For most of their history here in the States, half-tons have been largely gasoline-powered. That trend is starting to change, with the arrival of the Eco-Diesel 3.0-liter in Ram 1500s, and now the 5.0-liter Cummins in the forthcoming 2016 Nissan Titan XD.

Just recently, the Titan XD was here in Southern California, hanging out at the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar as part of a preview event for aftermarket companies to touch, feel, and test. One of the companies that made it to the preview was Hellwig Products, one of the leading suspension developers in the country. Hellwig’s Ben Knaus was able to answer some of our questions about the event and shed some light on what it meant for the company.

“We were looking at everything,” said Knaus. “Front and rear sway bars, end links, helper springs and air suspension. Basically, anything we might be interested in developing for the new Titan. We started checking to see what had changed from the previous model and then by the end of the day, we had all the dimensions we needed to build a first-round prototype of all those products once we got back to the factory.”

According to Knaus, about 10 other companies were also on-site to check out the Titan, inspecting everything from the seats to the bed to the brakes. “There seemed to be someone measuring every inch of the vehicle, but we never had any interference with the others,” said Knaus. “Everyone worked together pretty well to get what they needed in the limited time available.”

Personally, Knaus and his team had a pleasant reaction to seeing the truck in person. “We liked the look of the truck, both the interior and exterior were fully redesigned and very impressive,” he said. “The suspension was very similar to the previous generation of Titan, with just enough changes that we will need to develop new product.”

“The changes were things that ‘beefed up’ the suspension from the 2004-15 Titan such as going from a 2.5” wide to a 3.0” wide leaf spring so that makes sense to us with the heavier duty classification (TitanXD) and the diesel engine. They also had an entire Cummins engine outside the truck as well to check out and while our products don’t affect the engine, looking at it it’s pretty neat both in packaging and the output numbers. I can see it being a popular seller. We were also excited to see the gooseneck hitch and are interested to see how it tows.”

This is some very interesting news to hear coming out, and we’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Hellwig has planned as far as new products. In the meantime, check out more from Hellwig by visiting its Facebook page and website.