Drakenight’s 2013 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab

  Since the last post... Added an over-the-bed rack, gave the truck a 2,800 mile trip workout, got hit in a parking lot (damaged rear fender), had the damage fixed, and now I'm debating the next thing to add in. Busy, busy, busy.

Finally had some free time to spend putting in the 30" light bar on the front. I'll be sure to get some night-time shots to add to this post once the sun goes down. Still need to get the 6" swapped out up top, but that'll be a project for another time when I'm able to break away from other obligations. Looking forward to turning night into day.

More work done! To go with the tail light guards, the front brush guard was installed to finish out the overall look. Tried to get some LED conversions for the overhead ProComps, but not satisfied with them in the slightest, so they're going to get pulled and replaced with something else.

Inside, the floor mats have taken a beating in the form of mud, dirt, and animals, and are surviving much better than the old cloth ones will. I'm quite pleased, and the red goes great with the overall look that the truck has taken.

Up top, a cargo net was installed on the luggage rack to fill in some of the empty space there, along with some grip-handles on the left and right side over the front driver/passenger doors, both courtesy Raingler. I'm tempted to get another cargo net for the front section, but at the same time I'm worried how it will interact with the sunroof.

A 30" totron light bar came in and will go on the brush guard shortly, and four 6" totrons came in to go up top to replace the pesky, underperforming ProComps. Likewise, my Calmini UCAs are in, so I can finally finish the lift/suspension with those and the spacers to level out the front end.

I'll get more photos up as they come in!

Touched up the interior with all-weather mats in a nice thematic red, got the Black Horse Off-Road grilles on the tail-end to protect my lights, and finally got the last of the bulbs swapped with LEDs, meaning the headlights, fog lights, projectors, and floods are 100% LED driven. The power-draw has dropped significantly. Edit: Looking at the pictures, I think the light overloaded my phone's cameras and, for some strange reason, it put little white circles over the lights themselves. I'll work on a better shot.

So, as time passes, mods come and go. The Hella 500 Black Magics weren't cutting it! The reflector was sideways, causing the light thrown to be off-pattern and overall terrible. I've swapped them out for ProComp's 100w KC Daylighter clones.

...but I couldn't stop there.

LED replacement bulbs are inbound to change out the standard bulbs to clean up the light being thrown, and to ease up power consumption (and, by proxy, load on the battery and alternator). Likewise, the factory fogs and headlights are getting a facelift.

Also due in, Calmini upper control arms and 2" spacers up front to level out the front end and finish the lift. She'll be sitting pretty once those are through. Also working with XTerraperformance.com's team to fab up a rack for the truck bed to help with storage capacity and overall aesthetics (their racks do look great). A Raingler (www.raingler.com) REXN cargo net and grab-handles are also on the way to turn the factory roof-rack into something a little more workable for off-road applications. Topping off functionality and design mods, some red all-weather mats for the interior to flesh out the color scheme, and Black Horse Off Road's own tailight cages for the rear.

I'll be working on getting the front end done within the next month, but as things go, there's enough on the plate already.

I've also been reworking the decals. A few were crooked and driving me nuts. Reorders went out, new ones came in, and as weather permits they've been getting 'fixed'.


Future Mods:
Black Horse Off Road's brush guard up front. Swap out the Hella 500 Black Magic bulbs with the same LEDs in the ProComps, mount two of them up front, and relocate the license plate holder so the last two spots in the bumper-mouth can be used for additional lighting. The last two Hella 500's will most likely go in the back for rear-facing light sources.

More pics will be up as they come in!

Lights are wired, decals are starting to go on. Got the big ones for the doors left to do. Need to redo the driver-side rear quarter, as well. Also, going to have to figure out how to rotate the reflector in the BM500's to put the light pattern where it needs to be, the bar mounts them sideways, the dish was never meant to go that way. Just a challenge to overcome!

The light cage came in and is installed! Got the Hella 500 Black Magic lights mounted, covers set, and the decals on. I've just got to get it wired. Waiting on the switches to come in from Over The River and Through The Woods (www.otrattw.com) to come in. Wiring should be a simple affair. Mounting the cage was simple and came out looking sharp, especially on a black truck. Overall, I am very pleased.The bumper-mouth bracket is also installed, but not holding anything currently. I'll get some close-up shots of the bracket itself here soon and get those posted as soon as I can. Expect to see more once the switches come in and I settle on the lights I want for that particular spot.

