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2021 Titan Overland Suspension Build (and advice)

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TitanAndy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So I have 300 miles on my 2021 Titan Pro 4X. Besides a slight throttle issue I'm having, its a great truck!

I bought for the intention to Overland mildly. My goal is to get to hard to reach places for camping with the family and friends on off-the-beat'n-path places, but I'm not trying to go rock crawling to do that lol.

My first goal is to do Tires and Suspension. Budget would try to stay under $4,000 for suspension. I do NOT want to go cheap on the suspension. Been there, done that. If all i was doing was jacking this to put tires and rims and run around town, sure. But I'll actually be putting a bed rack, roof top tent, cargo in back, etc. Like, this will be a utility purpose build.

The CLOSEST thing that I've found was in 2017, you could get an Icon suspension for the Titan for a 3" lift that would be an actual better ride than the stock Bilstein's and give me the lift I need for larger tires. 3" is what I'm going after. 6" is too much. Don't want to tip over (seen a Jeep tip from being top heavy with all the gear). But the only Icon set i see is for the XD Titan, which I don't have.

I really am not a suspension expert, and would like to see if anyone has a good suspension system that would work on my 2021 Titan. I know RC makes them (and I know a lot of people love them) but its not my thing. I've even wrote BDS as they don't even service the Titan lineup (but they do Isuzu, ironically ?)

Anyways, need some help. Goal is 3" lift, 35's and 17"/18" rims (yes i know i'll have to cut for 35's. I'll need a new bumper eventually lol). Current picture before lift, below

Thanks in advance!

-Andy

549702
 
#2 ·
RC is about the only option you got out there for 3”. Tuff Country has a 4”. One guy on here sent his 20-21 P4x to Fabtech for R&D but no eta on when they’ll have a product ready.
What’s the hang up with RC? They’re cheaper then a lot of the other places but they make a decent product and it’s made in America. Not like they use inferior metal or anything. With the 3” you’ll get UCA’s so there is no worry about balljoint wear and alignment issues. With the oem Bilsteins your ride won’t change or you could upgrade to something with remote reservoirs and have an even better ride

Simply not enough Titans out there for any of the big fancy suspension manufacturers to bother building a kit. I get it

RC 3” is probably the route I’ll go. Use them for the hardware and drop the real coin on shocks
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
07xln said:
RC is about the only option you got out there for 3”. Tuff Country has a 4”. One guy on here sent his 20-21 P4x to Fabtech for R&D but no eta on when they’ll have a product ready.
What’s the hang up with RC? They’re cheaper then a lot of the other places but they make a decent product and it’s made in America. Not like they use inferior metal or anything. With the 3” you’ll get UCA’s so there is no worry about balljoint wear and alignment issues. With the oem Bilsteins your ride won’t change or you could upgrade to something with remote reservoirs and have an even better ride

Simply not enough Titans out there for any of the big fancy suspension manufacturers to bother building a kit. I get it

RC 3” is probably the route I’ll go. Use them for the hardware and drop the real coin on shocks
Click to expand...
Well I live near Z1 Motorsports (if you aren't familiar, they are a Nissan-Only tuning shop. Look them up!) And they have a lot of products on the shelf as well as advice how to fit suspensions. You can out any suspension you want on a truck. Just depends if it's a bolt on or if you need to do a bit of cutting and part replacements. I've emailed Icon and will get some traction from their sales rep. I'll keep you posted.

As far as RC, they have always been a cheap.product even when I was in high school. Their business model is "getting you lifted for less". And that's totally fine. But looking at their shocks, their bushings, bolts, etc. they keep coats low by going cheap.

I don't think people understand how good OEM suspensions are on these high end trucks are. TRD Pro, Trail Boss, Raptor, Pro 4x, all have excellent suspensions. The last thing I want to do is add a cheap suspension on a $60k truck. You want to go back with a suspension that's at least comperable if not better than OEM and no way RC suspension is going to do that. I will probably go with an icon kit like they had available with the 2017-19 Titans. If I have to custom tune them, so be it. But I want to be able to have the suspension set up needed not just to lift but also handle the extra weight in the rear when I get my rack, tent, and permanant stored gear that will always be in the bed. Their reservoir shocks are fantastic. Probably not BDS quality but they are close.
 
#4 ·
TitanAndy said:
Well I live near Z1 Motorsports (if you aren't familiar, they are a Nissan-Only tuning shop. Look them up!) And they have a lot of products on the shelf as well as advice how to fit suspensions. You can out any suspension you want on a truck. Just depends if it's a bolt on or if you need to do a bit of cutting and part replacements. I've emailed Icon and will get some traction from their sales rep. I'll keep you posted.

