ASD Dad

Jerry, if you figure it out post back! I hate the things. They beep randomly and my dealer just shrugs about it. What I love is they beep for no reason but I can crawl up to somebody in front of me until I am near on top of them and they dont beep! Of course the next time I try they beep like crazy so they have no "normal" range of function.

Those numbers are loaded for camping and taken over a Cat Scale 3 times to check total weight, tongue weight and weight restoration to the front axle. The camper weights are when I had the Tundra hooked up but that doesn't affect the weights. My TT empty only weighs 5700# according to its yellow shipping sticker inside the door. It was the lightest "big" bunkhouse we could find. I was over my payload on the Tundra with the kids, dogs and gear so we had to do some serious shopping.

Thanks. Should have added. It's 6600lbs loaded up with about a 850# tongue weight. 30ft long with triple bunks and a large outside kitchen. Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch with a Tekonsha P3 controller.

Just wanted to post up a photo of our current towing setup. I used to tow this camper with a 2010 Tundra Crewmax 5.7. NVP vs. Tundra Pros: Way more room. More payload. Smoother ride towing. Cons: Mirrors dont pull out as far. WAY less power, I have to pull onto a 55mph 2 lane road and the Tundra had zero issues. NVP pulled it up to speed but took way longer than expected. Dont think I will be able to easily pass people if needed with the NVP vs. Tundra. The ride was much smoother on rough roads with the NVP. That made me happy and I am sure my kids will be happier in back. Much more room to spread out. Still debating what I want to haul in the NVP vs. getting a roof rack for it. I only took a 20 mile test run with it to see how it shakes out. Van was empty except for me and camper just had our normal gear in it so figure it was a couple hundred pounds lighter than normal vs. being packed up for a trip. Our first trip with it fully loaded will be a decent test for it all - we are heading up north through the NC/TN/KY mountains with several 6-7% grades to deal with. I think I would have preferred one closer trip but we just dont have the time to squeeze one in. I am debating getting a Bully Dog GT tuner for some extra power. The Titan/Armada guys love it and depending on other mods can really add some power to the 5.6 motor. Here is the rig - about 55 feet from bumper to bumper!!

Post up some photos of the ICE install. I worked for years at PJ's Autosound when I was in HS and after graduation. We had several IASCA winning cars. Also worked for C-2000 but there was all concentrated on SPL contests vs. SQ. SPL is fun but it was turning into pure brute force which really is what it's all about... Are you doing the full install?

Any update on this? Just curious how it turned out.

That would be far the easiest. Use the high beam wire to trip the relay for your driving lights. Just curious - what lights did you go with? I am looking at adding some lights to my NVP.

I've still only spotted the one, one time (NVP). I see plenty of Cargos and NV200's running around. We have a few trips coming up soon so maybe I will spot more.

Your controller isnt as fat as the P3 so it could slide in more. I have a lot of room behind mine but the lever on the bottom to manually control the brakes sticks down too far.

I am in the "south" and I have only seen one other NVP, a Silver SL just like mine. A few hotels have them as shuttles but I am not counting those.

Just curious how often you spot another NVP in the wild. I see Cargo's daily but have only spotted one NVP that wasnt commercial (shuttle or some other work related use). I dont see many passenger Sprinters or Transits either but a neighbor a street over just picked up a 2015 full size Transit passenger. Granted before owning one I never really looked but I honestly cant recall seeing many period since they came out with the model.

Got mine mounted. Wrote up a How To: as well to get the dash apart under the Radio forum. Sticks out more than I like so may need to do some more modding but for now it is mounted, solid and within easy reach.

This is why I removed my dash. I wanted to use the pocket below the radio to mount my Tekonsha P3 brake controller for our camper. I did this before in my Tundra and it worked out well. The NVP pocket is a bit narrower so I couldnt slide the P3 in as deep so I am not quite as happy with the install. It is very easy to reach and very visible so I will leave it for now but may mod the pocket opening down the road to clean it up.

