rear diff

CurtiSue · 10-29-2005, 07:58 PM

hi, just to let you titan owners know the rear diff holds up great to towing.
i have 7800 miles on mine crew cab titan with tow package and have had no problems with it.
i tow on average 700 miles a week using a tandem axle trailer and i would guess i usually pull around 5,000-9,000 pounds my truck gets hard mileage in and out of traffic and also pulling these loads to high country(usually a 5000 FOOT CLIMB) anyway , put your minds at ease these trucks rock and tow like no other.... glad i own the beast

oh yeah i did the diff fluid change at 1200 miles and have been checking level every two weeks and have not had any drop in fluid. i live in hot weather also... phx...

Smoke05 · 10-29-2005, 08:01 PM

Glad to hear it!

I'm so looking forward to spring to do some towig of my own!

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 10-30-2005, 02:58 PM

I've said the same thing all along. Great to hear more people come forward to show out rears are not weak by design.

Daves_Titan · 10-30-2005, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HudsonValleyTitan

I've said the same thing all along. Great to hear more people come forward to show out rears are not weak by design.

To bad for me, my rear is weak

I dropped the truck off at the dealership tonight to have them replace the rear diff first thing Monday morning and I dont even tow!

Go Figure!

*Mike Up* · 10-31-2005, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CurtiSue

hi, just to let you titan owners know the rear diff holds up great to towing.
i have 7800 miles on mine crew cab titan with tow package and have had no problems with it.
i tow on average 700 miles a week using a tandem axle trailer and i would guess i usually pull around 5,000-9,000 pounds my truck gets hard mileage in and out of traffic and also pulling these loads to high country(usually a 5000 FOOT CLIMB) anyway , put your minds at ease these trucks rock and tow like no other.... glad i own the beast

oh yeah i did the diff fluid change at 1200 miles and have been checking level every two weeks and have not had any drop in fluid. i live in hot weather also... phx...

Well if the differentials aren't weak by design, then they have a very high failure rate. Regardless, if you don't have problems, that's awesome. As for me, pulling a little 2700 lbs Pop Up shouldn't had caused my rear end to go out. I had 22,000 miles when the rear end started giving trouble.

So give it a while, you may stop singing praises when you rack up some miles, although I hope you never have the problem.

I got out of my Titan because of the lack of R&D that gave me brake problems, electronic problems, differential problems, and even a rear window the dealer wanted to replace because the moldings around were made poorly(had repaired for distortion that could cause leaks, then another section started to just fall out). Beside the fact that rattles and squeaks were so bad my family were making jokes about the truck falling apart when we'd go to dinner. The complete brake failure 3 weeks prior to the differential failure, helped me jump ship when the differential was going out.

I did have a 2004 so those with late 2005s and 2006s should have less of the problems where a rear end failure may not make them give up the truck.

Hope your differential keeps holding up, because it does suck to get stranded with no way to get your trailer home.

Have a good one.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 10-31-2005, 06:38 PM

Truth be told, Titans rear ends DON'T have a high failure rate. They'd be recalled if they did. Nissan recalls for damn near everything. The amount of owners with rear end problems is miniscule when compared to ones that don't. You're right about mileage though, I have only 15k miles on my truck but I also towed our TT all year with excellent results. There are people here with well over 22k miles and have had no problems. I did swap for the new finned cover and 140w gear oil early too. I just wish we could pinpoint just why some rears failed and others didn't. Was ther a LOT or RUN of rears that were bad from the manufacturer? And just what is it that failed in those that broke. It's a fine rear with larger and stronger innards that a regular Dana 44. I just wish we had more information.

Smoke05 · 10-31-2005, 08:59 PM

Hudson, I'm with you. The more I read about the rears, the more it points to a bad production run with some bad manufacturing process being the culprit. The more I read on the Dana 44 we have in the Titan the more I feel it is perfectly adequate. I also don't feel Dana would allow an inadequate diff to be used in the Titan seeing their name is al over it. Would make good business sense. Hopefully mine is a good one when I start towing my 24ft GulfBreeze TT. I have towed my 1500-2000lb boat since May just fine. My dealership seems to be good and friendly so hopefully if a TSB does come out there will be no headaches.

*Mike Up* · 10-31-2005, 11:45 PM

I was suffering the same symptoms that my brother's Buick Grand National had when the spider gear went bad. So I'm thinking my spider gear was bad.

I don't agree about recalls as the only 2 that I know about are the trailer harness recall and early 2004 seatbelt recall.

All other problems were TSBs and Nissan never did bring the most major of these up until they were facing a class action lawsuite over the brake judder issue.

I've been more than pleased on how my TSBs had been handled. Most being fixed the first attempt and some later due to part orders.

The problem for me was when the brake pedal was bouncing off of the floor, it scared the living sh*t out of me. Then I thought what if I was pulling the trailer. That was "after" 2 rotor turns and a permanent brake replacement. I was looking at Dodge Durangos and was turned off by pretty much everything except 3rd row seat space, and it's towing capabilities. The negatives were stronger than the benefits and why I didn't consider it anymore.

Not even 3 weeks later, the rear end started going out and that was the final straw for my nerves. I really liked the Pathfinder after driving it and finding it had so many benefits over the Durango except for the 3rd row seat room and extra towing capacity. Struck a deal and now the Titan is gone and I'm in the Pathy. I would certainly hope that others don't have this experience but I know there are plenty on this forum that have had the same experiences as I and some a lot worse. I'm not as strong as them, to stick it out. I didn't want to wait and see what would happen next when pulling my camper 700 miles away. That's why I got out, although I really loved the Titan performance, ride quality, and interior room. Unfortunately I was really starting to hate everything else about it including the mind numbing rattles.

