Greetings. First I'd like to say thanks for supporting a site like this and the Titan truck. I've admired your products quite a bit since I first jumped on here.
I have a question regarding the front suspension on the Titan, more specifically the front axle assembly. As I'm sure you've seen and heard, quite a few owners have suffered from the axle shafts pulling out and dumping oil as well as ruining various parts. My front diff from my 2004 is currently in my garage while I try to figure out how to avoid shelling out over $1000 for a new front assembly. I bought my truck used in November with almost a 100,000 miles on it and promptly installed a leveling kit and new tires. During the cold snap and snow, my driver's side axle shaft dropped out and spilled a bunch of oil as well as ruining the seal on that side. After talking with fellow owners on a few threads, I have discovered that the differential assembly from 2004-2006 is at least 1/4 narrower than the new assembly that Nissan sources to fix this problem (the $1000+ part). I know for sure that the case was strengthened, but Nissan also changed the circlips they used to keep the axleshafts in, almost doubling the force required to pull them out from 600 to 1,000 from what I saw.
With regards to the fact that Nissan did widen the front assembly, do you believe it might be beneficial to add spacers in between the axle and CV shafts? I think the big rash of front axle failures we saw were related to a combination of cold weather causing the tolerances to slip, the force being too low to begin with, the rubber boots being cold and stiff and the added torque from 4wd and snow rocking the axle shafts out. I remember reading a thread (and I can't find it now) where another shop had recommended to a member having this issue that the CV axles could stand being longer.
Hopefully this wasn't too long and I would really like to hear your thoughts on this one. Thanks.
Derek Brown