Nissan Titan Forum banner

New Member - Transforming my 05 from Ghetto Blaster to Race Tow Rig

9K views 57 replies 26 participants last post by  markandjanene 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey everyone,

Starting this thread to document the evolution of my new rig. Thanks to all for sharing your information and guidance over the years. I'm a veteran on the BMW forums and have been searching/scanning this site for the past few months considering my options. I'm finally getting back into racing and have been building up my next car over the past year. We have some really competitive spec classes in the NW with BMWs, Miatas and more. Pro3 racing (BMW E30s 1984-92) is one of the most well organized and has a stable of over 70 cars with 20+ consistently coming out over the 14 race season across the tri-state area and Canada. During the last Historics race we fielded 36! Keep in mind, this is a spec class so every car is roughly ~90-99% identical.

Getting back into this required some compromises though. Mine was a pretty big one. The wife and I made a deal that I could do this but couldn't have more than one vehicle outside of the race car. This meant my beloved 2006 M5 had to go.
Long story short: I sold my M5 for my Titan.

So why the Titan specifically?
Its probably the most practical badass truck I've found comparable to how badass and practical my M5 was. I need to be able to sit 4 of us comfortably, tow 8,000lbs total with the race trailer and have it last. I already know about the Duratecs/PSD/Cummins argument and have been there done that. I admire diesels, I don't desire to own another. The Titan was the perfect compromise for daily driving, usability and towing -- not including the previously mentioned badassedry.

So what'd I get?
2005 Nissan Titan LE
66k Miles
Red Alert on Gray
No Navigation or Sunroof
Rockford Fosgate Stereo - this will get ripped out
and Chrome seemingly everywhere
It came with 24s.
<--repeat-->
It came with completely over the top Chrome 24s.
There is work to be done. We can save it.

The Plan:
1. Reliability - Preventative Maintenance
2. Go - Power for Towing
3. Show - Ya know.

I'll update my progress here.

Here's the old V10 beast - full album here:


The new race car - build thread here:


To give ya'll an idea of where we started with the new rig, here's photos from the day I drove it off the lot...chrome haters should be warned:









 
See less See more
11
  • Like
Reactions: TA CC TX and QShip
#2 ·
Week 1-2 Ordered Parts List:
-Royal Purple 75w140 for Rear Diff
-Royal Purple 75w90 for Front Diff
-Royal Purple Super ATF for Transfer Case and AT
-TruCool LPD Trans Oil Cooler #4589
-Gator Serpentine Belt
-Frozen Rotors with Hawk Pads
-Bilstein 5100s from TAP
-Injen CAI
-Cabin Filters
-AC Recharging
-Spark Plugs
-Window Regulator Motors
-JBA Catback
-Superchips Cortex
-Stock 18s
-Michelin LTX M/S Tires
 
#3 ·
There's.......there's so much chrome :eek:

Scrib'd for more pics. This will most likely be a neat build since this isn't your first rodeo with modding.
 
#4 ·
Chrome...everywhere. But I got such a good deal I had to try and save this truck.

Definitely not my first build but I have decided I'm going to keep this one simple and purposeful. The amount of information here has really made turning this thing around in just a few weeks entirely possible and it also helps that its pretty much ready to go out of the box with a few tweaks.
 
#5 ·
True story. There are also a lot of PAC NW members that if you needed some help or wanna see a Titan meet, you are in quick access.
 
#7 ·
My experience with performance vs towing is that a performance oriented Titan doesn't always tow that well. I have to turn off my performance map and go back to stock, otherwise my engine gets hot. This is towing ~3,000 lbs (+1,000 lbs in the bed) at 7,000' elevation up some 6 to 9 degree inclines.
 
#10 ·
some machined standard methods would look good on that titan. and go along with those awesome wheels on the Beemer. and a stock grille. lol thats not chrome.
 