As far as RC, they have always been a cheap.product even when I was in high school. Their business model is "getting you lifted for less". And that's totally fine. But looking at their shocks, their bushings, bolts, etc. they keep coats low by going cheap.

I don't think people understand how good OEM suspensions are on these high end trucks are. TRD Pro, Trail Boss, Raptor, Pro 4x, all have excellent suspensions. The last thing I want to do is add a cheap suspension on a $60k truck. You want to go back with a suspension that's at least comperable if not better than OEM and no way RC suspension is going to do that. I will probably go with an icon kit like they had available with the 2017-19 Titans. If I have to custom tune them, so be it. But I want to be able to have the suspension set up needed not just to lift but also handle the extra weight in the rear when I get my rack, tent, and permanant stored gear that will always be in the bed. Their reservoir shocks are fantastic. Probably not BDS quality but they are close.
Click to expand...
No sense in arguing with you as I think you’re way over thinking it. You asked for suggestions and I merely gave some. If you’re gonna have Z1 motorsports (whoever they are) build you something custom then by all means rock it out.
i can’t wait to see the final product. You’re the only guy in here I’ve seen that wants to do an overland build on a 20-21 besides me but as I said options are limited with a lot of things on this truck. So good luck. I look forward to seeing your progress.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
07xln said:
No sense in arguing with you as I think you’re way over thinking it. You asked for suggestions and I merely gave some. If you’re gonna have Z1 motorsports (whoever they are) build you something custom then by all means rock it out.
i can’t wait to see the final product. You’re the only guy in here I’ve seen that wants to do an overland build on a 20-21 besides me but as I said options are limited with a lot of things on this truck. So good luck. I look forward to seeing your progress.
Click to expand...
Oh I wasn't trying to argue my man. You asked me why the hang up with RC 😂 It's all personal preference at the end of the day.

I may start a YouTube channel to go with the build. Trying to have it done in the next 10 months complete. Thanks for your input and letting me know that no one is doing an overland. Hopefully you and I can start something :)
 
#6 ·
Look forward to it. Im starting with wheels and tires but the more I research, its hard to get a decent size tire on these things without cutting something even with a lift. Im not a fan of taking a cutting wheel to my truck. Ive gone the pavement princess route with my last 3 trucks, 6" lift with 35's and 20's and I dont wanna go that route with this one. I wanna stay with an 18" wheel and have more tire but with a small lift.
 
#7 ·
TitanAndy said:
So I have 300 miles on my 2021 Titan Pro 4X. Besides a slight throttle issue I'm having, its a great truck!

I bought for the intention to Overland mildly. My goal is to get to hard to reach places for camping with the family and friends on off-the-beat'n-path places, but I'm not trying to go rock crawling to do that lol.

My first goal is to do Tires and Suspension. Budget would try to stay under $4,000 for suspension. I do NOT want to go cheap on the suspension. Been there, done that. If all i was doing was jacking this to put tires and rims and run around town, sure. But I'll actually be putting a bed rack, roof top tent, cargo in back, etc. Like, this will be a utility purpose build.

The CLOSEST thing that I've found was in 2017, you could get an Icon suspension for the Titan for a 3" lift that would be an actual better ride than the stock Bilstein's and give me the lift I need for larger tires. 3" is what I'm going after. 6" is too much. Don't want to tip over (seen a Jeep tip from being top heavy with all the gear). But the only Icon set i see is for the XD Titan, which I don't have.

I really am not a suspension expert, and would like to see if anyone has a good suspension system that would work on my 2021 Titan. I know RC makes them (and I know a lot of people love them) but its not my thing. I've even wrote BDS as they don't even service the Titan lineup (but they do Isuzu, ironically ?)

Anyways, need some help. Goal is 3" lift, 35's and 17"/18" rims (yes i know i'll have to cut for 35's. I'll need a new bumper eventually lol). Current picture before lift, below

Thanks in advance!

-Andy

View attachment 549702
Click to expand...
I'm working on a similar build and have been out to some of the local trails (some moderate, some pretty sketchy). I put a RC 3 inch lift on mine for the same reasons you mentioned. I didn't know much when I started and know that there are better lifts available, but I've been happy with the RC 3 inch lift. If you do some reserch on RC lifts, you'll see that they've come a long way, and are a lot more capable than most give them credit for. I started to think about a 6 inch lift for more otions, but it's too high for a lot of the trails I like to access. If I ever modify my suspension again, I will likely look for something better, as you've mentioned, but the RC lift is the perfect height and has handled everyting I've encountered so far. Here's a couple pics...one recent, one from a mild local trail. Good Luck and Nice Truck!!
 

