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Old 06-19-2012, 05:59 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman View Post
I don't tow in 4wheel drive, but I have used 4WD to get out a campsite on more than one occasion. Soft gravel on a slope and rear wheels started spinning. A quick flip of the switch and out we came. I had the same thing happen while trying to back the trailer into it's home port. 4WD to rescue. Don't use it very often, but it's sure nice when needed. However without I would have found another way.
True enough Byron, 4WD is very handy at times. All I was trying to point out in my earlier post is that in the current Frontier line, buying. 4WD gets you not only that 4WD, but it gets you a heavier duty differential, which is better suited to towing than the Fuji differential in the 2WD drive version of the same truck.

For me personally, I need 4WD anyway, because for the business, we need to be able to move horse trailers at any time of year. So if there is snow on the ground, and a horse has to go somewhere, I "have" to be able to move it. 4WD buys us a substantial advantage, so it's a straight out business decision.

Back on topic, the Frontier in it's current configuration has proven to be a very good truck for it's class. Good reliability, sturdy, usable, a pretty good safety rating in a crash situation, and it's still a reasonably priced truck. And it rides well, is quiet, and gets 19 to 22 mpg when not towing. The only failure mine has suffered in 60K miles is a front wheel bearing got noisy. $334 for the dealer to fix that. I've also just gone thru the first set of front brake pads ( 60K miles ), and replaced the tires at 55K miles.
I'll say this: it's been far less expensive to run than our 06 F-350 PSTD SD.
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Old 06-19-2012, 06:39 PM   #22
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Maybe Alf S. will pipe in, he posted "I wouldn't give up the 5th. wheel and the Nissan Frontier combo. It's all in the hitch installation."
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post288048

He has suggested to others to research on Escape Travel Trailer Forum - Index
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Old 06-19-2012, 07:08 PM   #23
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Smile manual vs automatic transmission

I just purchased a 2012 Frontier crew cab/automatic transmission. I prefer a manual transmission but my local dealer couldn't find one in the three western states. Sooooooooo, I settled for the automatic. It took some time to get used to after driving manual trannies all my life, but I find it is handy especially when petting the dog, or doing other things which would take me away from shifting One thing I really like is that when going up or down hill there is a button under your right thumb that takes the transmission out of overdrive. That fourth speed is very good and is the same as shifting from sixth into fifth. As I live in the mts. I really appreciate this feature. Happy trails. I drove into Nevada last week, the first time with the new Frontier and my 13 foot Scamp and was very satisfied with it. My mileage ran from 15 mpg to 17.5 mpg depending on speed. Marg in NW California
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Old 06-19-2012, 08:00 PM   #24
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Hi: All...After 10 yrs. of stiring the 5spd. in my New Beetle the auto 5spd. is welcome in my 4X4 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab V6. It tows great and has one other toy. That's hill control assist. It holds the brakes for a split second to give you time to ease on to the throttle. I find this good for towing. The tow cap. is 6100lbs.and 6300lbs. for the 4X2. The 4X4 has beefy springs and helpers too, so no extra suspension add ons required!!!
The tow pkg. would have given us a hitch we couldn't use and a wire harness to connect the front wireing to the rear. My hitch installer got an after mkt. plugin unit for $85. The tow pkg. was over $250. and I'm sure they wouldn't have found a white truck at year end discount $$$$'s
This combo is ideal as the trailer was designed with this size truck in mind. Having the long bed 4 dr. means we can take the grands with us when they get a little older, or our 30 something daughter who doesn't drive.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
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Old 06-19-2012, 08:35 PM   #25
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Shifting in and out of 4WD? You mean they can't make a pickup truck that's all-wheel-drive all the time like my Subaru? :-P

I have to agree about the hill-hold feature. My Subaru has it, and it was nice today when I had to back up a hill and into a driveway.
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Old 06-19-2012, 09:08 PM   #26
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Marg,
I had the same difficulty in 2006 trying to find a manual trans Frontier. I was being very specific, such as it had to have 4WD, it had to be a crew cab, tow pkg, etc, and I would only accept either black or gray. I ended up buying it from a dealer 600 miles away. I bought a plane ticket there, and drove it home that day.
Most people want automatics, so of course the car companies meet that demand by making most of the production with slushboxes. Honestly, I would have considered a Titan if they would make it with a hand shaker, but no such luck.
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Old 06-20-2012, 05:32 AM   #27
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We too were unable to find a Frontier with a manual back in 2009. We bought the automatic and we are kind of glad we did. There are reports of premature clutch failures. People going through several clutches under 100k. Since the clutch is a wear item, it is only covered under warranty for 12k. I ran across it while researching the purchase of an Xterra which has the same drive train. They sell a lot of these so a few complaints might not mean much.

