ASD Dad

Aluminess http://www.aluminess.com/nissan/nissan-nv-2011-2014/front-bumper/

There are a really tiny fraction of NV's on the road vs. something like a F150 or Accord. Small market = higher prices. Aftermarket is the same, not much demand for many parts unless it is contractor grade items for tradesman. I havent compared but I would guess going to a Benz dealer for a factory Sprinter part isnt a walk in the park either for price.

This site has a pretty good Google based search engine... http://nissannvforum.com/topic/1096-inside-rear-door-drivers-side-pocket/?hl=%2Brear+%2Bdoor+%2Bpocket

I have used the tow hooks twice. Got stuck in wet Southern clay which has about as much traction as buttered ice with the stock Firestones. They are really beefy and I cant see any issue with possible frame damage. You can check the various online Nissan parts sites (some are listed on this forum) or junk yards for a set.

Congrats on the van!

Link - https://youtu.be/-QRgyK414qU?list=PLGvTvFzdMg_N86Ovr05-wgrjTam_2tH-p Starts about 2 minutes in if you just want to see the NV do it's best imitation of a D1 drifter...!!

Wow, that was a quick sale. Congrats! Have fun with the Jeep, they have pretty much limitless possibilities if you have the money for it!

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the van! What is that cart with the monitors used for?

I have a write up on here but it is a very old mod from the Titan owners that works on any of our 5.6 motors (Titan, Armada, NV). In a nutshell - pop open your air filter box, remove the filter. If you look at the bottom there is a "snorkel" that is there for NVH reasons (noise mainly). Cut that snorkel flush with the box and it really opens up the airspace and uses the filter much more efficiently. With the snorkel in there if you check your filter it will be dirty just along one edge. The increase in noise is barely noticeable if at all.

I would 100% wait on the 2017 models. Two big reasons: 1) the 2017 gets the newer motor and 7 speed transmission. Huge power and torque increase along with 2 more gears should equal better driving and gas mileage. The current motor is a decade old and wasnt all that wonderful when it came out new let alone these days. It works and works decently but it has a lot of room for improvement. 2) When the 2017's start coming out the 2016's will drop in price if you are more concerned with money and you dont want to try the new motor/trans combo.

Those are proper lights! I had Hella 500's up to 4000's on past vehicles and even the little 500's would throw light way out there. The 4000's would blind people a mile out. I thought about a row of 500's across my roof rack - two floods on the outsides with two spots in the middle - but I am sure that would be overkill and I already have clearance issues. My rack has taken out quite a few tree limbs and I wouldnt want my Hella's taking limbs on! Thanks for the mini review on the cheap light bar. I know a Rigid or similar would 4x that price easily but I have always wondered about the cheap models.

Agree with this 10000%. I HATE the backup camera on the 2015 NV Tech package to no end. It is utterly worthless other than getting a fuzzy view of what is behind you. My 2010 Tundra was crystal clear even with a smaller screen and older tech. Having been in several newer vehicles all with backup cams every company out there is better than the Nissan model. We went camping this past weekend and hooking up was way harder than it should have been with a proper backup cam. It works, just not very well at all.

I can stream music with Spotify on my 2015 NVP nav system. I 100% agree the factory system is pretty horrible. When my van was in the body shop I got to drive several different rentals and all of them had better radios and 10000% better backup cameras!

Either of you using spot beams or flood? Curious how well spot bars throw light. Thry don't have a very deep reflector to cast light a long way out but work well for flood. I need throw with pitch black country roads with lots of deer, fox, turkeys, coyotes, etc...

P3? I put mine in the empty slot under the radio. Great controller.

I am pretty sure it has been confirmed the 2017 has the new Titan 5.6 and it's 7 speed transmission. The Cummins is rumored for the following year but Titan Cummins sales look to be be pretty sad. For as rare as the NVP used to be I am seeing more each month. I have seen one single Titan on the road since it was released and it had dealer tags on it! I see plenty of NV cargos. I used to see 2 other family owned NVP's (a couple more were shuttles). Now I see 6 regularly and it seems like a new one will pop up every month or so.

That is quite common on all the huge sites. More so on some vs. others but still common with vehicle sites especially if it has a huge following like a Jeep. I am sure there are a dozen Jeep sites with 1000's of members. We have just this little one with a tenth of that many people. Plus we have NV's... we arent exactly looking to put a 6" lift with 32" tires and 5 lightbars on our vans to go cruise the mall...

