| Author |
|
Cracker39
Newbie
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Florida
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2014 at 5:41am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I will be towing a 23' Rcckwood Mini Lite trailer I just bought. It has a dry weight of under 3700 lbs and I expect it to not go over 4300 lbs with equipment, supplies, clothes, etc. onboard. I have an 06 Frontier SE, 4.0 L with 6-speed manual trans with less than 15K miles on it (I don't drive it very much except for towing my boat or small camping trailer).
These Frontiers have terrific torque already, but I'm doing two mods to the intake/exhaust systems before picking up the trailer.
One is to add a K&N cold air intake system. The other is to have the exhaust system improved by a shop today. They will cut out the crimped joint where the two pipes are compressed and joined to enter the single muffler. I estimate that the exhaust flow from the engine is originally cut down to less than 50% at that joint. The two pipes will go into a dual inlet muffler with the single pipe out of the muffler, which should be larger than the diameter of each input pipe. I am hoping for an improvement on HP, torque, and performance with these two mods.
Now, my question. Cruising at 60-65 on flat interstate roads, will I be able to use my 6th gear or will I have to remain in 5th gear? The trailer is 8' wide and 9.3' high with a backward slant on the upper 2/3 of the front of about 15-20 degrees. I also plan to make an air deflector to mount on top of my truck's cap. Anyone with experience with towing trailers of this size to offer? Thanks
__________________
Dale (The old Florida Cracker)
06 Silver Frontier SE, V-6, 6-spd, CC
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lakota
Moderator Group
Nissan Frontier Forums Moderator
Joined: Feb 14 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1815
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Texas
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2014 at 10:47am | IP Logged
|
|
|
..
The gear ratio would effect the power band and fuel
economy. I think the weak link would be in the cooling and
lubing the running gear. Cooling the differential is the
first thing I would be working on.
Good Luck.. Don S..
__________________
PLEASE >>> A SIG similar to mine can be VERY HELPFUL to all the members!
'99 4x4 3.3 Frontier Se KC Auto, 48,000 miles
'76 4x4 401 Wagoneer QT
'04 FWD 1.8 Sentra '08 FWD 2.4 Camry LE
Fort Worth
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
frontierguy
Senior Member
Master Mechanic
Joined: May 20 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2591
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Pennsylvania
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2014 at 7:13pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
You can use the aluminum finned rear diff. cover from a
Titan on your rear diff. if it is the M226 diff. The K+N
is great for flowing a lot of air, also dirt, do a google
search. Synthetic lubes will be your best friend. I went
with the Dynomax "Y" pipe and VT muffler, big difference.
I only haul a 10' aluminum Triton trailer w/ my John Deere
X720SE(1200#) on it, don't even know it is back there.
__________________
'10 Altima SL
Traded 08 Frontier for 16 Frontier SV CC Long box, quite an upgrade. I do miss the 6 speed and Dynomax ex.
Nissan Technician 25 + years
2011 John Deere X720SE
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cracker39
Newbie
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Florida
|
| Posted: Feb 20 2014 at 6:38pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My Nissan service mgr said that my diff has synthetic in it from the factory. I plan to have the standard trans case refilled with synthetic also. I had the new dual 2 1/2" inlet muffler, improved header pipes and a 3" tail pipe installed. I haven't made another 0-60 test yet, but it feels like it has more pep. I still don't know if I will be able to cruise in top gear. I'll check into the finned diff cover.
__________________
Dale (The old Florida Cracker)
06 Silver Frontier SE, V-6, 6-spd, CC
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cracker39
Newbie
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Florida
|
| Posted: Feb 20 2014 at 6:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
frontierguy wrote:
The K+N
is great for flowing a lot of air, also dirt. |
|
|
I thought K&N was a reliable system. Are their filters poor quality? I can always buy a better filter if that's the case.
__________________
Dale (The old Florida Cracker)
06 Silver Frontier SE, V-6, 6-spd, CC
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
frontierguy
Senior Member
Master Mechanic
Joined: May 20 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2591
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Pennsylvania
|
| Posted: Feb 23 2014 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
They are a great filter for racing applications(short
engine life), but for MAFS protection, you need the
original Nissan oil impregnated filter. It's your choice.
Your best mileage gain is using hi test fuel and a very
lite right foot!!!!!
__________________
'10 Altima SL
Traded 08 Frontier for 16 Frontier SV CC Long box, quite an upgrade. I do miss the 6 speed and Dynomax ex.
Nissan Technician 25 + years
2011 John Deere X720SE
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cracker39
Newbie
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Florida
|
| Posted: Feb 24 2014 at 8:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
frontierguy wrote:
They are a great filter for racing applications(short
engine life), but for MAFS protection, you need the
original Nissan oil impregnated filter. It's your choice. |
|
|
Does the Nissan oil impregnated filter you mention replace the stock K&N filter?
frontierguy wrote:
Your best mileage gain is using hi test fuel and a very
lite right foot!!!!! |
|
|
I'm not trying for the best mileage, although I'm not adverse to good mileage. I'm attempting to increase horsepower and performance to pull my trailer I'll be picking up in a few weeks. After having the exhaust flow increased with a dual inlet muffler and larger tail pipe, I made a 0-6 test in 8.29 seconds. After the K&N cold air intake is installed, I'll try again to see if I get a better run. I'm also going to install an aluminum, finned differential cover and replace the stock trans oil with synthetic Lucas transmission and differential 75w-90 oil. These two changes will hopefully increase the life of the fluids operating under a load. I already have Mobile 1 synthetic oil in the engine.
