sampson

I hope you found it, but it is directly behind the filler tube if you follow it down. It will be behind the gas tank, toward the rear of the vehicle on the drivers side. PG 107 in the Body Builders Guide shows the evap. canister. 2012-Nissan-NV-Passenger-Van-BBG pc 54.pdf

I just switched to the Philips XtremeVision 9008/H13 bulbs and am quite pleased with them. Super easy to change on the NV. I liked them so much that I also ordered new H11's to replace the fog lights.

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Hey, thanks for this post and pictures. Are they still performing well for you? Any chance you have the model number of the discs handy? I can't find them online with my local EBC dealer... Thanks!

Technical. Information. Bonanza. Thank-you very much Jaredg and KMG!

To move our TT around the yard, or manuver into/out of camping spots I remove the WD bars. And the NV is happy enough to take all 1050 pounds of actual tongue weight, albeit sitting lower in the rear end. With the bars on, and the van riding level, the WD sends about 350 pounds of the loaded 1050# to the the front axle, leaving 700 sitting on the back end. Nissan uses the 10% of total trailer weight guideline for the tongue weight to set their recommended tongue weight limit. IE 8700 max tow for NVP 3500SL = 870 pound max tongue weight. Same vehicle in cargo version 9500 pound max tow equals.... 950 pounds. Class 4 hitch on there is rated for 10,000/1000. The area you are likely to encounter a hard limit, is with the GVWR (vehicle+seats+passengers+cargo+fuel+tongue weight+weight of actual WD hitch, etc) or the separate axle ratings depending on how you load the van itself with seats/passengers/cargo, etc and distribute the weight. IF you use the WD hitch to take the 1305# tongue weight, and there is a 13000# trailer attached (most tongue weights are 10%) which will put you WAY over the 16,000 GCVWR for the NV = a bad a idea. I feel like I'm "pushing it" with our 8200# empty trailer. My 2 cents, value accordingly :)

Hi All, I just returned from a trip where I encountered a posted 20% hill... It was about a 3 mile stretch going up and gently curving as it went. Fully loaded (overloaded to about 9000# trailer) the van towing our TT had to WORK to get up, but it got there. I started at about 50 mph and ended up at about 30 mph. Tach was steady at about 4000 rpm for most and though I thought it would never up shift, it eventually did after I crested the hill. I never floored-it to see if there was more power to be had, but it felt good enough. No issues on the return trip going down hill (i was worried about the brakes) but the TOW mode kept the engine in a decent gear that I could give the breaks a rest on the way down. I didn't have to put the the transmission into manual and gear down. Gauges all looked good after the ascent and decent so I feel confident that it will handle more mountainous terrain with similar poise - just don't expect to maintain 70 mph or 2000 rpm the whole time :) Safe travels!

NV is perfect for your application. We have 7 kids (ages 10 thru 1 month) and tow a Sunset Trail 33BD at 8200# empty. Close to 9000 loaded and no issues. NVP SL with tow package is a great choice. We use a Husky Centerline WD hitch (bit of a bear to hook and unhook but no sway, drives and backs beautifully) and Tekonsha P3 brake controller (never know the trailer is there while braking). 9.8 mpg is average for flat towing at 55-60 mph. 8 mpg is common with hilly areas or hitting 70-75 mph. Perhaps get the NV a bit sooner so it can be broken in before towing. A few mini trips is very wise - you'll learn lots and still be close to home for the stuff you forget! Have fun!

Hi there The part was 3050-P. Mine is a 2012 NV and the harness fit for a 2012 Armada with factory 7way wiring. No modifications required, it just plugged in on both ends. Easy peasy. I just performed a detailed double check to make sure it would work. Good luck!

I just played ball and went with the 10 ply Michelin LTX Winter tires. So far so good. They ride nicely and show no wear after 1 season with about 12,000 miles on them...

Hi there, I've considered adding/modifying the outboard passenger side floor brackets to accommodate the 4th row passenger side seat unit in the 3rd row. Looks like the inboard latches are common, but that seat has a wider offset for the outboard latches. Adding (or moving) the outboard mounting pins would solve this. Provided one used the factory bolt mounting holes on the van chassis, the appropriate grade of bolts, and a professionally welded/modified bracket - it would be a far safer setup than plywood... Nissan should make this change at the factory. Allowing that 4th row passenger side seat to be placed in any of the rear 3 rows... Many more useful seating configurations could be had with minimal expense. See some images of the rear pin locations for reference. Be safe with your mods! 2012-Nissan-NV-Passenger-Van-BBG pc 54.pdf

Hey Brian, Glad you got up and running one way or another. How did your NV handle your TT? We tooks ours out for the first time and I'm impressed that it was no sweat. Our trailer may be pushing 8500 pounds so I was worried. Acceleration was just ok, but braking was great, didn't even notice the trailer. I may have to tune the WD hitch a little as the rough roads introduced an annoying porposing effect around 50 to 60 mph. No sway side to side though so I'm happy so far. We did about 100 miles round trip and mileage seems to be 10 mpg down from our usual 16 or so. Not too bad really, I was expecting 7 or 8. Safe travels!

I was told the "commercial" dealers received special Nv training and had the appropriate lifts/ doors to accommodate them. I don't suspect any magic regarding the oil changes, but better to hear it directly from a dealer.

