Mark Rogers

If you have to beef up the suspension to hold the fuel, it's probably too much fuel. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun, though. I'd be really happy with a single 40 gallon tank in place of the original tank.

I'm surprised it's so difficult. I haven't tried it myself, but the instructions in the owner's manual make it look easy.

It's good that the Transit is getting better. But until they can make it comfortable inside, I'm steering clear of it.

It's bad enough that they used crimp connectors. But seeing those cut wires is like rubbing salt in the wound. Whoever committed that crime needs to have their wire strippers revoked until they learn how to do things the right way.

You may need to give it 10-15 minutes, but the headlights should turn off after a while if the engine's off.

That filter kit is pretty cool, by the way. It's super easy to install. And it even comes with a template you can use to cut your own replacement filters in case you don't want to buy the pre-cut ones.

You occasionally see seats for sale in the Facebook NV groups. But, I'm not so sure about the floor tracks. Are those even removable?

I haven't replaced NV mirrors yet, but I'd be really surprised if the towing mirrors don't fit. Not sure if the heating feature would work or not, though. You may want to ask your dealer's service department what they think. For a typical car, you just remove a bit of trim on the inside of the door, then remove three nuts that hold the mirror on, and disconnect a wiring harness for the mirror motor. It's a quick and easy job.

Welcome!

There are some members of the "Nissan NV Families" group on Facebook that have replaced their head units. You should consider joining the group and reaching out to the members there.

We love our 2016 SV. There are times when the kids are messy and we wish we had leather seats and rubber floor mats. I've never had leather upholstery in a car before, but I understand it tends to wear out faster than cloth. If you go with leather, you should apply leather conditioner every few months. If you go with cloth, put on some Scothgard every few months. I guess the leather vs. cloth decision is going to be a matter of personal preference. You can sit just fine on either one. The front sonar causes problems for some people, and I don't feel like I need it, so I'm glad I don't have it. The dual climate control would be nice to have, but I wouldn't pay a lot extra for it. If you want heated seats in an SV, there are plenty of heated seat covers available on Amazon. I'm glad the SV you found has the nav package. For navigation, you're much better off using a phone or aftermarket nav system. The real benefit of the nav system is that it includes a backup camera. That camera is very, very useful.

My van is still pretty much stock, except for a pair of running boards. I get 11 mpg around town and 13 on the highway. I could do better on highway mileage if I kept my speed down to 65 mph, but a lot of my highway miles are in places where the speed limit is 80 and I don't want to delay my arrival. Kilgar, I'm guessing your 4x4 conversion included at least a 2" lift and some bigger tires. Both of those come with an efficiency penalty. I don't know if the drivetrain modifications would affect mileage or not in 2WD mode, but they're certainly not going to help, either. The new V8 engine and transmission introduced in 2017 help efficiency a little bit (maybe 1-2 mpg better). So, keep that in mind if you're comparing mileage with other NV owners.

I really like how clean the installation is. Nice work!

The rear view mirror is useless on our NVP because you can't see through all the head rests. But, we've learned to get by just fine using the side mirrors. The trick is to adjust them properly. Make sure there's a small overlap between what you see in the upper and lower mirrors. The upper mirrors should be turned outward enough that you have to lean your head to see the sides of the van. The sides of the van should be visible in the lower mirrors without tilting your head. If you do it right, you can pretty much eliminate your blind spots. You may want to have someone walk around the van while you fiddle with the mirrors. They shouldn't have anywhere to hide unless they're directly behind the van.

Since it's a 2017, I assume it's still under warranty. I'd let the dealership fix it. Otherwise, you might have to deal with it again and again every time the squeak returns.

I don't do a lot of ham stuff, either. I got my extra ticket a couple years ago just because I was having fun, but I don't have the time or budget to progress beyond occasional 2m work.

I'm guessing the 2500 would get slightly better gas mileage. Not sure what the actual numbers are, though.

Welcome to the club! There are some start up costs with any new vehicle, but I see some places to save money in your list. Roof racks can be helpful, but I see them as a last resort for cargo. They raise the center of gravity, add wind noise, and can be awkward to access. Since you want a brake controller, you must be planning on towing. Can you put your cargo in the trailer instead of using a roof rack? Or, if you don't need all 12 seats, remove half of the 4th row to provide lots of cargo space. If you really want DVD players, get the cheapest portable ones you can find. Don't bother with the expensive built-in players unless you plan on using them on a daily basis. The portable ones are great for occasional long trips, plus you can use them in hotel rooms if you want. You may be able to save even more money by buying inexpensive tablets (e.g. Kindle Fire on sale) instead of DVD players. When we go on long trips, we bring 1 or 2 tablets or DVD players for the youngest children, and the older kids read books. I agree with the snow tires. You'll appreciate those. If you don't want to buy them right away, at least get some tire chains to keep in the van. You should consider adding running boards. They make it a lot easier for shorter people to get in and out. There's a pretty big price range on those. I got the cheapest ones available and they've worked out well so far. Some people carry a folding step stool in the van instead. Keep in mind that running boards will reduce your ground clearance, but it's not a problem if you plan on staying on the road.

I haven't tried snow tires, so I can't recommend a specific brand. Although, I can say that the OEM tires perform poorly in the snow. The best tire prices I've seen are at tirerack.com and Costco. I recommend checking their prices, no matter what kind of tire you're looking for.

Our 2016 works with Bluetooth (Android and iPhone). So, I'm betting the 2018 would support it, too.

I measured 49 inches from the floor to the lowest part of the headliner, which is slightly lower than the top of the windshield. I have a 2016 3500 passenger van with the standard roof. I second what @radin2son said. You should call someone who's done wheelchair conversions with these vans to see what they recommend.

Which NV are you looking at? I have a 3500 I can measure when I get home.

II haven't heard about this particular issue before, but I suppose it could be caused by a problem with the GPS antenna. Maybe the cable came unplugged, or maybe the rooftop antenna was damaged. If it's not either of those, you might need to have the radio replaced.

It would be interesting to compare the shapes of your trailers. The biggest contributor to the aerodynamics of a trailer is way the air flows around the back. That's why a lot of semi trucks now have big flaps added onto the backs of their trailers. They're supposed to improve fuel economy by about 5% at freeway speeds. Keeping your speed down is the single biggest thing you can do to help with gas mileage. If you look at the drag equation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_equation), you'll see that speed is the only term that's squared. You'll have 33% more drag at 75 MPH than you'd have at 65 MPH. Aerodynamics can't do a whole lot to counteract that amount of increase, unless you radically change the shape of the van and trailer.

It depends a lot on how your load is distributed. If you put 12 adults in the van with a couple of suitcases, you may not have enough payload capacity left to handle any sort of trailer tongue weight. On the other hand, if you have a nearly empty van, your rule should work just fine.