Intial Impressions from a Noob

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Will post some more after we get back from getting a tree in the mountains today. Sadly not enough snow around here to make it a stuck fest as usual. If you are not winching when you go get a tree, you are not in the Christmas spirit!

Anyhow, here are my first impressions;

I was a timid driver all the way home. I mean damn, its terrifying driving a 55K vehicle home new! Spent the whole time screaming at other drivers

1. Despite looking at one a couple of years ago and reading all the reviews, this thing is tall and HUGE. There was a 1500 sitting next to it and I thought it was some sort of new Mini truck they had decided to start making. I can see where that won't be every ones cup of tea. I almost could not get back in parked on that front yard boulder!
2. Ride was way too rough off-road, my Titan was way better. ( I live off-road) Certainly a solid axle is big part of that. The tires are at 65-69 from the factory and I am sure that is a big problem. Whats the ideal pressure on these? I need to lower them before heading out today. Never bought a truck with out way too much air pressure from the factory.
3. Handling, again think my Titan was better but considering the height of this truck its really impressive. I also need to get used to it more. So as I get more comfortable lets see how I feel.
4. Fit and Finish, terrifying coming from Japanese vehicles. But so far I don't know how you could tell the difference. From the interior parts to the way the door slams shut its very nice. And the material quality is certainly better.

[olyelr]

Yea, the tires are overinflated straight from the factory (sidewall shows a 65psi max). I dont understand that. I have found the fronts to have to be up around 60psi for street driving, or they are just too squatty. The rears, when the truck is empty or unloaded, can be more around the 50 or even the high 40’s (much less weight back there then the front).

What do you mean by the fit and finish is terrifying compared to the Japanese?

[Low_Sky]

Tire pressure is too high. I ran my stockers at 55 front, 50 rear. It may ride harsher than your Nissan, but this a 3/4-ton truck, and the softest riding one I've ever driven. My tires were at 95 psi from the dealership, I'm guessing they put them that high so they don't develop flat spots sitting on the lot. Enjoy the new truck!

[FordyceCreekTrail]

I looked at some old posts and went 50 front 45 rear

[coder]

Congrats on your new truck lets see some pics!

[TwinStick]

Congrats on the new truck. I am in Fla now & just saw your pics. Nice !!!

[DamageWagon]

Congrats on the new truck man! Very nice rigs, and the newest years are gorgeously styled. So when are you going to install the skid plate that's been sitting in your garage for weeks?

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Picked up 130 Miles on the clock yesterday getting our trees. Snow was simply pathetic, so no chance to be the Prius recovery hero Oh yes, there was one at our trail cut off with a tree about 3.5' tall. They called it a "Prius Tree". PW looks so sexy even they could not complain about my Carbon Foot Print.(which I prefer to be large)

The ride with 45-50 PSI was sooooo much better off-road. Still think the Titan at slow speeds is better, but not by much of a margin. Overall very comfy for what this monster is. Still have to get used to the size, as I get more used to it I move a little faster with it off road. Thought its better planted in 4x4 on the gravel as well. Backed over a huge creek to load trees not really thinking as the truck stayed level. Next thing I hear is bodies falling and hitting the ground because the doors are like 5' off the ground And some of you add more travel to these things? Ended up using 4x4 to get out of that spot finally.

Got the MPG up from 11.5 when I got it to 13 with the off-road driving. Hoping to get 14 average some day. With the weight and MDS there are clearly some strategies you can use for better MPG. Speed for hills as with big rigs, coasting....

Fit and Finish I am pretty impressed with. As it good as any Japanese vehicle I have bought. And things are well thought out as Japanese trucks used to be. One small example, I was shocked to find it has the un-used goof ball trailer wire plug like all trucks but adds a regular flat one just above, so you have both, no stupid adapter. Or the powder coated and bed liner like top front bumper to keep the winch cable from scratching. TEN front seat cup holders? And love the design of the center console ones. We have a 2015 4 Runner that I cannot think of anything innovative.( shocks and un-unusable crawl control(due to lack of gearing) don't count) Japanese are making cross overs and mediocre trucks. US manufacturers are pulling out all the stops it seems. I grew up when US truck makers had no cup holders, no skids plates, no tow hooks, no stereo, no heater, no AC....

