha, I mean if you just take the other side of my argument here, that's why, :D. Basically the pros are listed in some comments on this video. There are actually a lot of pros to Titan swapping, I was just pointing out why it's not really necessary for most overlanding uses. But, if you want to wheel your truck, it gets you a wider stance, slightly tougher components, and a relatively low cost long travel suspension set up on a Frontier. This truck is a ton of fun offroad, it's just overkill for most overlanding trips, :D.
Im not into overlanding. I get maybe a weekend here or there to go wheeling. Majority had been dirt roads with mud and wster crossing. Currently have a 12 pro4x 6mt. 31" bfgs, 2" all dog suspention lift. Recently started going on what some consider jeep parks. Last weekend i did rausch creek greens and blues with a bunch of jks and a yj. While armor is definitly to come aside from cutting more of the body which i dont mind it seems i wiuld top out at a 33" tire for a 16" wheel. I was thinking tswap to run a 35 because i was laying frame on a bunch of obsticals but didnt get stuck. Even pulled a jk out of a spot but id rather not be rubbing
Yeah, the titan swap is valuable if you want to run bigger tires. Still requires some cutting for 35's but it's a great option with some additional benefits as well.
I think what people really want to hear about is the electronics. How does the Titan swap affect the vehicle computer and all the warning lights. IMO, that's where you'd have the biggest problem, and it will be very difficult to find someone knowledgeable about how to interface with the vehicle's computer, and change the proper things for the Titan swap.
You may be confusing Titan swap V8 swap. With the Titan swap, it’s just the suspension components, so no computers are involved. If you do a V8 swap, it is a little more complex and you need a custom harness to make the frontier display everything correctly but it’s still pretty straightforward.
@@AllThingsOverlanding Nissan computers are pretty complex, and difficult to deal with, even at the dealership. That's been my experience. Wheel speed sensors, etc all could go into causing a bunch of warning lights. Currently, my 4Lo and rear locker work fine, but the lights continue flashing when I go into 4Lo and engage the rear locker. The lights are supposed to stop flashing. The dealer couldn't figure it out, so they didn't even charge me for it. I doubt they even disconnected the wiring harness from the transfer case to clean it, or look for problems. My search for a decent Nissan off-road mechanic continues. 🙁
@@AllThingsOverlanding if I can't find a decent Nissan Off-Road mechanic around my area (Northern VA), I'm considering driving long distances for maintenance. I suspect in CO, CA, or other Western States, they're much easier to find. Round trip to Denver would be 4,000 miles. If I can find someone in PA (they have Nissan wheeling clubs there), that would be much better. Mechanics around me are effing worthless.
@@AllThingsOverlanding BTW, due to disabilities, I don't do true off-roading anymore. Where I live, I'd have to drive 4+ hours to even get to a place that allows off-roading. The ability to drive over stuff does come in handy, though, even in suburbia. I used to live in Fort Collins, CO. If I still lived there, I'd definitely put some parts money into my Pro-4X. For now, a 2" lift with 33" mud tires is sufficient. I just need someone competent to keep the truck running well for me. I just got the fluids replaced in both diffs and the t-case, as well as an oil change and regular maintenance. The dealership was actually the least expensive quote. They were supposed to rotate my tires and perform an alignment. They refused to do it, because they didn't put the lift on my Xterra. Completely worthless.
Being over built for Overlanding isn’t necessarily a bad thing, which is part of why I bought this truck, Titan swapped, but to your point sometimes too many mods can lead to less reliability. Also, there are a lot of ways to spend the money that you could spend on a titan swap that would get you to more places more comfortably.
This was in my suggested feed and based on the title I will not be watching. Titan swapping your frontier or Xterra is the best thing you can do for your suspension on a budget and has many benefits. Don't need to list them. If you know you know and if you don't then do some research and find out that it's the best thing to do for mid travel and giving your truck better handling off-road.
Haha, ok, no pressure. If you actually read the title, it says why you shouldn't Titan swap your Xterra or Frontier for Overlanding though, not offroading. There's a difference and in a lot of cases it's a large expense with few payoffs if you're just hitting gravel forest service roads. Of course if you want to take the truck wheeling, it's a great way to get the benefits you mentioned, but again, this video is focused primarily on Overlanding.
Ok so I just joined the Nissan family by purchasing a ‘07 Xterra and I’ve been watching a lot of RUclips vids and researching the whole titan swap thing. I think I’ve made up my mind to do it but my question is that including the motor as well?? Mine stock had the 4.0 v6 but ide like to put a v8 in her, but I haven’t read or heard the first thing about the engine itself being swapped as well. Just the suspension stuff! Any answers, suggestions, words of wisdom, negative or positive experiences with this, feel free to comment or message me. I’m really interested in this and I love my truck so far, even though the way it is bone stock!!
Welcome to the family and good question! So, a "titan swap" is usually just defined as swapping over the suspension components. If you go to thenewx.org or clubfrontier.org you can search for Titan Swap and you'll find lots of info in there on that. If you wanted to VK56 swap the truck (the engine swap part) it is actually surprisingly easy. The motors both use the same motor mounts. The trickiest part is getting a custom wiring harness made to make the two motors communicate (but you can get that through a company called Offroad Gorilla for about $500) and then installing the engine and fan shroud. But again, if you search those sites for VK swap, you'll find tons of info on that. There's also a guy named Brennan that you'll see mentioned who's out of Ohio who does the full swaps, but he's pretty busy and can be hard to get a hold of. If you can reach him though and can get on his schedule, he can do everything for you for a fee. Hope that helps but check out those forums for more info! Tons out there.
This a totally unrelated comment. I was at CVS today, and took a look at the Consumer Reports ratings for the brand new 2023 Frontier. It did not rate well. Thats to be expected of a 1st year model. But, Nissan MPGs are still terrible compared to the competition. C'mon Nissan! Dont get me wrong, Nissan makes reliable drive trains. I'm not a huge fan of all the twin turbos and fancy computer control for extra MPGs, but Nissan could definitely do better.
Yep, I recently picked up a 2023 Frontier Pro-4X and I've been getting (with mostly city driving) about 19.5 MPG. On the highway, depending on where I'm going and how hilly it is, I've been averaging low 20's. Still not the best, but significantly better than the old outdated 5 speed auto (new truck has a 9 speed).
@@AllThingsOverlanding yes, it has the 3.8_L naturally aspirated V6 they put in the 2020 Frontiers, and paired it with what I believe is a new 9 speed transmission. After seeing all the problems vehicle manufacturers are having with these fancy twin turbo engines that get great power and better MPGs, I'm fine with a standard V6 with a good transmission. Still, compared to the competition (Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado), the new Frontier doesn't have all the fancy stuff and high factory ground clearance those mid-size trucks have. I believe it gets worse MPGs than all 3. That's fine with me, provided Nissan prices their trucks quite a bit less. In 2011, I got the top model Xterra Pro-4X, with the leather seats, for $27,500 out the door. The equivalent 4Runner was like $44K, and Toyota wasn't making deals. That decision was a no brainer, especially since the Xterra frame is so much stronger than Toyota truck frames, and the sound system is booming!
@@AllThingsOverlanding I'm surprised you bought a 1st year model. I know some people don't care. I just like a new gen vehicle to be around for 3+ years before I buy, so that they can work out all the kinks. BTW, even though I was never a fan of the grill on the old Frontier (I actually thought the old Hardbody looked better), I'm definitely not a fan of the new Frontier grill. It looks good if you plan to keep it stock, and not go off-road. But geeze, could they have made a truck with a worse approach angle? I realize those big grills are all the rage now, so a lot of it is the looks to sell vehicles. They could have struck a better compromise between looks and approach angle.
@@DDDYLN I’ve got a 2023 and 2022 was the first year, so it had some decent changes and “fixes” from 2022, but I still trust it more than any of those domestic trucks and it’s got a warranty and 218k less miles than my old truck, haha.
@@DDDYLN they’ve definitely come up in price and for the pretty loaded pro-4x it’s about mid $40k’s now. Still though, for a comparable Tacoma, Colorado, etc. they’re definitely thousands more and with turbo motors.
Looking to offroad my 2014 xterra. The only problem is my truck is basic and bone stock literally. There are no lockers, TS, not lifted matter of fact its a true base truck. My plan is to build it in my vision to take it overlanding. Any advice for someone who cant afford the offroad or 4x model but still wants to enjoy the overlanding lifestyle?
My first "overlanding" vehicle was an 05 Xterra SE with no locker and it was fantastic. Tons of ways to cheaply modify that thing and even without many mods but a small lift and bigger tires, I took it to a lot of fun places. If it helps, here's a whole playlist of my old Xterra vids with ideas for budget minded mods (just remember that most of them are optional and you can really do a lot more than you might think in your stock truck): ruclips.net/video/Zk4S9rXYsew/видео.html
I was considering doing a Titan swap because I wanted to change the ride height of my stock 2015 Frontier SV 4X4. To me, it just seems to sit lower than a pickup truck should. I was considering the coil spacers first to go the cheap route, but I was told there’s issues with Coil-Bucket contact. So I decided against it. Now that you’re saying don’t do the Titan Swap, I was thinking about the All Dogs Off-Road Lift Kit. Any suggestions??
Honestly, there are benefits to the Titan swap, but it's going to cost a decent amount of money and time to do. ADO makes great stuff and they're awesome and super helpful. If I was you, I'd give them a shout and tell them a bit about what you want to do with your truck and they can make recommendations on what would work best for you for the best price! Just tell them I sent ya, haha.
Dang. Dropping some hot controversy! Lol. Totally disagree but I can respect your opinion. I have a million comments but won’t air them all. Would be fun to have a heated 😉friendly debate on this one. I’ve had a xterra and and frontier with most suspension stages there are out there and I have a lot of thoughts.
Haha, guess so! It got kind of heated for a while. Most people overlook that the subject line includes "for overlanding" and especially as I define it in the midwest where things are a little more tame. I do love my Titan swap though, but I'm pretty sure my old Xterra with a 2.5" lift could do 80-85% of the things my truck can do. Now, if you're talking about rock crawling, different story, :D.
Well, what's your definition of overlanding in the first place? Driving hundreds of miles on maintained forest roads? Sure any stock 4x4 can do it. But take BLM "roads" full of rocks big enough to high center lower rigs or even slice away their oil pan. My overland rig is actual Titan on 35s and with 3" lift so I can blast along such roads with ease. As fast as possible, as slow as necessary. Rigs on 32-33s in my group have to chose more precise path, crawl much slower and rely on body armor. So can it be done? Sure it can. Is it fun? Not really. However the picture becomes an opposite on narrow technical OHV trails, but that is built-up Wrangler's territory, not overlanding :)
Yep, totally agree. For most “overlanders” though, I think they tend more towards gravel fire roads than rock filled BLM trails. But, if not, and clearance and travel are more important, then a Titan swap may make a ton of sense. Really just depends on your location and frequency/severity of your trips IMO.
I have a 2018 Frontier with 60k on it. Your video has lead me to think my wife was right in the beginning 😬. I should just throw a small lift with 33s, some plates and lockers. Social media at one point had me thinking I should find a donor Titan and go full Titan Swap V8+ front and rear 😂 Something I am interested in is oversized gas tank, do you know of any options?
Haha, if you tell her that, you might get some brownie points :D! I'm pretty sure Long Range America makes an auxiliary or larger replacement tank for them, but I haven't really looked into it.
I would actually love to do an Armada build. The only downside (at least where I live) is that the trails are pretty tight so full sizes get a little tougher to maneuver.
I own both now, frontier being the first. Overall the xterra is much easier to drive and navigate through trails, due to its shorter wheelbase. I thought of titan swapping the xterra, but just went with a regular suspension lift for the same reasons you mentioned.
Mind me asking what you went with? I really don’t think it’s necessary and I just bought a 15’ pro4x and wanna get a regular lift and wheels and tires soon 😅
@@ArnoldsIOS I wanted to get the ADO red konis, but they were back ordered. So I ended up getting the nisstec extended travel coil overs up front. Learned that it’s not really as advertised, even with spc uca. From my online search, even the Bilstein 5100 has a little bit more travel for less money. For the rear I have ome leaf springs, prg adjustable shackles and 5100 shocks.
Great information great video. I have a 03 frontier 3.3 supercharger 2wd. I would like to do a 4x4 conversion. Any suggestions? Like what year frontier or Xteria will directly bolt on. Mine is a manual transmission. Thanks
It's not the same frame just the same suspension dimensions. I wheel a full size Titan crew cab, with plus 4" wider each side and don't have issues or no more than anyone else in tipping over. Been wheeling for over 40 yrs. It's all technic and spotter If you're having an issue finding Titan parts... Then that would mean anyone with a titan shouldn't wheel because from what you're saying we would have an issue. Which isn't the case. I think it more in you head than anything else. I can find 35 tires all day long. Hell I run 16" rims/wheels that normally will not work with factory brakes and don't have an issue. If your buying parts just say I need titan front and frontier rear stuff. Say I'm working on two different vehicles at the same time. I think it's just in your head. Any gear head wouldn't have an issue, I guess it's for someone just getting into this and not growing up around it that would make it hard for them to wrap their heads around it. Hell I have the 6 speed manual transmission from your rig in my titan. You will not have any issue getting OEM stuff.
Yeah, good points. It's just more confusing for parts stores and things like that when trying to get the right parts and you have to keep it straight in your mind when you need Frontier parts vs. Titan parts, but you're right that Titan parts are probably just as available as Frontier parts.