OK, I had posted asking if anyone could assist me on how to remove the dash on a NVP 3500. Nobody could really point me in a step by step direction. I did get one pdf link for a radio install from Chris (NV Manager) that helped but it was still lacking severely. So I went ahead and did the removal and installation today and wanted to do a write up for future owners. Sorry, no photos as I was under a time crunch but I think written will suffice. Tools needed: Panel Removal Tools - http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Radio-Panel-Removal-Installer/dp/B00SDFIWGS/ Phillips screwdriver Patience! You really do need those Panel tools. They're dirt cheap and they work well. They wont mar your plastic like just using a metal flat bladed screwdriver or other metal tool. You may find them locally at an auto parts store but I just ordered off Amazon forever ago for doing installs. Step 1 - Remove the fuse panel coveri by your left knee under the dash. There is one Phillips screw. Remove it. Step 2 - Right below the hood release latch handle is another Phillips screw. Remove it. Step 3 - Using the Panel Tools (PT from now on), start prying along the top seam of that dash panel you just removed those screws from. You can use your hands to pull out the bottom. They are made to be quite tight but you need to be persistent and use a steady, strong pressure. Once some clips pop the rest will follow. You dont need to completely disconnect the panel, just get it unclipped. Step 4 - Using the PT pry off the left air vent cover. Tip - once you start prying you will see notches around the edges. Use the pry bar PT to wedge into those notches and pop it off. Again, once you get a couple clips to let go you can pull it off with your hands. Step 5 - Use the PT to remove the dash cluster trim piece. Yes, the entire cluster trim bezel must come off! This took some work and wiggling. I had to lower my steering wheel all the way for one tip. Be patient and work your way around the edges. Use your hands along the bottom. If you have fog lights you will need to unclip the harness. It is tucked in there with not much slack. I used the phillips screwdriver to push in the tab to release the harness. Be patient and you can wiggle it back and forth up and out. Step 6 - This will expose two Phillips screws on the left of the radio bezel. Remove them. Step 7 - Remove the air vent just to the right of the radio/bezel. It pops out just like the drivers side except there is a harness for the hazard light switch. A lot more slack with that harness so it is easy to unclip and remove the vent trim. Step 8 - This will expose two Phillips screws on the right of the radio bezel. Remove them. Step 9 - Use the PT to remove the bezel ring/climate control module/pocket piece. It is all one piece and will come off as one. Now, if you are doing a radio install you can unscrew the factory radio. If you want access to the panel like I did you can unclip the climate control harness to remove the panel. RE-INSTALLATION - reverse everything in order BUT!!! There are two tricky parts. The air vents! The trim ring snaps right back in, BUT the air vents will not adjust properly. They float back there and they Must be attached to the trim bezel securely to be snug and to adjust correctly. The only way I figured out how to do this was to firmly grasp the vent tab (the small tab used to aim the air vent) with one hand and pull out while pushing in the trim piece. I tried to seat the vent into the trim first before pushing the whole thing back into the dash. It took me a while but it worked and everything looked like it was never removed. Getting the fog light harness back in was a little tricky but there was just enough room for my fingers to push it back in. So there you go. Be patient, buy the cheap Panel Removal Tool kit and you should be all set!

Looks just like mine! Congrats. The rack you saw is by Aluminess and they are custom built to order. Rear ladder is not theirs, they did just design a side ladder for our vans. Rack, slats and ladder runs $2500 shipped and takes 8 weeks to build. Incredible work and product but you definitely pay for it! Another option - you can build a Yakima setup. Landing pad 1 fits the mounting points according to a guy here. After that just buy control towers, bars and accessories to suit needs. I mock built one for a Megawarrior basket with extension and it came to $1000 Cheapest big rack option I've found and will probably buy soon - check out Topper racks. Galvanized steel, 500-750 pound weight capacity depending on mount picked and its a full 12 feet long like tge Aluminess. It's not black but price is only $450. I need a rack for camping so will mod it with slats and tie downs but it will still be way under Yakima with a higher load capacity and twice the length.