As far as the other skid plates and sliders? I don't know, probably the weekend before Moab

[Juday]

As a former owner of a Titan, I can assure you the Power Wagon is much more solidly built than the Titan. While the Titan was a great truck in it's own sense, it's no Power Wagon by any stretch.

Mine was fully loaded with all sorts of PRG Products goodies. It was a "Raptor" before the Raptor was on the scene.

[OffroadTreks]

The Titan was a pretty nice truck when they were first introduced. Then Nissan forgot they made a truck and let it rot for literally a decade before they got back around to an update. Realy shame. Competition left them in the dust.

It was some serious competition when launched back in 2003. I remember riding in a friends and being impressed at the time. The new one feels too little too late.

[FordyceCreekTrail]

This really seems to be more of a Japanese truck issue. They are complacent when it comes to trucks, and to there potential sales numbers and the dramatic profit margins. Its like old American trucks, no AC, no Heater, unreliable, no cup holders, no stereo......BUT by golly they will sell because they always have! Well now it seems the Japanese are using a similar logic, buyers will buy because its a reliable Japanese product we are used to. The deadly ONE TWO punch is also Japanese car makers simply cannot figure out the American Truck market. It probably blows every execs mind that the Ridgeline sells 5 units a year and the Wrangler 250,000 for example. Mitsubishi built some of the toughest SUVs the world has ever seen and sold them like crazy in the early to mid 1990s, but insisted Americans wanted IRS, Unibody hatch backs instead, and now Mitsubishi is non-existant, but yet STILL releasing poor selling cross over junk year after year.

Titan came out as class leading everything, and I bought one. Now they cannot compete against anything. The Tundra does not sell, and again cannot compete. While the Tacoma still sells its roll out of the new model was possibly worse then the Titan, and soon with a Ranger Raptor, Zr2 Colorado, ect Tacoma will begin to fade from memory as well and Toyota will blame Americans on wanting cars instead of trucks yet again, and yet again they will be wrong. Its because it died on the vine, was uncomfortable, had no technology, no power, 1990s off-road package, ect.

I was tempted to join the "Buy Japanese because you will know its reliable" crowd again this time. Lets face it, our 2015 4 Runner will never break down, its a rock. And while we got the good looking model(TRD PRO Inferno) it has shocks and stickers for an upgraded 4x4 package. Cant use the crawl control even due to poor gearing. But despite the sudden lack of competition against it(really just the Wrangler right now) its not real fun to drive. While the Wrangler as severe space limitations and other issues, its looking MORE attractive not less as time goes on. If US manufacturers keep going the way they are, many other buyers will leave that crowd as well.

In the end a new Titan would be reliable, look good and get the job done. But for a little more money I got a sexy beast that dominates the competition.

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Here is another "The Japanese might have thought this back in the old days". Put the Four runner in gear and the doors lock. You pull around to load up passengers and they are banging on the glass to be let in. The Ram lets you drive a certain distance at a certain speed before the auto door locks kick in.( even still you change the setting) Even the well known cup holder fiascos of time gone by, the Rams are more logical and work far better with the adaptable size balls. The Japanese need to put this kind of thought back into there trucks again. These things are small, but when added to less power, less capability, ect....It makes not buying Japanese and even easier choice. I should make a list but there must be 100 unique, better thought out Items over comparable Japanese trucks I have found so far on this thing, to maybe 2 or 3 where the Japanese win out.(such as dampened tail gate lowering)

By the way the auto dimming head lights suck off-road(turn them off), but on the road they are freaking amazing!!

[olyelr]

Chevys come with dampened tailgates. I think maybe the furds do too, not really sure though. Cant believe ram doesnt.

As far as the headlights go, I totally agree. What i found is instead of having to go into settings to shut them off when you dont want them, just turn the light knob to the point where you manually turn the lights on, then the auto dim no longer functions (perfect for when you want to quickly bright somebody, or just quickly shut them off in general).