@@AllThingsOverlanding also, from you point. The hardcore wheelers will have multiple spare parts. The folks that don't, I can see your point when you service as needed, that time gap between ordering parts it can get confusing. I think what you're missing in your explanation is time. It might be three years between brake changes and so on.
@@anthonylimjoco5958 Yeab, makes a ton of sense. Also, agree on the wheelers versus overlanders part, which is kind of the point of the video. For overlanding specifically, I wouldn’t say a Titan swap is super necessary. I still love it though, haha.
Thank you for the information. I have a 03 king cab 2wd manual transmission 3.3 I am thinking about a 4x4 swap. What advice and recommendations do you have for me. Thanks
Hey there, glad it was helpful! Honestly, I don't know a ton about the earlier gens and those swaps, but I'm sure there is info on clubfrontier.org on it. I would imagine it's not a super tough swap, but you'd want to make sure you know all that's involved before committing to it. Good luck!
Unfortunately, you don’t want it. The company that makes it has crazy long lead times, bad (or non-existent) communication, and often doesn’t even deliver on an order. 🥲
I just bought the components to T-swap my 2016 Pro-4x. I already have a 6" Fabtech lift with SPC UCA'S & 2.0 Radflo coilovers. I keep having trouble with tie-rods for some reason. Will a T-swap fix this problem. The tires I had were 35.5"s I went down to 33"s do they work well with the T-swap?
So, I don't want to speak out of turn because I haven't had any tie-rod issues in the last year of ownership and I'm not aware of the previous owner having any wheeling it hard out west the year before either. I would think that 33's should lessen the wear on the components so I'm sure they'll work. It's just hard to go back down from 35's to 33's for me. If the Tswap can handle 35's for 2 years in pretty aggressive wheeling applications, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to handle 33's.
@@AllThingsOverlanding it wasn't T-swaped when I ran the 35.6"s it was just the Fabtech lift 6"s the SPC UCA'S & 2.0 Radflos up front and an add-a-leaf in the rear
Very good video!! We just picked up out 2016 Frontier Pro-4X and was looking to do this. But after watching, I think we now will just get him as highas we can go without doing so.
Congrats on the truck! Those second gens are sweet. I do love my Titan swap, but you could also just do a 2.5" lift from All Dogs for significantly less and some add some 33's and get to 90-95% of the same places as a Titan swapped truck.
Thought whole point of titan swap is to get more articulation. Still think after bumper to bumper over at 72k I'll titan swap my 22 frontier pro4x but I wouldn't go 35s
Yeah, that's definitely a pro of it. My point with the video was mostly that the majority of people doing Overlanding and light trails or gravel roads don't need all that (it's the number one question I get asked). I personally love it and it's made it super capable and I wouldn't have it any other way. But for most, it's overkill and not worth the expense (in my opinion).
I'm honestly not sure whether you can swap that generation of Frontier. At least not as easily as the 05 and newer trucks. You might check clubfrontier.org to see if there is any info there!
@@AllThingsOverlanding ok thanks for your opinion and what I've looked at online I believe that it can accept 4wd components but don't know what parts it is 2wd but the transmission says it is a 4wd
I'm already Titan swapped up front! Probably will end up Titan swapping the rear eventually as an upgrade as I just broke my Frontier axle shaft last month, :D.
Is removing front and rear sway bars worth the "risk" or mushy handling in the corners at higher speeds for the increased articulation? Has anyone measured before and after to see what the actual articulation gain is? I'm in AZ, I have a 2015 Pro4x, just bought it with 2" spacer lift, bumpers, winch, sliders, armored up on bottom, 3.69 gearing, K02 285/75/16 (supposedly 32.8", but actually 31.5" at normal pressure and not sure what it is at 16 lbs which is how I''m running it off road), Locker retention doo-hickey so stays on in 2WD or 4WD regardless of speed (no auto cut-off at 5 mph). Clearance at front skid plate 10.5". Just did an organized ride with very experienced Jeep group with kitted out Rubicons. Loved it. Just wish I had 12" of clearance since i did a lot of scraping on that ride and some traction loss due to lack of articulation. Can these problems be solved without doing the Titan swap? I really don't want to go the Titan route but I'd like to join this Rubicon group on their weekly rides and be able to clear the obstacles without dragging or breaking my rig. There were no "go arounds" on the obstacles and turning around would have been almost impossible in some of the areas we were in.
The sway bar thing is just something you get used to. I definitely drive my truck differently than my car, but you just kind of get used to going a little easier in the roundabouts or on onramps. After probably 8 years of driving with no sway bars, I don't even notice anymore. With some cutting and a bigger lift, you could probably fit 35's with proper offset wheels without doing a Titan swap. From what everyone says on the forums though, that's the best/cheapest way to get everything to work right. I think if you found a good, wrecked donor truck, you could get a Titan swap done for a fairly reasonable amount, but there are a lot of variables.
Stay with 33s, 35s are to big inless your going to beef up the Xterra front differential. Did you try adding aftermarket UCAs that will clear the shock tower and longer lift coil overs that should give you more front travel.
@@beardumaw24 thanks for the input. I do have aftermarket UCAs. So are you saying with longer coil overs I'll get more tire "drop" = more articulation? I'll probably need to extend brake lines too?
@@AllThingsOverlanding thanks for the advice, I'm sure I could adapt to the new road manners...mushy cornering. What other components in the front end are more likely to break when going from 33s to 35s? And what can I do, as a driver to reduce the possibilities of that breakage when in those situations re: driver technique? Do's and Don'ts?
@@timhardman4764 Honestly, it’s likely cv’s or tie rods that would break. But the simple thing is just to go easy on it when it 4wd. Try to reduce wheel spin as much as possible and you’ll probably be fine. I try to crawl most obstacles and have never broken anything off-roading. Maybe I’m boring but I get home, haha.
@@PYROtheNomad Yeah, they do. I specifically left them out of this video because the process is different than the other two. But I love pathfinders and think they’re a great option for overlanding. Which is why I included them in this video:ruclips.net/video/Vxife-it7V8/видео.html
Unless you are going to do the titan swap sourcing and installing it isn’t going to be worth it. Unless you live near z1 off-road, nisstec or a couple other speciality Nissan companies most standard 4 wheel drive shops won’t have much if any experience doing a titan swap. Also most people put 34/35s after doing a titan swap and that just puts stress in the stock R180 front diff and if you wheel hard that diff is just on borrowed time. If you want to keep the track width you can go with the m205 diff and v8 pathfinder axles. I am currently going that route and that’s only cause an m205 was for sale like 10 minutes from a house and it was a deal I couldn’t pass up. I bought a front locker for it and I’m gonna have a professional shop refresh the m205 and do the install. Everything all together is gonna cost close to 2k. My opinion is that the front locker makes the Xterra/frontier platform far more capable than the few inches of articulation you gain from the titan swap.
Yeah, great points. The rear locker has been a game changer over my old unlocked Xterra. I'm sure if you were double locked, you could do most anything. Did you buy that new front locker that just came out?
@@mattperkins9005 I mean, I don’t have a V8, just the 4.0 V6 with beefier suspension components and bigger tires. Those apathy’s are pretty sweet but they are IFS and spring rear suspension so I imagine my Frontier has less power but more flex and suspension travel.
“Don’t do it, did I? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Do I love it? Yes. But don’t do it, you don’t need it…. But it does make it more capable, but don’t do it…. But it’s awesome though, but just don’t….
😂 to be fair, I bought the truck titan swapped and I do love it, but if I had had to source all the parts and pay for the swap myself, I would have just kept it all Frontier and used that money to upgrade all my suspension with frontier stuff and, for overlanding, it would likely be just as capable for less money.
It's crazy that your fuel mileage is that bad, unless you're talking on the trail fuel mileage for a trip combined with highway mileage?...my average daily driver + commuting mpg is 16.5-17 with a Titan swapped Xterra on 33's with a bunch of armor, winch, sliders, fridge, solar panel, etc...that definitely makes me want to stick with 33's when I go to put new tires on this year...
Also, I completely agree that my Xterra was far more "reliable" prior to Titan swapping...I've intentionally kept all of my added weight as low as possible prior to the Titan swap, and I couldn't imagine trying to wheel with a rooftop tent after Titan swapping and removing the sway bars...am I thankful for the added suspension travel and wider track width? Yes. Did it make my Xterra so much more capable? Not really. Honestly, for the cost of what I have into Titan swapping (even on a super tight budget with hand me down parts) my money would have been better served with putting on an air locker or swapping in a factory E-locker rearend...
Yeah, that's my highway average, lol. The RTT with roof boxes, 35's, etc. definitely drag it down. I could probably see a definite improvement if I was willing to go about 60 as the transmission wouldn't have to constantly downshift to make up for wind or hills, but what fun is that, :D.
Yeah, again, for wheeling, I totally get it. And, am I glad I own one even though my focus is Overlanding? Yes. But, for all the people that constantly ask me if it's worth it and if I would recommend it for Overlanding, I would say to use your money elsewhere.
I'm curious if you considered fully Titan swapping your Frontier? I have a Navara (Australia) fully Titan swapped (rear as well), it uses all Titan components underneath - (except manual gearbox and transfer case - yes I have the VK56). Saves with the confusion at service time and does add to the stability of the vehicle.. In regards to your mileage, I'm curious why you haven't upgraded your gearing? I went from the factory 3.73 centres to 4.56 - would help with over revving the engine also (which would be a big factor in your mileage)..
Yep! I’ve been doing some research into sourcing a locking Titan rear end. I just bought the truck in this configuration about 9 months ago and the previous owner had mis-installed a new timing chain which caused the vehicle to break down as I was driving it home from purchasing it. It was also my second vehicle at the time so it took a few months just to even be able to fix all the problems that came from that. Since then I’ve just been driving the truck since it’s barely been running since I bought it, but a set of gears would definitely help. Just prioritizing, now that it s running, what to do next. 😀
@@AllThingsOverlanding I've enjoyed watching you go through the ups and downs of owning a Titan swapped Frontier and your overlanding, it was people such as yourself that enticed me into making the big step of doing the swap. For me to do the swap here in Australia - I had to import everything, as the Titan wasn't/isn't available.. I believe one of your other followers - Colter Eastman, that half got it right. You do need the assistance from businesses (in my case, Nisstec, Radflo and Driven Desire) that do this swap on a daily bases for it to be worth the effort - there are a lot of pitfalls you can fall into and it does get expensive. Where I believe Colter gets it wrong is rather simple, you only go ahead with this conversion if your committed to the build and intend on keeping it for a duration that makes it viable and part of that commitment needs to be you getting your hands dirty and building it yourself (it helps when things go wrong - as you know what you're doing). I purchased everything in Denver (except the wiring & uprev), had the differentials re-built by Nisstec with the new gears and lockers front and rear everything else was sent to me for me to do the hard yards. Do your research and everything works out just fine. Most importantly you've got to enjoy getting out there..
@@rodofarrell6887 Love it! Glad you got it done and I bet your set up is a beast. You’re right that if you really love Nissan‘s and want the biggest and baddest then it is worth it. I think for most people that are into over landing it’s overkill but I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.
@@AllThingsOverlanding It's funny you say overkill, I went for the full Titan swap for the durability. Nissan built the Titan to withstand the day to day riggers of their customers - for beyond the warranty period, meaning they pass the durability test for Nissan. By using the complete drivetrain, suspension and braking systems you bring this testing into your build and hopefully this gets you home. Overlanding here (Australia) is somewhat different to most parts of the world, you can literally travel for thousands of kilometres (miles) without seeing a single person - we have no borders with foreign nations, and the next petrol (gas) station can be hundreds of kilometres (miles) away , it's a harsh deadly environment and your vehicle needs to be durable - if it isn't you better have a lot of water, shade and in an emergency a EPIRB and/or a satellite phone.
@@rodofarrell6887 Yeah, totally makes sense for your application. Over here in the states, it's unfortunately the opposite. It's hard to get away from civilization and takes a lot of effort and highway driving to get to locations where you can even access remote wilderness like that. For most American's, a Titan swap is "overkill" but I also like the heavier duty components and tend to gravitate towards those more adventurous trips. But for most American Overlanders, you could do most of the stuff we have with a stock 4x4 with a small lift and slightly bigger tires, :D. I've love to come visit Australia sometime though for sure!
Currently going up the West Coast from SoCal to the PNW in my 05 Xterra SE 4x4. I also was thinking about T-swapping prior to this trip. Couple reasons I went against it where due budget and parts sourcing. I opted for the ADO complete lift kit with Bilstein 5100s on all corners. All parts are pretty easy to buy again if they break. Added PRG tophat spacers and shackles for about 3" of lift. Along with a set of 33" Wildpeaks AT3Ws, I've gotten enough clearance for mild to moderate trails at a much cheaper price. I think you just convinced me to stay with my current set up for a long time. No need to fix it if it's not going to serve me anymore than what I currently have.
I think that’s a smart way to do it. If at some point things started to break down significantly and you were in a spot where you would have to spend a bunch of money to replace parts then it might make sense, as an alternative way to fix and upgrade the components.