Attachments

Discussion starter · #8 ·
Patrick V. said:
I'm working on a similar build and have been out to some of the local trails (some moderate, some pretty sketchy). I put a RC 3 inch lift on mine for the same reasons you mentioned. I didn't know much when I started and know that there are better lifts available, but I've been happy with the RC 3 inch lift. If you do some reserch on RC lifts, you'll see that they've come a long way, and are a lot more capable than most give them credit for. I started to think about a 6 inch lift for more otions, but it's too high for a lot of the trails I like to access. If I ever modify my suspension again, I will likely look for something better, as you've mentioned, but the RC lift is the perfect height and has handled everyting I've encountered so far. Here's a couple pics...one recent, one from a mild local trail. Good Luck and Nice Truck!!
Click to expand...
My man! Truck looks great! The XD looks good man. I have the dang moonroof and wonder if putting a roof rack on mine (which I would like to have!) would omit the usefulness of the moon room lol.

Also, Icon definitely makes a great 3" lift for the Titan XD. a basic, stage 2 and stage 3. If you are on a budget, stage 1. If you want a lot better setup, just go stage 3. Stage 3 is 500 bucks more than 2 and if you are already going to spend 4 grand on a stage 2, mine as well spend 4500 and get the stage 3. Shocks are all rebuildable and essentially a lifetime thing. $75 to rebuild shocks which i would do every 40-50k miles.

Also, i think a 3" lift is perfect for overlanding, as you already know. It'll get you where you really need to go for sure. 6" PLUS the extra tire lift is getting you pretty top heavy.

Heck, even with a 3" lift, the roof rack and tent, I'm sure you cant even fit that puppy in the garage haha. I cant mine as is (its too long). I'm having to go drop another $1000 just on a 12' tall carport so i can keep my truck covered.

Do you mind doing a list of the things you've done to your rig? Looks great.

Oh and i purposefully didnt put side steps on my truck. I found NFAB makes rock sliders that have steps you can buy to attach to them. when you wanna go offroad, the steps are detachable and now you dont have to sacrifice ground clearance or worry about the steps snagging on something. I really wanted the power boards but i'd reather have the rock sliders for protection.

As for the lift, did you notice a big difference in your ride quality when you went with RC? EVERYONE I have talked to said it got worse and they thought that was normal with lift kits until they road in my friends truck with a 6" BDS lift. Its night and day for sure.

The issue with the RC lift i see, is that RC utilizes strut spacers in order to achieve the 3" lift. While this is just fine for aesthetics (and i've said before, if all i was doing was lifting for tires and looks, i would 100% do it), it also DECREASES the suspension travel. Seeing that I really want to make this truck a workable truck, taking away suspension travel (as much as 2-2.5" of travel) 1) more rough of a ride in general and 2) takes away the performance of the current suspension when you really need that travel off road to soak up the bumps and get over/through obstacles.

The Icon system utilizes adjustable coil overs to get the lift, so the actual shocks and springs are much larger and not only give you the lift but also ADD to the suspension travel. You get the best of both worlds. I keep saying Icon because Nissan still has a partnership with them and going 3" with Icon and they are more likely going to have future products for Nissan since, as someone else commented, there is limited product development for the Titans/Frontiers due to the sales numbers. Hopefully the new Frontier and Titans can spark some sort of push. Z1 is really ahead of the game with what they are trying to do for Nissan/Nismo in the Offroad scene.

Z1 Off-Road - Performance OEM and Aftermarket Engineered Parts Global Leader Nissan Truck & SUV

Nissan & Infiniti Truck & SUV Specialists – OEM, Performance & Aftermarket parts to Maintain or Upgrade your vehicle. Shop now for the best parts del
www.z1offroad.com www.z1offroad.com
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
07xln said:
Look forward to it. Im starting with wheels and tires but the more I research, its hard to get a decent size tire on these things without cutting something even with a lift. Im not a fan of taking a cutting wheel to my truck. Ive gone the pavement princess route with my last 3 trucks, 6" lift with 35's and 20's and I dont wanna go that route with this one. I wanna stay with an 18" wheel and have more tire but with a small lift.
Click to expand...
I think with a 3" lift you can get away with 33" tires no issues, no rubbing, no cutting. I know what you mean about cutting. Its hard to stomach when you spend that much on something :)
 
#10 ·
TitanAndy said:
My man! Truck looks great! The XD looks good man. I have the dang moonroof and wonder if putting a roof rack on mine (which I would like to have!) would omit the usefulness of the moon room lol.

