Seeing as it’s gone to it’s new home today, I’m never going to get to do the build thread I’d been thinking of starting after all so here some pics and it’s story…
So this is what we call in Yankee Land a D22 Nissan Frontier. Sometimes called a Navara, NP300, Terrano, or just plain old Pick Up in other parts of the world. It’s a direct descendent of the D21 Hardbody/Navarra and under the skin there are a lot of similarities. I bought it in 2007 with 53000 miles to replace a GMC K1500 4x4 that Mrs. Catherder was driving that had done over 300,000 miles when multiple things failed all at once and she needed a reliable vehicle for her commute, and we’d just bought a house on ten acres in the country so we still needed a truck for truck stuff.
So this is the facelifted D22, when they added the wheel arches and big bumper to give it a tough off-road vibe, even the base 2WD model. The wheel arches and wiper cowl were originally dark grey like the bumper but over 20 years of Kansas sunshine bleached them badly. It’s a basic thing, the XE trim coming in many grades from bare bones to nicely equipped. This one is pretty basic… the only options were an automatic transmission and alloy wheels. Manual windows, manual locks, nothing to go wrong. Stone chips on the bonnet caused the paint to lift but despite being bare for years, there just a little surface rust. Gives it character.
After living outside and being used for truck stuff for all these years, it picked up a few scrapes and dings. There’s some hail dents on the bonnet and roof, and some dings and scratches on the side. Sometime a few years ago Mrs. Catherder got rear ended in traffic and the guy drove off, having bent the bumper. Never found the perp but I ended up taking a large thwacking device to the right side of the bumper so it mostly fit and the tailgate could open. I did go looking for a used bumper, but here’s the funny thing, every D22 in breakers yards has a bent step bumper, and most of the ones you see on the streets also have a bent bumper. For a while I did rock the no-bumper look, but I refitted it to sell after addressing it with the big stick some more. There also used to be rubber strips on the side but the tape holding them on failed over time so I removed them.
At some point I also removed the emblems from the tailgate. Just because I’ve done that on every car I’ve owned. Just waiting for the right time to do that to the wife’s new-to-her Kia hybrid… Sharp eyed readers may note the tow ball. This engine and transmission combo was rated to tow 900kg and there were times I’d hook up a trailer for runs to the dump or moving yard equipment, furniture or house supplies.
Pretty basic inside. Nothing powered so nothing to break. Came with the usual CD/radio that you’d find in many other early 21st century US market Nissans, and a lot of parts pulled from the parts bin. Something unique to the base model 2.4 auto is the column shifter; every other automatic variant gets a floor shifter. Considering its age and use, it’s he’d up inside pretty well. Nothing is torn, dashboard hasn’t cracked in the brutal plains sun, and it’s still a pretty comfortable place to be. Drove it from central Kansas to Austin, TX many times, a 1100 mile round trip.
Because it’s the extended King Cab model, you get some space in the back. There’s a couple of jump seats that fold out the sides, but there only good for children. Had big ideas to put a subwoofer back there, but never got around to it. Good place to put the weeks grocery shopping back there though.
And finally, it’s beating heart. A pretty grubby Nissan KA24DE - 2.4 liters, DOHC 16 valve, EFI - pushing out all of 140hp through a 4-speed automatic. Not fast by anyone’s definition, but it will keep up with highway traffic all day long. It has needed nothing but routine maintenance, and the only failure was the valve cover gasket that leaked oil over the exhaust manifold. A simple cheap fix. Unlike the wife’s old Murano though, there’s plenty of space to work in this engine bay. I changed the oil either every 3000 miles or six months and only used full synthetic oil and brand name filters. When I had the cam cover off to replace the gasket it was pretty clean for almost 180000 miles.
So between myself, the wife and our late son, we put about 130000 miles on it over 17 trouble-free years. It outlasted a Pontiac Grand Am, Ford Explorer and Focus and a Nissan Murano, and shows no signs of letting up. Hope it gives its new owner good service.