The Frontier is a very nice truck. The engine has plenty of power and works well with the automatic. Unfortunately, being our only vehicle, the mileage and $4/gallon gas has us moving on. Raz
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Old 06-22-2012, 07:18 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
normally reverse and 1st gear are the same ratio in standard, i thought
Often it is but not always. To my surprise I found out our Infiniti reverse gear ratio is the same as our 2nd gear ratio. Thought it would be a problem with our 4,500lb trailer but not so far (200 hrs of towing). Our rear end ratio is 3:32.

My buddy has a Volvo sedan and tows his larger TT with a manual. Works good for him.

I was serious about buying a Lincoln LS which had a manual tranny. A well known towing specialist once told me that it would work but backing up a few times to get into a campsite is when you usually heat up the clutch.
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Old 06-23-2012, 07:42 PM   #29
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For your consideration. Please check on the web Nissan Frontier auto transmission problems. Seems there may be a design issue wherein the auto tranny cooler setup allows water to get into the trans fluid and craters the transmission and Nissan seems to be unwilling to assist to any appreciable extent. The Nissan Frontier seems to me to be the ideal size pickup but the trans problems have me on the sidelines. I must stress that I have no actual experience with the Nissan Frontier. Lee
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Old 06-23-2012, 09:47 PM   #30
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I just read about that. It appears that there's a transmission cooler built into the radiator. Sometimes after 80,000 miles the cooler breaks down and allows water into the transmission. Seems to me the easy solution, once beyond warranty, would be to disconnect the internal cooler and install an external cooler. Just a thought.
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Old 06-23-2012, 10:58 PM   #31
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Byron I had thought of that as well. I guess you would want to be sure to flush the internal transmission lines in the radiator thoroughly and cap them off. That should resolve the issue but of equal or perhaps even greater concern to me is the fact that Nissan is obviously aware of the problem, has apparently done nothing to resolve it and from the tone of the threads have been totally unsupportive of their customers. Lee
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Old 06-24-2012, 04:41 AM   #32
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Byron I had thought of that as well. I guess you would want to be sure to flush the internal transmission lines in the radiator thoroughly and cap them off. That should resolve the issue but of equal or perhaps even greater concern to me is the fact that Nissan is obviously aware of the problem, has apparently done nothing to resolve it and from the tone of the threads have been totally unsupportive of their customers. Lee
Actually they did do something. They extended the warranty on the radiator to 8 yrs/ 80k miles . My understanding is that they also changed the radiator for 2011.

They sell about 70 k Frontiers/ Xterras with that drive train a year. Like the clutch issue, it's hard to tell how wide spread the problem is. While researching my next vehicle purchase I found Honda has had oil filter leaks causing fires, Subaru has had failing head gaskets, Hyundai had transmission issues, and then there's Toyota. Odds are you ask an owner of any of these vehicles, they will tell you they are happy with their puchase. I would. Raz
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Old 06-24-2012, 05:15 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Senn View Post
Byron I had thought of that as well. I guess you would want to be sure to flush the internal transmission lines in the radiator thoroughly and cap them off. That should resolve the issue but of equal or perhaps even greater concern to me is the fact that Nissan is obviously aware of the problem, has apparently done nothing to resolve it and from the tone of the threads have been totally unsupportive of their customers. Lee
Hi: Lee Senn... This early generation Frontier fluid mixing/leakage has been dealt with by Nissan. There's a major discussion thread on http://www.clubfrontier.org about it. The design of the tranny cooler as explained to me by a Frontier/Casita owner/member here, is that the fluid comes out of the tranny, is piped through the bottom of the rad., then through the external cooler near the engine rad. then back into the transmission. I was asking about the need for an aux. cooler and was told I didn't need one...it's already got one.
I'm certainly confident of Nissans reputation so I bought one. Time will tell if I was right!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
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Old 06-24-2012, 06:49 AM   #34
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Actually they did do something. They extended the warranty on the radiator to 8 yrs./ 80k miles . My understanding is that they also changed the radiator for 2011.

They sell about 70 k Frontiers/ Xterras with that drive train a year. Like the clutch issue, it's hard to tell how wide spread the problem is. While researching my next vehicle purchase I found Honda has had oil filter leaks causing fires, Subaru has had failing head gaskets, Hyundai had transmission issues, and then there's Toyota. Odds are you ask an owner of any of these vehicles, they will tell you they are happy with their puchase. I would. Raz
I agree Raz there is something about anything that's out there. Before I got my Kia Sedona, I wanted a Honda Odyssey but found they had tranny issues, Toyota's Van had something else. Yet when I asked people who owned these vehicle's they were very happy with them.
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Old 06-24-2012, 09:46 AM   #35
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Odds are you ask an owner of any of these vehicles, they will tell you they are happy with their puchase. I would. Raz

I think that unless U R the one with the problem, you will be happy with your ride.