The light bars from Xoskel (www.xoskel.com) just shipped and should be in next week. For now, though, here are the sidestep/bars from N-Fab. Overall, I'm very pleased. They came out looking sharp and fit on the truck well. Can't wait to get the light bars on to help close out the exterior look and function.Also included here is the Old Man Emu HD struts and leaf I said I would snap a shot of and post. I'm still scouring the area for another Pro-4x to compare it to side-by-side. Every time I've found one, it's while I'm in the middle of something else and can't quite pull in for a quick shot.I've also changed the interior dome lights, swapping out the stock yellow/white for LED red. This was for a few reasons. One, it fits the theme of design I'm shooting for. Two, they're very functional. You can turn them on and see or work without producing glare off the windows. It also doesn't ruin your eyesight after you've adjusted to the dark.Once the light bars come in, I'll get more shots as they're installed.

Working on some personalization. Nightlash is based off something, as such, there is a theme I'm adhering to for accessories and overall design. I've got removable clear covers for the Hella 500's I intend to install, and some decals I'm working on getting affixed to the appropriate spots.The Pro-4x is going to be replaced with a proper designator, and I've got some decals lined up for the doors, back window, and will probably spring for the hood as well.It's about time Nightlash showed her true colors anyway. More pics once installed.

I'll get some photos up soon, but the rear suspension is in.This 2013 is now standing on Old Man Emu and OME alone. The kit was fairly comprehensive, coming with everything that was required. Nothing was lacking, right down to the u-bolts (which are very beefy).I made a quick measurement of the distance from the ground to the top-most part of the wheel-well (fender) and it was 35" before installation. After installation of the Dakkar springs and OME struts, it now sits at 39", which is quite a boost. I parked next to a Nissan Titan owner I know and our beds/mirrors/etc are now on the same level (fully stock 2wd Titan).Ride is a bit stiffer than with the Blistein stock set from Nissan, but I notice far fewer of the minor/small bumps and potholes along the road driving around. Mileage was impacted, but that is to be expected.Clearance was one of the most notable gains, I've never had so much headroom while crawling beneath a truck as I do now, it should make some future work I have planned easier to accomplish without having to use stands/jacks just to get under the truck.The spring-rate is nice, the back end can carry loads with ease and with minimal sag. Going to test it out today with a heavier load than normal (cement bags for a project!). This should also help show how the HD Dakkar leafs handle.Future planning:LIGHTS! I've got some pieces on order and due in to start throwing more light on any given situation. Xoskel (www.xoskel.com) has some nice bumper-mouth brackets and a great looking roof-mount cage that I'm expecting in soon. Coupled up with some sharp-looking Hella 500-series Black Magic lights up top and some fog/driving lights in the bumper, things should start looking bright.

Front-end suspension is swapped.Pulled the stock Blistein struts/springs out and popped in the Old Man Emu HD springs with their nitrogen struts. Took about 30min per side to do in the garage and was a fairly simple affair (truly, fixing a faulty regulator on the air compressor was more difficult and time consuming).The rear set is going to be swapped out shortly, I only had time for the front-end on the weekend these were installed. Overall, there is a very noticeable difference in ride-height, the door sill now comes up to my knee (about 23") and the clearance in the wheel-well is much more pronounced. I wish I had an exact measurement of the ride-height increase, but after spending about half an hour looking for the tape measure before starting, I had to just write the silly thing off as MIA (it was later found in the house, in a desk drawer, which is nowhere close to being in the workshop).I have noticed a few other Pro-4x trucks running around here locally, and I might try to hunt one out in a parking lot, sidle up to it, and measure just to get a decent ballpark idea. I'm also going to be sure to measure out the difference on the rear end when that swap happens (coming soon!).The kit from OME is a very thorough one. Up front, you get the strut/springs and camber bolts to do the alignment. In the rear, all of the bushings, shims, and wedges required, the Dakkar heavy-duty leaf springs, grease-able shackles, heavy-duty u-bolts, and the nitrogen struts.The ride difference is also very notable with just the front end swapped out. There is a significant reduction in body-roll through turns, and the response on the struts to rough roads/terrain is phenomenal. Even though they are Heavy-Duty, and stiffer, there is a perceived smoother ride by everyone who was in the truck before and after the swap-out.I'm very excited to finish the full swap to see how the truck behaves with a 100% OME suspension setup and can't wait to get the truck back out onto the trail for some runs.On that note, I will also have the full Blistein set and stock leafs for sale, almost new, off a truck with 800 miles.