Not gonna lie, I’m going to miss it.
So this is what we call in Yankee Land a D22 Nissan Frontier. Sometimes called a Navara, NP300, Terrano, or just plain old Pick Up in other parts of the world. It’s a direct descendent of the D21 Hardbody/Navarra and under the skin there are a lot of similarities. I bought it in 2007 with 53000 miles to replace a GMC K1500 4x4 that Mrs. Catherder was driving that had done over 300,000 miles when multiple things failed all at once and she needed a reliable vehicle for her commute, and we’d just bought a house on ten acres in the country so we still needed a truck for truck stuff.
So this is the facelifted D22, when they added the wheel arches and big bumper to give it a tough off-road vibe, even the base 2WD model. The wheel arches and wiper cowl were originally dark grey like the bumper but over 20 years of Kansas sunshine bleached them badly. It’s a basic thing, the XE trim coming in many grades from bare bones to nicely equipped. This one is pretty basic… the only options were an automatic transmission and alloy wheels. Manual windows, manual locks, nothing to go wrong. Stone chips on the bonnet caused the paint to lift but despite being bare for years, there just a little surface rust. Gives it character.
After living outside and being used for truck stuff for all these years, it picked up a few scrapes and dings. There’s some hail dents on the bonnet and roof, and some dings and scratches on the side. Sometime a few years ago Mrs. Catherder got rear ended in traffic and the guy drove off, having bent the bumper. Never found the perp but I ended up taking a large thwacking device to the right side of the bumper so it mostly fit and the tailgate could open. I did go looking for a used bumper, but here’s the funny thing, every D22 in breakers yards has a bent step bumper, and most of the ones you see on the streets also have a bent bumper. For a while I did rock the no-bumper look, but I refitted it to sell after addressing it with the big stick some more. There also used to be rubber strips on the side but the tape holding them on failed over time so I removed them.
At some point I also removed the emblems from the tailgate. Just because I’ve done that on every car I’ve owned. Just waiting for the right time to do that to the wife’s new-to-her Kia hybrid… Sharp eyed readers may note the tow ball. This engine and transmission combo was rated to tow 900kg and there were times I’d hook up a trailer for runs to the dump or moving yard equipment, furniture or house supplies.
Pretty basic inside. Nothing powered so nothing to break. Came with the usual CD/radio that you’d find in many other early 21st century US market Nissans, and a lot of parts pulled from the parts bin. Something unique to the base model 2.4 auto is the column shifter; every other automatic variant gets a floor shifter. Considering its age and use, it’s he’d up inside pretty well. Nothing is torn, dashboard hasn’t cracked in the brutal plains sun, and it’s still a pretty comfortable place to be. Drove it from central Kansas to Austin, TX many times, a 1100 mile round trip.
Because it’s the extended King Cab model, you get some space in the back. There’s a couple of jump seats that fold out the sides, but there only good for children. Had big ideas to put a subwoofer back there, but never got around to it. Good place to put the weeks grocery shopping back there though.
And finally, it’s beating heart. A pretty grubby Nissan KA24DE - 2.4 liters, DOHC 16 valve, EFI - pushing out all of 140hp through a 4-speed automatic. Not fast by anyone’s definition, but it will keep up with highway traffic all day long. It has needed nothing but routine maintenance, and the only failure was the valve cover gasket that leaked oil over the exhaust manifold. A simple cheap fix. Unlike the wife’s old Murano though, there’s plenty of space to work in this engine bay. I changed the oil either every 3000 miles or six months and only used full synthetic oil and brand name filters. When I had the cam cover off to replace the gasket it was pretty clean for almost 180000 miles.
So between myself, the wife and our late son, we put about 130000 miles on it over 17 trouble-free years. It outlasted a Pontiac Grand Am, Ford Explorer and Focus and a Nissan Murano, and shows no signs of letting up. Hope it gives its new owner good service.
Not gonna lie, I’m going to miss it.
