Titan

Preparation is an elusive concept. No matter how much time you spend getting ready, you find yourself at the event remembering everything you did not bring. Perhaps this applies more to me, the least prepared individual of all. I constantly find myself in situations where if I had prepared, I could have been ahead of the eight-ball rather than feeling like it was tumbling down a hill after me. For instance, I once showed up to a track day without a tire pressure gauge, rookie mistake. Since then, I have learned the merits of taking some extra time to be prepared.

The Titan XD is no different. The truck is relatively new, so many won't choose to modify it just yet, but we have a feeling that the XD has big things in its future. That is why we decided to be prepared with our intercooler.

Render of Mishimoto's Titan XD intercooler

Render of Mishimoto's Titan XD intercooler

Render of Mishimoto's Titan XD intercooler

In our last post, with the help of our 3-D printed prototype, we confirmed

If you remember from our last post about the Titan XD catch can, we ran into some challenges with the first prototype. Since our existing catch can design did not agree with the Titan, it was back to the drawing board for our lead engineer, Dan.

Updated Design

Our standard catch can when installed on the Titan was generating a code causing the truck to go into limp mode. The cause of the code stemmed from our standard catch can being too restrictive for the Titan's beefy Cummins engine. This is not surprising, given the 50 micron filter and smaller design of the can, which was originally designed for gasoline-powered cars. This catch can design functions beautifully on smaller turbo engines such as the Focus and Fiesta, as well as larger American V8s in the new-generation Camaro SS and Mustang GT. It just might not be suitable for the turbo diesel V8 in our Titan.

With some creativity, we modified our original design and got to work on some interesting design changes to our can.

Updated

Last time, we took an in-depth look at coolant filtration kits and how they can benefit our Titan. We gave you a sneak peek at what the final bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit will look like. If you missed out on that you can check out the whole post on our engineering blog.

Finalizing the brackets

These brightly colored brackets were created with the help of 3D printing. This is just one of our rapid prototyping techniques that helps us create accurate prototypes the first time around. This allows us to bring great-looking AND great-fitting products to you in much less time.

Prototype bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit

Prototype bracket for the Titan XD coolant filtration kit

Since our last post, we have finalized the bracket design and it's looking great. We were going for a stealthy look to complement the Titan XD's already excellent-looking engine bay. Check out some installed photos of the final product, and let us know how we did.

Titan XD coolant filtration

We have been working on the Titan XD for quite some time now. We have gone through a variety of products like the intercooler pipe kit, coolant filtration kit, and exhaust. Now we are down to the bread and butter of our Titan XD parts: the intercooler.

When we begin projects, we like to start by evaluating the stock component and looking for areas where we can make improvements. The stock intercooler in the Titan is fairly sizeable and features cast aluminum end tanks, which we don't normally see on stock intercoolers. Nissan has started off on the right foot with this intercooler. Still, we are confident that we can take it a few steps further with our intercooler design.

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler end tank

Stock Nissan Titan XD intercooler end tank

After having a look at the stock unit, we began work on our upgrade. The first step was to take some measurement with our CMM (coordinate measuring machine). This would give us data points to use

Since Mishimoto's inception, we have grown to become more than just a radiator manufacturer; have expanded to offer many other performance parts for a variety of applications. For the Titan alone we already offer a several products, including an intercooler pipe and boot kit, exhaust, and coolant filtration kit. We have not, however, forgotten our roots. That being said, we have begun developing a radiator for our Nissan Titan XD.

What improvements will we make?

The stock radiator is sizeable compared to other stock units we have seen, but we still found some areas where we can improve on the factory design.

Stock Titan XD radiator

We plan to increase the core thickness and create a fully aluminum radiator, including the end tanks, for added durability. The factory radiator utilizes a detachable, plastic fill neck, which we will include with our radiator, but ours will be constructed out of aluminum to eliminate another potential failure point.

Prototype

Thanks to our rapid prototyping

We are back with a much needed update on the Titan XD exhaust. Since our last post covering the stock Titan XD exhaust, we've come up with a design of our own.

