Rebuilt Axle. Where should I go to get it done??

[Colorado-X]

Hey Guys,
I've been lurking around here for a month or so and enjoying the posts. I have a question now...

I just found out for the Tynnans Nissan in Fort Collins that my rear diff on my '06 Xterra Off Road (manual transmission) is toast. I have no idea about the specifics of what is toast, but I'm gonna try to get those details today. They told me my only option was to replace the rear diff with a new one and it was going to cost me $3700. They couldn't find a used part and they thing that the housing would be too beat up to rebuild it. And Nissan doesn't sell the parts to rebuild either.

So it has been suggested I have someone else look at it and get the axle rebuild, but I dont know who to go to. I'm new to all this stuff and am pretty much an idiot, so all your help is needed and appreciated.

What do I need to know before seeking someone out?
Who should I bring it to?

Thanks for you help!!!

Pete

[Brody]

What do I need to know before seeking someone out?
Who should I bring it to?

Thanks for you help!!!

Pete

Wow! Thank god another Pete is on the forum. We have multi Robs, Matts, Steves, Andrews, Aarons, Chris'....and now another PETE! I am not alone!!

Well, welcome to the forum. Maybe I can help somewhat with this:

Call Bill at Englewood Drive Shaft as he also does gears and see what he says. Mention you are on the FR forum, too.

Bill: 303-781-0554

Call Bryce Gilick 785-623-8105

He works for a straight $45 per hour plus parts and can set up essentially you bring to him.

If this doesn't work for you or either of these guys can't get you pointed in the right direction, give Scotty at Addicted Off Road a call:

970-420-4198

He primarily works on Toyotas, but is very skilled overall and also in your neck of the woods. Just for that latter bit, you might try him first.

These guys stock Nissan gears and lockers. If they stock these, either they also stock the rebuild kits for the axles or certainly know a good place to get them:

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/xterra-differential-gears-c-42_846.html?osCsid=fuub782i0l53otcgqr96m25936

What goes wrong in a differential (excluding the outers and dealing with the 3rd member or differential assembly itself) are, in no particular order: trashed carrier bearings, trashed pinion bearing and/or seal, trashed crush sleeve resulting in increased wear and eventual breakage of the gears, missing/or broken teeth on the ring (most likely) or pinion gear, and just plane wear and tear. There is also a somewhat remote chance that the actual axle housing may be bent which would cause a lot of the this stuff.

Most of these parts are probably available through other sources than the Nissan dealers and, like Toyota, my guess is that all of the bearings and seals are crossover parts available through NAPA as either Timken or other manufacturers name products.

Another source to get in touch with is Randy's Ring and Pinion, one of the gods of gears:

http://www.ringpinion.com/

Explore these suggestions and if you still have problems, repost. You will get advise and suggestions and a lot of the Nissan guys can direct you to better sources than I can, I am sure.

[Andrew]

Okay what is the actual problem with the Diff? Kinda hard to give you any advice without knowing what the problem is. I'd ask them what they found. It's kind of odd. How many miles are on it, and how often was the oil in it changed? Since you have the OR, you have that e-locker in there right? You could try to find one at a junkyard but I bet it would be pretty hard.

Anyway those 2nd Gens have a history of a weaker front diff grenading. I think I read something about a recall fix on the rear diff also but not sure what for.

[Colorado-X]

Ok, so what I was told is that they took off the diff cover and looked in side. The fluid level was "almost gone" because it was leaking out the axle seals. What started everything was the wheel bearing was loose and started moving around and broke down. This in turn basically deteriorated the seal and cause the leak. So the axle shaft was moving around and the bearing was sending chunks of metal to the diff. With less diff oil and all those pieces of metal in the diff it has has chewed up the inside of the diff. This occured to both sides (wheel bearings and seals on both sides). passenger side worse than drivers side. He said they added a quart of diff oil when they closed it up.

They are saying that the part (whole axle assembly) will cost $2956 and then labor will either be $240 if the axle comes with rotors, or $636 if they have to swap out the brakes.

The service guy wasn't sure if the axle comes with the calipers and rotors, so if they have to swap them out, it was more expensive. He said it's $120/hr for labor.

I was told that the reason they have to swap the whole rear end is that nissan doesn't sell parts to rebuild an axle and there is no way to get aftermarket parts unless someone just started making them. So replacing parts isn't possible unless I find a exact match of an Xterra made between May of '06 to July of '07 and it's an off road manual transmission.

Pissin' me off. So Nissan set this up from the beginning so that if anything goes wrong with the axle, you need to buy a whole new one and not just the parts to fix what's wrong.

So I'm back to the beginning and need to change the title... Anyone have a rear axle assembly laying around from a '06 OR MT made in May of '06 to July '07?