Hi Adika, We use our nvp every day as we outgrew our Toyota sienna. The nv rides much harsher than a car or minivan when empty. Add 8-10 people and it's very smooth. Fuel economy was a big adjustment from the sienna, about double the consumption. Ride height is great. It is a 7000 pound, 8 foot wide, 7 foot tall, 20 foot long beast, designed specifically to haul lots of stuff/people/trailers with a few creature comforts thrown in for good measure. Best to think of it as a very comfortable tank ;) That being said, we love ours. Good luck!

Hi Karen and welcome! I'm almost used to the manual headlights on my 2012 ;) Lots of headrests can hold lots of costco DVD players.... Which can be removed in the unlikely event of bad kids ;) Ours handled the snow in Toronto with no trouble. First winter we used the stock tires and this past Winter we got a set of Michelin ltx winter tires that also performed well. Keep in mind it's a 7100# beast and stopping is at the mercy of physics. Never an issue getting stuck and we feel very safe inside to be sure. Our kids are small and don't weigh much so I keep all the seats in and add 120 pounds of salt in the back... It seems to improve the ride and traction on icy hills. 2 big bags of salt fit nicely in a Rubbermaid under bed storage bin/wrapping paper bin which fits nicely on the rear floor and is low profile enough to still add a stroller on top. Have fun with the new van!

Hey again Brian, If the Nissan dealer gave you a separate wiring harness to plug into the truck it may have different coloured wires (they do like to keep us on our toes). It would be e62 connector and a mirror image to the truck side according to the BBG. Black is ground, red/green is stop lamps, brown/ white is trailer brake output, red/ blue is not used ( illumination... I presume it dims with the dash lights), red is battery positive. Let us know how you fare.

Hi Brian, I just installed a Tekonsha P3 in my 3500 SL yesterday... I ended up using the Tekonsha harness adapter for the Armada, as it has the molex connector and proper pin outs already. I just had to plug it in. Before I did that however, I verified the wires on the truck side to make sure I didn't fry up my new brake controller by reversing the 12v+ and ground for instance... Tekonsha thought it would be fun to use white wire for the ground and trick me :) Not this time Tekonsha. Not this time ... If you can find it, download the body builders guide for the nv (I found a link somewhere on the forum) which will confirm my claims here. Page.bbg118. E44 is the truck side connector if you find the page. The NV side of the harness was: Black 14 gauge wire = Ground, Light Green 23 gauge wire = stop lamps, Blue 14 gauge = trailer brake output, Red 14 gauge = battery + Double check with a multimeter. Foot on brake should read 12 v between light green and ground... 0.3 or so with no foot on brake. Most controllers use the same terminology for naming their wires. You'll have no trouble I'm sure. Benefit to doing it yourself is you can make sure it won't hit your knee (much) while driving. Just make sure your wires are long enough to reach the spot you pick AND you are able to tuck/tie/tape them neatly under the dash while not interfering with steering, brake pedal, obdc2 connector, etc. Good luck!

Ours is on the passenger side, above the front of the sliding door. Looks like a little shark fin.

Thanks for all your data. I do enjoy a good pile of numbers ;) I too was surprised ( and possibly herniated) by the weight of those rear seats. Nissan should swap out those ridiculous plastic wheels on the seats for a helpful label reading: "Get some help, seriously." I picked up my nv with 55 psi in all 4 stock tires. Ride was beautiful but fuel economy was poor. First oil change a different dealer put the fronts to 50 and the rears to 80. Little jumpier ride in the back now but seems to roll a little smoother. Probably more to do with the motor being broken in better I'm sure. Sadly I have no data to support my claims. I think the tires are rated to carry more weight at higher psi. If you were to max out the nv to full rated capacity, you would need 80 psi in the rear stock tires. My 6 kids might weigh 350 pounds all together so I imagine I could drop the rear pressure a touch to improve the ride. Then again, I'm tempted to try 80 psi at all 4 corners to see if that has much of an impact on mpg. My speedo is nearly perfect against GPS with the stock tires. Keep up the fine work on documenting your mods!

Hi there, We have a 2012 that we got new in Aug 2012. 16000 miles so far with no complaints or breakdowns. We have 6 little ones, all in car seats or boosters. Nv is perfect for us. Be prepared for a loss of trunk space if you have a suburban now (and need all the seats in the Nv). Good luck!

Hi there, Sorry to hear that. No such issues with ours. Only thing remotely close is that the drivers door collects some water between the 2 sets of weatherstripping at the bottom of the doors IF the van is parked with the nose pointing downhill... The water runs out when you open the door. I keep meaning to ask the dealer about it, but have yet to do so. I'll take some pics of my rear weatherstripping in the next day or so for you so you can see if maybe they missed affixing some? Good luck!

Having trouble adding photos... here are some quick shots... The rear position for the front seats is about 3-4" behind the front position. If you move the seats back, the legroom for the middle row is reduced significantly, though its no issue for most of my gang with their little legs. Not ideal for adults. If you move the second row seats back, legroom in the last row is very limited. We have the single seat in the middle row removed for ease of entry to the back so the offset created by the front row seat being moved back is no problem. That Britax boulevard carrier seat makes the front passenger seat too far forward without the offset row config. So far we like this layout but we change it up from time to time so we'll see how long it lasts. Too bad the passenger side rear 2 seat bench isn't compatible with the middle or front rows. That would allow us to make a few more nifty high passenger count plus hefty cargo area combos...