Sent you a message

Update. Just got home from Nissan of Greer in Greer, SC. They are my only NV dealership. Went as expected. They didn’t even have their NV tech there and they had all my issues wrong on the work order when I arrived. I am getting peeved I am stuck with these idiots for all my service work. The guy who signed me in was nice enough but that was about the highlight of my trip. Door lock – fixed in 10 minutes. Trim – fixed in about 2 minutes. Parking sensor – couldn’t make it randomly beep in the bay (obviously) so they wrote it off as nothing but put it on my account and they would talk to Nissan about it when the NV tech got in this week. Seat – sat in it about 10 seconds and said they felt nothing. I told them to just sit there longer and he just squirmed around a bunch. You’re not going to feel it like that, you need to Sit in the stupid seat for a bit. Regardless he said he felt nothing at all and again, I need to wait for the NV tech to look at my complaint and maybe call Nissan about it. When I checked in I told them he needs to sit in there several minutes like he was driving. Overall it was a waste of 3 hours. I could have fixed the two items that were wrong at home in about the same amount of time but I wanted it documented it left the lot that way. The other two issues went about the way I thought they would go. Not sure what I will do next but I cant say I am pleased at all. It's really sad honestly, I do like the NVP quite a bit and it fits out family needs perfectly. I normally try and buy a car based on dealership service, I can get a good price anywhere these days. We tend to keep our vehicles a while so service tends to be more important in the long run. So far Nissan of Greer is striking out big time in customer relations and they are my only choice "locally". My next closest dealer is 2+ hours away.

Chris - right now I am more worried about getting the small things fixed on my van! It goes in this evening to get looked over for the items I found wrong. They told me I'll be in for at least 2 hours, should be fun...

No block heater on mine. Still beeps randomly every day. Happened this morning with no cars around. Came to a stop and "BEEP". Annoying but at least it is one beep. Van goes in this evening to have all 4 issues looked at and hopefully the easy ones will be fixed before I leave.

Just checking in to see if anybody else had a few QC issues that I think should have been picked up before ever leaving the line or delivered. Some are blatant and easy catches, others not so much but still. After spending near $40K on a new vehicle I dont expect these but maybe I am spoiled by my past cars... 1) Drivers side leather seat is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat in. Zero support and seams dig in. Passenger seat is just fine. - 2) The power door lock switch sticks down 99.9% time. Requires me to press it back up. 3) Passenger side A-pillar trim incorrectly installed. 3/4" gap, rubber trim not seated properly. Whole thing is loose. 4) I am getting the "come to a stop and parking sensors beep" problem fairly regularly. This is with no other vehicles around, rain or shine. Driving me crazy. My NVP was built March 2015 and has 600 miles or so on it. Items 2 and 3 should have been caught a few times and were not. I blame the factory inspection and dealer inspection. Item 1 I think is a defect in the seat. Item 4 is a Known issue from what I keep reading and has been around for a while. My van was built a month ago and it is still going on so they obviously cant fix it. I am taking it in next week to have all 4 things looked at and documented. Not thrilled since the dealer is an hour away but I knew that going in and buying the NVP. I've had good luck with Nissan in the past. I have friends who love their Nissans. I have an old friend who has raced Nissans and been a parts manager at a big dealer forever. Hopefully they cant take care of these things and I can get to enjoying my new NVP.

Nice vehicles to pick from - classic offroader and a great canyon carver. Wife isnt sold on the idea of Hellas mounted up front. I am still looking at roof racks so could toss some lights up there easily. I am also still looking at LED bars for the bumper. There are actually some nice options on this vehicle so I just need to decide and get to it!

We just bought these : http://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficMASTER-Enviroback-Charcoal-60-in-x-36-in-Recycled-Rubber-Thermoplastic-Rib-Door-Mat-60-443-1902-30000500/202072107 They fit almost perfectly with the second and third row seats moved back to the rear notches in the floor for more leg room (we have 3rd row out). They are literally almost the exact size needed with no trimming required.

No panels come off. Look for the white connector for the harness down by the parking brake pedal. It will be taped up behind it along the firewall. Easy to see once you look at the pigtail connector and then get down there and look.

Check all your connections as well. Did you you use a Tekonsha harness or wire to the factory pigtail? If you wired, check all your solders joints or crimps. Its fairly easy to get a cold solder joint or a bad crimp. Driving down the road the vibrations can cause contact loss. If you used a Tekonsha plug and play harness check that all the connectors are firmly seated in their plugs. You shouldnt really need contact cleaner for a brand new vehicle and TT but doesnt hurt.

I wonder how far those little lights can throw a beam... They would be cake to fit in the bumper. I bet they could make fun backup lights too! Their price on the 21" combo beam bar isnt bad either.