Also, Icon definitely makes a great 3" lift for the Titan XD. a basic, stage 2 and stage 3. If you are on a budget, stage 1. If you want a lot better setup, just go stage 3. Stage 3 is 500 bucks more than 2 and if you are already going to spend 4 grand on a stage 2, mine as well spend 4500 and get the stage 3. Shocks are all rebuildable and essentially a lifetime thing. $75 to rebuild shocks which i would do every 40-50k miles.

Also, i think a 3" lift is perfect for overlanding, as you already know. It'll get you where you really need to go for sure. 6" PLUS the extra tire lift is getting you pretty top heavy.

Heck, even with a 3" lift, the roof rack and tent, I'm sure you cant even fit that puppy in the garage haha. I cant mine as is (its too long). I'm having to go drop another $1000 just on a 12' tall carport so i can keep my truck covered.

Do you mind doing a list of the things you've done to your rig? Looks great.

Oh and i purposefully didnt put side steps on my truck. I found NFAB makes rock sliders that have steps you can buy to attach to them. when you wanna go offroad, the steps are detachable and now you dont have to sacrifice ground clearance or worry about the steps snagging on something. I really wanted the power boards but i'd reather have the rock sliders for protection.

As for the lift, did you notice a big difference in your ride quality when you went with RC? EVERYONE I have talked to said it got worse and they thought that was normal with lift kits until they road in my friends truck with a 6" BDS lift. Its night and day for sure.

The issue with the RC lift i see, is that RC utilizes strut spacers in order to achieve the 3" lift. While this is just fine for aesthetics (and i've said before, if all i was doing was lifting for tires and looks, i would 100% do it), it also DECREASES the suspension travel. Seeing that I really want to make this truck a workable truck, taking away suspension travel (as much as 2-2.5" of travel) 1) more rough of a ride in general and 2) takes away the performance of the current suspension when you really need that travel off road to soak up the bumps and get over/through obstacles.

The Icon system utilizes adjustable coil overs to get the lift, so the actual shocks and springs are much larger and not only give you the lift but also ADD to the suspension travel. You get the best of both worlds. I keep saying Icon because Nissan still has a partnership with them and going 3" with Icon and they are more likely going to have future products for Nissan since, as someone else commented, there is limited product development for the Titans/Frontiers due to the sales numbers. Hopefully the new Frontier and Titans can spark some sort of push. Z1 is really ahead of the game with what they are trying to do for Nissan/Nismo in the Offroad scene.

Z1 Off-Road - Performance OEM and Aftermarket Engineered Parts Global Leader Nissan Truck & SUV

Nissan & Infiniti Truck & SUV Specialists – OEM, Performance & Aftermarket parts to Maintain or Upgrade your vehicle. Shop now for the best parts del
www.z1offroad.com www.z1offroad.com
Click to expand...
Damn, brother. You sound like you know your ****. I am still learning, but love my setup so far. I've been in some situations that have made my *** pucker. I don't know hairy they actually were, but the thought of damaging what I've built is hard to stomach...I'm sure I'll get some scars eventually.

I haven't fit in the garage for some time, and will also need to invest in some covered parking soon. The reason it looks like a tank is because we get crazy hail in Colorado Springs. The plywood over the top of my bed rack slides forward to protect the roof when there's a hail storm...or it did, until I put on the roof rack. The plywood sheet will be coming down soon.

The ride quality did get worse with the lift. And, as you said, I just figured is was part of the game. I will have to consider getting better lift, especially as I'm not young any more and I can feel the poor ride quality in my back.

I took my step sides off for a while, but the family (I have 5 kids from 1 to 12) wanted them back. Eventually, I'll invest in some retracting steps...unless sliders are the way to go?

As for what I've done:
Akon headlights in the front and rear
Addictive Desert Designs Honey Badger winch front bumper
RC 3inch lift
34 inch mud grapplers
RCI Bed Rack
50 inch curved light bar on top
2 - 4 inch light pods on the back of the bed rack
2 - 2 inch light pods on the sides of the bed rack
blacked out all my chrome
Pedal commander and other various electrical dohickeys and thingamagigs (CB radio and such)
aFe Cold Air Intake (aFe catback is next)
Fab Fours Roof Rack
Added various recovery gear
The black tube in the back is my home-made fishing rod holder.
Weather tech floor lines / Covercraft seat covers
and probably a couple other small things
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Patrick V. said:
Damn, brother. You sound like you know your **. I am still learning, but love my setup so far. I've been in some situations that have made my * pucker. I don't know hairy they actually were, but the thought of damaging what I've built is hard to stomach...I'm sure I'll get some scars eventually.

