The Frontier is trying to catch up.

It's only "heavy" to the uninitiated. The steering in the Nissan trucks is not heavy. I drive a 2014 Super Duty Ford at work, and the steering on that is even "heavier".

I'd say instead of it being too heavy, other vehicles are too light. When I drive my wife's Corolla hatchback, I'm initially struck by how ridiculously light the steering is. My first few moments of driving it (when I get to drive it, which is not often) I find myself banging the steering stops when turning full lock, and it feels completely "cheap", especially compared to how solid that car is overall.

I'm not a big strong burly guy, but I find it weird that people think the steering is heavy in the newer Nissan trucks, to me, they're unremarkable in how normal it seems to me.

 

Nissan's DI-only engines suck. Every vehicle they made with this garbage system will be full of carbon in no time. This alone is enough reason to pass on any Nissan, but the frontier still retains its knee busting grab handles, small seats, and problematic 9 speed. If anyone really wants a NICE Frontier, buy a 2019 Pro4X. Last year of 4.0/5 speed generation. Not the best 'looking' truck, but super comfort and reliablity.

 

Speak from experience ?

 

I've never heard any Frontier owners say those things.
The Nissan DI VK56 has been out since 2011, first in the Infiniti and then the Armada. There's tons of those 2 ugly beasts being driven around and neglected. I run a catch can in my DI VK56 truck.

My neighbor has a 2020 Tacoma TRD OR DC LB, and this morning when I was leaving I saw the rear diff on that truck had a cantaloupe sized fresh oil sheen on it. I hereby declare all Tacomas suck, because I saw a newer one leaking gear oil.

 

I haven't heard or seen this about their trucks at all. Now their cars...that's a different story. The vast majority of engines out there will last a very long time and have far fewer problems if they just have proper, simple maintenance. There are exceptions like the recent Toyota problems, Hyundai/Kia, etc. I haven't ran into any Frontier owners that have told me they regretted it or would never get another one except for one fellow that had to drink the milkshake some years ago.

 

You need only look at forums to find such examples. This is a Titan with 44K miles. No amount of maintenance will fix this other than walnut blasting.

 

Is it yours? If it isn't, then this means nothing to me. No way to know the maintenance history, etc.

 

If other people's accounts mean nothing to you then why the hell are you here? Doesn't matter if it's me or someone else. Here's the thread if you'd rather take that persons word for it: https://www.titantalk.com/threads/carbon-on-intake-valves.427466/

edit: I misread. it was 44k. Still looks like shit for that amount of miles.

 

Those valves don't have 9K miles on them. This issue has mostly been mitigated by better oils and updated computer strategy to still get gas to wash over the intake valves.

 

I corrected after rereading. It was 44K. I've yet to see proof of that, and Nissan doesn't employ those strategies from what I've seen, where Honda does.

 

This is why it means nothing to me. I asked if it were yours thinking it would be a more reliable account, but seems by your attitude, I would probably be wrong.

 

I corrected myself and cited where I got the information. That seems like a pretty good faith effort to pass long reliable information.

 

Anecdotal examples can be posted ad nauseum and refute one to the next. No one knows truly how "reliable" it is. It is up to "each his own" to look at it and decide what it means, if anything.

Eric tears down engines daily. Here is a 5.6 from a 2006 Nissan he tore down. At 5:30 he shows the valves. I don't think he states how many miles was on the engine, but I'd say it was much more than 44k, but how could I know for sure?. I don't see issues on the valves, and this engine was even suspected of adversely long oil change intervals. Does this mean anything? Probably just as much as the photo you chose to post as an example / argument. As an additional note, at the start of the video he shows his personal vehicle with the 5.6 and 145k on it. He says he has had no issues with it. Again, anecdotal, but I would put at least some faith in what he has to say due to his demonstrated experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8wwMOsAXxw

 

I'm liking the new look for sure! But why does the ground clearance look so low/bad? Is it just the pictures?

 

looks good! how is the trans on this gen?

agreed... i loved my 2022 xlt until the trans went out the window... sigh it was a really nice truck!

 

That's a port-injected engine. Titan's did start having DI until 2017, which is why the valves look good on even an old abused engine.

 

but do their timing covers leak?

 

I don't know about the new ones, but the 4.0 timing cover leaks aren't as much an issue, but the chain guides are. Somewhat common for those to need to be replaced somewhere after 100k. They're around 2k to change.

 

Too early to tell I'd think, but at 3k miles and no hiccups. Only issues I've seen on the Ranger forums are the R button stopped working for some, the instrument cluster went out on 1 guy, and several guys have issues with the door seals being so good they are difficult to close.

 

DI-only is not a problem. Our Mazdas with the Skyactiv DI have been rock solid beyond 130K and blow the doors off any Toyota offering, IMO.