New guy NV3500

[Roxo]

What’s up all you cats and kittens!

 

Just bought a a new 2021 4x4 Timdahle conversation NVP 3500 up here in Alaska.  I’m really excited about this for my family and myself.  Not sure what else you guys want to know about me but ask away.
 

Got so many questions!! Ordered a brake controller, researching WDH’s and anyone know of any good chip upgrades for engine performance? 
 

excited to be here, seems quiet lately and bummed to hear they have stop making this truckvan.  It’s truly awesomeness ! 

[aztec]

I had to google the Tim Dahle conversion.  Very nice.  Congratulations.  There are some chip threads on here if you search.

[Roxo]

Thanks man for the reply.  I’ll take a look.   I was wondering about the chip because it looks like the same engine as the Titan XD but advertises 25 less HP and torque... which makes me think can get that by a good tune... idk I’m not truck expert ahah.  

[aztec]

Vans are engineered for longevity.  Pickups have to fight in the HP bragging rights arena.

[lionscourt]

On 6/4/2021 at 9:18 PM, Roxo said:

What’s up all you cats and kittens!

 

Just bought a a new 2021 4x4 Timdahle conversation NVP 3500 up here in Alaska.  I’m really excited about this for my family and myself.  Not sure what else you guys want to know about me but ask away.
 

Got so many questions!! Ordered a brake controller, researching WDH’s and anyone know of any good chip upgrades for engine performance? 
 

excited to be here, seems quiet lately and bummed to hear they have stop making this truckvan.  It’s truly awesomeness ! 

Yo.  I am looking into Tim Dahle conversion's as well.  How did you go about getting one in Alaska?

[radin2son]

TD will/can ship it to you, or you can pick it up. Add the cost of the ferry/ship and you get to AK. Doubt Canada would consider this essential to cross the border, but Roxo can clarify this. 

 

You could do do the same with Quigley and Advanced. Buy the van  and have the dealer (maybe from factory, depending on inventory) ship it to be converted,  then ship it back to the dealer. This keeps the new vehicle warranty. If you drive it first, you may end up with a shorter “used” warranty period. 

 

 

[Roxo]

12 hours ago, lionscourt said:

Yo.  I am looking into Tim Dahle conversion's as well.  How did you go about getting one in Alaska?

Nissan at Fairbanks had one, I’m actually flying up to Fairbanks right now to buy it and pick it up.  So what happened is I’m military about to move from Anchorage to San Antonio.  Got 5 kids and was afraid my 160me Yukon wouldn’t be able to make the trip/tow.  Once I did some searching in early June I was blown away once I came across the NVP 3500.  I’ve never even seen a vehicle like this!! Amazing, why haven’t Nissan advertised instead of canceling the line!!! 
 

Anyways at the beginning I didn’t know much about it so I did Nissan website for info and called various Nissan dealerships including Tim Dahl in Utah and They all pretty much sold out.  Tim Dahl has a months and months backlog and said they not sure they getting anymore.  Nationwide Nissan called me and said they saw only 2 for sale across the country.  But dealers are hiding them, Fairbanks I think has a couple hidden.  Once they sell one I think they pull another one out.  Anchorage Nissan told me they haven’t seen the NVP in months and wouldn’t see it ever again.  
 

my recommendation, be persistent if you want a new one.  Tim Dahl told me they hope to get a few more maybe 10 July/august last shipment of the model but no word on that.  Call Nissan Fairbanks maybe they have some hidden ones around.  
 

about the 4x4 lifted conversion.  Fairbanks Nissan shipped it to be upgraded to Utah about February time frame and it just came back yesterday.  Total cost was about 20k 16 for lift, 4x4 end I believe roof rack/ladder and 4.5k for shipping(there and back).  But Tim Dahl will ship to anywhere and they told me they doing these upgrades on used vehicles too. 
 

if you need a new one, I recommend call every dealer around and see what you can find, I called Fairbanks and got very lucky they already sent one back I. February but who knows maybe they sent another one? .  If that doesn’t work, Tim Dahl in Utah will help find you a used one, they offered to help me but they str asked used ones to quick and to be ready to pull the trigger.   But get a used one with low miles and they will upgraded it.  About 10k for 4x4, 5k for ladder/roof rack and I don’t know lifted price I will today when I pick up the vehicle.  
 

please ask away, about to go to the airport to fly a one way flight to Fairbanks to pick this up and drive 6 hours south ahahah.  Long day but it’s worth it. 

