2017 Armada where to start?

[KrymSIX]

Hi everyone,

I just got a 2017 Nissan Armada.

I've been wanting one for about 3 years, pretty much since our son was born I knew that we would quickly outgrow the old crossover I had.

Originally I had wanted a Sequoia because of the "Toyota quality" but quickly found that the Toyota Tax is also a very real thing and to get a Sequoia that was remotely in the price point I wanted wss nearly impossible. My wife really wanted me in a newer vehicle and relatively low miles so those were out.

After tons of research I realized that the Armada/ Y62 was an entirely slept on platform in the US and had everything we were looking for. Passenger space for our family, my nephew who is 4 months older than my son and they're basically best friends.

I lucked out and got a complete steal on the Armada I purchased. It came as a CPO which is basically a drivetrain warranty extension but it was a free bonus. Additionally, it came with brand new Yokohama Geolander G015s but is essentially stock.

My goals for this vehicle are to use it for camping and touring. Some light towing like jet skis (my in laws own a small lake house).

I'd like to do some mild off roading but nothing crazy.

I was thinking a mild lift and UCAs. Of course the easiest solution the Iron man 4x4 lift kit is out of stock with no ETA on availability and also not that mild.

I'm also not much of a skilled hand with automotive stuff so I would be finding a shop and having this stuff installed.

Where would you guys suggest starting?

Since so many of the lift kits out there are for the Patrol are there any alternatives you would suggest for a milder lift?

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Personally... The first thing I'd do is pay it off....lol.

 

[e61outside]

Super awesome to see another Armada here! Congrats on the purchase. I ran a side business called e61 overland for a couple years advising folks on vehicle choices and designing complete vehicles from mild to full on expedition capable. Here’s a really long post that essentially attempts to talk you out of jumping right into suspension mods ;-)

Vehicle Build Objective: Wheeling vs Over-landing/Touring vs Instagram/Posing. Your use case feels like primarily overland use, which can be anything from basic car camping or at some point progress to remote, multi day, off grid, long distance 4x4 treks. Building for overlanding scenarios has some overlap with building strictly for 4x4 driving or Instagram/show vehicles, it’s not technically the same and choices are often different. The primary difference is legitimate overlanding folks (e.g. Andrew St Pierre White from 4xOverland) build mostly to handle the extra weight and focus on durability with only modest performance improvements.

So here are a few things to consider…

Weight: If you aren’t adding a lot of permanent weight from the start (bumper, winch, water/fuel, batteries, drawers, etc), then try running stock suspension for a while and see how it performs for you.

Terrain: Same as above, go to some of your typical locations and see how it does before deciding you need to upgrade. Then you can fix minor clearance and traction issues with larger and more aggressive tires before considering more expensive upgrades.

Protection: IMO The absolute first thing you should do isn’t visible and doesn’t add a lot of cool factor, but it will give you maximum piece of mind - skids. Nisstec have a container moving across the ocean right now with some more Dash skids. Get your order in now. Second would be proper rock sliders. Your truck with skids, sliders, and good tires will be surprisingly capable and durable with no other mods.

Storage: Easy one, get a roof rack. I like Frontrunner. Order the Y62 patrol kit. For some reason it doesn’t show up as supported if you enter Armada on their site. The Dash racks are cool as well. There are a few on that container heading it’s way. See how that works for you then consider drawers etc as an upgrade path.

Suspension: As mentioned above, push the stock and see how it works for you before committing to an upgrade. Then if/when you overload it or run into terrain that requires more clearance I recommend you call Greg at PRG. He doesn’t do a lot of Armadas but IMO knows more about Nissan suspension than other 4x4 shops here in the US. Just say - I’d like to carry more weight, improve damping, and keep it close to stock height - he can piece together exactly what you need.

Recovery: Start with a set of traction boards, some straps, ropes, soft shackles, and a hitch mount recovery point. There is a factory recovery point mounted to the frame under the front as well.

Lights: if/when you find yourself feeling like you need more than factory lighting - Start with some amber ditch lights mounted by the hood hinges. That’s the easiest place to mount and wire. Most people don’t ever really need more than stock plus something like that. They do it for the gram ;-). But next would be to mount spots/flood combo up on the rack if you don’t want to mess with finding brackets to mount them up front.

This doesn’t come close to comprehensive, but should get you started. So in recap:
-Roll with stock suspension initially.
-Add protection and bring recovery gear now.
-Get a roof rack so you have lots of storage and flexibility with regard to where you put things.
-Maybe larger or more aggressive tires.
-Then build from there based on needs derived from experiences.