Check with Consumers Reports to find out the problem areas with each vehicle. Their research covers many years right up to the current year. If you do not subscribe to their mag, you can get the vehicle one at a book store.
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Old 06-24-2012, 02:20 PM   #36
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Odds are you ask an owner of any of these vehicles, they will tell you they are happy with their puchase. I would. Raz
That's why, in addition to predicted reliability, owner cost and the road tests, I look closely at the "owner satisfaction" rating that Consumer Reports gives. You will run into people who, for one reason or another, will highly recommend vehicles that have terrible reviews, sub-par reliability, high cost, and even low owner satisfaction ratings. Research independent sources like Edmonds, US News, and Consumer Reports and take personal recommendations with a grain of salt.
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Old 06-24-2012, 03:41 PM   #37
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For your consideration. Please check on the web Nissan Frontier auto transmission problems. Seems there may be a design issue wherein the auto tranny cooler setup allows water to get into the trans fluid and craters the transmission and Nissan seems to be unwilling to assist to any appreciable extent. The Nissan Frontier seems to me to be the ideal size pickup but the trans problems have me on the sidelines. I must stress that I have no actual experience with the Nissan Frontier. Lee
My 3rd generation 4Runner has been known to have this exact same problem, at about the same miles that Byron mentioned. I installed a tranny cooler and capped off the ends of the tubes on the radiator. Figured why chance it. Now if it ever leaks, then its no biggie.

Just a heads up for others who might own one.
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Old 06-25-2012, 01:41 PM   #38
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Originally Posted by P. Raz

Subaru has had failing head gaskets, H
In case it helps, the head gasket problems were mainly in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s four cylinder engines. Now they use the same material for head gaskets in the H4 as they do in the H6, and the problems are gone.
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Old 06-25-2012, 02:06 PM   #39
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That's why, in addition to predicted reliability, owner cost and the road tests, I look closely at the "owner satisfaction" rating that Consumer Reports gives. You will run into people who, for one reason or another, will highly recommend vehicles that have terrible reviews, sub-par reliability, high cost, and even low owner satisfaction ratings. Research independent sources like Edmonds, US News, and Consumer Reports and take personal recommendations with a grain of salt.
I trust Consumer Reports, less than I trust a used car saleman. Anybody seen the movie "Used Cars" with Kurt Russel?...
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Old 06-25-2012, 04:54 PM   #40
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Regarding the failure of the auto trans due to engine coolant contamination, that really is a darn shame. The transmission is actually a good one (re5r05a) and is used in the Titan as well. The Titan makes about 35 hp and almost 100 ft-lbs more than the Frontier, so that bodes well for the life of the trans in the less powerful truck. If I were buying a used Frontier with an auto, I believe I would install a new radiator and do a trans cooler mod to eliminate the possible problem.

Back to the Frontier 6 speed manual, this trans (fs6r31a) is the same as used in the 350Z sports car (although with different gear ratios), and again, the sports car engine makes more hp (306 vs 284) so once again, buying a Frontier means you are buying a vehicle with transmission that is effectively overbuilt. Edit, the Infiniti G39 also uses this trans, and it makes 328hp, just as a point of reference.

It was mentioned earlier about the gear ratio of reverse gear. In my 6 speed manual, reverse is 3.96. First is 4.36. The differential is 3.69.

Just as a point of ref, I am currently in Wyoming with the 3800 pound camper in tow. I've spent the last 10 days in Colorado and Wyoming. I can typically pull at highway speeds in fifth ( 1:1 ), although now in the mountains, I am mostly in 4th. Running 55 mph in 4th is spinning around 2850 rpm. This is a good place in the powerband of this 4.0 engine, as it is still on climbing part of the torque curve.

I ran down a 7% grade yesterday, and was able to hold between 40 and 45 mph in third, without touching the brakes. All in all I am very happy with this setup.
I have once again had some very windy days this trip, and with the BlueOx swaypro hitch, it pulls and tracks well.

PS: Edit, one mod I am going to do is install an aluminum oversized cover on the differential. It's due for an oil change in the rear anyway, and the aluminum cover dissipates heat better, and adds oil capacity also. Nissan (Dana) specs 75w-140 synthetic for these diffs, and it's important to use only synthetic, especially for heavy duty apps, like towing.
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