My truck is a wreck. Literally. Several years ago my brother-in-law, who’d bought this truck new, was broadsided in it, and the insurance company ‘totaled’ it, though the truck was still mechanically sound. About the same time I was moving to the country, and I was looking for a sturdy workhorse of a pickup to haul firewood and get me out to the main road on snow days. We worked out a deal. He gave me the wreck, and I had it repaired, with new tin on the passenger side and some new glass. I’ve not been sorry. This truck has just turned 16. I’ve owned it for three years now, and it has performed just as I’d hoped.
A Practical Body Style
Let’s start with the external appearance. Built on the same frame as the popular Nissan Pathfinder, this truck has an extended, or “King”, cab, which means there are two side-facing jump seats behind the front buckets. One has to be a bit of a contortionist to get back there, but I’ve carried hefty adults as well as children, and though the children fit more comfortably, the adults can stand it for awhile. A more obvious advantage of the configuration is that you can store groceries or every such thing back there, locked and out of the rain. The jumpseats fold neatly into the sidewall, and this creates a generous storage space. Loading is easier from the passenger door, since the passenger bucket seat has a quick-release lever that lets it fold and slide forward in one motion. On the driver side, the seat only folds; to move it forward, you need to lift a second lever. The extended cab shortens the truck bed to only six feet, but I find the tradeoff reasonable. I’ve owned both long-bed and extended cab trucks, and I find the extended cab more useful overall.
Snappy Performance
Nissan made this truck with either a 4-cylinder, 2.4-liter engine or a V-6 3.0-liter engine. Mine has the larger engine. And it makes a difference. There’s plenty of torque to work with. I notice that on hills or with a load, the engine has plenty of power, so I don’t need to downshift as much. (This is a luxury. My other car is an older VW bus.) The engine is well matched to the 5-speed transmission. The entire drive train seems solid, and the truck has not needed major repairs yet, with almost 130K miles. The snappy performance comes with a price, though. The truck gets only about 16 miles to the gallon in local driving, maybe 19 on the highway.
Using All Four Wheels
My truck is the four-wheel drive (4WD) model. As is customary, the transfer case has three positions: 4 high, 4 low, and 2 high. The 2 high position is standard rear-wheel drive for ordinary highway driving. The 4 high position gives you 4WD at speeds up to about 35 mph, and it is great for driving in snow and ice. You can shift from 2 high to 4 high at speeds up to about 20 mph. The hubs engage automatically. The 4 low position gears everything down, so you can negotiate off-road situations at low speed while keeping the engine revved up. To engage 4 low, you need to stop the truck first. The 4WD system on this truck seems to work well. Matched with Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires and a Positrac rear-end, the truck has been sure-footed on snow and ice. I know that the previous owner took this truck off-road for sport, but it’s not something I do, and I don’t think the truck is really suited for technical off-roading. The suspension is not articulated as well as a Jeep’s, for example, and the clearance is only moderately high. For unpaved country roads in all weather, though, it’s great.
Knowing When to Stop
Braking is adequate on this truck under normal circumstances. The system is power boosted, with load proportioning for more equal braking. The front wheels have disc brakes, and the rear have drums. The system is self-adjusting. Going downhill with a heavy load tests the brakes, and there are times when I would have wished for a bit more braking capacity, but these are rare and ephemeral.
Just Sitting in the Truck
This truck fits me well, and everything seems laid out intuitively. The seats and steering wheel have many adjustments to accommodate most body sizes. (This is still a compact truck, so very large people might feel more comfortable in a full-size pickup.) The interior fittings are all well engineered. My truck included the “SE” upgrade package, which has many small amenities. There’s a center console, with drink holders inside (which break easily). The instrument cluster has a few more gauges and lights. The carpeting is a little nicer. That sort of thing. I haven’t been able to find a list of all the differences between the SE upgrade and the standard model, so I can’t advise on the value of this feature. I only know what’s in my truck, and I like what’s there, all the little touches.
Doing Your Own Work
I used to be able to work on my own vehicles, but the more modern computerized engines are too mysterious for me to feel comfortable doing major work. I still do my own routine maintenance on this truck, though with some trepidation. Changing the air filter is easy enough. It’s in a plastic box right up front. The fuel filter is also up top and easy to access. The battery is right up front. And the various fluid reservoirs are easy to access. The spark plugs are devilishly tucked away, and it’s only with a series of articulated extensions on a socket wrench that some of the obscure ones can be reached. Careful; the heads are aluminum and easily cross-threaded. The oil change is straightforward, but the filter is tucked too near the starter. I learned to disconnect the battery before messing with the oil filter to avoid arcing the filter wrench on the starter contacts. The high clearance makes working on the transmission, transfer case, and differential a snap. The front suspension came with sealed grease fittings. That made me nervous, and I replaced them with standard grease fittings so that I can lube the suspension from time to time.
Those Little Things That Tickle or Annoy
I like how the tailgate comes completely off. With the tailgate off, I was able to make a fitted wooden ramp to help me unload bulk materials, like bark chips. And I like the bed liner I installed, but I wish the truck had some hefty tie-down points rather than the silly pop-up cleats that get covered with any bed liner. And why is the front bumper so flimsy. Last year I hit a deer – it was a small one, and I wasn’t going that fast – and the bumper bent, the grille cracked, and the fender crumpled. I mostly straightened it all out, but I’m disappointed in the front-end fragility. I like the flanges on the wheel wells, but they still don’t keep the doors from getting spattered in the mud. I like the good visibility with all the glass, but I find the rear side window kind of silly in the way it wraps up onto the roof. I wish the paint were more durable. The paint has worn thin on the front of the hood, and the black topcoat has chipped along the side panels.
Putting It All Together
This Nissan King Cab with 4WD and the SE package is a peppy little truck, sturdily built, a regular workhorse. It’s an all-around truck, with plenty of creature comforts yet not too prissy to take out on the job. I salvaged it from the junkyard, and it has repaid me with safe, reliable transportation.