In the future when the Titan is redesigned, I'll feel safe in trying it once again, but only if it come in 3/4 ton trim.

Have a good one.

Ditch64242 · 11-21-2005, 10:21 AM

i think that we titan owners were too anxious to buy one that we didnt even think about waiting for them to rattle all the bugs out of the titan. while a lot of us arnt giving up, like mike up, i feel that we should get this problem fixed, permenatly, by trying to get it recalled. because none of the fords, chevys, GMC's are doing that so why should ours, i mean fast accelaration is like the same as towing somthing heavy except not nearly as bad, its retarded. any who the people who fixed mine gave me an 06 rear end even the axels which are pretty shiney black, and its got heatsink fins on it too to help, the destrustion of my rearend has almost completely changed my driving type, and ALSO i think that they put in a true limited slip because its harder to screach my wheels areound turns and stuff and my tires sound different when they do screach around turn. anywho my point is that nissan shouild recal the rear end on the titan but that would cost them so much money that i dont think that they want to.... and nobodoys there at the moment to make them. so lets hope for some luck :|

TOK · 11-21-2005, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STi_Exorcist

i think that we titan owners were too anxious to buy one that we didnt even think about waiting for them to rattle all the bugs out of the titan. while a lot of us arnt giving up, like mike up, i feel that we should get this problem fixed, permenatly, by trying to get it recalled. because none of the fords, chevys, GMC's are doing that so why should ours, i mean fast accelaration is like the same as towing somthing heavy except not nearly as bad, its retarded. any who the people who fixed mine gave me an 06 rear end even the axels which are pretty shiney black, and its got heatsink fins on it too to help, the destrustion of my rearend has almost completely changed my driving type, and ALSO i think that they put in a true limited slip because its harder to screach my wheels areound turns and stuff and my tires sound different when they do screach around turn. anywho my point is that nissan shouild recal the rear end on the titan but that would cost them so much money that i dont think that they want to.... and nobodoys there at the moment to make them. so lets hope for some luck :|

Is your truck 4 wheel drive? Do you have the Big Toe or Offroad package?
If so, I hope you didn't get the standard higher geared rear or that thing is going to tear itself apart with mismatched front/rear gears.

**RobKar** · 11-21-2005, 01:26 PM

I pulled this home from LA to San Diego lastnight. All I can say is WOW this is a great pulling truck.

Ill let you know if I have any problems.

electricjohn · 11-21-2005, 02:26 PM

I think Nissan has not been able to narrow it down to the exact cause of the failures. I do believe they are working on it, but can't pin it down. You have a couple hundred (guess) failures out of a million plus units. I'd say that makes narrowing it down tough. Hopefully they will find the reason, and make good to all of us with a tsb or a recall. Rear axle units should never fail under normal use. Up until I got my Titan, I never even though about my rears in thirty years of driving and towing. Now it's on my mind every time I tow. I am taking it's temperature when towing, changing the fluid twice a year, and watching the cover rust away. So far I've been OK, and hoping it stays that way. Besides, I don't think towing has anything to do with it. Oh and the temp. runs at about 170 when towing.

skyhammer · 11-21-2005, 02:41 PM

A million plus Titans? I think you are 80% plus off on your #'s.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 11-21-2005, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Up

I was suffering the same symptoms that my brother's Buick Grand National had when the spider gear went bad. So I'm thinking my spider gear was bad.

I don't agree about recalls as the only 2 that I know about are the trailer harness recall and early 2004 seatbelt recall.

All other problems were TSBs and Nissan never did bring the most major of these up until they were facing a class action lawsuite over the brake judder issue.

I've been more than pleased on how my TSBs had been handled. Most being fixed the first attempt and some later due to part orders.

The problem for me was when the brake pedal was bouncing off of the floor, it scared the living sh*t out of me. Then I thought what if I was pulling the trailer. That was "after" 2 rotor turns and a permanent brake replacement. I was looking at Dodge Durangos and was turned off by pretty much everything except 3rd row seat space, and it's towing capabilities. The negatives were stronger than the benefits and why I didn't consider it anymore.

Not even 3 weeks later, the rear end started going out and that was the final straw for my nerves. I really liked the Pathfinder after driving it and finding it had so many benefits over the Durango except for the 3rd row seat room and extra towing capacity. Struck a deal and now the Titan is gone and I'm in the Pathy. I would certainly hope that others don't have this experience but I know there are plenty on this forum that have had the same experiences as I and some a lot worse. I'm not as strong as them, to stick it out. I didn't want to wait and see what would happen next when pulling my camper 700 miles away. That's why I got out, although I really loved the Titan performance, ride quality, and interior room. Unfortunately I was really starting to hate everything else about it including the mind numbing rattles.

In the future when the Titan is redesigned, I'll feel safe in trying it once again, but only if it come in 3/4 ton trim.

Have a good one.

Your problems were far from the norm though Mike. Nissan was never threatened, that I've ever heard about, of any class action suit. Nissan put out the TSB to send a heads up to its' dealers that they've had some issues, but not enough to warrant a full recall. If you had brakes that went to the floor, that's not part of the "brake judder" issue, you obviously had other problems with your truck....maybe it was built on a Friday!..lol. As for the bad rear ends, it just goes to prove that there aren't as many out there as some may thing.....there's not even a TSB out for rear end issues. But I'd still love to hear from someone whos' torn apart a bad rear end!

Vyrus · 11-21-2005, 09:45 PM

My rear diff went out at 9000 miles, never towed anything. Needless to say I am very dissapointed.

The dealer said he's done quite a few of these before (2 in the past 2 weeks alone), so his mechanic's won't have any problems with it. That should say something. A bad something.

-Cyrus