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Going a more traditional route, the truck was bagged and bodied on 20’s with a nice paint scheme that earned him a feature on Street Source, a small write-up in Minitruckin’ Magazine, and the Nitto truck that could be seen on the back of Minitruckin’ for around two years. However, if Perkins wanted cover, he was told to do more to the engine bay and interior. Fine. Rather than just do some sprucing up here and there on his new truck, Perkins decided to make it quite clear that his truck deserved recognition by completely tearing the truck down again. While the truck was in primer, Perkins had the crazy idea of how good the truck would look as a standard cab rather than the extended cab only version offered by the factory. Now let me try to explain the complexity and severity of the decision that Perkins was about to make. For one, Perkins had no references to go by because the truck was practically new and it wasn’t like there was or is now a great abundance of new Nissan Frontiers customized. Secondly, it’s a new body style, meaning that if Perkins royally tweaked the cab or some other disaster happened, finding a new cab was going to be both difficult and expensive. This is precisely why Perkins decided to start with the doors. “I figured I would start with the doors first,” says Perkins. “Replacing four doors would be a lot cheaper than replacing the whole cab.” After about two months of just playing around with Sharpies, drawing lines and measuring to make sure his cuts were right, Perkins decided it was time. To ensure that the cab wouldn’t twist or flex while being completely cut in half, a temporary roll-cage was constructed. Beyond cab movement, Perkins biggest concern was the roof skin. Not wanting to replace the roof skin nor remove the sun roof, the cab had to be cut in a way so that it would fit together in almost a tongue-and-groove fashion. When it was all said and done, the two pieces slid together flawlessly and Perkins had successfully removed 20 inches from the cab. “I had a lot of fun doing it actually,” says Perkins. “I just took my time and if it got too frustrating, I’d just have to walk away for awhile but I’d always come back.” To accommodate the truck’s smaller stature, a new frame was constructed starting with a Chevy S10 front clip that was widened on each side of the motor mounts 2 ½ inches. 2x3x1/4 inch box tubing was then used from the control arm mounting area back to complete the rest of the frame. For suspension purposes up front, Suicidedoors.com upper and lower control arms, Belltech 2 inch drop spindles, Baer brake and rotor setup, and a set of Re-7 Slam Specialties air bags make for an impressive and well designed front clip. In the rear, a Suicidedoors.com three link was used to keep the axle in place while a custom, true cantilever setup using more Re-7s and 8” Parker cylinders provide the lift, which also acts as both a dampener and helps to provide enough lift to clear those big 26 inch rims in the rear. Air management is handled by 12 Blitzluft ½ inch valves, four Viair 480 compressors, a 20 gallon air tank, and Aero-quip hard lines. Finally, what lowered stance would be complete without a large set of wheels, such as Perkins’ 24x10 T.I.S. wheels up front wrapped in 275/25/24 Pirelli tires or the rear 26x10 T.I.S. wheels wrapped in 295/30/26 Pirelli tires.
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