I just cant get with this program...

Looks like the AAM 14 bolt semi-float axle. I wonder how that will hold up to the torque and load over time.

IIRC it has around a 6,000# axle rating, better than most LD pickups.

It has been used in 1500 and 2500 series GM's over the years, the HD version getting 8 lug hubs but I don't recall an axle rating difference.

2500's with a 350 had the 9.5" semi-float while the trucks with a 454 got the 10.5" full-float 14 bolt.

This is also the axle used in the H2, and 2500 small block suburbans.

It is very similar to the front axle in the 03+ Dodge trucks, and they can share many aftermarket traction devices.

GM also uses a IFS variant on it's front truck.

ib516 wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
Should be OK if they put a good trans and rear end behind it.

They are apparently using the same Aisin 6 speed auto that is used in the RAM 2500 and up series trucks. I don't have any info about the rear end.

Which Ram 2500 uses a Aisin??

While it's possible that it will use the same trans as the Cummins in the 3500 series trucks I would be VERY surprised. At first glance the case looks different than the AS69RC.

Aisin makes more than one transmission.

mich800 wrote:

Tystevens wrote:
I'm not sure I get this truck, either. The engine seems like overkill in a 1/2 ton, especially in light of what Ford and RAM are getting out of their 3.5 and 3l V-6's. It would seem to fit in a 3/4 ton package, but if Nissan is 'bragging' about a 10k gooseneck, the ratings probably aren't there.

I hate to admit it, as I am vocal about being not brand loyal at all, but I also would like to see this in an American truck. I really couldn't see myself buying a Nissan truck, no matter what it could do.

Of course, 4 or 5 years ago, I couldn't have seen myself buying and loving a V6 truck, either, so I guess you never know ...

Would you buy the Ram if it had the v8 cummins? They are a foreign company. Would you buy the Nissan if Ford purchased the company? I know it has been stated before. But pretty much all the auto manufacturers are public corporations. You can put as many American dollars as you want into their stock and buy something from a company YOU own not a foreign entity.

I probably should have explained better (or not included it in the first place, more likely). My pickup truck preference is less a function of corporate ownership nationality and more sentimentality and history. I just kinda like my trucks to be historically American based and made. A Cummins engine in a domestic brand makes the needle move for me. This combo, not so much. I suppose this is why the Tundra and Titan have never really appealed to me, regardless of their comparative specifications.

I seem to like my full sized trucks American, my cars and chainsaws German, my hiking boots Italian, and my handguns Austrian. No reason why, just that's what I'm used to, I guess.

This decision seems to be made based on marketing more than practicality. I maybe can see them wanting to put a Cummins in the Titan, but the same Aisin the HD Rams use? Come on now. That is overkill and will result in less MPG than if they used a more reasonable transmission for a 1/2 ton. This truck is too much like a half ton to be used as a heavy duty and probably will be priced like a 3/4 ton from the big three ie people will buy the HD from the big 3. If they think that this thing is going to find its way into construction sites and oil fields they will be sadly mistaken. I have never seen a titan or tundra being used on a job site unless they are a painter or something. And for us RV people, we are going to still use HDs from the big three. Ram had the right Idea to put a reasonable engine in a half ton platform for good MPG. They knew if people needed more capability they would go to a HD.

Maybe I'm just a pessimist.

deleted

ib516 wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
Should be OK if they put a good trans and rear end behind it.

They are apparently using the same Aisin 6 speed auto that is used in the RAM 2500 and up series trucks. I don't have any info about the rear end.

Sounds like a winner.

Ron3rd wrote:
Should be OK if they put a good trans and rear end behind it.

They are apparently using the same Aisin 6 speed auto that is used in the RAM 2500 and up series trucks. I don't have any info about the rear end.

According to the link posted by the OP, they used their medium duty frame as a basis and also the AAM 14-bolt rear they use in their medium-duty trucks.

The term "half ton" is about as outdated as hand crank windows and bias ply tires. It will be interesting what GVWR and GCWR they assign to this new truck. Agreed the heavy diesel eats up payload, but we don't know what that leaves for NCC until they announce the GVWR.

Ron3rd wrote:
Should be OK if they put a good trans and rear end behind it.

It has 6 lug wheels and a reported GVWR of 8500lbs. How hard will it be working?

Should be OK if they put a good trans and rear end behind it.

Would you buy the Ram if it had the v8 cummins? They are a foreign company. Would you buy the Nissan if Ford purchased the company? I know it has been stated before. But pretty much all the auto manufacturers are public corporations. You can put as many American dollars as you want into their stock and buy something from a company YOU own not a foreign entity.

Nissan makes the Titans in Mississippi. Cummins is in Indiana. Yea, they get parts from everywhere because this is a global economy. I also like to patronize American companies and I know that foreign companies build products in America and American companies build products in other countries.

I am sure Fiat is thrilled to get their diesel in an American truck. We are just beginning to understand as consumers what Europe and many places in the rest of the world knows all too well. That small diesels can do lots of work on little fuel and are reliable. They are bringing that to America where our combined fleet fuel economy average is important to our government. VW has understood this since the diesel Rabbit back in 1975 with TDI refinements over the years.