[OffroadTreks]

If you look at the product refresh cycle, Ford refreshes the most, followed by Chevy, and Ram almost seems to watch what works and then implements.

Nissan will release a new style 13 years from now.

[TankerZak]

Chevys come with dampened tailgates. I think maybe the furds do too, not really sure though. Cant believe ram doesnt.

As far as the headlights go, I totally agree. What i found is instead of having to go into settings to shut them off when you dont want them, just turn the light knob to the point where you manually turn the lights on, then the auto dim no longer functions (perfect for when you want to quickly bright somebody, or just quickly shut them off in general).

You can add a tailgate dampener for like 20 bucks, no drilling and 30 minutes of work. I love mine. Did it on my duramax too.

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Funny though the tail gate is light as a feather, the Titans was heavy, and like Fords could fall off. Takes a crane to lift the hood on the Ram though. Figured out all the lights on the way home tonight finally. Interesting how you can just leave the cargo light on all the time, even going down the highway. Might be good in say a snow storm. Drove home from the dealer that way not knowing though

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Some new ones;

1. Rear LSD when unlocked seems very tight. Gives me trouble turning on gravel, especially into my garage. Climbing my nasty hill and off-road its great. You can definitely feel this one, its no pansy. Wonder if any handling complaints come from this?
2. Traction control. Not got to use it much but it sure as hell seems way less intrusive then say Toyota and Nissan vehicles I have owned. Less mechanical racket as well.
3. 8.4 Unconnect updated today, it was a PIA I had to back out of the garage as it decided to start then. But my wife 4 runner? Youll be making an appointment with the dealer and paying them to update. Auto update makes way more sense.

[olyelr]

Some new ones;

1. Rear LSD when unlocked seems very tight. Gives me trouble turning on gravel, especially into my garage. Climbing my nasty hill and off-road its great. You can definitely feel this one, its no pansy. Wonder if any handling complaints come from this?
2. Traction control. Not got to use it much but it sure as hell seems way less intrusive then say Toyota and Nissan vehicles I have owned. Less mechanical racket as well.
3. 8.4 Unconnect updated today, it was a PIA I had to back out of the garage as it decided to start then. But my wife 4 runner? Youll be making an appointment with the dealer and paying them to update. Auto update makes way more sense.

Yes I have noticed the LSD seems to be pretty stout as well. Only downfall I have encountered (other than churning up some gravel in tight turns) is in the snow when you dont want the rear to slide so easily (side-hilling etc.).

As far as traction control goes... driven in snow yet? Might not be as bad as others, but it is definitely very intrusive to say the least.

[HammerTime]

The Titan was a pretty nice truck when they were first introduced. Then Nissan forgot they made a truck and let it rot for literally a decade before they got back around to an update. Realy shame. Competition left them in the dust.

It was some serious competition when launched back in 2003. I remember riding in a friends and being impressed at the time. The new one feels too little too late.

Yes, I remember that they had a nice engine when they first came out, but I do have to smile every time I see the rear axle on a Titan... A Dana 44, same as on my JK Rubicon. If you've never seen one up close, take a look next time you see a Titan parked. To be fair, I don't know what axle the new design is using, I would suspect they upgraded it now that they are running a 5.0 Cummins diesel option.

[OffroadTreks]

That's a tiny axle for a 1/2 ton truck.

[Juday]

The rear axle in the Titan was the M226 "Dana Super 44". It had issues in the early years of release, but was solved by 2006. The M226 wasn't a large axle by any means, but it never gave me any problems. I believe the current Titan runs the same AAM 10.5" that is under our Power Wagons. (Those of us with the older Power Wagon's, at least).

[olyelr]

And is (or, was) the titan even considered a half ton truck?

[Reloaderguy]

And is (or, was) the titan even considered a half ton truck?

By Nissan buyers, yes.

[OffroadTreks]

And is (or, was) the titan even considered a half ton truck?

By Nissan buyers, yes.

beat me to it

[Shaved Ice]

Funny, but who are we to talk? Our 3/4 ton trucks can’t legally carry 1500 pounds.