Truck purists of a certain age recall the days when crew cabs were reserved for worksite trucks and the odd fifth-wheel prime mover that also needed to carry a family. Today they?re common as table salt, with the short-bed/crew-cab configuration a legitimate substitute for a family sedan in many parts of the country. Today, true single-cabs are the models most likely to be spied only on jobs, and it?s that market Nissan?s aiming at with the 2017 Titan and Titan XD single-cab models. With their NV models, the automaker?s been doing a healthy fleet business; it only makes sense that they?d offer a work truck to serve alongside the vans and allow their customers to one-stop shop.

The Titan XD is available with either Nissan?s 390-hp, 394-lb-ft 5.6-liter gasoline V-8 or the 310-horse, 555-lb-ft Cummins 5.0 turbo-diesel V-8. The single-cab XD comes with a seven-speed trans lashed to the gas honker, and a six-speed Aisin automatic behind the Cummins. The gas engine will tow 11,590 pounds, while the diesel is rated for 12,640.
The regular Titan single cab will only offer the 5.6 V-8/seven-speed auto to start, with a smaller V-6 to show up later during the truck?s run. The tow rating is down almost a ton compared to the gas-fired XD, coming it at 9730 pounds. It should be noted that with either engine, the single-cab Titan and XD are rated to tow between 320 and 340 pounds more than the crew-cab models. The Titan’s payload capacity is up 320 pounds over the crew cab, to 19...