The new Equator has been treating us well thus far. Over the past few months we have taken it on various adventures through canyons, across dunes and even tested our fate through race course whoops. Out of the box, the truck is great; it's stable across all terrain and provides plenty of power. What it needs is a little more height, a bunch more wheel travel and some beefy tires.
This is where PRG Products comes into play. Its Titan Swap suspension was created for the Nissan Frontier, and because of the similar platform it shares with our Suzuki, it's capatible with the Equator. The kit that PRG owner and designer Greg Gagnon put together for us is modified from the kit you will find on his website, so please keep that in mind when ordering. You can build your kit with a couple different shock choices and rear spring options. Our kit uses 2.5-inch PRG/Sway-A-Way coilovers, PRG upper control arms with Aurora uniballs and FK rod ends, PRG steering extensions, PRG/Sway-A-Way axles, stock Nissan Titan OEM lower control arms, 2.25-inch PRG/Sway-a-Way piggy-back reservoir shocks, and a custom-designed Deaver spring pack, only available at PRG.
The installation of the suspension is straightforward and can be done in your driveway. If you are installing this on a 4WD truck, we suggest having someone around who has experience removing CV boots and axles. You don't need to be a certified mechanic, but you do need a little automotive know-how.
How Do We Like It?
New suspension makes a truck look great, but the ride is what its all about. The Equator now rides like an off-road truck. With some creative fender well trimming, we were able to fit BFG ATKO 285/75R16 tires. During a recent trip to Ocotillo Wells, California, we got a chance to push the new suspension to the limits. In the dirt, the new suspension and tires allowed us to push the truck harder and faster than possible when stock. Whoop sections that would've once spelled death for this truck have now become smooth and controlled. The truck now grips the terrain and flows through rough sections when previously the terrain seemed to move the truck. The increased wheel travel and width up front gives us a new found stability driving the truck both on and off the road. The removal of the OEM anti-swaybar allows each side of the truck to move independently as an off-road truck should. The truck now sites 3 inches higher in the front and 2.5 inches higher in the rear. The front coilovers can be adjusted via the coil collar and CV angles don't seem to be a problem as they often are on competitive mid-sized truck lifts. Enough talk. The dirt is calling to us. We must go back out and play. See you in the dirt.
 The stock suspension is pretty...  The stock suspension is pretty standard for today's mid-sized truck. Unfortunately, the Equator doesn't come with a ton of wheel travel out of the box. We are talking 6 inches of usable travel. |  The use of a stock OEM Nissan...  The use of a stock OEM Nissan Titan lower control arm pushes the track width of the truck out 2.5 inches per side. This allows the truck to move through the increased travel properly and also provides a perfect mounting base for the new coilovers. Once again, the similar Nissan platform allows the Titan arm to bolt in without modifications. |  Increasing the track width...  Increasing the track width means the steering link must also be extended. PRG custom fabricates steering extensions that simply twist into place. They also offer a rod end steering kit upgrade. In this image you can see how PRG runs their coilover upside-down. PRG's Greg Gagnon tells us this is a must in order to get maximum travel and to allow clearance for the axle shafts as well as a very long Eibach spring. |
 PRG's upper control arm was...  PRG's upper control arm was designed after many hours of testing off-road. Greg Gagnon, owner and designer of PRG's products has been behind the wheel, under the trucks and inside the shocks of numerous race trucks. He knows how to create suspension components that work and valve a shock to any specification you could need. The unique heart shape design of the upper control arm is needed to properly allow the truck to achieve all possible droop travel. The truck now pushes 11 inches of wheel travel up front, nearly doubling the stock number. That puts smiles on our faces. The Aurora uniball that now replaces the stock balljoint connection in the spindle assures problem-free off-roading and reliability in a spot that normally fails over time due to hard use in the dirt. |  The new PRG spring pack is...  The new PRG spring pack is leaps and bounds ahead of the stock pack as far as performance is concerned. Greg at PRG tells us that the new pack should not sacrifice much load-carrying capacity either. You can see the difference between the stock three-leaf pack, above, with overload spring and the new nine-leaf pack using a double-wrap spring-eye configuration. The new springs combined with shocks allows the rear end to move 11 inches while lifting the rear of the truck 2.5 inches. They bolt on in stock locations; only new U-bolts are required. |  Our PRG/Sway-A-Way 2.5-inch...  Our PRG/Sway-A-Way 2.5-inch piggy-back rear shocks are custom built by Greg at PRG. He orders the parts, builds the upper mounts, valves them, and machines custom inner parts to make the work properly. Greg valves each shock himself to his specifications for each model truck. The new shocks bolt into the stock locations. On top of the obvious benefits of having a larger shock under your truck, the new shocks are completely rebuildable. Unlike stock shocks which can fall apart from abuse, these shocks will take a severe amount of beating and if they ever do fail, all parts can be replaced with ease. |