[Skip Hess]

After much prodding and pushing from the group, here are some shots of my Titan, painted bumper, daystar level kit, black out tires.........still thinking of my next move.

 

[aws316]

:thumbsup: hey i like it man...does that kit raise the aft end or lower the front or a little of both or what?

 

[Derwud]

Thanks!

I like the bumper and the black walls. How is the ride?

Truck looks sweet.

I'm thinking of polishing the wheels.

 

[Skip Hess]

It lifts only the front, total is 2 1/4", so the rear still sits about 3/4" higher than the front. With 500 lbs tongue weight from my trailer it sits level. The ride is the same, hard to notice any difference. If you have the off road package like I do, the truck already rides more firm with the Ranchos. I like it, it feels like a truck, not a car.

 

[NSXER]

Nice clean look!

 

[mtbendo]

Nice. Have you noticed any change in front suspension geometry? When I put a lift kit on my 88 nissan it just played havok with the suspension setting as the camber changes during wheel travel was huge.

 

[Skip Hess]

thanks guys, I am for sure getting out the heat gun this Sunday and debadging the truck, thanks for the tip on the tailgate badge, man is that thing HUGE or what??
I am thinking about powder coating the wheels black, the painted wheels are not doing it for me. If you polish yours let me know how they turn out as that might be an option for me also.
I cannot believe how much brake dust this truck blows, I thought nothing could out do my 540i but heck......I have found that the depressions on the back side of the spokes holds mucho brake dust, they are a drag to clean. I have the 17's.

 

[Skip Hess]

no changes that are adverse from what I can tell. We aligned it and all seems fine, I have driven about 500 miles since I put the spacers on. I have not driven it hard off road yet though and therefore have not gone through all the travel, we will see. I have a couple of buddies who have the daystars on thier Dodges and they like the way it all works. Since mine is a 2WD it is all that much more manageable.

 

[karlconnell]

Skip, the truck looks great man, nice color (ha,ha)!! I like the painted bumper, I remember reading that you had it painted. How did you go about having it done? Was it easy to replace the chrome portion of the bumper?

Karl

 

[Skip Hess]

Karl, thanks, I like the color too, HA. To paint the center section is a bit of work. You need to remove the entire bumber assy, the side plastic panels are attached to the center. You see, the center steel section runs the length of the front end, with the plastic panels attached over the top. Once you get it all off the truck, you need to have the chrome stripped. Any bumper shop or chrome plater will do the strip, it cost me $110 to have it done. You will need to do some prep work after the strip is finished, I got the paint codes from Nissan, primed it and had it shot. Then re-assembled the whole bumper back on the truck. It is about a 2 hour deal to take it off and then back on. The Titan is really well thought out and all the work was easy to do, just time consuming. Since the sides are plastic and the center is steel, there is a small color difference in some light, but I think because it is my truck I see it, my wife thinks I am nuts. But what else is new? I just had the oil changed at my local dealer (I bought my truck from a dealer about 100 miles away) and the Nissan rep was there. He was all over my truck and I shared my problems and mods with him. The sales and service guys had never seen a Canteen Titan so it was a fun hour for me. What a great truck.

 

[Derwud]

Skip, where do you live?

 

[Skip Hess]

Thousand Oaks

 

[CaliforniaTitan]

Skip, your up by me and my wifes hometown of Ventura.

Canteen was our second choice color but we got our first choice :upsidedow

Agree with you on the amount of brake dust generated. Pretty sure Nissan used a soft pad to keep rotor wear/warping down to a minimum of which they have had problems with in the past on various model cars.

Chris

 

[Skip Hess]

I actually live in Newbury Park right up against the Santa Monica Mountains but most people haven't a clue where it is, so I just tell them T.O.
I can only assume that the pads are soft, it is a bitch but it is better to stop than to complain about brake dust. Just that my GM's were no where near as bad. I am picky about that stuff. It bugs me to see folks driving around with black wheels.........like I said, my wife thinks I am nuts.

 

[karlconnell]

Skip, many thanks for the thorough explanation (which was great by the way). The first time I drove our Canteen Titan into the dealer nearby it drew tons of traffic as well.

I'm pretty picky about the brake dust thing as well. It puts out a lot more dust than our 4-wheel disc '03 4Runner but brakes slightly better so I'm not complaining by any means. My wife likes to give me a hard time becuase I like to wash off the brake dust once or twice a week. However, I'm thinking about getting brake dust covers eventually. Other than the look, I wonder of there is a downside to them.

Karl

 

[piopremier]

I'm kinda glad to here about everyone else having problems with brake dust so it wasn't just me :teethmast and now that i have chrome it shows up real good. I'm also wondering about the bumper. you said the end caps were over top of the steel bumper. Does that mean there is chrome under them or just unfinished steel?

 

[Skip Hess]

There is chrome under them, BUT the steel was not polished or finished so the chrome finish is pretty trashy. The chrome process does prevent rust though. For clarification, the section of the bumper that the plastic side caps bolts to is structural only, don't even think about removing them.

 

[Skip Hess]

Today I debadged my Titan, took off all the silver badges and the off road decals. Took the tailgate apart and decided I liked the Nissan badge with all the other stuff off the tailgate so left it on....gonna live with it for a while. The truck looks really great without all those badges on it, I really like the fenders without the V8 endurance crap in them. Used my heat gun, took me about 45 minutes, waxed up the spots, looks awesome.

 

[cnatra]

painted bumper & black tires looks great! :cheers:

 

[gsxr1000]

For the brake dust problem I have been told that "Pledge Wipes, Lemon Scent" keeps break dust from sticking to your wheels??? I ride motorcycles and use them on my bike wheels, I have not used them on anything else because break dust hasnt been an issue.

For whatever reason it MUST be "Lemon Scent"

Cheers!