Hi , I m at 7 minutes in and so far i haven't heard anything that would merit not titan swapping . When you start talking about how your rear end is the stock rear , end well it isn't done properly it should be a M226 off a Titan , brakes off a titan , front suspension off a titan , Not hard to find titan parts , vs frontier and xterra parts. MPG is irrelevant because as soon as you change the wheels and tires you lose the MPG . Now to be fair overlanding vs trail runs and off roading are two VERY different aspects of this hobby , you should start with that and define overlanding , vs anything else. Cause your not wrong you do not need a titan swap for overlanding . But if you do trails and off roading , then a titan swap has more pros than cons for that . Ill be honest , your video has very little validity , yes it costs to swap , yes the parts can be more expensive , but honestly any aftermarket for the xterra and frontier is expensive anyway. If the individual was a avid off roader and trail runner , a titan swap can be incredibly useful , and the costs are warranted , but if all your doing is overlanding down gravel roads and fields , then no you don't need to swap. This is at best a opinion piece , at worst wrong. I appreciate your videos but this one really kinda hit a bad spot.
Seems like a lot are taking this really personally. Why you said is pretty much what I intended. For the majority of “overlanding” in the US, it is not necessary. For sure, if you’re wheeling or hitting super challenging trails then a Titan swap might make sense. I personally love my truck and plan to eventually swap the rear axle, but only because I want the beefier brakes and the matching track. If someone is going to hit gravel roads and basic obstacles, then I think TSing is overkill. If you’ve got the budget and want more travel and capability then it makes sense. Depends on the person’s goals and location IMO.
@@AllThingsOverlanding So why not do a video clarifying the difference between overlanding , and wheeling , and talk about titan swaps as part of its content , this title and the things you literally say are not really true when you know the line is very thin between overlanding and wheeling , most people do not know the difference , hell i know people who still though it was just camping , with a tent on their roof. So the title should have been Overlanding : do you really need a titan swap , rather than why you shouldn't titan swap , the insinuation you make with the current title is that there is something inherently or mechanically wrong with a titan swap . Much like those old clarica commercials , clarity makes a world of difference.
@@whompus28 The title actually is Why you shouldn’t Titan swap your truck for overlanding. In the video I talk about what I’m defining overlanding as and I say that a lot of people don’t hit challenging trails and therefore don’t really need a titan swap. I also point out that I enjoy more challenging trails which is why a titan swapped truck made sense for me. I think if the title of the video was just “you should never titan swap a frontier/Xterra,” I would totally get where you’re coming from. But my title is that you shouldn’t do it just for overlanding, especially if you’re hitting just gravel roads and that’s it.
@@AllThingsOverlanding the title and the video content does not protray the clarity of what overlanding is and why titan swapping may not be for you if you do this and this and this , if you like doing trails and such , then this is what you will encounter with a titan swap , which you are correct on the wider stance means snuggier areas on a trail become more difficult , but you don't really explain that , hence all the comments that kinda low key say they are titan swapped and like it. there has to be clarity on your discussion , its fine i can concede the title , but the video content did nothing to clarify the difference between overlanding and wheeling. Because there really is a difference , all the video managed to do was stir up the pot about titan swapping and giving people the wrong idea about it. Me personally , for what i do , i would titan swap , but just because i am titan swapped doesn't mean i can't overland , and honestly you don't buy a frontier or xterra for the fuel mileage , so thats a mute point . all i am saying is i watched the whole video and there was nothing there that defined the line where a overlanding ends and wheeling starts. I know alot of people know the difference but this is youtube , your going to get people who are new to the sport and think they are one and the same , when they aren't.
@@whompus28 I get what you’re saying now. Yeah, there’s some expectation that people know to some degree what overlanding is. Again, it’s my opinion and I’m not saying I’m right or wrong or that people won’t have different opinions but rather walking through what I have observed with my truck and the pros and cons of Titan swapping. Of course it’s everyone’s choice to decide whether it’s a good decision/expenditure for them based on their terrain and desires.
I think the best argument for a Titan Swap is for rollover prevention. When you raise the center of gravity on your Xterra or Frontier, without increasing the track width, you're in danger both on and off-road for rolloevers. You're definitely in more danger on road if you remove the sway bars, which many people do.
Yeah, that's a great point!
Well, you didn't HAVE to get Titan front brakes or 35" tires! I'd much rather have my Titan swapped Xterra than not Titan swapped and I overland, but it's not strictly for overlanding. Gas mileage is negligibly different, and if you're complaining about the cost of gas, you really shouldn't be offroading, or driving a Nissan for that matter, lol.
Haha, true. And I'm not complaining about the costs associated with it. I knew what I was getting into.
But, I would say for most people that have a stock truck and hear all of the things about "titan swapping" but just want to hit gravel forest service roads to go camping, it's not necessary.
If you want a badass truck that is more capable and looks awesome and you're ok with the additional costs, then by all means, swap away, :D.
I think it’s perfectly fair to complain about the cost of gas and still enjoy off-roading or just cruising. The idea that you can’t complain about paying more for something you use is just weird and doesn’t make sense. Which is why you added a very nervous “lol” at the end
I like to have Hella more towing capacity for a 2 horse trailer. And all the other stuff that's a pro. I've used this thing like a tractor a lot though.
As someone who owns a Titan Swapped 05 Frontier 4x4, I’d have to disagree with some of your points.
1. Yes, the wider track width does make it inconvenient for tighter trails, but you blame the track width for almost “flopping” your rig which is most likely due to the nature of IFS suspension in general & driver experience level.
2. You talk about the significant hit on MPG which the Titan swap has little to do with, rather your decision on 35” tires and zero modification to gear ratios… of course you’re going to see a hit on fuel economy.
3. You mentioned that parts will be a headache to find, but the Nissan Titan was massively produced with parts (especially suspension components) to be at the ready and in most cases at a very cheap rate. Anyone who has Titan swapped would know not to ask for frontier spec parts at any auto parts store, and the smarter ones would look to Rock Auto to get there parts ordered.
With that said… I do agree that titan swapping is definitely not needed for overlanding, but if you know you’re going to hit trails that require the clearance and articulation… you’ll very quickly find that frontier “lift” spec suspension will reach its limits very quickly. No disrespect, but just putting some of my thoughts as a T-Swapped owner of 3 years traveling most of west coast and British Colombia, Canada.
Great points. There are definitely advantages and a few cons. I still think most people (especially in America where our trails aren’t as challenging) don’t need that much capability to do most of what we’ve got. I love mine though and have really enjoyed its capability on the trails!
totally agree, I just rementioned it up top. I love my titan swap. I use RC 18" shocks standard springs, I get a nice lift / compression when hop off the curb or speed bumps because wheel travel is limited to shock travel, so frickin stable especially in heavy rain. People keep borrowing my truck: I'm outa gas.
His short shocks and tight springs messed him up. They need to stop tightening the coils. it prevents shock travel compression.
Why not just get a Titan?
I live in the country so doing a titan swap makes sense gravel roads tend to get bumpy and you have to hit the snow drifts hard when they’re fresh
Seems like a solid reason to Titan swap to me!
I agree completely. I did metal masher and top of the world in Moab in a Frontier that was basically stock aside from running 33s. Since then I have also done half of the Kentuck Adventure Trail, and had no issues. Spend the money on quality stock parts, good suspension, and lockers and our trucks can go just about anywhere we have any business going, and probably several we dont....
Great to hear it. I’m a Nissan guy and I love the T-swap but it’s just a lot of money that most don’t need to spend when you could get other stuff to enjoy your trips more!
For a titan swap w/UCA's is around 900. And, with 18"-20" ($5 -1k) shocks you get good shock travel which gives you good wheel travel. If you have to travel slightly off to the side titan swap width helps not to flip over. Also, keeps your wheels from floating. Titan swap is adding stronger parts for minor performance. But you guys are happy that's the main thing.
So I just deleted a short book worth of reasons the t-swap is great for overlanding & why most people still shouldn’t, rather probably wouldn’t do it… but the shorter version is that most I’ve experienced considering it have less technical know-how than is probably needed when it comes to a long term build plan that supports a proper Titan swap. As for the 35’s- they’re fantastic but there’s about 100 reasons why they’re a really bad idea for x’s and frontys unless you’re planning to do quite a bit more than a t-swap.. most notably new gearing and a new front carrier. As a person who’s invested 25k+ after sticker price and done a lot of the work himself I can honestly say most the people asking about these swaps are because they saw a cool rig on the interwebs are better off just using their money to upgrade a used jeep for whatever du jour overlanding trip. Love my Xterra, don’t regret a single dollar spent! That said.. making yours look like the “videos” is not for the faint of heart… or faint of wallet. 😂
Haha, yep, totally true. Just finished swapping in a Titan rear axle (open carrier) and installing a spicer e-locker and it turned into a much bigger ordeal than I thought it would be. Love the truck and Nissans in general, but it takes a lot (time and money) to get them upgraded.
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I have a 2" lift with 33's. I also have a 2011 Pro-4X. I became disabled in 2015, got divorced, no longer have a house, etc. Unless I have the money to do this stuff, and the physical ability to do it myself,it's not worth it. Even if I manage to un-disable myself, and go back to work for more money, my condo association isn't going to let me perform repairs in the parking lot!
A Jeep ? LOL Ive owened 6 different jeeps and never again ! Crap electronics thanks to Chrysler ! stay with a Toyota or Nissan !
If you’re on a tight budget, stay with a mild lift, tires
All great stuff man. I do love my Titan swap. I just get asked a lot if it’s “worth it for overlanding” and I usually say, “what do you consider overlanding.” Those folks usually say something like they hit gravel roads into their local National Forest once every month or two and for that, I’d say to spend your money elsewhere. If you’re doing desert runs and hitting Moab, it makes a lot more sense. Thanks for all the info! Appreciate you sharing!
How big of a difference did a titan booster make? I'm kind of bummed with the stock pedal feel
@@jakewatson6854 I don't have a Titan booster. I agree the pedal feel is a bit softer than before, but I actually don't mind it. I get what you're saying though and I imagine it would probably help to upgrade the booster.
I just went to an off-road park with a friend in a Titan swapped Frontier and it was interesting to see the differences. Definitely did most everything he did other than the more rock crawling sections. I found my 2” lifted truck more than capable enough to get up and over obstacles and through the water crossings. I also like the tank range of 300 plus miles compared to 240/250 miles with a TS.
Totally agree! I love my truck, but it’s overkill for most things, honestly.
240/250 miles on a TS? What in tarnation were you doing? I have an 05 Xterra and run 35s on TS with 4.56 gears and get over 300 per tank, that's with 600 extra pounds currently. When it was stock with 33s and 3.36 gears I would get over 400 per tank. Not really sure how you used your datsun man. And that's me without adjusting the timing, if I cut to -2 degrees I get 30 miles more, I lose power obviously but get more range. Maybe your ride height was eating up that mileage 🤔🤔 quite interested to know
'14 Frontier Pro-4X owner/overlander here: I'm currently sitting on a 2" suspension lift with 33s, and it's sounding like I've dodged a bullet with my budget rig by not running the Titan swap.
So, let's see... money for the swap (and all other components like brake lines, spacers, etc), money for 5x wheels and 35s, money for more gas (we do lots of Texas highway to get to remote destinations), money for gears to not use quite as much (but still more) gas, money for a tire carrier because a 35 spare won't fit under the bed... I think I'm happy going the simple route.
Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has its benefits and I’m happy with mine, but I think everything you outlined is spot on for most people. I’m looking at switching up wheels and tires right now and it’s easily $3k plus for the 5 wheels and tires.
I am in the process of buying a 2006 xterra with 97,000. It’s not flawless but a good starting point for my project. I plan on running this for perhaps the next 10 years, I like projecting on my vehicles and it seems from my internet search that the 2nd gen xterra is a increasing popular 4x4 alternative to Toyota and Jeep. As a daily driver I won’t be focused on doing any hard core off roading, I ride MTB for my off road high these days, had 4 Jeeps, and 7 on/off road motorcycles.
Mild upgrades like tires, small lift and better suspension, rust reduction, keep it clean and running excellent. My gas mileage is important for my miles to ski areas and MTB trails. Seems the xterra has been a perfect choice for my investment 😎😎😎. Great videos! Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! If you look back at some of my older videos, I used to have a second gen Xterra and so there are definitely some ideas in those vids that might help you with your build! Welcome to the Nissan fam and enjoy it!
I think 33s work well if you’re a serious truck owner, otherwise just ad whatever looks cool to you even if it’s not worth anything off road
Yep
I agree! Titan swapped Xterras & Frontiers are AWESOME! But, my '09 X OR has been a bulletproof overland rig. I've managed to eeek through some tough stuff where a burlier rig would have been ideal. But, that's like 0.01% of my routes. Meanwhile, for the other 99.99% of the route, my Xterra has been a champ! I figured, any saved cost = more time off work & more gas money which = bigger better adventures. 🍻
Exactly! Glad you got what I was saying. Everyone seems to think I'm saying you should never titan swap a Nissan and I'm really specifically talking about whether the cost is worth it for most Overlanding, :D. I miss my Xterra all the time. All of the 4.0 trucks are pretty great though!
@@AllThingsOverlanding You were clear. People just don't listen.. 🤷♂️
@@LostInStates True. :D
Titanswapped 17 MT on 35s. Fine on really long trips. More comfortable day to day. Fantastic articulation in all circumstances. Would never go back.
Also getting the Dana m205 with titan CVs and heim steering makes the truck significantly stronger. If your downsides are it's worse on gas and wider I don't get why you are into offroading.
Haha, agree with you. I don’t care and I’m willing to pay the extra money for gas, tires, etc. But when most people ask if they should take their stock Frontier or Xterra and Titan swap it for most Overlanding (different from off-roading) I would say in most cases it’s unnecessary.