#12 ·
as an ex-owner of a titan on 24s, that truck is a disgrace. Glad you will be saving it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 04GreenT
#13 ·
Monday Update:

Installed:
-18" Pro-4x Wheels with Michelin LTX M/S Tires
-Front/Rear Slotted Rotors with Hawk Pads
-Matte Black Mirrors/Trim/Emblems/Wheels
-Gloss Black Calipers
-Injen CAI Installed
-JBA Catback Installed
-Superchipped

Old:


New:


New favorite shot:


Injen:


New Flip Key:


Old:


New JBA:


Brakes:


Old:


New:


Getting Closer:



First Tailgate:



Upgrades On Deck:
-Pioneer NEX-4000 HU
-MB Quart 10" Sub
-MB Quart 1100 - 5 Channel Amp
-MB Quart 6.5" Reference Components
-Infinity Kappa 109T Tweeters
-6.5" Speaker Pods Front and Rear
-Dynamat
-Backup Camera
-Red Front Grill
-Depo Black Headlights
-Low Beam/Fog HIDs

Maintenance On Deck:
-Serpentine Belt
-Front/Rear Differential Flush
-Trans Flush
-Trans Cooler Install
-Transfer Case Flush
-Bilstein 5100s
 
#15 ·


Oooh. He's 4WD. That will do a hell of a powerslide in the rain.
 
#17 ·
I tow a 5000lb tandem travel trailer with my SV up to 11,000 ft or so above sea level in the Rockies... motor is bone stock except for a K&N filter. It seemed to do fine over the mountain passes. On my last trip i was able to maintain 75-80mph the whole way even with the 2.93 rear. Transmission temp never budged and neither did my engine temp. Only bad thing was I was getting about 6mpg which kind of sucks. I need a bigger tank for trips like that!

If you look at my suspension mods, I put an add-a-leaf in the rear. The trailer doesn't make my truck squat at all! Not to mention, it stiffens things up so no axle wrap and better acceleration! If you plan on towing, my suspension handles a 21 ft travel trailer at 5000lbs like its not even there.
 
#21 ·
Can you shoot me a link to the one you ordered? I'd heard of adding the stabilizers for dragging but never for towing, might be worth throwing in.

I'll be towing an enclosed aluminum 18-20 foot trailer + race car + tools + wheels + buddies = 6-8k lbs

I'd like to do this right the first time
 
#20 ·
Powerslides on snow in the Titan kick butt too! Turn off VDC and it's fun.
 
  • Like
Reactions: andys04titan
#22 · (Edited)
Special thanks to the DIY crowd here. Hourly shop rates in Seattle for this range from $80-$125. I was quoted by the Dealer for $600 to do the transmission lines alone. Flushing the rest would have been another $600-$800. For a flush!

This fluid change writeup from Chunko is worth its weight in gold. Saved me a lot of time.

Maintenance Update:
-Rear Differential - 3.25 Quarts of Royal Purple 70w140 - 45-1 hour
-Front Differential - 2.25 Quarts of Royal Purple 70w90 - 45-1 hour
-Transfer Case - 3.25 Quarts of Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF - 45-1 hour
-Transmission - 6 quarts of Eneos Synthetic ATF - 45-1 hour
-Transmission Cooler : LBD Tru-Cool 4589 (8"x12x1.5") - 3 hours
-Electric Fan Deleted - 20 minutes
-New Gator Serpentine Belt - 20 minutes
-New NGK R Spark Plugs - 30 minutes

Start to finish took 8 hours and 6 beers - seriously taking my time on draining the fluids and the transmission install to make sure I did the mount and hoses right the first time. My fluid pump also broke which probably added about 10-15 minutes to the Transfer Case and Front Diff. I had to McGyver a few hoses and ended up spilling more than I would have liked.

Alert: Cringeworthy fluids ahead, you've been warned:

Rear Differential

The Old Rear Diff Fluid:

Old Transmission Fluid with my trusty strong magnet to get the plug out:

Old Transfer Case Fluid:

This is what every plug looked like:

Electric Fan Removed:

Transmission Cooler > 10" Electric Fan. I'm not sure why they had these on the earlier years and not from '08 on but there is no way you can convince me a 10" electric fan is doing anything on this size of radiator. Better fluids alone even without a full aluminum would make more of a difference. Soon enough.