I haven't fit in the garage for some time, and will also need to invest in some covered parking soon. The reason it looks like a tank is because we get crazy hail in Colorado Springs. The plywood over the top of my bed rack slides forward to protect the roof when there's a hail storm...or it did, until I put on the roof rack. The plywood sheet will be coming down soon.

The ride quality did get worse with the lift. And, as you said, I just figured is was part of the game. I will have to consider getting better lift, especially as I'm not young any more and I can feel the poor ride quality in my back.

I took my step sides off for a while, but the family (I have 5 kids from 1 to 12) wanted them back. Eventually, I'll invest in some retracting steps...unless sliders are the way to go?

As for what I've done:
Akon headlights in the front and rear
Addictive Desert Designs Honey Badger winch front bumper
RC 3inch lift
34 inch mud grapplers
RCI Bed Rack
50 inch curved light bar on top
2 - 4 inch light pods on the back of the bed rack
2 - 2 inch light pods on the sides of the bed rack
blacked out all my chrome
Pedal commander and other various electrical dohickeys and thingamagigs (CB radio and such)
aFe Cold Air Intake (aFe catback is next)
Fab Fours Roof Rack
Added various recovery gear
The black tube in the back is my home-made fishing rod holder.
Weather tech floor lines / Covercraft seat covers
and probably a couple other small things
Click to expand...
Yea I live in Georgia. Southern Appalachian is way different than the rockies.

Look at the NFAB Rock Sliders. It's like $450 I think. Get the steps for it and you have both armor and steps. Just remove if you go off road. Or you can try and get power boards which I really like but you miss out on side armor which seems you would want if you are worried about bruises. Just my advice.

As far as the ride quality, I have a sore back from time in the Navy. Got in a wreck in my Silverado and rented a Ram with standard airbags. It changed my outlook for sure. I owned a Laramie Longhorn and loves that thing. Best ride I've ever been in. Problem was, the only lift kit for it was a BDS kit and it was $5k before install. Couldn't afford it. Decided not to go with an airbag setup because of how hard modifications were for them. So I understand completely about the back lol.

You have a really good setup. You have a lot of mods I'm going to do. My list right now is 1) Suspension and tries then 2) recovery gear, 3) Roof Rack and Tent. Once I can get those in that order, I'll be able to actually do stuff lol. Thanks for sharing your upgrades! Good visual for sure.
 
#13 ·
gpzbc said:
How do you like the Pedal Commander? I've been thinking about picking one up for my '21 XD.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I like it. It works as advertised. I don't use the hi9 setting very often because it's very sensitive... it's got some pick up from a dead stop or from 50 or 60 on the highway. The Eco setting is great if you ever get on rocky terrain or you might need to crawl a bit. It has a gas saving setting on it but I haven't noticed that it works any better then not using it at all, but the other settings are cool.
 
#14 ·
The ICON / Nissan 3” lift for the non-XD is only available through Nissan dealers, which is why you don’t see it on Icon’s website. The Nissan part # is T99PS-9FT0J. I have it on my 2020 Pro-4X and highly recommend it if you are looking to lift and retain/improve ride quality. ICON makes top notch components and is the only kit that retains the factory warranty.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
lsutigers said:
The ICON / Nissan 3” lift for the non-XD is only available through Nissan dealers, which is why you don’t see it on Icon’s website. The Nissan part # is T99PS-9FT0J. I have it on my 2020 Pro-4X and highly recommend it if you are looking to lift and retain/improve ride quality. ICON makes top notch components and is the only kit that retains the factory warranty.
Click to expand...
THANK YOU! I will see what I can do. I definately don't want to pay markup price for it through a dealer. But yes, the Icon stuff is great. Thanks for the part number. Just what I needed.
 
#18 ·
I don't "overland" per se, but I use my 2011 as a trekking vehicle for camping, backpacking, and general trapsing around the woods, mountains, and farm fields. Did very well on the stock suspension and even better on 5100s and a small lift.

I'm running 295/70r18s (wanted sidewall not rim, also!) Which gives me roughly 12x34.4 of tire section width and height. I don't have any rubbing on my 3" front, 2.5" rear lift, and I've articulated this suspension to the bump stops front and rear several times since install.

From a cost standpoint you could duplicate my setup for about $1200 with all new parts, and I suspect you could run 34s. You could upgrade the shocks to dual reservoir or coilover for a little to a whole lot more.
 
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