Maybe i can add a view from europe...
At first, we are not allowed to do a titan swap here. Btw, you can technicly do a titan swap also on the pathfinder. However, the technicle Inspektor will say no to this modification. You would never ever get a car like this on the streets (or trails) in europe. We are not even allowed steel bumpers.
But even if we were allowed to do this, i still wouldnt do this. I am living in mid Germany. And in germany it is totally forbidden to drive offroad, exept for some dedicated offroad parks. So to get anywhere, where i can finally get of the road and do some wheeling, i first have to drive 1000km or more. This is quite a distance. So i want to stay there several days and I want to do as much offroad as i can. So for example... in Juli i am gonna drive to the pyrenees. This is 1500km to get there and of course 1500km to get back. As well as 2000km in the pyrenees, which will contain around 1000km (light) offroad. 5000km in total. Therefor i need a reliable truck. I dont want to break down several countrys away from home. And nothing is more reliable than stock. And cause of this, the truck stays stock. Only slightly bigger tires. I even cut down on Equipment whereever i can, to stay under the allowed wheight, so the weight doesnt cause any trouble to the drivetrain or the suspension. I didnt even lift the truck... and it is challanging here and there... i often need to stack rocks under the path or something like this... but on the other end, isnt this the whole thing about offroading? The easier it is to get through those trails, the more i have to search for a trail which is challenging for me. I mean, isnt it more exciting when it is sketchy?
By the way, the alps, the pyrenees, the kaparthien mountains... they all need thinner cars. The turning circle of the pathfinder is bad from factory... no need to make it worse.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Over here, the default seems to be “bigger is better” (and even I was drawn to my truck because of the Titan swap but when people ask if I would recommend spending the money and doing it, for most people and most of the “overlanding” we have here, you could do the vast majority of it cheaper and more reliably with a 2.5” lift and 33” tires.
Again, thanks for sharing your experience! Hope you get to take more of those trips even though they’re a lot of driving!
Cost is negatable there are some frontier/ xterra kits that are right inline with the cost of a titan swap. The real question if thinking about titan swap is what do you plan to do with your vehicle. This question gets missed by a lot of people when building their rigs. The biggest lift and heavy parts might not be best for your weekend trips on dirt/gravel roads. Titan swap is more of a performance swap imo. When it comes to Rock crawling and technical trails. Yes stock replacement lift parts can handle most that as well. Driver experience is learned as well on how your rig will act in situations. Seat time is the only fix for that.
Yep, totally agree with you. I love my TS'ed truck, but for most people in the US getting into Overlanding, it's not really necessary. Now, if you want max travel and the ability to run 35's or above, then it might make sense, depending on your goals. Appreciate the thought and feedback here!
Love my Titan swap for going to the desert. I don’t have 4wd. With the proper swap you gain even more travel. Then put a lift spindle and you don’t need so much lift and for going through the desert makes it smooth
Desert running makes sense for a Titan swap for sure!
2004 Xterra 3.3L V6 (non-SC) auto trans 4WD. Bought it with 2-3" suspension lift.
It looks and works nice as-is. Highway mileage ranges from 17 to 21, depending mostly on speeds. 17 or 18 at 65-70, and 21 around 55.
I like the looks of yours, but never gave any thought to why I would or wouldn't want to Titan--swap mine. Although, since it's a Gen1, not a Gen2, the swap would likely be hard or impossible to do.
The Titans swap definitely has some pros but I think in a lot of instances it’s kind of overkill. I do love it though. I’m sure your first GEN does just fine with the lift!
(2013 nissan frontier SV 4x4 Titan swapped) Very good understanding for the Overland world BUT here's my personal reasoning for my truck being titan swapped. I live in Florida not very much hard wheeling around here its a lot of sugar sand so the titan swap was a great alternative for a long travel/mid travel set up to deal with higher speeds needed. locally around me i seem to find a large amount more of titan parts and titans at junk yards over any frontier or xterra. I run a 17Inch Vors Wheels off of a Tacoma with custom 1 inch wheel adapters running a 265/70R/17 sits great also have a decent amount of wheel clearance averaging at 50-60MPH getting 18-22MPG and when around 70-80MPH i get 14-16MPG deepening on wind direction and this being at sea level. I looked into titan swap also using the Infinite QX80 Axle shafts that are thicker then stock shafts. Been running it for 2 years now with the fox 2.0 set up i had before, is it the best shock set up NO. added a 1 inch top spacer on the fox 2.0 but it gives me a decent amount of travel and it sits pretty level with a 2 inch lift in the rear never had any reason to change it for my purpose don't need the best of the best shocks most of its off-road life again is sugar sand and drive on beaches with the few times i needed to go threw ditches or areas i achieved a ample amount of wheel travel (Flex) without needing to activate lockers or even 4x4. Little different reasoning but when you explained when you where close to a tree and almost tipped over little confused on that subject cause technically the wider you are the more balance you'll have unless of course the angle was more because of the shape of the drop to the stock length of the frontiers to a titan swap or just being top heavy. I know this video is about why you Shouldn't but i looked at it as look at all the other vehicles out they're Tacoma's mostly and for them to have a 3inch plus lower control arm long travel/ mid-travel set up they cant go to a junk yard or auto parts store to get any parts for it where a titan swap it is still possible. So yes in a reason titan swap is not great for overlanding in some standings however is a great Prerunner dune rider set up for the average person (For the whole auto stores getting confused iv always told them i need this part for a 2013 nissan titan or for a 2013 nissan frontier and no ones had a problem with being confused)
That’s a good sub-genre to call out. For long travel needs, the Titan swap is a great option. I’m in the Midwest, so for me it’s mostly tight trails and lots of highway to get to a destination, so it makes less sense. Love all the detail and explanation in your comment so thanks for sharing!
good advice! Indeed, I have a 2019 PRO-4X with an Old Man Enu lift and better 32" AT tires - like having you cake and eating it too - the 1-3/4" lift in front = 11" of clearance (up from 9-1/4" stock); the 2-3/4" lift in back nets 16" to the bottom of my hitch receiver when empty and 15" when loaded (the truck sets level when towing or loaded for overland) NO gas milage penalty and I get to keep my front sway-bar. It is my understanding that a Titan Swap on a Frontier requires half shafts from an Infinity that wasn't designed for wheeling a 35" tire. One of my You-tube contacts with a Titan swap snaped his half-shaft rock crawling.
Thanks! Definitely depends on what you want, but I think for most Overlanding (in the US anyway), it's an unnecessary expense. Don't get me wrong, I love the truck and I use it for Overlanding, but if I had to decide whether to Titan swap it or not, I'd probably do something similar to you and just do a decent lift and call it a day.
I'm t swap on 33s with only 2.5in of lift over stock. It's a good middle ground. Low enough to be stable, fits in parking garages. Buttt still tons of travel and more plush off road
My 2nd gen was Titan swapped and it's awesome, as I mention in the video. When I was overlanding that Titan swapped truck though, I used to get a lot of questions from folks about whether they should Titan swap their trucks for Overlanding. So, that's where this video came from. Just to say if you're just hitting gravel forest service roads and not really trying to wheel, you would probably be just fine with a normal 2.5" lift via normal, less expensive lift kits. But I do love the Titan swapped truck (and still have it).
@@AllThingsOverlanding I wanted the added travel, and yes I have used it. Also wanted to swap in a 2nd gen titan diff.
I had a Chevy S10 that was a Frankenstein like that. I had a ford explorer rear dif. 98 camaro front brakes and a small block V8 so the parts store really loved me.
I don't go to the parts store much, but when I do, I definitely get a kick out of trying to get them to give me the right parts, :D.
Titan Swap is expensive? I was a college student, working for $9 an hour back in 2009 when I did my Titan Swap. I want to say I spent $1200? To make a Titan Swap work just buy the OEM control arms, CV Axle, tie rod ext., longer brake lines, OEM coilovers with a spacer lift, etc.... it can get expensive if you go aftermarket name brands. And even then, it could be done for under $2,500. Between, I'm still on frontier rotors and brakes. For anyone interested in doing a Titan Swap, just visit the clubfrontier forum. And I'm on stock gears with 33" tires and get 17-18 mpg on the highway. 35" is overkill. Stick with 33" and you'll have minimal trimming and the truck still looks awesome with 33s. But yes, I do agree with the downside of a wider stance truck on trails. As an overland vehicle, midsize stance is what I'd go after too. Lifted Rubicon, Xterra, FJ are perfect overland vehicles.
Yeah, good points. There's a big swing in cost depending on how you do the Titan swap. Also agree 35's are overkill for most things. I do like the extra clearance and have been able to do some stuff my old Xterra on 33's couldn't touch, but if we're being honest, in the last year that I've owned this truck, I've maybe hit trails 3 or 4 times where the extra tire size was beneficial.
As someone with a titan-swapped rig the track width increase is is barely noticeable when it comes to navigating 'tight' trails and I wheel in the PNW/alaska and other mountainous terrain.
If you want to experience a real long-travel setup that will actually increase the track width check out CJD's long travel kit, 8" longer per side and cycles 17" 4wd and 19" 2wd- you'll notice that track width then.
Wow, yeah, I bet. With Titan swap, I’m about 3-4” wider per side so it’s pretty significant, but not unmanageable.
I have a 2019 pro4x but I wouldn't titan swap it because of my ocd. I don't want to cut my vehicle, I don't want the tires sticking out of the wheel wells, and the difference in the offset from front to rear bugs me.
Yep, totally get it. I ended up actually swapping in a rear axle from a Titan to make it equal, front to back. Not worth the money really, but it did solve that problem while also serving the purpose of replacing the stock axle, which I had broken, haha.
"bigger is not always better".. thats what she said.. :D
Hahahaha
Good video brother! First one I've seen giving an opinion on why NOT to TS. I totally agree with you, mostly on your last point. If you're not hitting gnarly trails and needing that much improved wheel travel, TS is not necessary. I ran some really challenging trails in SoCal with only a lift from strut spacers and rear shackles, with no locker, and did fine. But to each their own.
Yeah, again, I literally own one and I love it. I'm not anti-Titan swap, but I have people ask me all the time if they should do it and rather than saying "YEAH" blindly, I usually ask where they live and what type of trips they take. Almost 100% of them say that they hit gravel roads and daily their vehicles, so in those cases, I would say to save your money and spend it elsewhere. I love mine, but I try to go to extremes and think it's mostly overkill for the majority of what I do, :D.
Great topic! I may steal your idea and do a talk about lifting a Toyota may not be a good thing for typical overlanding.
Thanks! And go for it!
Looking cool is far more important… Imma Titan swap 100% for sure!
Haha, true.
Indeed. You can't put a price on awesome
I have a 2011 PRO-4X that's lifted, bumpered with legit sliders and armored with a Snap TREEHOUSE on the back. While I do like the look of a Titan swap and after looking into how I use my PRO-4X mostly as a daily driver & overlanding rig, a Titan swap would be expensive overkill that wouldn't really suit my style of driving/exploring.
Yeah, kind of my thought too. Nothing wrong with it and I love my Titan swapped truck, but if it just had a 2.5-3" lift and 33's, it would probably be close to the same, capability wise.
Same year manual. I drive it daily and a ts might just be too much although I live in Co right next to trails. Still contemplating it once my current setup is shot in 20- 30,000 miles.
Me been a Nissan guy as well as I am currently on to my 2nd 1st gen Xterra and currently on 33s and I can say this I'm happy with the way it performs over all and if I was to do anything different at this point it be to go full locked and SAS but then it be trailered to and from most places, that been said I do currently drive my Xterra as a daily for the most part and even enter it in car shows during the spring to fall months when we are not exploring and camping. As you stated about been wider I can vouch for BIGGER or WIDER is not always the best for most overland adventures as I was running a 15x12 rim with 13.5 wide tire and I got hung up more than anything, did it look cool .... Well yeah but it was not easy on the trails and constantly cleaning it was a pain as well lol. But your build is yours and mine is mine we build to what we like and in most cases it's trial and error you just have to find what works for you.
Totally agree with you. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t really care if it’s practical. As a Nissan person, I love it. But when people ask if they should do it, i think it really depends on their goals and location.
In today's episode, I will tell you why you should hate fun
Haha! I mean, I have a Titan swapped truck, so I like fun. But if people are looking at how to prioritize their budget, for overlanding, there’s a lot of stuff you could spend Titan swap money on to go overlanding instead of a Titan swap and get to 95% of the same places.
@@AllThingsOverlanding just having a little fun. Good video
@@brianwright1829 I laughed, 😀. I was gonna say “best comment so far.”
Ok this will long hear me out, back in 2010 I was rocking a 98 Jeep Cherokee for my off-roader, this was well before overlanding was my primary type of off-road travel. I had a budget build with a narrow track, at the time it was very popular to use spacers for a wider track however following the super swamper concept I opted for modesty in height at about 4" and standard width plus 2" for wider tires. I was able to navigate obstacles a bit better on this specific and at the time technical trail than the pro builds as the trails in my area tend to be narrow. However, my center of gravity was higher and I had a high rollover risk because of this. So about 4 years ago when I started building my Frontier I took the same approach and wanted to stay reasonably skinny, since adding the YUcca Pac Camper though I sometimes find myself wondering if the wider track would help with off-camber stabilization, however, while down in Moab this past couple of weeks I decided against the Tswap after 2 years of consideration for this very same reason. The truck handles the weight well and although my rollover pitch limit is now higher the type of off-road trails I take do not meet a crawler standard. The moral of the story, let your needs dictate your equipment, don't let your wants dictate your needs. Great video dude, I don't comment nearly as often as I should but I'm always watching from across the interwebs, keeping the Nissan fire going, great video my guy, and sorry for the novel haha.