__________________
Dale (The old Florida Cracker)
06 Silver Frontier SE, V-6, 6-spd, CC
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
frontierguy
Senior Member
Master Mechanic
Joined: May 20 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2591
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Pennsylvania
|
| Posted: Feb 24 2014 at 8:59pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Does the Nissan oil impregnated filter you mention replace
the stock K&N filter?
I'm confused by this statement!! The stock filter is a
Nissan oil impregnated filter- K+N is the aftermarket
filter.
__________________
'10 Altima SL
Traded 08 Frontier for 16 Frontier SV CC Long box, quite an upgrade. I do miss the 6 speed and Dynomax ex.
Nissan Technician 25 + years
2011 John Deere X720SE
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cracker39
Newbie
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Florida
|
| Posted: Mar 12 2014 at 10:53am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I finally have the answer to my question about towing in 6th gear with my -04 Frontier. It can be done, but not very easily. Without the two mods I made to boost horsepower and torque, I believe it would have been more difficult. Those mods were to (1) open the exhaust flow with new pipes between the cat converters and a new dual inlet muffler and installing a 3” exhaust pipe beyond the muffler, and (2) install a K&N cold air intake system. These did help improve performance and probably boosted the HP by 15-20. Ok, here’s my experience for towing a 3800 lb, 8’ wide, 9’ high travel trailer 600 miles.
Leaving the dealer, traveling nearly 30 miles to I-75, I could not get the truck over 65 mph in 5th gear, and in 6th gear, on a level road, it would just start slowing down. This was with my home-built wind deflector raised to help overcome the wind resistance, which I believe was more the problem than weight. I drove on the interstate for a total of 80 miles, still in 5th gear until I stopped for gas. My mileage dropped to 10 mpg.
When I bought gas, I decided to put in 89 octane as I have always used 87. Back on the road, performance improved and I was able to keep it in 6th gear at 65 mph on level stretches and down grades. I probably drove in 6th gear about half the time or less. At least I didn’t have to keep it in 5th all the time.
On the next gas top, I put in about 6 gallons each of 89 and 93 ocatane, raising the octane level in the tank to over 90. Performance improved a little once more. On fairly level interstate travel, I was able to drive in 6th RPMs at 2K ir higher I was even able to go up slight inclines in 6th. At least, most of the way, until the RPMs dropped below 2K and I had to downshift to 5th.
On a few really long or high grades in Kentucky and Tennessee, I had to get down to 4th gear to make the top. Off the interstate, on a county road in lower Tennessee, I had steep roller coaster hills. I had to resort to speeding up to 70 or 75 down one hill in order to top the next hill in 5th gear. I never filled up with just 93 octane gas. It would have been interesting to see if could have improved performance any more. Gas milage on the 2nd fill up went up to nearly 17 MPG, but on the last fill up after driving state and county roads with lots of stops and the roller coaster road, mileage dropped back to around 10 MPG. I can expect around 16-17 on level interstate highways towing my trailer, but mileage will drop driving on state and county roads with towns and stop lights/signs to cause a lot of stop and to driving.
Overall, towing a trailer over 1700 lbs for the first time was not a bad experience. I had very little trailer movement passing semis, uh, being passed by semis that is, thanks to the weight distribution hitch with friction sway control. My Kress mirrors helped see down the sides of the trailer and my rear view camera mounted on the spare tire of the trailer allowed me a full wide angle view behind the trailer, so I had no blind spots to worry about.
Now the question is…do I want to continue towing my trailer having to buy high octane gas and do a lot of down shifting in hilly areas? Or will I sell my Frontier (which now has over 17K miles on it…that’s right, not 170K, but 17K miles. It will have over 18K when I finally get home) and buy a used Titan? I have to make that decision sometime this year as I plan to sell my home and travel, visiting family. Whoever buys my truck will have an almost new truck that is 8 years old with the mileage that most people put on a vehicle in one year. I also know that I won’t be able to sell it for what I think it is worth, but that’s the way it is selling used vehicles.
__________________
Dale (The old Florida Cracker)
06 Silver Frontier SE, V-6, 6-spd, CC
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lakota
Moderator Group
Nissan Frontier Forums Moderator
Joined: Feb 14 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1815
Member's Gallery:
View Gallery
Location:
U.S. - Texas
|
| Posted: Mar 12 2014 at 9:52pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
..
Thanks for the report.
Very interesting and complete.
That is very low mileage on the truck. My '99 has about
48,000 and the dealer wanted me to trade it in real bad.
Have a safe one.. Don S..
__________________
PLEASE >>> A SIG similar to mine can be VERY HELPFUL to all the members!
'99 4x4 3.3 Frontier Se KC Auto, 48,000 miles
'76 4x4 401 Wagoneer QT
'04 FWD 1.8 Sentra '08 FWD 2.4 Camry LE
Fort Worth
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Active Topics 
Memberlist 
Search 
Help 
Register 
Login
Nissan Frontier Forums : Frontier Towing / Hauling
Topic: What gear can I expect to cruise in?