The first step in bringing our prototype from design to reality was to create a jig to use for fabrication. We started by taking measurements from the Titan, then fired up the waterjet, and sliced our largest jig to date. It had to be sizeable enough to accommodate the four-inch piping designated for the Titan.

Jig for Titan XD exhaust prototype

Jig for Titan XD exhaust prototype

Jig for Titan XD exhaust prototype

Jig for Titan XD exhaust prototype

Now that the jig was complete, we could get to fabrication. Creating a jig on the waterjet usually results in a spot-on prototype in a relatively short time. This was the same case here and, when our prototype was complete and on the truck, it fit like a dream.

Titan XD exhaust prototype installed

Titan XD exhaust prototype installed

The Final Prototype

Now that fitment was confirmed,

Personally, I am a huge Nissan fan, but I try not to be too biased when it comes to working on Nissan projects. I do, however, remember how excited I was when the new Titan development vehicle first rolled into our headquarters in all its glory. I found myself pricing options on the Internet and weighing my student loan debt with the prospect of a shiny new toy. So with a love like this, it makes sense to protect it.

When developing products, we consider several factors. We evaluate possible improvements to the factory setup of a vehicle, to make more power, or to solve a problem with factory components. Also where we can create products to protect the vehicle. For all of the Nissan Titan fans who waited patiently for their trucks to arrive and are now enjoying them, it is important to us to protect your investment. The Mishimoto coolant filtration kit is definitely a protect-your-investment product.

How does it work?

A coolant filtration system will remove sediment and other particulates

In our last post, we ended with a rendering of the Nissan Titan XD intercooler pipes and the jig that we plan to use to fabricate them. Since then, we began fabricating our prototypes and testing fitment.

Before we could begin welding our prototypes, we first had to fabricate our jig. With the help of the trusty waterjet, we sliced the pieces for the jig and began assembling them.

Titan XD Intercooler piping jig

Titan XD Intercooler piping jig

Titan XD Intercooler piping jig

Titan XD Intercooler piping jig

With the jig assembled, Mike fired up the welder and got to work on our prototype. Although the measurements that we took with our CMM (coordinate measuring machine) in the last post should be accurate, we tack-welded the pipes first to check fitment on our Titan.

Titan XD stock and Mishimoto intercooler pipe

Titan XD stock and Mishimoto intercooler pipe

Titan XD hot-side intercooler pipe installed

Titan XD hot-side intercooler pipe installed

Titan XD cold-side intercooler pipe installed

Here at Mishimoto, we know the importance of a good catch can as far as preventative maintenance goes. For most vehicles, installing a catch can means protecting your engine from the silent monster that is blow-by. Blow by can consist of excess oil, fuel, moisture, and pure evil. Engines with direct-injection, like our good friend the Titan XD, are prone to blow-by creeping its way back into the engine through the intake, and caking debris on valves which can be very harmful to an engine over time. To read more in depth about blow-by, check out our complete write up on Blow-By 101.

Stock Titan XD engine bay

Not to worry gentle Titan, we are here to help. Our engineers usually start with a catch can on most project vehicles as we want to protect our newest investment. For the Titan, this proved to be more difficult than we had originally thought. We began as many stories do, with a bracket. Our lead engineer, Dan, decided on a location for our first prototype, then set out to fabricate

Some exciting things are happening for this new Titan! In addition to the projects already planned, we want to develop a performance intake that will squeeze out a bit more power from this 5.0L V8 Cummins Turbo Diesel. We managed to get an accurate dyno reading with a few adjustments, which we know a few folks have been struggling with on this truck, but more on that later - let's dive into the stock intake!

Stock Nissan Titan air intake

Throttle body from the stock Nissan Titan air intake

Dissection of the Stock System

This turbo inlet is located at the top of the engine. The inside diameter measures right around 3.5 inches; the intake tube has the same inside diameter as well. The airbox grabs its air from inside the fender on the passenger side of the engine bay. Check out the opening in the image below.

Fresh air scoop inlet

That's a pretty sizeable opening, so we will definitely incorporate that into our prototype design for an airbox. Speaking of which, let us take a closer look at