Hey buddy, I appreciate the thought (and the novel). Totally agree. Granted, I bought my truck partially Titan swapped and it's pretty badass, but if I were building a truck from stock, I just don't know that I could justify the expense for MOST Overlanding. Again, I did it because I bought the truck built, but I wanted to put out this video because of the prevalence of "just Titan swap it" going around everywhere without consideration for the use case. Totally agree with your sentiment that it really depends on your needs, hence my argument that most people really don't need a T-swap for most Overlanding. Queue the haters that disagree with me, :D.
You're right, i'm sold. I'll just lift it w/o titan swap. I don't off road much. I just want to do more of it and be a little more capable.
Titan swaps aren't all bad, but in most cases what you're describing is almost just as good with less cost and less modification required.
Just watched your video and subscribed as well. I just purchased an 05 xterra 4wd and I’m looking for ideas to build an overland rig. Your channel has a ton of content and I’ll be watching them to get some ideas. Thanks 🙏 👍
Hey, thanks so much and welcome! Like you said, lots of content here for you so hope you enjoy!
Do you want your Nissan Xterra or frontier to instantly get 12 miles per gallon? Do a titan swap
Haha, and throw on 35's like my truck and you're at 10.
I agree with this conversation: good video. Frontier 05 and current are wide as it is vs. the mini truck era
Thanks!
Your fuel economy is pretty crazy. Take a look at getting the Hypertech Speedo Calibrator. It's hard to explain but it changes the shift points on the auto transmission. Our T-swapped Frontier on 35s fully armored with a canopy and RTT gets around 15-17.5 mpg on the highway.
But you are 100% correct. We took our stock Frontier almost every place we have taken our T-swapped truck. It's easier to do those trails now, but both versions did the same trails except for 2.
Another point is with that tire poke, you get a lot of mud and road grime all over your truck, camping gear, bed, RTT, even if you are not trying to drive like a mud bogger. That was not an issue when we were stock, and the only options for full coverage flares are almost the same price as a full titan swap.
Great points! I’ve got some plans to help with the gas mileage coming in the next few months but I’ll also look into the Hypertech for sure. Thanks for the info!
Great commentary about the follow-on costs.
Appreciate it! Glad it was helpful!
Great video; especially for me as I'm planning on buying and building out either a new Frontier, or an X-terra (I previously owned a 2000 X-terra) specifically for overlanding as well as for use as a daily driver. I had been considering going the Titan swap route, but as a result of your video I think I will forego that and concentrate on building a good overlanding rig. If possible, could you do a video or three on building out either (or both) of these vehicle types for that combination of everyday use plus overlanding? I think a lot of folks, in particular those of us new to overlanding, would greatly appreciate it.
There are lots of great options in the Nissan vehicle lineup. I actually just picked up a brand new 2023 frontier that I’m gonna be building out but doing what you’re talking about and keeping it more stock and not planning to titan swap it. I’m sure I will definitely talk about the benefits of keeping it more stock as I build this new truck also!
One big advantage to the T-swap is getting flanged CV on the front diff.
Good point!
It ALL comes down to tire size. If you are staying at 33" the TS is just more headache/maintenance.
I live in NH. 33s can do everything in the north EXCEPT private hardcore parks. Also my Frontier on 33s has more difficulty than my xterra on 33s. Because wheelbase. The shorter length lets the X pick more lines, where the Frontier has to just forge onward. Only reason I keep considering 35s. Which may result in some sawzall&hammer time.
You can fit almost anything if you're willing to cut, :D.
TS frontier on 33's owner here. I personally don't overland, but I do occasionally do day trips around the PNW. I agree with some things and disagree with other things. I think quite a few of your issues were related to going to 35's and not related to TS, because my mpg stayed at 15 when I did the titan swap.
You mentioned that the track width increases making it harder to fit in places, but the turning radius also improves, and makes it easier to make turns that you couldn't before. I also think your almost tipping event shouldn't count, because there may be a different situation that you'll get in where you would feel fine, and those other vehicles may be nearly tipping over.
You mention that parts are hard to find, but the only custom parts are usually just the coilovers, not to mention the Titan parts are quite a bit beefier to begin with.
All in all, I personally don't regret my TS, but I can also understand that it's not for everyone.
All great points! And you're right, the 35's are a bigger contributor to the MPG's than the Titan swap itself. I just know that the Titan swap was specifically done for longer travel suspension and the ability to fit the 35" tires. Proper gearing or a VK swap would remedy it, but then that's an additional cost. I love my Titan swapped truck, but think people need to think about priorities and whether it is something they really need. A small lift and 33's can be achieved without TS'ing and that would suit most people doing Overlanding trips just fine. Thanks for the great feedback!
Who has put a titan rear end in their xterra? And why wouldnt you because thats where all the best benefit would come from which is towing?
I have a titan rear end in mine now and the reason most people don't do it is the cost. I ended up finding a Titan M226 rear end without a locker for about $1500. Had to buy the offset axles to install a locker ($500). Bought the stock style spicer e-locker and install kit ($1800ish). Then paid a shop to move the leaf spring mounts to match the width of the Frontier and install it all and I was probably about $6K total into it after labor and misc. little stuff needed to install it. So, most people just keep the stocker Frontier rear axles and put on 2" spacers (with adapters to make the lug pattern 6x139.7 like the front axles on a Titan swapped truck).
Hmmm! Should I $#!t? Eeeh maybe later! Ya, I'll $#it later! 🤣😂🤣😂 You inspired me brotha!!
Glad it was helpful, lol.
Great video! Amazing insight and real experience. Thank You!
Thanks!
08 Titan swapped Xterra. Primarily over landing but I get myself into tough situations on my own where the swap really helps. I still have Xterra brakes and use 31.5” tires. Average 17 mpg. The swap is not the problem. The problem is your particular swap. Only 3” wider stance on each side. Still smaller than most 4x4s and certainly was not the cause of your almost rollover. Too much weight up high or driver error (we’ve all been there). I did the swap because of the stock rollover potential. So much more stable now. All 4 wheels stay on the ground. Build to what you want. I built to get a more capable overlander and got it. You might want to rethink your build if you don’t like it.
Yeah, weight up high definitely contributed to the almost flop. And good point on building to what you want. I bought the truck this way, but will definitely be making some changes. I actually really like the truck a lot and I like to get into more technical and challenging trails too, so the Tswap is good for me. I don't dislike the swap at all, but I guess my point with the video was that for most people hitting gravel roads, the additional expense and capability may not be worth it. All good points in your comment! Thanks for the feedback!
@@AllThingsOverlanding
I often consider going to 33's and then regearing for the gas milage hit because of it but my wife and I just did a 3 week CA. AZ. UT. trip without any problems. We went wherever we wanted in a fully loaded Xterra and never got stuck. Partially because of the articulation from the swap. If I were you I would go down to 33" or less for almost all trails and slap those 35's back on for when you are definitely going rock crawling. I've found that you only need 33" or above when the trail is the destination and the goal not the way to get to where you are going.
Was thinking of swapping my Xterra Offroad, but decided to keep the running gear stock. I just added a 2.5" lift, 1.5" spacers, and larger tires. Performs off road well, and looks cool.
Yeah, if you don't really need the long travel or want to run really big tires, sometimes keeping it simpler can work just fine.
A buddy of mine just bought a 2018 Frontier PRO-4X, what brand of lift and spacers did you use and what size tires?
@@Outlaw_Media Congrats to your buddy! Mine is titan swapped, so it's got Radflow 2.5" coilovers meant for a Titan up front (650lb springs) up front. Then in the back, it's got Old Man Emu heavy duty leafs with Nisstec shackles and Bilstein 5100 shocks.
I actually own a Titan Pro-4x, but still really miss my old Frontier. Kind of want to just finish paying this one off, so I can buy a project Frontier. 😅
Titans are sweet too!
2 inch spacer lift and upper control arms are all you need. Others will say different or you didn't lift it right. Bullshit it works just fine
That’s basically what I had on my Xterra and it did great.
I Have a Titan Swapped Xterra running 295/75R-16 tires. No upper fender trimming, no titan brake swap. A couple key reasons I swapped: With the typical extended travel lift, using Radflo coilovers (tuned by PRG) and SPC UCA's that I had before. It was impossible to get proper alignment in my case as the I was maxing out the adjustments just to get 'close'. Resulting in bad handling and bad tire wear. Where with the Titan Swap I have a wider adjustment range and perfect alignment. The other key reason, is ride quality on potholed and washboarded rough roads is immensely improved due to increased droop, as you are not topping out your suspension. Worth noting, you do not have to swap the titan spindles and brakes either. So you dont need to have a frankensetup with brakes/wheels etc, like he describes here with parts. OEM titan/Armada suspension parts are easy to source and affordable if/when needed. You will give up some stability on pavement but its a huge improvement in ride offroard, not just on the knarliest of trails. Find yourself on 5hrs of washoard rd out in the desert, and you'll be grateful you have a TS. Necessary? no. Would I do it again? 100%. We all use our vehicles a little differently. I dont agree with the blanket comment of, dont TS for overlanding.
All great points! Definitely just my opinion as I get asked a lot by folks "Should I Titan swap my truck?" Also, I'm in the midwest so while we do get some washboard roads, it's definitely not to the tune of 5 hours of consecutive driving on them, so that's a great point. Thanks for the comment!
@@AllThingsOverlanding Cheers! Didn't mean to come across harsh, if it did. Just thoughts on it as well. Great content!
@@thorpe31 Not harsh at all! I mean, if I'm being honest, I'm not going to pretend like I didn't think I'd get a lot of strong opinions one way or the other, but it's great to hear all the different view points! Appreciate the thought and discussion!
Thank you for the great awesome video. I’m doing the Ts swap on my Xterra 😂
Haha, enjoy it!
I have a 3 inch lift hi rise upper control arms bilstine 5100 shock stock size tires and i removed the sway bar and it's awesome
Sounds solid!
ha..nice video. I had an 06' Xterra and always wanted to do a titan swap. but after looking at the cost, decided not to. wanted to do the front diff as well. now I have a 23' frontier pro4x. I just got an all dogs lift and will leave it mostly stock, besides mild lift and tires. then maybe in a few years, 3-5, I may do a titan swap. its my daily driver...and brand new. lol
Right, I just got a 23 Pro-4X too and I had that exact same thought. Just gonna do the ADO RC Killa lift to start for a few years and then we'll see. Their Fox shock lift is super nice too so maybe after some miles, it'll make sense to upgrade to that.
Also - I need to Titan swap and get 35’s so I can safely go to Costco and back.
I barely made it to Kroger earlier. Had to use 4LO and the locker a couple of times in the parking lot.
@@AllThingsOverlanding 😂
You didn't mention regearing the differentials. You don't have to for 35" tires. But ... your gas mileage will be garbage unless you put it back to the stock gear ratios. Those gears used to be available. I'm not sure if they are anymore, due to the Xterra being discontinued.
You can definitely buy gears for these diffs and you’re right that the gas mileage is garbage. You just have to get around the initial cost of regearing.
I’m an owner of a 2022 Frontier and can’t relate. It would be great if and when your explaining your side, you should point it out physically on your truck. I was planning to pick up an older model Frontier to do this swap, the in’s and out!! Thanks
Those 2022's are nice. Congrats! Like I said in the video, it just kind of depends on your application. If you've got a 2022 for most easier stuff and light Overlanding trips, then it might make sense to go through the additional work and expense of Titan swapping an older Frontier for more aggressive trails and rock crawling. The purpose of this video was to talk about pros and cons and why Titan swapping for most "overlanding" might not make sense.
I've been debating whether or not to titan swap, I do want a little tire poke to help keep the sides off of dirt walls, but I wasn't sure if I wanted three inches of tire poke. Lol. But also want to swap an m205 front diff, and v8 pathfinder axles are quite pricy, and titan ones are a bit cheaper. Being near the Ozarks, I could definitely use the extra articulation and ground clearance, but also afraid of the wider track width would make it harder to navigate some spots. I'll probably still end up titan swapping eventually, but probably will stay on 33s
I think that makes sense. I did not realize how much tire prices bumped up from 33's to 35's! I plan to keep the truck for the next 6-8 years at least so I'm liking the Tswap and planning some other upgrades to help with reliability. Then it should be good to go for a while. Good luck with whatever you end up doing!
I replaced my gen1 Xterra with a V8 R51 Pathfinder fairly recently. I know the R51 isn't well renown for it's off-road ability compared to the Xterra because of it's IRS. I went that route for the factory V8 but also the better interior and a few features that I had in my gen1 (sunroof). In my quest to build it into a proper off-road rig (bit not a dedicated trail truck) while keeping it usable for long trips and towing. In my researching and asking questions, being suggested to do a Titan/Armada swap is very popular and apparently makes a big improvement in off-road performance. I personally don't want to go that route. First is width; I've been on trails with my gen1 where I've folded my mirrors in, or just squeezed through, and I'd like to keep that advantage, although the R51 is 2.4" wider, it shouldn't be an issue. Also living here in Quebec, they can be REALLY picky on tires that stick out from the fenders. I don't want big, ugly fender flares. I like the more "sleeper", unassuming look, especially here in Quebec Nissans are shuned. Unless you're a Toyota or Jeep, or one of the big 3 in the full size, it's crap. I'm going the route of front and rear lockers. My gen1 was open diffs with a manual transmission and a really flexible rear axle and did amazing on the trail. I've out-wheeled Wranglers and Titan-Swapped Pro-4X Xterras.