Nice. I was just curious about Quigley vs. Advanced. I thought about getting a Quigley for when we camp but in the end decided it wasnt worth it. I didnt even know about Advanced back then. I didnt know Quigley did full warranties on used vehicles (I consider any vehicle that is titled to be used). Pretty awesome. If you figure out some better lighting please come back and post. I tried the best rated H13 bulbs made (Philips Xtreme Vision) and they were marginally better than stock. Went back to HID's and they do well for lows but are horrible for highs. I went through several bulbs just to get the low beam pattern to work out with zero glare. If I get around to it I am thinking of using the high beam wire to trigger a relay for some true driving lights while keeping my low beam HID's on. I have a roof rack I can mount some to or there is plenty of bumper space.

I will give you high props for replacing tires, inspecting brakes and your bearings. I see way too many people that ignore all of those and things get ugly in a hurry. I've had two bad blowouts from cheap imported crap tires from the OEM on brand new campers and one was with the camper empty so it was well under the weight limit. I also inspected a bearing that was so over packed with grease from the factory that it blew out the rear seal and coated the drum brake making it useless. If I am coming off as passive aggressive, it is what it is. I'd rather be at 75% of the limit vs. 100% or over any day of any year. Risk vs. reward just doenst add up. Specifications are there for a purpose.

I think a scale may shock you, I know it did us the first time I weighed in years ago. Plus if you are towing at the limits which you admittedly are, you will know if you WDH is properly setup to make sure you are not overloading the rear axle or taking too much weight off the front. I always tell people this - it is up to everybody to tow and drive safely. I wont tell people one way or another unless I see something totally unsafe when I am actually out. You have to weigh in the wear and tear on your vehicle, the safety of your family and the safety of all the other cars and people on the road around you. With a modern vehicle you can tow almost anything reasonably well, even way over the ratings. Vehicles these days have much better engines, brakes and chassis setups. You could probably tow that camper with a much smaller vehicle and it would "tow" just fine except maybe up a steep grade. On flat ground you can tow most anything with a small vehicle. BUT - and this is how I always end things - what happens in an emergency maneuver? Say you need to dodge a blown out big rig tire at 60 mph on the highway. Say one of your camper tires blows up which happens way too much. Somebody cuts you off or runs out in front of you? It is those times when you need to make sure your tow vehicle can haul your trailer. It is those times you need to make sure your WDH is setup properly, your tires are in good shape and proper inflation, brakes are calibrated correctly, etc. If you are happy driving your family at 100% of a manufacturers rating that is your right to do so. I would still wager money you are over if you actually got on scales fully loaded for a trip. There is a very good reason for specs on towing capacity. If Nissan or any other company could put down they can tow more you can be 100% positive they would do it. Look at the pissing wars of the domestic trucks. Every single year they tow more and haul more payload. Even if it is by 200 pounds they will still claim it to one up the next company. They used to cheat and just write in more specs for the fun of it until they came out with SAE standards. There's a reason Nissan thinks the NV can tow "x" amount and the GCVW should be "x" pounds. If they could put down it can tow or haul more they would have happily said so in the first place. EDIT: I dont want to come off as a safety nanny or know it all. I will restate it is up to the person behind the wheel to make the decision. I say all this because I have personally seen what happens when things do go bad. It can be something "funny" like seeing a guy actually break his rear end trying to haul a big fifth wheel with a 1/2 ton truck or another guy do the same thing hooking up a goose neck trailer with a Bobcat on it on his 1/2 ton. I have also witnessed really bad wrecks and when you look at the trailer and the tow vehicle you just have to wonder what they were thinking...

Sounds like a nice project! Any reason you are doing Quigley after the fact vs. getting it installed prior to delivery? I thought it got full warranty coverage if new and 12 months if installed on used. Also any reason to pick them over Advanced 4x4? I thought Advanced had hi/lo range. That bumper is beefy! You'll need those lights if you live in a low light area. If you havent noticed our H13 lights are horrible! I'm still searching for an ideal high beam setup. 5 Hella's would definitely do it!

Curious if you pulled that setup across any scales. 7800 dry, 8 people in van sounds impossible to be under Nissan's specs.

Welcome to the forum! What all do you have planned??

Awe man, sorry to see you go! I can definitely see her point if you have a motorhome to use as well. Good luck with the sale!

Wow that was a lot of work! I guess when you have storms like Matthew and crazy heat all summer you dont want to leave it out. Our new garage will be built with the NV in mind. Our current garage is nowhere close to usable for the big van. I dont like leaving mine baking in the SC heat or under the lovely ice storms we get.