PS: all this is just my opinion, not religion or a hard set of rules. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks in this forum that will have some great advice to add.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rovertrader]

Spend a year getting outside, traveling, camping, etc and see where that leads you- and IF you find any limitations, address them then.
Enjoy!!

 

[Sooper Camper]

Probably not the most popular opinion here, but I'll just throw it out there...basic 1" spacer lift. PRG sells the parts, cheap, effective, adds a little tougher attitude and ground clearance. Won't require any special considerations and will accomplish the look. There is not a lot of options for suspension just yet, I'd give it time unless you got the money burning a hole in your pocket and want something now. Like, right now I'm working with Luso Overland to test out a set of Lovell's springs that seem to fit the bill nicely for spring rate and height. I'm going to end up with what sounds like a patched together mix of components, but should actually be dialed once I have the spring rates and shocks tuned together. It's just going to take the time to get out and do it. A good UCA like SPC is still an upgrade, no matter which suspension system you end up running. They really are the best value of UCA brands on the market. By the time a vehicle hits 100k or 10 years, I'm usually starting to look for upgraded bushings all around anyway.

I have a hunch that the US market, and overseas market vehicles are slightly different...for example, the rear upper control arm is different. It's certainly feasible the arms are a little different in length, the ride heights are pretty easily discernibly different in pictures. It's a pretty advanced rear suspension linkage, so not only is proper alignment critical, but easy to toss out of whack. I'm not surprised to see the guys running Iron Man or OME kits having difficulty aligning.

A 35 fits stock really, so I don't see any reason not to put those in there when it's time for tires. It's marginally bigger than stock, and going from the stock 22's to 35x11.5R17's, only added about 6lbs of rotational weight per corner. The power, shift points etc are all still spot on.

I made a flat floor for the 3rd row, and am going to hide a lithium second battery in an extension to the second row console. It'll going to be lighter than the seats I removed, and way more functional in daily use. If you have arts and crafts skills, it's OK to think outside the box.

I'm not sure the platform will ever catch on here like Toyota...the Frontier/Xterra isn't a bad option but there isn't nearly the same interest in those as the Tacoma/4Runner. Oh well, there's still plenty of parts to throw at them, and they do work really good stock.

 

[KrymSIX]

Definitely some helpful advice in here.

I'm going to keep it stock and just run with the A/T tires for now. There isn't anything we jave planned coming up that will really require a major lift or anything.

I think I will be moving forward with a goal of some minor upgrades like armor in the next year or so.

In response to Sooper Campers suggestion of a spacer lift I wonder if doing a coil lift with Patrol standard coil springs might not be anothet way to achieve the same height with better performance? This crossed my mind since the Y62 Patrol has a stock ground clearance of 10.7 inches vs the Armada at 9.2 inches. Since the difference is only 1.5 inches it should be doable with the stock suspension and control arms, right?

Since this is basically a camping adventure vehicle it probably won't need a full on suspension lift anytime soon since it won't be doing serious off roading.

 

[Sooper Camper]

Kinda depends on where they're are measuring the ground clearance...if they're taking it from the control arms then you're only seeing the difference in tire size really.

Does your car have air-ride? That will dictate shock choices (or, eliminate them entirely depending how you look at it). I think you'll be surprised at the difference in ride quality a shock upgrade will make, it's usually one of the first things I do on any vehicle.
My car came with HBMC and air ride, and I know for sure the US market HBMC stuff is shorter than the overseas stuff. My car had minimal rear wheel travel stock and was totally bound on droop by the shock.

From what I gather so far, the Aussie market models are subtlely different, and have a higher ride height. The rear upper arm is for sure different (bump mounts to arm not frame like ours). They seem to have less issues than we do with rear alignment, as the cars are going to different markets and have other subtle differences, it wouldn't surprise me. It's a lot less work to make a 1/4" shorter set of arms than it is to move the hard mounts around....and the overseas markets are clearly marketed to a different set of customer needs.

I just installed Lovells DRS-99 springs, they ride great and lifted a little over 2". I'm running a Rancho 9000 quick lift setup in front, but I don't really care for it...

 

[e61outside]

I just installed Lovells DRS-99 springs, they ride great and lifted a little over 2". I'm running a Rancho 9000 quick lift setup in front, but I don't really care for it...

Any tips on where to order the Lovells here in the USA? I couldn't find the detailed specs on those either. Do you happen to know the length and spring rate? Thanks!

 

[Sooper Camper]

Do you happen to know the length and spring rate?

480mm free height
520 in/lbs