I love R51 Pathys. They're so underrated. Especially the V8 ones which are pretty hard to find nowadays. Nice pick up!
Nissans are shuned ? well that's their loss ! lol. Xterras are definitely better than Jeeps and on par with Toyota 4 runners ! I've owned 6 jeeps and never again ! Electronics are crap thanks Chrysler. and 3 Toyotas TDRs, great rigs but over priced. I now have a 2006 Xterra off road and am very happy with its off road performance, price vaule and reliability something lacking in the Jeeps !
How can i increase my C200 rear dif ratio on my 2011 frontier 2.5liter. i have 4.1 gears i think. I get stuck with a 2500 lb trailer when ever i stop on a moderate hill. I have to slip the clutch a lot. I understand there are some C200 diffs with 4.625 ratio and i would like that ratio. Or can i bolt on the H233b from the older frontiers which they came with 4.9 rear ratios some of them
Hey there, I wouldn't call myself any sort of rear diff expert and I'm not sure what all gears come in the different axles. I know there's some info on clubfrontier that might be helpful: www.clubfrontier.org/search/1083166/?q=rear+diff+gearing&o=relevance. Then this is also a great reference video for info on these rear diff/axle options: ruclips.net/video/S_v3tRs1nAY/видео.htmlsi=ZlZ8oCeFPDBGnZPp.
Hope that helps!
@@AllThingsOverlanding i found info that the C200 difs came with up to 4.63 ratios, i am quite sure i have 4.1 so maybe i need to find gears from one of these. 4.63 would be good enough the 4.9 might be too much
Don't own one have a gen 1 but have done the math on it. The negatives for me are as follows. No sway bars, Aftermarket coil over shocks that use heim joints that need consistent rebuilds in the rust belt, high offset causing issues with everything from door dings to parking. Front width not matching the rear so it will track less effectively in deep snow or ruts.
thats not entirely true , on a second gen you can barely tell the difference with or without the sway bars , Heim joints are a choice , you do not have to use those . door dings your gonna get on the trail anyway , and parking .. i mean you fit in a space , not that hard. rear width can be fixed by a adaptor , or if you do it properly use the M226 Rear end from a titan , like the whole titan swap is supposed to have anyway.
Definitely pros and cons and for some it might make sense based on what they want and for others not so much. I love mine, but could easily do 95% of the trails I’ve done in a moderately lifted truck with 33’s.
I don’t really get where this whole it’s not a real Titan swap if it’s not both axles argument comes from. And when you add in the additional cost of sourcing the Titan axle, install, etc. then it makes the swap even more expensive, which again, could be a negative for some.
You can go "overlanding" in a Model T. How much further you want to go is just personal preference.
True.
I have an 08 Navara, same as the Frontier but built for the international market...RHD, 6 sp manual with the YD25tti diesel...How much wider is the track after a swap? I dont need 35s but is any cutting necessary for fitting 33s? Not swap related but I hate the limited wheel choices for the 6x114.3, any experince using adapters to use 6x139.7 wheels? Thanks in advance
Those Navaras are sweet. You shouldn’t need to cut for 33’s but when flexing and the extra width I’m not sure you wouldn’t have contact. Maybe with a lift you’d be ok. I would say the track is probably 3-4” on each side wider.
I have a fully Titan swapped Xterra. Titan rear axle, 06 Titan brakes, 4.56s, 35s, manual transmission. Any time you go that big, you're obviously going to take a hit in the MPG space. However. The advantages of the swap greatly outweigh the downsides. Yes. It's wider. But the extra width makes removing the sway bars negligible. Even for street driving. The travel and dampening in the front end makes the truck a lot smoother and rough roads, fire roads, washboard roads, etc. The rear suspension is notoriously soft in factory form. Titan swap or not, upgrading the rear springs/shocks is crucial to the process. I ran the 35s on the stock 3.69 gears and the MPGs were easily single digits everywhere and 6th gear was completely useless. Upgrading to the 4.56s made an amazing difference in the streetability of the truck, 6th gear is back in play, and MPGs are ALMOST stock. 4.56s are a bit too much for the automatic if you're doing a lot of highway driving, due to only having 5 gears. My opinion is that 4.10s are the optimal for the automatic and 35s.
The major advantage to going full titan is the brakes. The 04-06 Titan brakes are HUGE compared to the stock Xterra/Fronty units. It does require a 17" wheel for clearance in the front and obviously changes the lug pattern. And if you were comfortable running 18" wheels you could go to 07+ brakes and get even bigger. Of course to do it right requires changing the brake booster and master cylinder so you can move more fluid to correctly operate the larger calipers. However. The stopping power of those larger brakes on the smaller lighter truck is amazing. Even with the 35s, my truck will stop on a dime. I am a lot more confident in the braking ability of the vehicle in on and off road situations.
All great points. Even just with front Titan brakes on mine, it’s night and day over my Xterra. It is slightly limiting in that I have to run 17” wheels plus but there are quite a few Toyota or a Chevy wheels that would work. Overall I really love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Great point about the width and suspension for washboards. Hadn’t thought about that!
I want this but have purposely put off any research due to many other projects in front of it.
2012 manual Xterra pro-4x.. what is a good resource to start down this rabbit hole guys?
@@uploadtime1780 I learned the most on thenewx.org and clubfrontier.org. I believe the screen name of the guy dropping all the knowledge was Sinister06 (or something like that). Just search Titan swap and when you see that name, you’ll know you’re in the right spot. 😀
@@AllThingsOverlanding appreciate it man. I'm registered in thenewx I believe.. must resist the rabbit hole. I have the nismo front and rear bumpers on order since last year.. I was told I am #6 a few weeks ago so eventually those are coming and I'll need suspension once it does.
@@uploadtime1780 Good luck with whatever you end up doing! Titan swap definitely has some pros but a good suspension lift would also be fine and less involved. Just depends on your goals and needs!
Great points and perfect advice
Appreciate it! Thanks for watching.
How about a video on WHY "TO" TITAN SWAP LOL!!! ,COMMENT: I NEED TO LEARN ABOUT THIS
Haha, I mean if you just take the other side of my argument here, that's why, :D. Basically the pros are listed in some comments on this video. There are actually a lot of pros to Titan swapping, I was just pointing out why it's not really necessary for most overlanding uses.
But, if you want to wheel your truck, it gets you a wider stance, slightly tougher components, and a relatively low cost long travel suspension set up on a Frontier. This truck is a ton of fun offroad, it's just overkill for most overlanding trips, :D.
Running the 1st gen supercharged Xterra wheels? hell yeah
Yeah, since it's Titan swapped, the lug pattern is 6 x5.5 and then there are adapters in the rear to run a matching set.
Im not into overlanding. I get maybe a weekend here or there to go wheeling. Majority had been dirt roads with mud and wster crossing. Currently have a 12 pro4x 6mt. 31" bfgs, 2" all dog suspention lift. Recently started going on what some consider jeep parks. Last weekend i did rausch creek greens and blues with a bunch of jks and a yj. While armor is definitly to come aside from cutting more of the body which i dont mind it seems i wiuld top out at a 33" tire for a 16" wheel. I was thinking tswap to run a 35 because i was laying frame on a bunch of obsticals but didnt get stuck. Even pulled a jk out of a spot but id rather not be rubbing
Yeah, the titan swap is valuable if you want to run bigger tires. Still requires some cutting for 35's but it's a great option with some additional benefits as well.
Would you say for someone that doesn't pile stuff up on thier truck for overlanding that it would be better because it's less top heavy?
@@flyboy367 I would definitely say so. With the wider track, you’ll see more stability on and off road.
I think what people really want to hear about is the electronics. How does the Titan swap affect the vehicle computer and all the warning lights. IMO, that's where you'd have the biggest problem, and it will be very difficult to find someone knowledgeable about how to interface with the vehicle's computer, and change the proper things for the Titan swap.
You may be confusing Titan swap V8 swap. With the Titan swap, it’s just the suspension components, so no computers are involved. If you do a V8 swap, it is a little more complex and you need a custom harness to make the frontier display everything correctly but it’s still pretty straightforward.
@@AllThingsOverlanding Nissan computers are pretty complex, and difficult to deal with, even at the dealership. That's been my experience. Wheel speed sensors, etc all could go into causing a bunch of warning lights. Currently, my 4Lo and rear locker work fine, but the lights continue flashing when I go into 4Lo and engage the rear locker. The lights are supposed to stop flashing. The dealer couldn't figure it out, so they didn't even charge me for it. I doubt they even disconnected the wiring harness from the transfer case to clean it, or look for problems. My search for a decent Nissan off-road mechanic continues. 🙁
@@DDDYLN they are hard to find. I haven’t had any weird lights or issues with mine but hopefully you find a solution soon.
@@AllThingsOverlanding if I can't find a decent Nissan Off-Road mechanic around my area (Northern VA), I'm considering driving long distances for maintenance. I suspect in CO, CA, or other Western States, they're much easier to find. Round trip to Denver would be 4,000 miles. If I can find someone in PA (they have Nissan wheeling clubs there), that would be much better. Mechanics around me are effing worthless.
@@AllThingsOverlanding BTW, due to disabilities, I don't do true off-roading anymore. Where I live, I'd have to drive 4+ hours to even get to a place that allows off-roading. The ability to drive over stuff does come in handy, though, even in suburbia. I used to live in Fort Collins, CO. If I still lived there, I'd definitely put some parts money into my Pro-4X. For now, a 2" lift with 33" mud tires is sufficient. I just need someone competent to keep the truck running well for me. I just got the fluids replaced in both diffs and the t-case, as well as an oil change and regular maintenance. The dealership was actually the least expensive quote. They were supposed to rotate my tires and perform an alignment. They refused to do it, because they didn't put the lift on my Xterra. Completely worthless.
Agreed. Love my x but its over built. Now issues. May just re do it and go back to stock ish
Being over built for Overlanding isn’t necessarily a bad thing, which is part of why I bought this truck, Titan swapped, but to your point sometimes too many mods can lead to less reliability. Also, there are a lot of ways to spend the money that you could spend on a titan swap that would get you to more places more comfortably.
This was in my suggested feed and based on the title I will not be watching. Titan swapping your frontier or Xterra is the best thing you can do for your suspension on a budget and has many benefits. Don't need to list them. If you know you know and if you don't then do some research and find out that it's the best thing to do for mid travel and giving your truck better handling off-road.
Haha, ok, no pressure. If you actually read the title, it says why you shouldn't Titan swap your Xterra or Frontier for Overlanding though, not offroading. There's a difference and in a lot of cases it's a large expense with few payoffs if you're just hitting gravel forest service roads. Of course if you want to take the truck wheeling, it's a great way to get the benefits you mentioned, but again, this video is focused primarily on Overlanding.
Ok so I just joined the Nissan family by purchasing a ‘07 Xterra and I’ve been watching a lot of RUclips vids and researching the whole titan swap thing. I think I’ve made up my mind to do it but my question is that including the motor as well?? Mine stock had the 4.0 v6 but ide like to put a v8 in her, but I haven’t read or heard the first thing about the engine itself being swapped as well. Just the suspension stuff! Any answers, suggestions, words of wisdom, negative or positive experiences with this, feel free to comment or message me. I’m really interested in this and I love my truck so far, even though the way it is bone stock!!
Welcome to the family and good question! So, a "titan swap" is usually just defined as swapping over the suspension components. If you go to thenewx.org or clubfrontier.org you can search for Titan Swap and you'll find lots of info in there on that.
If you wanted to VK56 swap the truck (the engine swap part) it is actually surprisingly easy. The motors both use the same motor mounts. The trickiest part is getting a custom wiring harness made to make the two motors communicate (but you can get that through a company called Offroad Gorilla for about $500) and then installing the engine and fan shroud. But again, if you search those sites for VK swap, you'll find tons of info on that.
There's also a guy named Brennan that you'll see mentioned who's out of Ohio who does the full swaps, but he's pretty busy and can be hard to get a hold of. If you can reach him though and can get on his schedule, he can do everything for you for a fee.
Hope that helps but check out those forums for more info! Tons out there.
Awesome! Thank you so much and I will definitely check those sites out.
This a totally unrelated comment. I was at CVS today, and took a look at the Consumer Reports ratings for the brand new 2023 Frontier. It did not rate well. Thats to be expected of a 1st year model. But, Nissan MPGs are still terrible compared to the competition. C'mon Nissan! Dont get me wrong, Nissan makes reliable drive trains. I'm not a huge fan of all the twin turbos and fancy computer control for extra MPGs, but Nissan could definitely do better.
Yep, I recently picked up a 2023 Frontier Pro-4X and I've been getting (with mostly city driving) about 19.5 MPG. On the highway, depending on where I'm going and how hilly it is, I've been averaging low 20's. Still not the best, but significantly better than the old outdated 5 speed auto (new truck has a 9 speed).
