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
I am a little surprised no one has mentioned the rear track disparity issue. Not only does it look terrible, its going to be awful in deep snow and sand.
Would wheel spacers work for that? I know they get a bad rap most of the time, but an unsteered solid axle is probably the best use case for them.
There are a couple of things you could try – different offset wheels, etc. but 6 inches is a LOT to make up for with spacers.
Are you sure this is the case? 3″ longer control arms shouldn’t equal 3″ increased width since those arms are also sitting at an increased angle with the new longer springs/struts.
Also, it seems that the Titan rear axle also fits although quality spacers probably makes the most sense.
just going off of the information presented. It is pretty clear that the front is substantially wider though.
Ah, I see that info IS coming from the All Dogs site. You’re obviously correct about front track.
I am glad All Dogs Offroad got the shout out. I am a member of the Co-Op, and I don’t know of any group that is more customer and culture focused than them.
They don’t do wild and crazy, but reasonable and responsible, which is cool.
Watch out if you’re swapping in a M205 front diff. I bought two junkyard diffs and both had really wonky gear setups from the factory. They were probably fine if I left them as is but I wanted to regear to 4.10s.
The shop I took it to regear couldn’t even get the gears setup on the first case and had to jerry rig the second case to get it to work.
Oh, and the rear axle is essentially a metric Dana44 so I was able to regear the rear with JK Wrangler gears and a spacer.
I still miss my Xterra. I had big dreams like an eventual V8 swap.
PRG products claims to be the originator of the TSwap. He is a fantastic resource but I’m not sure if he is still operating his online store.
I loved my XTerra and planned on keeping it forever. Unfortunately it sacrificed it’s life to save mine when a distracted driver rear-ended me at a stop. I walked away with some lifelong injuries, but I walked away. Every Dr. I’ve talked to said they’re amazed I’m not paralyzed. That’s the best one can ask from a vehicle.
Was yours a second gen? I loved how comfortable it was on the road and how capable it was off-road, even in stock form. The safety just adds to that good feeling. Glad you’re still here with us.
Curious if a similar swap would be possible on the 2025 Tacoma/4Runner using Tundra parts but I assume Kai at TA would have figured it out by now.
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.
Came here to say this. Glad someone beat me to it.
-R51 on 35’s and geared, but no Tswap.
I’ve only once had an issue with RockAuto parts and they corrected it ASAP.
LOL, the Rockauto screen grab with the “That’s not a lot” hasn’t got to the shipping cost section yet.
I just bought two new Moog control arms for my Forester for $140 delivered ($20 of that was shipping, and they’re about $75 each from amazon). For me, the shipping is worth not having to dig through Amazon search results.
I ordered sway bar links from Amazon since I had to cut the stock ones off in a very manly shower of sparks. That’s probably the first time in years that Amazon delivered on-time when I was waiting for the delivery. The pair was also $15 more from Amazon than Rockauto.
I understand that and it definitelty figures in overall cost. In the particular example above, the parts are shipping from at least three separate warehouses, each having their own charges. That nonsense can very quickly erase any savings RA offers on the part.
I have found myself in that position with rockauto a few times. But you will get a magnet with every shipment. That has to count for something.
My 6 year old grandson who lives with us is well aware of this fact and claims them every time. The last RA order I got (A/C hard line for my Ram) came in a huge box and when we opened it at the bottom I did not find a magnet, but instead a roll of artisan wrapping paper featuring a maine coon cat wearing a Santa hat.
Still trying to figure that one out.
That has never happened to me. I don’t understand.
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
I would describe my skills as simple and I was able to do it myself. I did have a two-post lift which makes things exceptionally easier. But there’s no special equipment that I can remember and if there were specialty tools, I was able to rent them from O’Reilly.
I think only swapping the diff would be a PITA low to the ground. Everything else was pretty simple.
If you have a two post lift at home, I think you’re underestimating your mechanical skills.
Nailed it
I guess it’s all relative. The lift is at work, unrelated to my job but the boss uses it for his toys. My toolbox consists of a mechanics tool set that was on sale at HD, a breaker bar/jack handle, and an impact wrench.
If you think this is wild, you should take a look at subaru parts that swap around.
I think they have used the same ball joints since 1988.
That’s some serious commitment, considering you can’t remove the things if the underside of the car has ever seen salt or snow.
Yeah I had a good laugh when I saw that Honda hasn’t updated the part for their pedal covers since the 70s.
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.