2005 Nissan Frontier - The New Frontier

The final step in the exhaust install was for every seam to be tacked in place.

Here's the Advanced Flow Engineering (AFE) kit, with its huge cotton-gauze, conical filter.

MAF (mass airflow) sensors are a little fragile, so it was carefully removed from the stock intake tube.

After the intake tube and airbox lid were removed, the lower portion of the box followed. Check out the diameter of the air inlet-that's the weakest link on the intake side, and most likely a concession made for the sake of noise.

The rubber isolators from the stock lower airbox were reused on the AFE shield and it was screwed into place. The MAF sensor was remounted to the new tube using the supplied gasket, and the intake tube was installed with two hose clamps.

We took the Frontier for a little spin on the dynamometer to see just how much power the extra breathing netted us.

Calmini's new 5-inch 2WD lift included everything but the cotter pins.

Starting in the back, Jorg at The Wheel and Tire Connection, in Lake Forest, California, supported one side of the differential as he installed the lift block on the passenger side.

Next up were the Calmini shackles.

Bilstein shocks were bolted in, and that was it for the rear. The kit included brake lines for the rear, but they were unnecessary for this application.

To achieve lift in the front, Calmini included spacers for the factory coilovers. This ensured that the ride would stay smooth like Nissan had intended.

Once the control arms and stock knuckles were removed, the rear-most front crossmember bolts were inserted. A die grinder was used to slightly notch the factory frame so the bolt holes would line up.