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URL:
http://riceornot.ricecop.com/?auto=37635 |
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Comments: 13 (Read/Post) Favorites: 0 (View) |
Submitted
on: 01-02-2005
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Category:
Truck |
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Description:
Infiniti QX56 SUT |
Showing page: 1 of 1 [ 1 ]
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#1 |
1-02-2005 @ 11:39:10 AM |
Posted By : ricerocketboy |
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The latest entry into the luxury pickup market was created by accident.
Accident-prone Nissan Titan pickup gets the ultimate makeover at Alex Leal's Texas body shop.
Alex Leal is a body shop estimator for Bert Ogden Motors, Inc. in Edinburg, Tex., on the southernmost tip of the state. The shop is an I-Car Gold Class Collision center, one of two in the dealership family.
Leal’s days are filled with looking at bent sheetmetal, so when a customer brought in his 2005 Titan pickup with a smashed up front end he didn’t think that anything was unusual. That is until the guy asked if Alex could replace the damaged sheetmetal with the front end from the Infiniti QX56 luxury SUV.
“He said that he saw one like it in Las Vegas,” Leal says. “I told him anything could be done, but I wanted to check to make sure that before I bought $3,000 to $4,000 worth of front end parts, that they were going to be compatible.”
After trying the Nissan and Infiniti websites and contacting people at both companies with no results, he finally turned to a local Infiniti dealer who helped him out.
Leal found that not only were the parts compatible, but the conversion was pretty straight forward.
The Pathfinder Armada, Titan and QX56 all share the same apron so it was just a matter of fitting the new hood, fenders and fascia.
“The only thing I wasn’t able to do,” Leal says, “was replace the headlights.”
The QX56 uses a Xenon lighting system that requires a different wiring harness. Leal suggested that the owner take the truck to the Infiniti dealer to replace the headlamps.
Leal replaced both fenders, filling in the holes used for mounting the QX56’s one-in. fender flares.
The Titan doesn’t have flares front or back and the flares would have looked out of place on the Infiniti pickup. While the Infiniti fenders are different than Titan’s the body lines still match from fender to door. The hood uses the same latches, though the Infiniti grille is attached to the hood (like a BMW) and the fascia is welded to the body instead of mounting to the frame requiring all new brackets and clips.
The cowl panel, which wasn’t damaged in the wreck, had to be replaced. The Titan one-piece panel is made of textured plastic where the QX56 has a two-piece body colored cowl panel. Leal says that all of the wiper and windshield washer holes lined up perfectly.
The owner’s insurance policy paid for most of the conversion with any differences in the price of Infiniti parts paid for by the owner.
Leal says the Xenon headlamps were the costliest at about $790 for a pair instead of the $350 to $360 for the Titan headlamps. The other price differences included the fog lamps which ran about $60 to $70 more and the Infiniti bumper cover which was about $100 more than the Titan’s.
Leal may be on to something. Cadillac’s Escalade EXT has been the closest thing to a successful luxury pickup in North America. Lincoln has tried and failed. The answer might be for Infiniti to offer a pickup kit and let the owners do their own.
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#2 |
1-02-2005 @ 12:01:08 PM |
Posted By : ambientFLIER |
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pretty cool, it has the better front-end infiniti styling without the stupid 3rd row glass |
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#5 |
1-02-2005 @ 01:42:22 PM |
Posted By : Gforce18750 |
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i like this looks a hell of alot better than the titan front end |
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#8 |
3-12-2005 @ 08:37:26 PM |
Posted By : 89Rettagt |
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as much as i want to hate it, i cant. especially with more and more ugly trucks on the market |
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#10 |
1-11-2007 @ 03:06:47 PM |
Posted By : Skid |
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It looks way better than a stock Titan, but there's something unnerving about driving a Nissan pickup with Infiniti logos on it. Sorta....ricey? |
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#12 |
1-11-2007 @ 03:15:32 PM |
Posted By : Skid |
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#11, ....sold and marketed as an Infiniti, with Infiniti-exclusive equipment. You didn't just buy an old Primera and stick Infiniti badges on it.
If this guy put a QX56 interior in this truck and did other modifications to create the illusion of an Infiniti truck, fine. But it looks from here like a regular Titan with custom wheels and a QX56 front. |
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#13 |
9-13-2010 @ 03:21:13 PM |
Posted By : ricerocketboy |
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#12, regarding the interior all you'd have to do is swap logos, and replace the wood with higher gloss pieces and do some little things. Again, like the exterior, it'd be a pretty easy swap. |
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