@@AllThingsOverlanding yes, it has the 3.8_L naturally aspirated V6 they put in the 2020 Frontiers, and paired it with what I believe is a new 9 speed transmission. After seeing all the problems vehicle manufacturers are having with these fancy twin turbo engines that get great power and better MPGs, I'm fine with a standard V6 with a good transmission. Still, compared to the competition (Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado), the new Frontier doesn't have all the fancy stuff and high factory ground clearance those mid-size trucks have. I believe it gets worse MPGs than all 3. That's fine with me, provided Nissan prices their trucks quite a bit less. In 2011, I got the top model Xterra Pro-4X, with the leather seats, for $27,500 out the door. The equivalent 4Runner was like $44K, and Toyota wasn't making deals. That decision was a no brainer, especially since the Xterra frame is so much stronger than Toyota truck frames, and the sound system is booming!
@@AllThingsOverlanding I'm surprised you bought a 1st year model. I know some people don't care. I just like a new gen vehicle to be around for 3+ years before I buy, so that they can work out all the kinks. BTW, even though I was never a fan of the grill on the old Frontier (I actually thought the old Hardbody looked better), I'm definitely not a fan of the new Frontier grill. It looks good if you plan to keep it stock, and not go off-road. But geeze, could they have made a truck with a worse approach angle? I realize those big grills are all the rage now, so a lot of it is the looks to sell vehicles. They could have struck a better compromise between looks and approach angle.
@@DDDYLN I’ve got a 2023 and 2022 was the first year, so it had some decent changes and “fixes” from 2022, but I still trust it more than any of those domestic trucks and it’s got a warranty and 218k less miles than my old truck, haha.
@@DDDYLN they’ve definitely come up in price and for the pretty loaded pro-4x it’s about mid $40k’s now. Still though, for a comparable Tacoma, Colorado, etc. they’re definitely thousands more and with turbo motors.
Looking to offroad my 2014 xterra. The only problem is my truck is basic and bone stock literally. There are no lockers, TS, not lifted matter of fact its a true base truck. My plan is to build it in my vision to take it overlanding. Any advice for someone who cant afford the offroad or 4x model but still wants to enjoy the overlanding lifestyle?
My first "overlanding" vehicle was an 05 Xterra SE with no locker and it was fantastic. Tons of ways to cheaply modify that thing and even without many mods but a small lift and bigger tires, I took it to a lot of fun places. If it helps, here's a whole playlist of my old Xterra vids with ideas for budget minded mods (just remember that most of them are optional and you can really do a lot more than you might think in your stock truck): ruclips.net/video/Zk4S9rXYsew/видео.html
I was considering doing a Titan swap because I wanted to change the ride height of my stock 2015 Frontier SV 4X4.
To me, it just seems to sit lower than a pickup truck should.
I was considering the coil spacers first to go the cheap route, but I was told there’s issues with Coil-Bucket contact. So I decided against it.
Now that you’re saying don’t do the Titan Swap, I was thinking about the All Dogs Off-Road Lift Kit.
Any suggestions??
Honestly, there are benefits to the Titan swap, but it's going to cost a decent amount of money and time to do. ADO makes great stuff and they're awesome and super helpful. If I was you, I'd give them a shout and tell them a bit about what you want to do with your truck and they can make recommendations on what would work best for you for the best price! Just tell them I sent ya, haha.
Dang. Dropping some hot controversy! Lol. Totally disagree but I can respect your opinion. I have a million comments but won’t air them all. Would be fun to have a heated 😉friendly debate on this one. I’ve had a xterra and and frontier with most suspension stages there are out there and I have a lot of thoughts.
Haha, guess so! It got kind of heated for a while. Most people overlook that the subject line includes "for overlanding" and especially as I define it in the midwest where things are a little more tame. I do love my Titan swap though, but I'm pretty sure my old Xterra with a 2.5" lift could do 80-85% of the things my truck can do. Now, if you're talking about rock crawling, different story, :D.
@@AllThingsOverlanding love the vid though man! Keep up the good content!
@@Dagrootx Thanks buddy and same to you! I just hope to have my own race truck someday like you, :D.
Well, what's your definition of overlanding in the first place? Driving hundreds of miles on maintained forest roads? Sure any stock 4x4 can do it. But take BLM "roads" full of rocks big enough to high center lower rigs or even slice away their oil pan. My overland rig is actual Titan on 35s and with 3" lift so I can blast along such roads with ease. As fast as possible, as slow as necessary. Rigs on 32-33s in my group have to chose more precise path, crawl much slower and rely on body armor. So can it be done? Sure it can. Is it fun? Not really.
However the picture becomes an opposite on narrow technical OHV trails, but that is built-up Wrangler's territory, not overlanding :)
Yep, totally agree. For most “overlanders” though, I think they tend more towards gravel fire roads than rock filled BLM trails. But, if not, and clearance and travel are more important, then a Titan swap may make a ton of sense. Really just depends on your location and frequency/severity of your trips IMO.
Say hypothetically your stock engine just went, what you be the best overall swap for a overland xterra?
I mean, the cheapest would be just to swap in a lower mileage 4.0. But, if you want more power, a Titan VK56 would be a nice upgrade.
@@AllThingsOverlanding Aye thanks man, time for some research now haha
I have a 2018 Frontier with 60k on it. Your video has lead me to think my wife was right in the beginning 😬. I should just throw a small lift with 33s, some plates and lockers. Social media at one point had me thinking I should find a donor Titan and go full Titan Swap V8+ front and rear 😂
Something I am interested in is oversized gas tank, do you know of any options?
Haha, if you tell her that, you might get some brownie points :D! I'm pretty sure Long Range America makes an auxiliary or larger replacement tank for them, but I haven't really looked into it.
Does anybody create 2014 armadas for overlanding?
I would actually love to do an Armada build. The only downside (at least where I live) is that the trails are pretty tight so full sizes get a little tougher to maneuver.
I own both now, frontier being the first. Overall the xterra is much easier to drive and navigate through trails, due to its shorter wheelbase.
I thought of titan swapping the xterra, but just went with a regular suspension lift for the same reasons you mentioned.
Mind me asking what you went with? I really don’t think it’s necessary and I just bought a 15’ pro4x and wanna get a regular lift and wheels and tires soon 😅
@@ArnoldsIOS I wanted to get the ADO red konis, but they were back ordered. So I ended up getting the nisstec extended travel coil overs up front. Learned that it’s not really as advertised, even with spc uca. From my online search, even the Bilstein 5100 has a little bit more travel for less money. For the rear I have ome leaf springs, prg adjustable shackles and 5100 shocks.
Good to hear from someone with a similar set up! I agree with everything you said. Pros and cons of each for sure.
I think Titan swap is the way to go but keep it on 33s or 34s max to not get the crazy gas mileage
Yeah, tires make a huge difference. Also, gears would solve a lot of these problems, but then that's just more expense and work.
Great information great video. I have a 03 frontier 3.3 supercharger 2wd. I would like to do a 4x4 conversion. Any suggestions? Like what year frontier or Xteria will directly bolt on. Mine is a manual transmission. Thanks
Glad it was helpful! I've never had a first gen so I'm no expert there, but there may be more info on www.clubfrontier.org/.
It's not the same frame just the same suspension dimensions.
I wheel a full size Titan crew cab, with plus 4" wider each side and don't have issues or no more than anyone else in tipping over. Been wheeling for over 40 yrs. It's all technic and spotter
If you're having an issue finding Titan parts... Then that would mean anyone with a titan shouldn't wheel because from what you're saying we would have an issue. Which isn't the case. I think it more in you head than anything else.
I can find 35 tires all day long. Hell I run 16" rims/wheels that normally will not work with factory brakes and don't have an issue.
If your buying parts just say I need titan front and frontier rear stuff. Say I'm working on two different vehicles at the same time. I think it's just in your head.
Any gear head wouldn't have an issue, I guess it's for someone just getting into this and not growing up around it that would make it hard for them to wrap their heads around it.
Hell I have the 6 speed manual transmission from your rig in my titan. You will not have any issue getting OEM stuff.
Yeah, good points. It's just more confusing for parts stores and things like that when trying to get the right parts and you have to keep it straight in your mind when you need Frontier parts vs. Titan parts, but you're right that Titan parts are probably just as available as Frontier parts.
@@AllThingsOverlanding also, from you point. The hardcore wheelers will have multiple spare parts. The folks that don't, I can see your point when you service as needed, that time gap between ordering parts it can get confusing. I think what you're missing in your explanation is time. It might be three years between brake changes and so on.
@@anthonylimjoco5958 Yeab, makes a ton of sense. Also, agree on the wheelers versus overlanders part, which is kind of the point of the video. For overlanding specifically, I wouldn’t say a Titan swap is super necessary. I still love it though, haha.
@@AllThingsOverlanding I was taking in your video with a narrow Short sighted perspective. From a wheeler and prerunner view. Your video is correct
Thank you for the information. I have a 03 king cab 2wd manual transmission 3.3 I am thinking about a 4x4 swap. What advice and recommendations do you have for me. Thanks
Hey there, glad it was helpful! Honestly, I don't know a ton about the earlier gens and those swaps, but I'm sure there is info on clubfrontier.org on it. I would imagine it's not a super tough swap, but you'd want to make sure you know all that's involved before committing to it. Good luck!
@@AllThingsOverlanding thank you.
Do you have a link for that front bumper? Thanks
Unfortunately, you don’t want it. The company that makes it has crazy long lead times, bad (or non-existent) communication, and often doesn’t even deliver on an order. 🥲
But what about doing a Frontier-swap on a Titan? lol
I'm torn between doing a Titan swap on my Frontier or just trading for a Titan.
Haha, that would be pretty interesting. Guess it just depends on budget and needs. Titans are nice. And the VK56 is a beast too, :D.
I just bought the components to T-swap my 2016 Pro-4x. I already have a 6" Fabtech lift with SPC UCA'S & 2.0 Radflo coilovers. I keep having trouble with tie-rods for some reason. Will a T-swap fix this problem. The tires I had were 35.5"s I went down to 33"s do they work well with the T-swap?
So, I don't want to speak out of turn because I haven't had any tie-rod issues in the last year of ownership and I'm not aware of the previous owner having any wheeling it hard out west the year before either. I would think that 33's should lessen the wear on the components so I'm sure they'll work. It's just hard to go back down from 35's to 33's for me. If the Tswap can handle 35's for 2 years in pretty aggressive wheeling applications, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to handle 33's.
@@AllThingsOverlanding it wasn't T-swaped when I ran the 35.6"s it was just the Fabtech lift 6"s the SPC UCA'S & 2.0 Radflos up front and an add-a-leaf in the rear
@@jb0776 Ahh, gotcha. Then when you throw the heavier duty components on, I think you should be fine.
@@AllThingsOverlanding thank you
@@jb0776 Anytime!
Very good video!! We just picked up out 2016 Frontier Pro-4X and was looking to do this. But after watching, I think we now will just get him as highas we can go without doing so.
Congrats on the truck! Those second gens are sweet. I do love my Titan swap, but you could also just do a 2.5" lift from All Dogs for significantly less and some add some 33's and get to 90-95% of the same places as a Titan swapped truck.
Thought whole point of titan swap is to get more articulation. Still think after bumper to bumper over at 72k I'll titan swap my 22 frontier pro4x but I wouldn't go 35s
Yeah, that's definitely a pro of it. My point with the video was mostly that the majority of people doing Overlanding and light trails or gravel roads don't need all that (it's the number one question I get asked). I personally love it and it's made it super capable and I wouldn't have it any other way. But for most, it's overkill and not worth the expense (in my opinion).
@@AllThingsOverlanding yes unless your hitting some harder trails frontier/xterra lift could hang but I would rather overbuild rig and not use it.
@@DustinB855 good point!
I have a 2000 Nissan frontier xe v6 can someone tell me if it is possible to titan swap it
I'm honestly not sure whether you can swap that generation of Frontier. At least not as easily as the 05 and newer trucks. You might check clubfrontier.org to see if there is any info there!
@@AllThingsOverlanding ok thanks for your opinion and what I've looked at online I believe that it can accept 4wd components but don't know what parts it is 2wd but the transmission says it is a 4wd
Titan swap the front, and put 32's or 33's and it will be ok for ovwrlanding and fuel economy, and you will not have to regear for 35's.
I'm already Titan swapped up front! Probably will end up Titan swapping the rear eventually as an upgrade as I just broke my Frontier axle shaft last month, :D.
Is removing front and rear sway bars worth the "risk" or mushy handling in the corners at higher speeds for the increased articulation? Has anyone measured before and after to see what the actual articulation gain is? I'm in AZ, I have a 2015 Pro4x, just bought it with 2" spacer lift, bumpers, winch, sliders, armored up on bottom, 3.69 gearing, K02 285/75/16 (supposedly 32.8", but actually 31.5" at normal pressure and not sure what it is at 16 lbs which is how I''m running it off road), Locker retention doo-hickey so stays on in 2WD or 4WD regardless of speed (no auto cut-off at 5 mph). Clearance at front skid plate 10.5". Just did an organized ride with very experienced Jeep group with kitted out Rubicons. Loved it. Just wish I had 12" of clearance since i did a lot of scraping on that ride and some traction loss due to lack of articulation. Can these problems be solved without doing the Titan swap? I really don't want to go the Titan route but I'd like to join this Rubicon group on their weekly rides and be able to clear the obstacles without dragging or breaking my rig. There were no "go arounds" on the obstacles and turning around would have been almost impossible in some of the areas we were in.
The sway bar thing is just something you get used to. I definitely drive my truck differently than my car, but you just kind of get used to going a little easier in the roundabouts or on onramps. After probably 8 years of driving with no sway bars, I don't even notice anymore.
