Duncan's HGE70W car, RHD Titan

[Duncan]

Well it's been a while with all the life stuff going on...but I've got a few updates. The only tow since last update was to Ringwood at Raymond Terrace which was again no problems

First thing was getting an ARB bull bar fitted up.  Yes they make, ship and sell a billion of them over in the states, but it took some convincing over multiple calls that I knew what I was talking about and actually had a Titan in Aus.  In the end it fitted up OK and now it looks just every other navara on our roads.

I don't think it's a change for the better looks wise, but it's just too likely I'm going to hit something one dark, wet evening and be waiting 8 months for a new bar out of the states.  At least it mates up nicely to the factory bash plate.

[Duncan]

Next up was another pre-emptive reliability issue. These things are notorious for cracking their headers and doing a whole bunch of damage.

So I took the opportunity to pick up a well proven full exhaust and also a Nismo intake kit while I was shipping stuff over

Got the mechanic to fit it all up because I've got no time at the moment.....also apparently the manifolds are a real bastard to swap out.  All done with no skin off (my) knuckles

While I enjoy a good v8 exhaust as much as the next person, it's too loud right now and so I'm going to fit up an extra resonator that was recommended....just didn't have time to get it all done at once.

The nismo intake fit up perfectly and sounds great, typical nismo stuff

[Duncan]

Next up it needs a tune to deal with the new exhaust an intake.  I bought the uprev tuner which reflashes the ECU, well proven solution in the states.  Of course just after buying it I spoke to Mark over at Unigroup and it turns out they had just picked one up too....oh well. Happily the truck comes with wide band 02 sensors from factory so it should be easier than usual

Also still got a bunch of electrical stuff to sort and the lightbar to re-mount now that lovely front bumper is gone

[IMACUL8]

Awesome - never knew about these - keep us updated.

Love the Nismo intake - die hard Nissan man  

[Neil]

The exhaust sounds absolutely fantastic,,, please leave it alone.

I'm starting to love this big beast,,, might have to look at one when the Patrol has had enough.

 

Cheers

Neil.

 

[Mohsen]

I saw a few of those in the states! Please tell me you're going to give it a 10" lift and some rock crawlers hahahahaah

[PranK]

I'm loving this, Duncan!! So sweet.

Like you weren't over compensating with the ute, you put that bull bar on it!!!

 

[mlracing]

Titans are sweet, I'm guessing they were locally available in Aus right? We never got them here in NZ 

[Duncan]

Yeah she is a subtle girl. As long as you're not trying to park it in a regular size parking spot....

And no, definitely not sold in Oz, they are North America and Left Hand drive only out of the factory.  There was a massive amount of work from the compliance shop to covert it to RHD

 

[mlracing]

10 hours ago, Duncan said:

Yeah she is a subtle girl. As long as you're not trying to park it in a regular size parking spot....

And no, definitely not sold in Oz, they are North America and Left Hand drive only out of the factory.  There was a massive amount of work from the compliance shop to covert it to RHD

 

Looks like a job well done !

[T04GTR]

thats mad! but i would suggest extending the o2 sensor loom so the sensor can see the whole bank, not just 1 pipe. (these things really rely on the o2 sensor for 99% of driving..)

 

mad tow car!

[Duncan]

Thanks Dave, I was actually looking into this and it seems some people have had bad results when extending as the original wires are stainless so can't really be soldered. http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-performance-modifications/397281-jba-long-tube-install-o2-sensor-placement-extension-harness.html Seems to be running OK so far, and the tune is done via email based on logs, but effectively only from the rear cylinders like you say. My guess is they have it down pat after doing billions of them.

There was one other mod I did a while back, but hadn't got around to showing....set your faces to stun...

yes, you saw that right. Side steps that are low enough to use, but keep getting smashed up every time you go over rough ground.

I've got lots of other jobs lined up and should get time over the xmas break because there is a long gap between my contracts, and most of the urgent #rurallife jobs are under control at last.

[fatz]

Lol YouTube proof duncan is a wanka

lol

#handycausekelisashortarse

[Duncan]

I'm pretty sure she's tall enough to knee you in the balls next time she sees you mate

[fatz]

I can run fastererer

 

oh f*k I can't 

[Duncan]

So, it's been a really long time since I updated this thread. (like, 5 years long time).

The Titan is going great, we've put about 120,000klm on it, and other than having to replace the radiator because it was running hot when towing, there have been no real problems.  It has been used pretty hard between towing and going everywhere, lots of dirt/off road driving.  Get very bogged once at the back of our property, but to be fair we also managed to bog our patrol trying to get it out so it was pretty bad (managed to winch them both out in the end). Those fancy steps are also broken because the pins in both sides seized and the manufacturer won't answer re spare parts.

Overall it is doing well, plenty of people space in the king cab, and still a good load space with a full size bed. The folding cover over the rear is great, closes things up most of the time but can open as much as required for taller or longer loads.  

Towing is going great as well, it is very stable and has plenty of power.

It still sucks to park in regular spaces, but living outside the city that is not such a big deal, we just pick our spots.