[Roxo]

When I talked to a dealer in San Antonio he said he sold his last one to someone in Louisiana a few months ago and doesn’t expect anymore shipments(end of line combined with chip shortage)  combined with increase demand  and it’s a real bitch getting one this year. 

[Roxo]

I bought it June 4th had to wait for it to ship from TD this whole time Ahah I put 2k down to reserve it.  This is how insane it is right now.  
 

 

[radin2son]

In 2013, we stooped at the dealership in Fairbanks with a check engine light on. Small dealership but great staff. Did a scan. Turns out it was a sensor that doesn’t like dusty dirt roads. Since then I bought a scanner to check/erase codes. Our NV still doesn’t like dirt. 

 

How are you going to get it into and out of Canada or are you shipping out of AK?

[Roxo]

1 hour ago, radin2son said:

In 2013, we stooped at the dealership in Fairbanks with a check engine light on. Small dealership but great staff. Did a scan. Turns out it was a sensor that doesn’t like dusty dirt roads. Since then I bought a scanner to check/erase codes. Our NV still doesn’t like dirt. 

 

How are you going to get it into and out of Canada or are you shipping out of AK?

You are correct, very difficult to go through Canada, it’s basically closed and they fine people left and right, one person last week got fined $1k for shaking hands.  
 

small list of exceptions, have to show proof and forms that you are moving, or required for work or military move.  I’ll have my military move orders and my exemption letter I think it requires it.   It looking forward to it, military buddies who recently did it said they tract you, give you time limits to get through provinces and time line to get through the country.  Can only go to hotel rooms, or drive throughs and truck stops.  All campsites are shut down I’m told.  Fingers crossed they relax but who knows. 
 

you seem really knowledgeable.  Hope you don’t mind me asking a lot of questions ahaha I do search forums too.  Any other forums or FB groups people here us?  I see this van becoming a classic.  It’s so unique. 

[Roxo]

19 hours ago, lionscourt said:

Yo.  I am looking into Tim Dahle conversion's as well.  How did you go about getting one in Alaska?

 
Hey I walked away from it.  So pissed ahaha but they told me it was a TD upgrade but it was an “Advanced company” 4x4 upgrade.  It looked aftermarket and not titan/Nissan parts and was not what I thought it was.  Had aftermarket 4x4 stick shift through the floor.  Wanted the Titan 4x4 on the go switch.  They also wanted over 70k.  I don’t care how rare this is, if I’m spending that much I’m going to have it how I want.  They told me this whole time it was TD but they tried to clarify they said it was like TD.   So now I’m hitting the used market and dealerships next week like a mad man.  I’ll buy a used 3500 SL and send it to TD.  

So anyways it’s at Nissan Fairbanks, has the stick through the floor 4x4 and a three inch lift.  Burned over $375 on tickets but was a risk I was willing to take.   It’s there if you want it boss.  
 

 

I can feel @radin2son making fun of me now ahaha.  Crap I was just so excited.  Don’t worry man I’ll get one.  Just couldn’t justify 70k when it wasn’t a Titans 4x4

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Roxo

[radin2son]

Nothing wrong with Advanced or Quigley. Check out posts. But you know what you want.

 

This site sees little traffic, so you may want to PM TD owners to see how their conversions are holding up long term. Negative posts were more about the dealer than product. 

 

Interesting work arounds for border crossings. 

 

Feel free to ask questions as there are a lot of knowledgeable NV owners. 

[Roxo]

33 minutes ago, radin2son said:

Nothing wrong with Advanced or Quigley. Check out posts. But you know what you want.

 

This site sees little traffic, so you may want to PM TD owners to see how their conversions are holding up long term. Negative posts were more about the dealer than product. 

 

Interesting work arounds for border crossings. 

 

Feel free to ask questions as there are a lot of knowledgeable NV owners. 

Thank you Sir you have been very helpful.  

