[washie26]

Hi all, I have a need to upgrade from my 2010 Frontier to tow a larger trailer. I have been looking around for 2012/2013 tow vehicles and am not real happy with what I have found. Don't really care for the big three and Toyota really, really likes their trucks. I've been looking at the Titan and have reservations about the rear axles.
Any thoughts on if I should go ahead and get a Titan or one of the others?

 

[REDRUM]

TITAN up and don't look back!

 

[JBsTitan]

I upgraded from a frontier to a titan after a few in between. Love my titan so far, as far as the rear axle. Do the vent mod like on the frontiers and you will be fine. May want to grab a 15 before they are all gone. I got my 15 SV loaded for 30k. good luck!

 

[honda250xtitan]

2008 and up titans are pretty reliable. wouldn't worry about the rear axle.

 

[thumperpaul]

I upgraded my 2003 Xterra to a 2011 Titan SV a few years ago, for towing purposes as well. Great truck, tows like a champ, looks and sounds awesome too! If you do regular maintenance on it, you should have no issues.

 

[washie26]

Thanks everyone!

 

[bowhuntNJ]

Upgraded from a 2000 frontier. Having driven a 2nd Gen frontier before settling on the Titan differnie is night and day

 

[nightowl]

Titan is a very solid truck! Go for it.....

 

[Chevymanrc]

Upgraded from a 05 frontier to a 07 Titan myself. Both are good trucks that have their own jobs. The titan tows better and has way more family room but I miss the smaller frontier for hunting and just beating around.

 

[DRKM]

I just upgraded from a 2010 Frontier SE to a 2013 Titan SL. It's only been a week and a half but WOW! Drives great, feels more maneuverable than the Frontier. Power, nuff said! Roomy. I love the leg room front and rear. I'm 6'3" and I move the drivers seat forward a bit. Just a great solid feel to it. Quieter than the Frontier too.

Gas mileage, well it's a TRUCK after all. This is my 5th full size truck, 2 Ford's & 2 Chevy's and I love the Titan.

When towing my small, 16FT travel trailer the Frontier was surprisingly strong as a tow vehicle. But I was always over GVWR by at least a 100 lbs when pulling out of the driveway. Rear axle load was always right at the max or above max. No worries with the Titan. We can take our bicycles or other stuff with no worries about being overweight.

 

[Pale Rider]

we have one of each, a 2013 Titan KC SV and a 2013 Frontier CC SV, and we like both trucks. both trucks have their job/place in the family. The frontier tows the SH Triton 172 very well as does the Titan, but I prefer to use the Frontier to tow the boat around locally.

both can get the same mileage 17-22 mpgs based on the mash pedal. The frontier is quick for a 4.0l V6 and comfortable to drive.
The Titan cruises at a lower RPM with the 2:94 gear set and the torque of the engine just reminds you it`s a V8.

all in all you`d be happy with either newer truck.

and I just found some ugliness in the rear diff housing doing a cover swap and fluid change. For only 29K on the 2013 rear axle that sucks I have to deal with this... gear lube changed 2x since Jan/2015 @ 15,xxx miles normal metals, changed again @ 29K and a ton of debris, why!

gear lube service in the Frontier this past Sept/2015, normal metals and lube clear in color...

sad that the titan has such a POS rear axle...

 

[TheLaSwamp]

I upgraded from a 2012 Frontier.

The Titan takes a bit of getting used to. It's much bigger than the Frontier, but it still handles like a smaller truck. That can get you into trouble in tight spaces. You have to really watch out for the edges.

The Titan rides much better, and has far more power. It's a much more comfortable truck. But, gas mileage is abyssal. And that's without towing anything.

I'm still dealing with the axle defect. I'm on my third axle in 7k miles. I'm not sure how that's going to play out yet. But I still love my truck.

 

[Pale Rider]

I upgraded from a 2012 Frontier.

The Titan takes a bit of getting used to. It's much bigger than the Frontier, but it still handles like a smaller truck. That can get you into trouble in tight spaces. You have to really watch out for the edges.

The Titan rides much better, and has far more power. It's a much more comfortable truck. But, gas mileage is abyssal. And that's without towing anything.

I'm still dealing with the axle defect. I'm on my third axle in 7k miles. I'm not sure how that's going to play out yet. But I still love my truck.

what year Titan?

 

[TheLaSwamp]

what year Titan?

I got a 2015 Titan in August. I knew the 2016s were on the way and my dealer would be anxious to move his remaining, somewhat large, 2015 inventory. I was able to get a great deal on one. Both my Frontier and Titan are SVs, but the Titan is much nicer at that trim level.

 

[Pale Rider]

I got a 2015 Titan in August. I knew the 2016s were on the way and my dealer would be anxious to move his remaining, somewhat large, 2015 inventory. I was able to get a great deal on one. Both my Frontier and Titan are SVs, but the Titan is much nicer at that trim level.