Had a chance to get some work done, which is what a truck's all about.Took the Pro-4x out to a nearby deer-lease and ran the roads, checking out how the stands and land have fared since last year, also used the hitch to mount a feeder to see if the animals are out moving. Season hasn't opened yet on deer, so no shooting allowed, but a rifle was kept on-hand for any of the hog or other invasive species running around. You'll also see the toolbox mounted in the bed, partitioned from the storage area by the bed extender. Might swap it out for the bed-divider here soon, though, just to open up rail-space along the track for other projects (i.e. that spare tire mount to relocate the spare into the bed).The truck handled like a pro. Mud, loose sand, dirt, uneven road, and even thick brush were all encountered throughout. The swap from 2wd to 4-High was easy, and we even took some flat, open-gravel road to check handling both with, and without, traction control. The truck cornered predictably and was easy to control, even through slides, the M/Ts allowed for very nice bite and traction throughout all aspects of the terrain, and the depth of the tread warded off a few disasters (pulled a 3" thorn out of one tire which had not penetrated deep enough to do any damage).The jack-mount held throughout it all, and the dealer-plates got absolutely covered in mud, as did the truck as a whole. The A/C kept us cool through the whole trip, and the XM made sure we were up to speed on the games even outside of standard coverage areas for the AM/FM stations that service the area.I did get a few minor scratches here and there, especially when the trail narrowed due to overgrown brush and trees, but they were easy to polish and buff out to refill with scratch-repair and are a non-issue.One area of note (my navigator didn't have the camera handy) was a patch of mud about a foot deep, large enough that it was about 2' longer than the truck itself. The truck, with the M/Ts, pulled through it just fine without so much as a skip in traction.All in all, I'm very pleased. I do lament that I've yet to get a shovel/ax mount on the roof to carry some recovery gear in the event I need to dig my way out of a rough spot. that should be a relatively easy fix, though.

I noticed on the '07 that the NISSAN-provided scissor jack was very insufficient for lifting the vehicle once I'd put larger tires on. The Pro-4x comes with the same jack, has a slight lift to it (courtesy Blistein) and I did swap out the tires. Granted, the tire-swap was 265/75/R16 A/T Radials out for 265/75/R16 M/Ts in, but I was not about to get caught with a bad jack.So, I nabbed the Hi-Lift 48" and the mounting system for the roof-rack's bars. Got them put on and I'm quite happy with how sturdy they are (ran a little bit in the fields to see how the truck handled with the weight, and how the mount handled the weight of the jack). Some rattling on the base-plate of the jack was notable, but that is due to the nature of the jack's construction. The mount itself did not budge an inch.I also grabbed the off-road baseplate and a sling for hooking the wheel of the truck to provide lift (as I do not have rock-sliders or any sort of nerf-bar yet) and keep those handy in the truck's toolbox alongside a jack-stand. Part of preparing for the inevitable use of a spare was to get ahold of a 5th M/T for the spare rim under the truck, which I plan on moving into the bed soon.

Sold the 2007 Frontier and snagged myself a new 2013 Pro-4x.It's a beast. Had them swap the tires to trade out the radial A/Ts for the almost-new M/Ts on the '07, which added to the aggressive stance quite a bit. The drive from the dealership was a good way to get a feel for the highway-performance against the '07.What is different:Shorter bed (by 1')2w/4h/4l on demand with an e-locker on the rear.M226 (Dana 44) rear axleMoonroofXM RadioIn-dash navigationBluetoothRoof-rackBlack (not gray)LeatherFog lightsTow packageRear-view cameraAnd a few other goodies.Notably, it was smoother, handled very crisply and was responsive to the wheel, as well as throttle. The gearing on the Pro-4x is different, can't recall the ratio, and it was noticeable. Had them pull my sliding tool-box out at the dealership so I can mount that in as well.