Our Nismo Frontier has gathered a sizable fan base in the last two years. Reader feedback is never without praise for our midsize project and its bolt-on nature. However, we're often questioned about which suspension system we installed under our Nismo. Unfortunately our response is not always what people expect, let alone want to hear. You see, when we were in the market for a lift kit, the Frontier platform was new from the ground up, and suspension options were extremely limited. This was a royal pain in the rear for us because we wanted to improve the stock setup. So instead of getting mad about it, we converted our frustration into progress, volunteering our truck as a guinea pig to a select few aftermarket suspension manufacturers, hoping to jumpstart our favorite midsize platform in that particular area of upgrades.
First, we dropped the vehicle off at Calmini of Bakersfield, California. Calmini specializes in the import market and jumped at the opportunity to mock up an affordable cosmetic drop-bracket-style lift kit for us. The kit Calmini prototyped, although not intended to drastically improve trail performance, did raise the vehicle 5 inches, which allowed fitment of 33-inch tires. Along with the improvement in ride height came an additional inch of ground clearance, thanks to an intelligently designed lower front crossmember.
Moab's Kane Creek Trail was...
Moab's Kane Creek Trail was no match for our Nismo Frontier. Here Four WHeeler Publisher Steve VonSeggern creeps cautiously across one of the several creek crossings along the route.
This is the new Calmini drop-bracket...
This is the new Calmini drop-bracket suspension lift for Frontiers. You'll notice it comes with taller knuckles to help accommodate a 5-inch increase in overall ride height.
We're going to skip to the...
We're going to skip to the main course because space is tight. What you're looking at here is the driver-side rearmost front crossmember mount. This is where the lower A-arm bolts up, as well as where the rear of the front differential is attached to the frame. In this photo, the metal bracket has been marked with a silver pencil. This is where the Calmini kit requires that installers cut out a small piece to allow fitment of the new dropped crossmember. This is the only major "can't-go-back" portion of the Calmini kit.
Next, we dropped our project off with the capable designers of Total Chaos Fabrication of Corona, California. Total Chaos is well known for building high-quality long-travel suspension systems for desert racers and prerunners. After about a week with these go-fast experts, a new tubular upper control arm was refined and fit-tested on our truck.
Finally, we decided to consult our friends in the R&D department at Light Racing for a much needed "mobility improvement session." These guys are all about secondary suspension (air bumps), and the products they build are second to none. Our session resulted in a new application for Light Racing's sweet new Compact Jounce shock line. We like Jounce Shocks because they allow increased speed and mobility by removing the harshness from a bottom-out event. Light Racing's engineers used our truck to design, fabricate, and test a set of mounting brackets for the new system.
The results of all our time and energy are significant to Frontier owners because now there are actually a few suspension options available for public consumption.
Here again you can see where...
Here again you can see where the OE bracket was cut (arrow). Notice how the new (blue) crossmembers drop the differential down from the factory location. This is typical with drop-bracket lift kits. As you might imagine, these lowered mounting points increase leverage on the framerails. (This is why we don't recommend drop-bracket kits for the go-fast crowd.) To combat the added leverage, Calmini uses aft-braces (not shown) that help distribute stress loads back to the factory transmission crossmember. These braces work fine for everyday driving scenarios, but don't expect this arrangement to hold up in the Baja 1000.
This picture illustrates how...
This picture illustrates how Calmini achieves lift using the OE Bilstein strut. Notice the blue piece between the top of the strut and the factory coil bucket. It has a similar effect to walking on stilts, i.e., no actual increase in wheel travel, just elevation change.
Here, the technicians are...
Here, the technicians are installing the large front differential skidplate supplied with the suspension lift. This rigid piece of 1/4-inch steel substantially stiffens the front drop-down assembly while protecting the vulnerable aluminum front differential at the same time. It comes powdercoated blue, as does the rest of the kit's bracketry.
The rear of the Calmini kit...
The rear of the Calmini kit utilizes a 2-inch lift block and new U-bolts to achieve a 2-inch increase in ride height. The new Calmini monotube gas shock is a sure improvement over stock, but is in no way designed for high-heat, fast desert driving.
We wanted to improve on Nissan's...
We wanted to improve on Nissan's factory ride quality, so we contacted Deaver Spring Manufacturing of Santa Ana, California. Deaver builds a soft-riding minipack that replaces the OE overload leaf with a three-leaf progressive add-in pack. The design helps eliminate ride harshness by distributing ride forces over a larger spring surface area. The kit raises rear vehicle ride height by 2.5 inches and comes complete with all necessary mounting hardware. This modification improved ride quality significantly. The only downside to this setup is that the design diminishes payload capacity by about half, which means you can't tow or haul as heavy a load as before. For our purposes, this sacrifice was well worth it.
Altogether, it only took Deaver's...
Altogether, it only took Deaver's technicians about 30 minutes to install both minipacks in our Frontier. Deaver removed the 2-inch Calmini lift block in addition to the stock overload leaves. This gave our truck a level stance front to rear.