[cfr]

I don't know Xterras, but I'm an internet-searchin' machine.

Check car-part.com and stick in your truck and zip code. I see this,

2006
Rear Axle
Nissan Xterra 06D192 $1069.2 Stadium Foreign - PRP/PAR Member USA-CO(Westminster) Request_Quote 800-930-8733

Maybe pick this up for $1k and look to the forum for assistance with the swap.

[Colorado-X]

Thanks man!! I'll call them tomorrow.

[JeffX]

Whoa! $1000 for another 'exploding' axle?

I think you should call allphase offroad and ask for a quote on an SAS with two new axles.

Also, call BA engineering (http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=4835) in Ft. Collins for advice.

[Brody]

Call Stve Brownell at Central Foreign Auto Parts to see what he has. He is a really good guy and if he has it, then he will find it for you. Mention my name, Peter Brody, and he will get you the best deal he can do.

[/URL][URL="http://www.google.com/mapdata?CxW71l4CHbQfvvkgDwxAjgJIuQFSAlVTkAECygECZW 4"]http://www.google.com/mapdata?CxW71l4CHbQfvvkgDwxAjgJIuQFSAlVTkAECygECZW 4 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS363US363&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=central+foreign+auto+parts+denver&fb=1&gl=us&hq=central+foreign+auto+parts&hnear=denver&cid=0,0,6793103606538796791&ei=VcbaS6i6C46qtgPepoGfAQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CA0QnwIwAA)Central Foreign Auto Parts (http://www.centralforeign.com/)chrome://searchshield/content/safe.gif (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29)

www.central (http://www.%3Cb%3Ecentral%3C/b%3E)foreign.com
3403 Brighton Boulevard
Denver, CO 80216
(800) 869-9025

Most of us that do work on the forum, including myself, do not charge $120 and hour for labor. Do expect to pay that at any dealership or regular shop. That is a pretty standard shop rate these days.

[greenramp]

There is a 2000 Xterra in the U pull and pay right now. I believe loaded axles are around $89.99 there.

[Volcom]

Diamond rear housing with a 9.5" Toyota Land Cruiser diff & ARB FTW. Would put you at alittle more than half of what Nissan wants for a stock rear axle and you'd have a bombproof setup.

[Jimmy]

I was thinking the same thing - ditch the dealership. For that money, you could likely get a bombproof aftermarket axle assembly. Or if you want to stay stock, get it used for way less. These guys are passing along good advice...

[JeffX]

There is a 2000 Xterra in the U pull and pay right now. I believe loaded axles are around $89.99 there.

It has the wrong bolt pattern.

[Colorado-X]

Where would I go about getting a "bomb proof" aftermarket axle? Wouldn't I need to find a new front too? Or can you just order matching gears?

[Brody]

SpyderTrax and Diamond Axle both made "bombroof" axle housing, but these are really designed for hard core 4 wheeling. If you don't do hard core wheeling, then you aren't going to need a bombproof housing.

As to your gear question. yes, you can gears to match your existing gears. You do not need to change out the font axle simply because you have trashed the gears in the rear axle.

[Brody]

It has the wrong bolt pattern.

What do you mean, Jeff? Wheel or yoke or something else?

[Colorado-X]

Just to close out this thread...

I ended up taking it to another dealership and found, yes my diff is dead. But was shown why they said it. The mechanic was rotating my drive shaft and while looking through the fill hole you could see only one gear turning. there was about an inch of play between the ring and pinnion.

So I ended up getting the used (20k miles) 06 OR Xterra rear end from Stadium Auto parts for $950 ($100 off )and shipped free to my girlfriends fathers shop (auto paint) here in Fort Collins. His Mechanic is going to help me install it. My warranty company has already paid him $1500 for the labor and parts.

The install is on friday ( i hope).

Thanks to all of you that helped out! You guys are great!

Hopefully once this is back together I will meet up with some of you on the trails!

oh and by the way... I will NEVER return to Tynans Nissan in fort collins for ANYTHING. Unless they are offering free oil changes for my troubles.

[Colorado-X]

never mind... Wrong axle shipped by Stadium Auto parts. They don't have the right one.

Back to square 1.

[JeffX]

What do you mean, Jeff? Wheel or yoke or something else?

The idiots at Nissan went from a 6-on-5.5 bomb-proof axle (00-04) to a 6-on-4.5 bastardized D44(05+). These axles grenade after 70k or so.

CO-X: Have you called Allphase Offroad? They know a lot about your vehicle. You can also call BA engineering (http://www.roninwheelers.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=38) in Ft. Collins.

Good luck!

[Rob]

Have you called Allphase Offroad?

If you're talking about the shop in Longmont, it closed a few months ago.