Nice! congrats on the new rig!:cheers:

3 axles, what`s the story on that one?

 

[TheLaSwamp]

Nice! congrats on the new rig!:cheers:

3 axles, what`s the story on that one?

Thanks! I've enjoyed it so far. With low gas prices, it's actually been cheaper to operate than my Frontier was in 2012.

At around 1500 miles, I noticed a whine sound coming from the rear end between 55-60mph, but only on throttle. I took it in to the dealer and they inspected the axle. The oil was fouled and it was full of a thick, metal sludge. So Nissan replaced the axle under warranty. The new axle did the exact same thing. I brought the truck in at about 4k miles. They found the same thing, oil filled with metal.

So, Nissan replaced the axle again. My current axle now does the same thing, only it whines both on throttle and off, from 50-60mph. That started around 4.5k miles. I'm going to have to take the truck back in, and I'm sure they will find the same issue. Fouled oil and lots of metal.

I think the problem is the oil is overheating (causing the fouling) and it's causing the spider gears to scale (causing the metal shavings). Dana makes the rear axle assembly, and their quality control has been bad the past several years. Nissan has not kicked up much fuss replacing the axles, but as we get closer to lemon law limits, I'm not sure what they are going to do.

The dealership now ignores my emails, which is not an encouraging sign. I expect to get some pushback when I bring my Titan in again, especially since it's for the same problem. What makes me nervous is the thought that all of the axles are defective right off the assembly line. It's a bad manufacturing process for the spider gears, and there is no reliable replacement under warranty.

 

[abmobil]

Thanks! I've enjoyed it so far. With low gas prices, it's actually been cheaper to operate than my Frontier was in 2012.

At around 1500 miles, I noticed a whine sound coming from the rear end between 55-60mph, but only on throttle. I took it in to the dealer and they inspected the axle. The oil was fouled and it was full of a thick, metal sludge. So Nissan replaced the axle under warranty. The new axle did the exact same thing. I brought the truck in at about 4k miles. They found the same thing, oil filled with metal.

So, Nissan replaced the axle again. My current axle now does the same thing, only it whines both on throttle and off, from 50-60mph. That started around 4.5k miles. I'm going to have to take the truck back in, and I'm sure they will find the same issue. Fouled oil and lots of metal.

I think the problem is the oil is overheating (causing the fouling) and it's causing the spider gears to scale (causing the metal shavings). Dana makes the rear axle assembly, and their quality control has been bad the past several years. Nissan has not kicked up much fuss replacing the axles, but as we get closer to lemon law limits, I'm not sure what they are going to do.

The dealership now ignores my emails, which is not an encouraging sign. I expect to get some pushback when I bring my Titan in again, especially since it's for the same problem. What makes me nervous is the thought that all of the axles are defective right off the assembly line. It's a bad manufacturing process for the spider gears, and there is no reliable replacement under warranty.

Do you do any towing? We know this wasn't the best axle choice, but later model Titans should be fine unless constantly abused I would think.

 

[TheLaSwamp]

Do you do any towing? We know this wasn't the best axle choice, but later model Titans should be fine unless constantly abused I would think.

No towing. The heaviest thing I've transported so far is a pair of mountain bikes. That's it. Nissan asked the same question.

Dana modified the design in 2008, but it was more band aids than actual fixes to the problem. The axle is too small for the application, which I think is causing the overheating. Nissan uses a Super-44, which is used in cars and Jeeps, mostly. If Nissan wanted to used Dana, they should have went with the D60. That would have been a far better axle for a vehicle like the Titan. They really dropped the ball.

 

[Pale Rider]

man that`s pretty sad if Nissan asks Do you tow. wasn`t the Titan built for towing boasting the payloads and towing capacity of this truck...

my boat is so light I don`t even know it`s back there with the titan, and if that caused damage to the rear, then the Dana 44 is truly a POS. I never had any issues with my Ford 9" rears, well except for a bit to much torque from a big block, then there was the D60 in the E250 that was awesome, and the same for the 8.8 in the F 150, never had any issues... the rear in the F250 was massive...

Nissan> it would have been ok to step up to a heavier rear and an 8 lug pattern.... weak, weak weak...

 

[TheLaSwamp]

Lol, and the irony is that I have the tow package :-/

The Super-44 is not a bad differential by any means. It's actually a very reliable design. In some applications, it's gone hundreds of thousands of miles with no issues. Just not in a Titan.

The problem is that it wasn't designed to be used in a 5,500 pound truck. Throw in some manufacturing problems with the spider gears, and you have a recipe for disaster. I think the primary culprit is heat. The majority of the problems start there, and it's downhill from there.