[lionscourt]

23 hours ago, Roxo said:

 
Hey I walked away from it.  So pissed ahaha but they told me it was a TD upgrade but it was an “Advanced company” 4x4 upgrade.  It looked aftermarket and not titan/Nissan parts and was not what I thought it was.  Had aftermarket 4x4 stick shift through the floor.  Wanted the Titan 4x4 on the go switch.  They also wanted over 70k.  I don’t care how rare this is, if I’m spending that much I’m going to have it how I want.  They told me this whole time it was TD but they tried to clarify they said it was like TD.   So now I’m hitting the used market and dealerships next week like a mad man.  I’ll buy a used 3500 SL and send it to TD.  

So anyways it’s at Nissan Fairbanks, has the stick through the floor 4x4 and a three inch lift.  Burned over $375 on tickets but was a risk I was willing to take.   It’s there if you want it boss.  
 

 

I can feel @radin2son making fun of me now ahaha.  Crap I was just so excited.  Don’t worry man I’ll get one.  Just couldn’t justify 70k when it wasn’t a Titans 4x4

 

Good choice to walk away; $375 is a far cry/scream/holla/death rattle from $70K.   I most likely will not be going new.  I'm looking around for a used one and then will convert.  Most likely around 75K miles.  That way, with the purchase and the 4x4 TD upgrade, I'm coming in around $40K AND, as a carpenter, I can do most/all of the camper conversion myself.

[radin2son]

Reread the Sportsmobile email with new posts. Even though the discussion was about Fords, mileage and engine (new NV V8 and transmission in 2017) limitations are key to install availability. Since so few NVs have been built/sold since 2012, who will convert NVs?

 

4-6 month Ford wait time at a cost of $15-25k. Quigley being the cheapest. Kits are the way to go if time is an issue. DIY or find a local shop. 

 

Advanced gets bad press on the SMB forum. No specifics given. I tried to chase this down when considering converting to 4x4. It may be a SMB Quigley bias. I won’t get into what the E-series types thought of NVs. I guess it explains why you can build a Ford cutaway into a $110+ Econoline. 

 

AJ is another converter. 

[MTBChris]

I will chime in with our experience for our conversion from Advanced, whether it helps or not. Overall, I am very happy with it. I actually liked the fact that it had a manual shifter for 4x4. I have had an electronic switch failure on a previous vehicle, so liked the fact that it had a manual shifter. No electronics to rely on there and it's still shift on the fly.

 

I don't know if this is an issue with the TD conversions, but the check engine light will come on after a few rounds of driving the vehicle in Low Range, throwing a speed sensor code. I solve that by having a scan guage with so I can read the code and confirm it is the speed sensor and reset the light. 

 

We had a quality issue early on. Within the first few thousand miles, I noticed some fluid on my driveway under my van. Turns out my transmission was leaking, likely due to something that Advanced did in the conversion. My local Nissan dealer fixed the problem, and has been fine since. 

 

I think there will always be quality issues with conversions, because that is what they are, conversions. I have had motor conversions done on previous vehicles and had similar issues. The fact that Nissan honors the 5 year warranty on these conversions is huge in my book. That gives you plenty of time to work out any issues.

 

My only gripe with Advanced is they installed the 4x4 decals crooked. It doesn't seem hard to install decals straight and it bothered me, so I simply removed them.

 

Overall, I am impressed with the 4x4 system. I may be wrong, but I believe they use an Atlas transfer case which are highly regarded in the 4x4 community. I have called Randy a bunch of times with questions and he always spends time to talk with me. 

 

Would I do it again? Yes, but only on a new van, so that I have piece of mind with the full 5 year warranty. I believe they only honor a 1 or 2 year warranty on used vans.

 

 

[radin2son]

MTBChris, Great review.

 

When I last looked at 4x4 warranties, (not that long ago) it was 1 year for used and 2 for new. Are you saying, Nissan adds 3-4 years warranty on the conversion or that it doesn’t impact the Nissan warranty? 

 

My inclination, before TD, was to go with Advanced due to proximity or Quigley. They at least had experience with NVs.

 

Jury still out about TD. Their product looks great and their videos are convincing, but I don’t look to a dealer for this. Sort of begs the question why no other dealers tried this. Did meet a TD NVP owner on the road who was more than happy after 1k. 

 

 

[lionscourt]

The fact that there is not much negativity about TD out there speaks volumes.   Factory based parts is also a huge plus.   Given most rigs end up over $50K plus, it's still a great deal.  I don't plan on 4x4'n but want the cold weather options as well.