Front Axles Sliding Out 2004 CC

Vegas04 · 03-01-2008, 01:48 PM

Hi, I have a 2004 CC 4x4 with PRG spacers up front. The truck has the offroad package so the spacers are the thinner type. My axle on the right side slides out while driving and dumps oil on the ground. This is VERY ANNOYING and will soon lead to destruction of my front diff. Has anyone out there taken apart the front diff? Are their C-Clips to prevent the shafts from sliding out? I removed the half-shafts and was then able to slide the stub axle all the way out of its splines. If I remove the strut I will be able to slide out the entire stub shaft. My frienly neighborhood stealership and I are going round-and-round on this. He blames the lift, I blame him... and so on. Any advice would be helful. BTW: I called Greg's shop and got no answer. I wish now that I had called during business hours yesterday! Thanks!

SKEET · 03-01-2008, 03:45 PM

My dealership is changing out my entire front diff for the same problem.Originally they where going to just use a different clip but now they say there is still to much slack and ordered a new diff.

**walleeme** · 03-01-2008, 03:50 PM

There is supposed to be a C clip there.
Lots of people have reported this problem.

Vegas04 · 03-01-2008, 04:26 PM

thank you for responding... I lowered the front axle assembly and opened her up. Unfortunately you can't remove the stub shafts while the diff is installed. I pulled the stub shaft out that was giving me problems and I found that there is a groove in the middle of the splines and a ring installed inside. The clip has a matching groove in the side gear and it is supposed to expand once installed and lock the axle inside. However, if I can slide the stub shaft all the way and then give it a little shake and slide it right back in then it DEFINITELY is not working as designed. True, there should be no lateral pull on the stub shaft but... things happen.
Also, I found that the driver's side carrier bearings are very loose. There is a lot of play- as in: you can grab the ring gear and shake vigorously and the whole carrier wiggles around. I'm not even going to re-install it. I'm taking it as-is on Monday morning and camping out if I need to until its fixed.
WARNING to others: If you hear a pop when you turn corners- have it checked immediately. I have 2,700 miles left in my warranty... if they drag their feet I could get screwed.
thanks for listening to my rant.

SKEET · 03-01-2008, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegas04

thank you for responding... I lowered the front axle assembly and opened her up. Unfortunately you can't remove the stub shafts while the diff is installed. I pulled the stub shaft out that was giving me problems and I found that there is a groove in the middle of the splines and a ring installed inside. The clip has a matching groove in the side gear and it is supposed to expand once installed and lock the axle inside. However, if I can slide the stub shaft all the way and then give it a little shake and slide it right back in then it DEFINITELY is not working as designed. True, there should be no lateral pull on the stub shaft but... things happen.
Also, I found that the driver's side carrier bearings are very loose. There is a lot of play- as in: you can grab the ring gear and shake vigorously and the whole carrier wiggles around. I'm not even going to re-install it. I'm taking it as-is on Monday morning and camping out if I need to until its fixed.
WARNING to others: If you hear a pop when you turn corners- have it checked immediately. I have 2,700 miles left in my warranty... if they drag their feet I could get screwed.
thanks for listening to my rant.

As long as you take it in before the warranty is expires I don't see any problem.

Vegas04 · 03-03-2008, 03:19 PM

In case anyone is interested in this thread: I took the axle and side shafts to the dealership in the bed of my truck. I went straight to the service manager and he didn't flip out that I had removed the whole assembly. He acknowledged that the side shafts shouldn't just slip out with a little shaking and agreed that their was play in the carrier bearings and side gear thrust washer. He wrote up a ticket and took them from me. He didn't have a problem with me driving the truck without the front axle so I'm driving it as a 4x2. Tomorrow I will call and find out if they will be replacing the entire assembly. If not, I will call Nissan customer relations. The build date on my truck, btw, is 10-2004.

tootall_6_4 · 03-06-2008, 04:59 PM

I'm having the same problem with my drivers side axle sliding out. I went to work one friday morning and I had it in four wheel cause the roads had recently froze into a huge glare of ice. I then still had it in 4X4 when I left work. As soon as I backed out of my spot I heard clanking sounds from my drivers side axle. I then went home took my wheel off and saw that my cv boot was ripped so I naturally thought my joint was going out. Then the today I was leaving my parking spot at work and saw fresh oil on the ground. I looked at it and smelled it and sure enough it was that special smell of gear oil. I went home and saw that my axle had pulled away from my diff and was leaking oil. I don't have any lift on it so I know there shouldn't be anything pulling my axle from the diff. I just wanted to know more about this C clip. How hard was it to install? I already orderered a new axle assembly, but don't want the same thing to happen. And I really can't find any good diagram on the front diff to give me some sort of example to follow for the clip. If anyone could help me out that would be great. I'm really frustrated at Nissans lack of care in the axles. I just recently put in a whole new rear axle assembly for my titan and then find that they have all these problems. The should really have a recall especially with so many people having the same problems. They build this awesome looking truck with great packages, room, and power, but back it up with week axles. I love my titan to death, but never expected these problems with nissan's titan. I've never blown any axles in any other truck I've owned.

Vegas04 · 03-16-2008, 09:54 PM

Is your truck under warranty? You didn't order a new axle out-of-pocket I hope. Either way, the newer axles are supposed to be machined differently so that the c-clip doesn't give-up as easily.