We've put 12,000 miles on our long-term test vehicle Nissan Titan and have become accustomed to its manners both on and off of the road. While it is a 4x4 that deserves to be lifted, the fact is that it sees only mild off-road duty, spending most of its time on the asphalt. Combine that with the fact that money is tight for everyone these days and we decided to improve the look of this truck without spending big-time dough. To that end, we didn't lift our Titan much; instead we added a leveling kit from ReadyLift and new Nitto and KMC rolling stock sourced from the pros at Rimz One.
In stock form, the Titan slips...
In stock form, the Titan slips comfortably into the background without drawing any attention. After the mods though, our truck commands attention.
We saved some cash by merely leveling the truck, and we saved even more by not going huge with the wheel and tire combo. Our truck came from the factory with 18-inch wheels, so we stuck with that diameter instead of plus-sizing the wheels. The new tires measure 275/70R18 and are just 33-1/4-inches tall, a slight improvement over the stock tires, but not enough to screw up our truck's gearing. As a result, our speedometer is accurate within one mph at 70 mph and our fuel economy has not been adversely affected by the new rolling stock.
The leveling kit install took just a few hours, cost less than $250 and we had the truck leveled, aligned, and rolling in just one day. Check it out.
What's In The Box?
The Lift Kit
ReadyLift's 1.5-inch leveling kit for the Titan (part number 66-4010) is beautiful in its simplicity and construction and works on all 2008 and 2009 Nissan full-size trucks. The company also offers applications for most other domestic and import trucks and SUVs.
The Tires
Nitto's Terra Grappler tires are perfect for our truck because they are quiet at highway speeds, they roll smooth without inducing vibration though the steering wheel, and yet they still provide excellent grip in the dirt.
The Wheels
KMC's Addict wheels are available in several finishes, but we chose the painted matte black look to go with our truck's metallic blue paintjob. The off-road inspired wheel comes in 17-, 18-, and 20-inch diameters, all popular 5-, 6-, and 8-lug bolt-patterns, and with several offsets available and are the perfect partner for our new rubber.