Last week I picked up my new 2012 Nissan Armada Platinum. I got it so we can get a camper in the future so it needed to have the tow package. The car was a one owner vehicle with 83k miles.
I plan on putting on a small lift and some tires as well as maybe do some other mods I have read about here...headers/exhaust. I used to have a 2009 Nissan Xterra that was a great car.
Old Xterra:
New Armada:
Here is a list of items I hope to do, let me know if you have any thoughts or any ideas for anything else.
Phase I:
Remove rear emblems - DONE
Paint rear Nissan emblem
Paint front grill
Remove mud flaps and side steps - DONE
Paint mirror, door handle, and door molding chrome
New Brake Pads
Replace fluids
Phase II:
Tranny Cooler
Air Box Mod
LED interior lights
New headlight and foglights - HID?
PRG mini lift - Bilsteins and rear spacer
New rims and tires - 35's?
Headers and exhaust
Here are some pics after the first weekend of fun...removing emblems, side steps, and mud flaps.
My goal of getting the Armada to tow a camper is getting closer to reality. Ordered a Microlite 25FKS that should be here in 6 weeks. Working on getting all the goodies I need to outfit the Armada and new camper.
That's the first time I've seen that brand of hitch. Looks remarkably similar to the Equal-I-zer brand that I have (same basic principle), and at a much more attractive price. Looking at the reviews, looks like people are pretty happy with it. Be very curious to hear your view on it once you have it and have installed it.
Other than that, looks like you're going down the right path! Looking forward to seeing pictures!!!
Yeah it is a bit cheaper, don't wanna skimp out on the hitch but also don't want to drop $500. It does look like it has a very similar setup to the Equailizer one. I'll let you know how it goes if I do get it.
Thanks for the help! I got word they ordered the camper so I went ahead and bought a bunch of stuff to outfit the Armada and the Camper. I ended up going with the Equalizer hitch in the end, saw one for $430 and that was only like $100 more than the Curt Tru Track. I think going with the Equalizer will give me more peace of mind. It's the 10,000lbs capacity and grabbed some extra pins, some sleeve things, and a hitch ball as well. Here's the goodies that are coming:
Tow Mirrors
Prodigy P3 Brake Controller
Equalizer 10,000lb Hitch
Furrion RV Backup/High Speed Camera
Tons of RV hoses, cables, adapters, electrical stuff, wheel chocks, leveling blocks, etc
Camper should be here in 6 weeks so I have some time to ditch the old rotted out pop-up camper and get the Armada prepped. I just did the brakes on the Armada but still need to replace some fluids, diff and trans, as the car is fairly new to us too.
If you have any other ideas on things I can get prepared for with the Armada let me know. It has almost 89,000 and not sure what's been done to it besides what I've done. Which is front and rear brakes, synthetic oil, HID lights, LED interior lights, CAI.
If you have any other ideas on things I can get prepared for with the Armada let me know. It has almost 89,000 and not sure what's been done to it besides what I've done. Which is front and rear brakes, synthetic oil, HID lights, LED interior lights, CAI.
How old are your tires? A blowout while towing ain't any fun!!!
Also, I remember when I ordered my Equal-I-zer, I had the option of them installing the hitch ball. If you have that option, do it. It requires a very high torque value, and a very large socket. (Unless, of course, you want the excuse to have to go out and buy that new tool!!!)
Fun stuff! I think the Equal-i-zer is worth the extra surety and safety. I'll have to look into that backup camera. That would certainly be nice to have.
Tires are used and still have a bit of life left on them. I have been planning on getting new rims and tires but waiting to pull the trigger on that. I imagine I'll get them next Spring sometime, try to make it through this Winter with what I have. I would think we would only be taking some local trips, nothing too far, until we get used to it. Should come early Sept, so that leaves a few months to try it out. I would agree though, I don't want a blow out while towing.
As for the ball hitch, I didn't see that option....but the camper does come with setup and demo so if needed I think I can have the RV place get it setup on there.
Stuff should be here tomorrow, most of it...can't wait for the camper.
I got the brake controller installed. Was pretty simple using a diagram someone kindly posted up on this forum. One question I had was it seems to be on even with the ignition off. It does come with a carrying case, perhaps you unplug it when not in use. I just unhooked it and locked it in the glovebox till it's needed.
Mirrors were delivered today, hopefully they are the right ones. If they are I will get some pictures taken once they are on.
My P3 is always on too. Sometimes it will black out the display screen if the car has been on long enough. I haven't removed it while not in use, but I might since it is somewhat close to my knees/shin where I have it.
Nicely done! Very beefed up mirrors. I wish mine had been black instead of chrome, but I bought them used for a great price... I also had to rewire the plugs since they didn't match.
Finally think I have everything needed for the shop to install the headers, bpipes, and exhaust. Can't wait to drop the Armada off next Tuesday, I'm hoping everything goes smoothly with the install.
Uprev is creating patch for my ECU since it isn't supported, haven't heard much about that yet so I'm hoping it gets done in time so that I can get the tune done after.
I got the headers/bpipes/exhaust installed by a shop, they also welded in the UQ resonator. The Armada sounds great now! Did some logs and sent them to Jeff, got a quick response and am still tweaking the ECU. Think I have a small leak by the Y pipe clamp, I'll call the shop and see if they can take a look if it doesn't work itself out after some mileage. So glad I went this route, I'll update soon with pictures and gas mileage changes if there are any.
Thanks again to Jeff and Joe at Cajun bpipes for their great service and product!
Yeah I had to bake them, it was a pain to get apart. The biggest pain was probably get the stuck sealant out of the headlight after it was apart. There's a post on the Titan forum that outlines how to do it.
Went back to the shop to get the small exhaust leak by the y-pipe looked at, they should be able to weld it or put a better band clamp on there to minimize it. Other than that I'm loving the new changes. With the Uprev tune I swear it's shifting quicker and smoother, seems to just switch gears in a heartbeat when accelerating. The sound with the headers/bpipes/exhaust is great. At startup and idle it sounds mean. When driving around a parking lot it is definitely louder and has a nice growl to it in the low end. When getting on it hard it is loud but not too loud or obnoxious. Driving on the highway it is very quiet (I do have the UQ resonator) and is not much more noticeable than stock.
Here's a clip of startup and some revving...I'll try to get some drive by videos put up at some point.