SmokedChops

Sorry for the delay...just now wandered back on here. The front flanges on the y-pipe/crossover that bolt to the catalytic convertors need to be cut off and clocked to line up with the bolt holes on the NV convertors and re-welded. The crossover pipe needed to be shortened to match the NV spacing side to side. I opted to not use the Banks muffler as it was basically a telescope (could see in one end and out the other), went with a welded stainless chambered turbo muffler (Flowmaster knock-off). If you have a welder and a sawzall, it is all easily do-able. Might need a piece of 1/2" steel rod to make your own j-bracket to line up with the NV hanger spots. Gained about 2 mpg on the highway - average 14-15 on the highway. Low-end grunt is more pronounced when pulling a small travel trailer. Was it overwhelming "oh my god, I have 500 hp now and get 24 mpg!!" No. Did it add what I thought an oversized single exhaust with a fat turbo muffler would do for the $450 and several hours invested? Easily. Hope this helps.

Many more rust specks popping from under the paint, the forehead has a bunch (expanse of sheetmetal above windsheild), these spots are not connected to rock chips. Not overly impressed with the exterior finish on a 6 model year old van. This is not 'rail dust', this is painfully thin paint over poorly prepped steel. This gets washed and de-salted very regularly as Iowa winters bring epic amounts of road-brine. Waxed twice a year. (MeGuiar's) - no amount of wax will help a below avarage factory finish. I am looking into getting the forehead repainted, and then putting a clear wrap over the top.

I finally pulled the trigger on getting the Banks system. The 48123 was designed for the Titan, but will be close enough that I can make it work. I will do an in depth on the install with any mods required. Looking to see where my mpg's land...well, that and a serious belch when I stand it.

I noticed really thin paint on my roof rails (high roof, near bolt plates) this will probably lead to corrosion if it was not properly coated from day 1. I hosed it down with SeaFoam Deep Creep to give it some protection through Iowa winters.

Previous owner of my van (cargo hot-shotter who occasionally over-nighted in the van) used fiberglass batts on walls, ceiling, and stuffed into doors. This was covered with extruded foam hard insulation panels on ceiling, and 1/4" underlayment plywood on the sides and doors. Yes, it looks just like it is described - something off of The Red Green Show. But it works, it is VERY quiet. This winter i will replace the plywood with fiberglass milk-house panels. Actually cut to fit, using plastic push rivets. (previous owner used Tap-Con screws...yes. Tap-Cons)

Finally got my clearance LED lights installed, with custom wiring. Front lamps are Grote G5053 surface mounts, rears are Truck-Lite 33075R flush mounts. Fronts were mounted just forward of the front roof rib, just back from front slope, equal spacing side to side. Rears were mounted above door line, outside of large seam. [30 mm above frame, 620 mm out from edge of 3rd brake light] A few Rolaids before drilling a 3/4" hole with a hole saw helps... All lights driven from tail light circuit (red 18ga), grounds also through tail light circuit (black 18ga). The trick part routes the grounds for the left most and right most markers through a NC relay that lifts the ground when the signals are used, causing the marker to flash out of phase with the signal. All other markers stay on. (yellow 18ga=left, med green 18ga=right) {note - there is a lighter green as well as a green w/trace in same bundle - double check with volt meter all wires} 5 pin relays must be used, in my case Ford type relays were used (came out of a '05 Taurus at my local pick-n-pull salvage yard- 1$ each), Bosch type relays will work just as well. The only difference is the pin identification. Ford numbers 1-5, coil 1,2, 3 is the feed, 4 is closed, 5 is open [NC uses 3,4; NO uses 3,5] Bosch type - 85,86 are the coil, 30 is the feed, 87a is closed, 87 is open [NC uses 30,87a; NO uses 30,87] T-taps were used on the main harness along the ceiling behind driver seat. NV HD signal mod-Model.pdf

calculators I plugged sizes into showed 3.01% increase over indicated. Was planning on consulting the GPS oracle to check. (I should probably do that beforehand to set a reference) The company I work for builds some of the pin weldments for Blue Ox! Nice to see it in the real world (away from the welding robot)

Looking to upsize my tires from the 245/70-17 (standard on 1500, 2500) to the 245/75-17 (standard on 3500) anyone know of VSS changes (i.e. software changes) to accommodate the slightly taller tire? The van came with a pair of brand new unmounted Transforce 245/75-17, I like the profile, just want to see if anyone here has experience with putting a taller tire on, and how the speedometer reacted. Thanking. You.

weekend road trip 288 miles saw 15.5 mpg, up from 14.6, if I keep my foot out of the loud-pedal, I might be able to squeak more out...however, it is still a 9'3" tall brick of Monterrey Jack cheese, with a sloping forehead. Next up, Gale Banks Exhaust, anyone on here have experience with adapting one from a Titan?

Free to good home - front bulkhead divider. Top molded panel, spreader bar, passenger side panel, floor spreader bar, and mounting hardware. - No driver side or center panel (door) - this is how I got it, I did not need or want a divider. Anyone want it? Let me know.

After 169,568 miles, time for plugs. Any one else have lots of corroded under hood hardware, fuel rails, etc? Granted, I am in the upper mid-west, the van spent the first part of its life in the Chicago metro and Madison, WI areas. Winter? here's your salt....(or brine) Looks like low quality plating on the hardware..meh. Plug condition was a nice light brown/light gray - clean burn. The gap? Epic. largest measured .116, 'twas time, indeed. New NGK 4469 Iridium IX plugs went in, night and day improvement, my butt-dyno says there are more beans on the fork. Hoping to see a small bump at the gas pump, every bit helps. As for the corrosion, when I finished the plugs, I hosed everything under the hood down with SeaFoam Deep Creep (except the belts and exhaust) hopefully this will keep the oxidation to a slow crawl. Psst, Nissan, use better hardware...

Just did first oil change on new (to me) NV2500HD 5.6. I was somewhat troubled by the itty-bitty standard oil filter. My '83 Rabbit Turbo Diesel had a filter the size of Folger's can - for a 1.6 litre with a 5 qt sump. 7 qt. sump on the 5.6 and the canister is roughly half the size of a pop-can was somewhat puzzling Some digging on Wix filters master database, I found considerably larger filter, the 51344. When compared to the 57356 - flow rates, PSI bypass, beta, gasket face all being the same, the 51344 at 82mm by 103mm has 544cc vs the stock sized 57356 at 68mm by 86mm having 312cc. A little under twice the absolute capacity, with probably similar increases of media surface area. Big filter = more filter area, better filtration for duration of oil change. It is probably academic, but I feel better with a little more insurance. Filters are cheap, engines are not. 7 qts of Mobil 1 is also a help. next project coming up, spin on trans filter....mwah ha haaaaa.

Anyone look at remote filter install to add a filter that is larger than a tuna can? Love the van, want to keep the VK56DE grumbling away for a long time. I would love to install a dual filter remote on the frame rail. A spin on transmission filter would make it a trifecta. I will research and share. Great to be here!