[Duncan]

But, the reason I remembered this thread was I had to change the rear pads yesterday, and jeebus how hard did they make it. Clearly nissan US engineers are not the same as nissan Japan's people.

Apparently they had issues with pads falling out of the rear brakes in the very early models, so this is the "improved" version.  They are a large single piston design, here is the devil's spawn

 

You can see the pads have 2 tabs to hold them into the mounting bracket at the bottom

And at the top there is a large spring clip that stops them sliding out.

To change the rear pads:

1. Undo the top mounting bolt for the calliper cylinder

2. Undo the lower mounting bolt as well. That's right, you can't just leave one bolt in place and let the calliper rotate outwards to hold it while you change the pads, the whole thing has to come off the hub. Note, the pads stay in place in the calliper, because....

3. The outer pad is held to the calliper by a spring clip on the back of the pad, and 2 tabs on the front which go into 2 holes cast into the housing

You can see the channel for the tabs at the top, the only way to pull the pad out is upwards and out. This is the outer rear pad once removed

4. OK, that was the easy one. The inside pad is also held in place by spring clips. 

In my case I was putting 50% worn spare pads back in while I wait for new ones from the US, but it is not possible to just slide the pad out, the piston needs to be pushed back 100% to allow the spring clips on the back of the pad to clear the piston

5. Happily, at least the rear disc just slides off the hub then, no bearings etc to deal with

Reinstallation is just as painful as removal, as once the pads are in the calliper, you need to slip the lower pad tabs over the mounting bracket, then tap the calliper back into place while not mashing the dust covers of the mounting bolts.

All that for a solid (not vented!) 14mm x 320mm disc, and tiny pads. Because it's a big vehicle and a single piston design, the pads don't wear evenly by literally mm across the surface

That was a hell of a lot of work for a very crap design.

[Duncan]

Well, the good news is that the Titan has been getting around with no particular problems since the last post, except for those fancy auto extending side steps from AMP.

Basically they have 2 arms per side with stainless pins running in nylon bushes. Sure enough, after 4.9 years of dust/mud/river crossing and whatever else, those "stainless" pins started rusting and seizing up, and in one case the injection moulded gear that connects to the motor sheared off as a result. The good people at AMP support kindly pointed out information on their website (but not in the paperwork that came with the steps...) that the pivots need to be cleaned and lubed with silicone grease monthly or they won't "honor" the 5 year warranty. They were willing to sell a new set of arms for about $1000 AUD which had a 8 month lead time before they landed, which left me with either copping that or going back to no steps (not a winner for Kel) or fixed steps that are either too high to be useful or low enough to continually bang on rocks over rough ground. I copped it and will clean/lube them monthly to see how they last, and will also get a local engineering place to look at modifying the old arms to be properly maintainable.

[Duncan]

More annyingly....in mid winter the heater suddenly decided Hot was the only setting we could choose, no matter where the temperature dial on the manual AC/heater controls were set.

We had always had an issue since we got the truck that we could only have full cold (heater dial left most) or full hot (any other position on the dial except full left), but suddenly there was no full cold option any more. Luckily this was mid winter...because it became another saga.

When the truck was converted from left hand drive to RHD, of course all of the blower motor/heater box/AC had to be replaced with something suitable to right hand drive. I did remember the shop saying they used a D40 navara heater box which was a helpful clue, although it turns out D40 were built in Thailand or Spain with different parts and specs.  Happily there was a part number label visible under the heater box in the passenger footwell which I traced back to a spanish build, single zone model

https://nissan.7zap.com/en/ar/navara/d40m/24+609+705/e/270/#27210

So in the good old days, you would move a slider on the dash which would connect to a rod which would connect to another rod which would connect to another rod which would move the door inside the heater box between going through the heater code or bypassing it for cold air. Of course, in a more modern car that has to be replaced with a control unit (at the dash) and an electric actuator/motor that moves the door.  Looks like that actuator had failed in this one, but at least being a local Navara part it would be easy to source, right?

Wrong.

[Duncan]

So, the parts site say the actuator I need is 27743-ZH10A, and as an interesting clue amayama https://www.amayama.com/en/part/nissan/27743zh10a says that fits 

"Model   Infiniti QX56 Nissan Armada Nissan Navara  Nissan Pathfinder Nissan Quest Nissan Titan Nissan Xterra "

To be fair, they also say "For reference only. We cannot guarantee 100% compatibility"

So I called the local Nissan stealer as it is a local part, who said Australia is nil stock of these until 8-October (about 3 months). Guess I wasn't the only person having this part fail...

In any case, after a reasonable amount of swearing and disassembly of custom dash mountings and fibreglass parts mixed in with LDH factory bits, plus a bit of blood.....

I retrieved the suspect actuator which is about elbow deep in the dash and required removal of the factory amp and body control module which were in the way in this case (no idea how hard this would be in a factory car but it was a total f**king pain in this case).

you might be able to make out the mounting point on the right where it was held in by.....5.5mm headed bolts (yep, that was a first for me in a nissan too). Right up against the firewall and below the windsheild