Test fitting:

Installed in line. I read a lot of the pages here about installing inline or bypassing. Until I replace the entire radiator and pull the stock one out and add a standalone transmission gauge, keeping the stock sending unit working and able to read on DashCommand/Torque was really important to me. I also replaced every single transmission hose from top to bottom along the way and counted every drop that came out which is how I ended up needing 6 quarts to top off. 3.5 quarts came out of the plug. 2.5 came out of the hoses.



Old Belt:

New Belt - Also, didn't need to remove anything. Not the intake. Not the radiator hoses. Started from bottom right, moved up and worked my way left until I was able to hold both belts tight with one hand as I pushed the tensioner down. Only used a Deep 14mm socket and ratchet. Took 3 tries.

The Warzone:

Next on the list:
 
#28 ·
...Electric Fan. I'm not sure why they had these on the earlier years and not from '08 on but there is no way you can convince me a 10" electric fan is doing anything on this size of radiator
I think those fans were to improve a/c performance
 
#23 ·
Nice! Your T looks so much Better, I need to get the e fan out of there too. good job !
 
#26 ·
Thanks!

The wife was cooking ribs. Whenever I'm working on the cars we set a firm dinner break time. This is the first time I've won.

I did Drivers side first, Passenger side second.
Front to back.
3x 6" long extensions and 1x 3" Extension.
Keep the 10mm on 1 of the extensions the entire time and remove all of the boot bolts. You'll need to keep the other two 2x 6" extensions and 3" extension separated as 3,4,5,6 each are a little tough to get the extension into at full length.
Remove all boots - For the drivers side I did all of them at once. For the Passenger side I did each one at a time since its a little more cramped.
Using the 2x 6" Extensions you can remove all 4 plugs on the left side and have them replaced in about 10 minutes. You can add the boots back one by one or all at once then replace the bolts.
Hand tighten then slightly torque. Do NOT over do it.
 
#27 ·
awesome thread!

If you want the rear of your t to really be stiffened up i'd recommend some traction bars and then some airbags for towing the trailer. the front you could throw some 2.0 Fox coilovers on TAP auto parts sells the coilovers for a great price. considering your doing everything right, thats the way i would go.
 
#30 ·
More goodies came today...more to come tomorrow!
 
  • Like
Reactions: andys04titan
#32 ·
Parts are coming in! Lights, grill, stereo, shocks have all arrived.

Old:


Swapped:





New Armada Grill - Flat Black (The Red was noticeably brighter than my truck despite the same color code)



All Done (The oil underneath was spilled by me during the fluid swap)








Day 1:

Day 14:

Day 21:


Up Next:

 
#36 ·
Thanks! Its coming along a lot easier thanks to the support and information on here. Normally there are so many different options to choose from for everything: suspension, exhaust, intake, etc. but after searching around here it made picking the right stuff much simpler. Great, great forum!

Night and day difference with all the ghetto chrome removal. I'm looking forward to the progress.
I can't believe its the same truck. When you have an idea in your head its always different to see it in person. This has turned out to be a lot better than I expected

Great stuff man!! Did you paint your headlights yourself? Or buy some depo's or something? I love the NEX series of head units.. I went with the 6000nex I wanted bluetooth and HD radio :) Did you go pro comp's in the rear and bills in the front? or vice versa? Great project you have going on!
I ordered some DEPO headlights off of eBay. The older BMW crowd uses these on the 90s 3 & 5 series, I've used a few sets and they don't discolor while the front plastic is rock hard. I may still put some clear cover on it just to be safe.

TAP advised that the ProComps are just rebadged Billy 5100s. There is a nationwide shortage on 5100s right now and these are valved exactly the same and are the same length.
 
#38 ·
Suspension Update:
Bilstein 5100s in Front - Lowest Setting
ProComps in Rear

Ride is much, much better.






 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top