If you have been here for some time you will know that three years ago I bought a 2019 Nissan Frontier Pro4X pickup truck. 2019 was the last year for that generation of Frontier in Canada as we did not receive the power-train refreshed 2020 model. In fact we had to wait two model years before the new Frontier arrived.
I didn’t really need a vehicle at the time. I bought it because I liked it and thought it would be nice to do truck things with it. I had also gotten very interested in the idea of building it out as an overlanding vehicle. Other than that, my 2012 Honda Civic Si sedan really did everything I needed not to mention drive briskly when I wanted (of course following all local regulations and speed limits).
Since my last update I have removed the Nissan factory tri-fold tonneau as it was rubbing against the rear of the cab. In some spots the wear was severe enough that I had to buy a good amount of touch-up paint to cover it all back up. In it’s place I installed a Tonno Pro Lo-Roll cover. There were three reasons for installing this. One, I still wanted a cover over the box so I could keep things in the box relatively secure. Second, I wanted to preserve the mileage increasing properties that the cover provides. The third reason was so I could install a Modular Bed Rack produced locally by Overland Racks Ontario. This rack, while friendly to tonneau covers, still requires that less than an inch of the sides are covered by the cover. The Lo-Roll goes up the sides and doesn’t overlap the box sides at all.
Though I have it, the ORO bed rack hasn’t been installed yet. That will likely come next year but it will be exciting to see it installed.
Currently I have just over 16000KM on the truck. Very low mileage I know but as I am a truck driver I do most of my driving in said transport truck. Living only 40KM from work I don’t have to drive a lot. And in the summer I drive my Civic Si instead of the Frontier so it has a chance to stretch. In that distance driven I have performed three services. Since the last log on the truck I have not had to do any repairs besides the paint touch-up on the back of the cab.
I am prepping for a trip to Colorado to see my brother soon and there I have waiting for me a custom Fairing from Colorado Fairing Co. I am hoping. that with my future plans with the rack and such installed this will help keep the mileage up decently.
As for those future plans. Once my rack is installed I will be installing a rooftop tent. Right now I am relying on a truck bed tent which is fine but it’s quality is dubious at best. Though it is easy to set up. Having a rooftop tent will be great.
I also plan on picking up some new LED headlight assemblies from Morimoto. The headlights on the Frontier are adequate but sometimes they don’t seem to be enough. I am hoping that the Morimoto’s will add some improvement to the lighting situation but also set the truck off.
Right now that is about it I have really planned for modifications. I may down the road do a 1.5 inch lift but that’s not something that is really on the radar at this point.
Overall, I have been very happy with my Frontier. It has been completely dependable. I will say it definitely lacks in some modern conveniences that the new model fixes. The 2019 does not have enough places to plug things in to charge. There is one 12V outlet and one USB port. Not great. To counter this on my trip to Colorado, I have two portable power stations in the back of the cab. One (Bluetti EB3A) handles charging duties and the other (Pecron E600LFP) handles my 12V fridge/cooler.
Other than the lack of charging capabilities I rather like the admittedly ancient design of the truck. There is less to go wrong and I like that.
Would I buy a new 2023 Frontier if the option came along? Yes likely however I think I would like to get something a bit bigger next time. If I was in the position right now a Ram 1500 Classic is probably where I would go or perhaps a Toyota Tundra. If the Nissan Titan was still around (RIP my friend) I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
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