Off-road enthusiasts have long turned to the aftermarket to upgrade their vehicles’ suspension, aiming for more clearance, wider track widths, and greater travel. Normally, installing kits that accomplish all three of these upgrades can be expensive, as it involves new suspension arms, struts, springs, tie rods, axles, and more.
That is, unless you have a Nissan Frontier or Xterra. Some geniuses have figured out that the longer control arms from the bigger 2004 to 2015 Nissan Titan bolt right up to Frontiers and Xterras built between 2005 and 2019.
The longer arms, paired with some Toyota suspension bits, make for a cheap, OEM-quality upgrade that can be had for a fraction of the price.
The Magic Of The “Tswap”
People heavy into the world of Nissan off-roading call this suspension conversion the tswap (short for Titan swap). It centers around the front independent suspension, which has two control arms, one upper and one lower. The bigger Titan shares this architecture and uses arms that have the same mounting points. This means both arms can bolt right into the frame of a Frontier or an Xterra without any further modifications.
The longer arms extend the placement of the hub out and down relative to stock. You get roughly four inches of extra ground clearance and three inches of extra track width per side, according to Alldogs Offroad. Most importantly, the longer arms unlock more up and down travel for the wheels—anywhere from three to four inches of extra travel over the stock vehicles’ 5.8 inches.
Of course, you can’t just swap the longer Titan arms onto your Frontier and hit the trails. Because the hubs are now farther away from the center of the car, you need to replace parts like the tie rods, the axles, and the brake lines to compensate. Luckily, owners have figured out that part, too. OEM Titan tie rods bolt right up to the Frontier’s and Xterra’s steering rack. As for axles, you just have to look elsewhere in Nissan’s lineup. The front shafts from the 2014 to 2016 Infiniti QX80 bolt right up.
The springs and struts are a bit trickier. You can’t use the stock Frontier or Xterra setup, and the Titan setup doesn’t fit, either. If you want to unlock the most travel, you have to go aftermarket. Thankfully, a company called Radflo Shocks makes a set of coilovers specifically for this swap. But if you’re really on a budget, you can also use the setup from the first-generation Toyota Tundra or third-generation Toyota 4Runner, though travel with this gear is limited to about 7.5 inches, according to Alldogs.
Then there’s the rear suspension. To match the added height gained in the front, you simply have to add a few leaves to the leaf-spring suspension through an AAL (add-a-leaf) kit, of which there are several available online. You also have to add longer struts to match—Alldogs sells those too.
What’s the Cost Difference?
Speaking of where to buy things, Alldogs Offroad sells an entire tswap kit for $3,775, and it includes all the necessary things you’ll need to perform the swap, minus those Infiniti axles I mentioned earlier. The reason those are missing is that a lot of Frontier and Xterra owners like to swap their front differentials out with Titan-sourced units. And with a Titan diff, you can retain the stock Frontier/Xterra axles. Should you retain the stock differential, you’re looking at just under $4,000 all-in before installation costs.
If that sounds a little too pricey for you, I agree! The whole point of an OEM parts-sharing discovery like this is to lower costs. The beauty of this swap is that you don’t have to use all of the fancy stuff if you don’t want to. I went to RockAuto to see just how cheaply I could get the control arms, axles, suspension, and tie rods, and the total came out to just $519. Those prices are for the bottom-of-the-barrel cheapest parts, of course—I’m really just showing how cheaply this can be done. You could go even cheaper if you went to a Pick-a-Part and snagged used items.
You’ll still need to get stuff like the extended brake lines, the extra leaf springs, and the rear shocks, which cost $880 when selected individually through Alldogs Offroad. Still, $1,400 for a swap that can improve suspension travel this much is pretty damn affordable. Plus, because it’s all bolt-on stuff, anyone with simple mechanical skills can do the job in their driveway.
Top graphic credit: Alldogs Offroad/YouTube; RockAuto
This isn’t really new, the “Titan Swap” has been known since the 2nd gen D50 platform was released. The Titan, Frontier, Xterra, and Pathfinder all shared front frame-rails along with a lot of other assorted parts.
All Dogs Offroad and many others sell full kits that are way better then RockAuto sourced stock parts.
LOL, the Rockauto screen grab with the “That’s not a lot” hasn’t got to the shipping cost section yet.
I feel like “anyone with simple mechanical skills can do the job in their driveway” is a bit of a stretch but I’m picking up what he’s putting down there
If you think this is wild, you should take a look at subaru parts that swap around.
Makes a lot of sense for a mild prerunner build. Lots of extra travel and width, and you are going with aftermarket remote-reservoir shocks anyway.
Ahh, the beauty of modular vehicular architecture. Life finds a way.
I absolutely have this on my dream list of future mods for my little Frontier.