With some cutting and a bigger lift, you could probably fit 35's with proper offset wheels without doing a Titan swap. From what everyone says on the forums though, that's the best/cheapest way to get everything to work right. I think if you found a good, wrecked donor truck, you could get a Titan swap done for a fairly reasonable amount, but there are a lot of variables.
Stay with 33s, 35s are to big inless your going to beef up the Xterra front differential. Did you try adding aftermarket UCAs that will clear the shock tower and longer lift coil overs that should give you more front travel.
@@beardumaw24 thanks for the input. I do have aftermarket UCAs. So are you saying with longer coil overs I'll get more tire "drop" = more articulation? I'll probably need to extend brake lines too?
@@AllThingsOverlanding thanks for the advice, I'm sure I could adapt to the new road manners...mushy cornering. What other components in the front end are more likely to break when going from 33s to 35s? And what can I do, as a driver to reduce the possibilities of that breakage when in those situations re: driver technique? Do's and Don'ts?
@@timhardman4764 Honestly, it’s likely cv’s or tie rods that would break. But the simple thing is just to go easy on it when it 4wd. Try to reduce wheel spin as much as possible and you’ll probably be fine. I try to crawl most obstacles and have never broken anything off-roading. Maybe I’m boring but I get home, haha.
Do engine remap and you notice huge saving to those mileage
Yeah, good idea. I’m sure that would help. Part of it is just having 215k miles on the stock engine and trans and then adding 35’s, 😀.
You can also swap a pathfinder
That's true!
@@AllThingsOverlanding I’m just saying cuz the pathfinders always get left out
@@PYROtheNomad Yeah, they do. I specifically left them out of this video because the process is different than the other two. But I love pathfinders and think they’re a great option for overlanding. Which is why I included them in this video:ruclips.net/video/Vxife-it7V8/видео.html
@@AllThingsOverlanding that makes sense. I just got an 05 pathy and am slowly realizing that it’s the least used platform of the big 3 vq40 trucks
@@PYROtheNomad It is, but I think they're underrepresented. They're great trucks. I've love to build one someday!
Unless you are going to do the titan swap sourcing and installing it isn’t going to be worth it. Unless you live near z1 off-road, nisstec or a couple other speciality Nissan companies most standard 4 wheel drive shops won’t have much if any experience doing a titan swap. Also most people put 34/35s after doing a titan swap and that just puts stress in the stock R180 front diff and if you wheel hard that diff is just on borrowed time.
If you want to keep the track width you can go with the m205 diff and v8 pathfinder axles. I am currently going that route and that’s only cause an m205 was for sale like 10 minutes from a house and it was a deal I couldn’t pass up. I bought a front locker for it and I’m gonna have a professional shop refresh the m205 and do the install. Everything all together is gonna cost close to 2k.
My opinion is that the front locker makes the Xterra/frontier platform far more capable than the few inches of articulation you gain from the titan swap.
Yeah, great points. The rear locker has been a game changer over my old unlocked Xterra. I'm sure if you were double locked, you could do most anything. Did you buy that new front locker that just came out?
@@AllThingsOverlanding hey,
how does this stack up with the Pathfinders that have the 5.6 in them?
Yeah I bought the elocker that just came out from TRE 4x4.
@@coltereastman227 Figured. That thing seems sweet!
@@mattperkins9005 I mean, I don’t have a V8, just the 4.0 V6 with beefier suspension components and bigger tires. Those apathy’s are pretty sweet but they are IFS and spring rear suspension so I imagine my Frontier has less power but more flex and suspension travel.
“Don’t do it, did I? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Do I love it? Yes. But don’t do it, you don’t need it…. But it does make it more capable, but don’t do it…. But it’s awesome though, but just don’t….
😂 to be fair, I bought the truck titan swapped and I do love it, but if I had had to source all the parts and pay for the swap myself, I would have just kept it all Frontier and used that money to upgrade all my suspension with frontier stuff and, for overlanding, it would likely be just as capable for less money.
It's crazy that your fuel mileage is that bad, unless you're talking on the trail fuel mileage for a trip combined with highway mileage?...my average daily driver + commuting mpg is 16.5-17 with a Titan swapped Xterra on 33's with a bunch of armor, winch, sliders, fridge, solar panel, etc...that definitely makes me want to stick with 33's when I go to put new tires on this year...
Also, I completely agree that my Xterra was far more "reliable" prior to Titan swapping...I've intentionally kept all of my added weight as low as possible prior to the Titan swap, and I couldn't imagine trying to wheel with a rooftop tent after Titan swapping and removing the sway bars...am I thankful for the added suspension travel and wider track width? Yes. Did it make my Xterra so much more capable? Not really. Honestly, for the cost of what I have into Titan swapping (even on a super tight budget with hand me down parts) my money would have been better served with putting on an air locker or swapping in a factory E-locker rearend...
Yeah, that's my highway average, lol. The RTT with roof boxes, 35's, etc. definitely drag it down. I could probably see a definite improvement if I was willing to go about 60 as the transmission wouldn't have to constantly downshift to make up for wind or hills, but what fun is that, :D.
Yeah, again, for wheeling, I totally get it. And, am I glad I own one even though my focus is Overlanding? Yes. But, for all the people that constantly ask me if it's worth it and if I would recommend it for Overlanding, I would say to use your money elsewhere.
I'm curious if you considered fully Titan swapping your Frontier? I have a Navara (Australia) fully Titan swapped (rear as well), it uses all Titan components underneath - (except manual gearbox and transfer case - yes I have the VK56). Saves with the confusion at service time and does add to the stability of the vehicle.. In regards to your mileage, I'm curious why you haven't upgraded your gearing? I went from the factory 3.73 centres to 4.56 - would help with over revving the engine also (which would be a big factor in your mileage)..
Yep! I’ve been doing some research into sourcing a locking Titan rear end. I just bought the truck in this configuration about 9 months ago and the previous owner had mis-installed a new timing chain which caused the vehicle to break down as I was driving it home from purchasing it. It was also my second vehicle at the time so it took a few months just to even be able to fix all the problems that came from that. Since then I’ve just been driving the truck since it’s barely been running since I bought it, but a set of gears would definitely help. Just prioritizing, now that it s running, what to do next. 😀
@@AllThingsOverlanding I've enjoyed watching you go through the ups and downs of owning a Titan swapped Frontier and your overlanding, it was people such as yourself that enticed me into making the big step of doing the swap. For me to do the swap here in Australia - I had to import everything, as the Titan wasn't/isn't available.. I believe one of your other followers - Colter Eastman, that half got it right. You do need the assistance from businesses (in my case, Nisstec, Radflo and Driven Desire) that do this swap on a daily bases for it to be worth the effort - there are a lot of pitfalls you can fall into and it does get expensive. Where I believe Colter gets it wrong is rather simple, you only go ahead with this conversion if your committed to the build and intend on keeping it for a duration that makes it viable and part of that commitment needs to be you getting your hands dirty and building it yourself (it helps when things go wrong - as you know what you're doing). I purchased everything in Denver (except the wiring & uprev), had the differentials re-built by Nisstec with the new gears and lockers front and rear everything else was sent to me for me to do the hard yards. Do your research and everything works out just fine. Most importantly you've got to enjoy getting out there..
@@rodofarrell6887 Love it! Glad you got it done and I bet your set up is a beast. You’re right that if you really love Nissan‘s and want the biggest and baddest then it is worth it. I think for most people that are into over landing it’s overkill but I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.
@@AllThingsOverlanding It's funny you say overkill, I went for the full Titan swap for the durability. Nissan built the Titan to withstand the day to day riggers of their customers - for beyond the warranty period, meaning they pass the durability test for Nissan. By using the complete drivetrain, suspension and braking systems you bring this testing into your build and hopefully this gets you home. Overlanding here (Australia) is somewhat different to most parts of the world, you can literally travel for thousands of kilometres (miles) without seeing a single person - we have no borders with foreign nations, and the next petrol (gas) station can be hundreds of kilometres (miles) away , it's a harsh deadly environment and your vehicle needs to be durable - if it isn't you better have a lot of water, shade and in an emergency a EPIRB and/or a satellite phone.
@@rodofarrell6887 Yeah, totally makes sense for your application. Over here in the states, it's unfortunately the opposite. It's hard to get away from civilization and takes a lot of effort and highway driving to get to locations where you can even access remote wilderness like that. For most American's, a Titan swap is "overkill" but I also like the heavier duty components and tend to gravitate towards those more adventurous trips. But for most American Overlanders, you could do most of the stuff we have with a stock 4x4 with a small lift and slightly bigger tires, :D. I've love to come visit Australia sometime though for sure!
Currently going up the West Coast from SoCal to the PNW in my 05 Xterra SE 4x4. I also was thinking about T-swapping prior to this trip. Couple reasons I went against it where due budget and parts sourcing. I opted for the ADO complete lift kit with Bilstein 5100s on all corners. All parts are pretty easy to buy again if they break. Added PRG tophat spacers and shackles for about 3" of lift. Along with a set of 33" Wildpeaks AT3Ws, I've gotten enough clearance for mild to moderate trails at a much cheaper price. I think you just convinced me to stay with my current set up for a long time. No need to fix it if it's not going to serve me anymore than what I currently have.
I think that’s a smart way to do it. If at some point things started to break down significantly and you were in a spot where you would have to spend a bunch of money to replace parts then it might make sense, as an alternative way to fix and upgrade the components.
You running aftermarket upper control arms
@@Hamp2799 SPC UCAs
Hi , I m at 7 minutes in and so far i haven't heard anything that would merit not titan swapping . When you start talking about how your rear end is the stock rear , end well it isn't done properly it should be a M226 off a Titan , brakes off a titan , front suspension off a titan , Not hard to find titan parts , vs frontier and xterra parts. MPG is irrelevant because as soon as you change the wheels and tires you lose the MPG . Now to be fair overlanding vs trail runs and off roading are two VERY different aspects of this hobby , you should start with that and define overlanding , vs anything else. Cause your not wrong you do not need a titan swap for overlanding . But if you do trails and off roading , then a titan swap has more pros than cons for that . Ill be honest , your video has very little validity , yes it costs to swap , yes the parts can be more expensive , but honestly any aftermarket for the xterra and frontier is expensive anyway. If the individual was a avid off roader and trail runner , a titan swap can be incredibly useful , and the costs are warranted , but if all your doing is overlanding down gravel roads and fields , then no you don't need to swap. This is at best a opinion piece , at worst wrong. I appreciate your videos but this one really kinda hit a bad spot.
Seems like a lot are taking this really personally. Why you said is pretty much what I intended. For the majority of “overlanding” in the US, it is not necessary. For sure, if you’re wheeling or hitting super challenging trails then a Titan swap might make sense. I personally love my truck and plan to eventually swap the rear axle, but only because I want the beefier brakes and the matching track. If someone is going to hit gravel roads and basic obstacles, then I think TSing is overkill. If you’ve got the budget and want more travel and capability then it makes sense. Depends on the person’s goals and location IMO.
@@AllThingsOverlanding So why not do a video clarifying the difference between overlanding , and wheeling , and talk about titan swaps as part of its content , this title and the things you literally say are not really true when you know the line is very thin between overlanding and wheeling , most people do not know the difference , hell i know people who still though it was just camping , with a tent on their roof. So the title should have been Overlanding : do you really need a titan swap , rather than why you shouldn't titan swap , the insinuation you make with the current title is that there is something inherently or mechanically wrong with a titan swap . Much like those old clarica commercials , clarity makes a world of difference.
@@whompus28 The title actually is Why you shouldn’t Titan swap your truck for overlanding. In the video I talk about what I’m defining overlanding as and I say that a lot of people don’t hit challenging trails and therefore don’t really need a titan swap. I also point out that I enjoy more challenging trails which is why a titan swapped truck made sense for me. I think if the title of the video was just “you should never titan swap a frontier/Xterra,” I would totally get where you’re coming from. But my title is that you shouldn’t do it just for overlanding, especially if you’re hitting just gravel roads and that’s it.
@@AllThingsOverlanding the title and the video content does not protray the clarity of what overlanding is and why titan swapping may not be for you if you do this and this and this , if you like doing trails and such , then this is what you will encounter with a titan swap , which you are correct on the wider stance means snuggier areas on a trail become more difficult , but you don't really explain that , hence all the comments that kinda low key say they are titan swapped and like it. there has to be clarity on your discussion , its fine i can concede the title , but the video content did nothing to clarify the difference between overlanding and wheeling. Because there really is a difference , all the video managed to do was stir up the pot about titan swapping and giving people the wrong idea about it. Me personally , for what i do , i would titan swap , but just because i am titan swapped doesn't mean i can't overland , and honestly you don't buy a frontier or xterra for the fuel mileage , so thats a mute point . all i am saying is i watched the whole video and there was nothing there that defined the line where a overlanding ends and wheeling starts. I know alot of people know the difference but this is youtube , your going to get people who are new to the sport and think they are one and the same , when they aren't.
@@whompus28 I get what you’re saying now. Yeah, there’s some expectation that people know to some degree what overlanding is. Again, it’s my opinion and I’m not saying I’m right or wrong or that people won’t have different opinions but rather walking through what I have observed with my truck and the pros and cons of Titan swapping. Of course it’s everyone’s choice to decide whether it’s a good decision/expenditure for them based on their terrain and desires.