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Rear end swap

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Jay Moore

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hello gang, I am a new member so go easy on me.


I recently purchased a 2004 Titan and was told not to use four wheel drive as it binds up, well snow is about to fly so I need to do this soon. The VIN of my Titan says I am suppose to have 2.94 gears and I marked the rear drive shaft and tires and I count that the rear gears in my Titan is a 3.34 which would explain why it binds up in four wheel drive on pavement. On slippery surface the four wheel drive works just fine, I only did a short test to see if everything was fine except for the gearing mismatch.


Through investigation I see the 3.34 rear end goes for more money than the 2.94. Ultimately I would like to do a clean swap so I don't have to pay for a rear end and then have the other one sitting around. I guess I could always sell it but money would be tied up until I sold it and I don't even know how to go about selling one. I am located in Southern New Hampshire and if anyone has any info for me to on where to look into doing this it would be much appreciated.

I don't know why someone did this, the truck is near mint with hardly any rust so maybe the original owner lived in a climate where there wasn't any snow never intended to use the four wheel drive and wanted the higher gear ratio for towing or whatever.

It's great to become a member here. I look forward to taking great care of my Titan as I love it, probably my favorite truck I have ever owned and I intend to drive it into the ground. I got a good deal on it because of the four wheel drive issue and some other minor stuff. I replaced the alternator, front left wheel bearing and a ignition coil over plug pack.

Thanks for reading!
 
#2 ·
Welcpme to the Titan family!

Sounds like somebody had a rearend go out on them, and just grabbed the closest/cheapest one they could find. You have two options. You can swap the rear ring & pinion (probably around $800-1,000 or a little more, and you will want to think about upgrading your rear diff while you're in there, for another $400 or so), or you can find a later model front axle with the improved c-clip design, with 3.36 gearing, and swap the front to match the rear. Depends on what you want to do and whether you are handy or would be paying someone to do either job.
 
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Discussion starter · #3 ·
dubyam said:
Welcpme to the Titan family!

Sounds like somebody had a rearend go out on them, and just grabbed the closest/cheapest one they could find. You have two options. You can swap the rear ring & pinion (probably around $800-1,000 or a little more, and you will want to think about upgrading your rear diff while you're in there, for another $400 or so), or you can find a later model front axle with the improved c-clip design, with 3.36 gearing, and swap the front to match the rear. Depends on what you want to do and whether you are handy or would be paying someone to do either job.
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Hello dubyman! Thank you for welcoming me to the family and all your info.


The 3.36 rear end in it looks like it is the newer version with the cooling fins on the diff cover. The gas mileage isn't great but I really do like driving it with the 3.36 rear end :) so maybe I will look into swapping out the front end. I was an ASE certified mechanic about 15 years ago so I will be doing all the work myself. Is it as simple as just swapping the ring and pinion up front? Or do I have to do the housing and everything else? How much do you think that will end up running me in parts?

Thanks again for all your help!
 
#4 ·
I'm with you on the 3.36 gears being fun to drive, but sucking down the fuel. For swapping the frontend, you could do R&P, and of course consider bearings and seals while you're in there, but you're already thinking that, I'm sure. Or, you could find a good front diff (case and all) and just swap it. The difference is work versus cost, as you already know. It will depend on what you want to do, versus the parts availability on the used market.

One consideration is the change in front diff (the c-clip improvement referenced in my first post). I forget off the top of my head what year it happened, but it was done to prevent the front shafts from slipping out of the diff when the c-clips fell off. Might be worth running down those details and finding a new style front diff and just doing an assembly R&R.
 
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
dubyam said:
I'm with you on the 3.36 gears being fun to drive, but sucking down the fuel. For swapping the frontend, you could do R&P, and of course consider bearings and seals while you're in there, but you're already thinking that, I'm sure. Or, you could find a good front diff (case and all) and just swap it. The difference is work versus cost, as you already know. It will depend on what you want to do, versus the parts availability on the used market.

One consideration is the change in front diff (the c-clip improvement referenced in my first post). I forget off the top of my head what year it happened, but it was done to prevent the front shafts from slipping out of the diff when the c-clips fell off. Might be worth running down those details and finding a new style front diff and just doing an assembly R&R.
Click to expand...
How can I tell the difference in the C-clip design? If I pop off the front cover will I be able to tell that way? So say I open up the front differential and it does have the improved C-clip design I'd like to just do the R&P, bearings and seals. I don't know if there is a thread on here that goes into detail the difference between the old style vs newer improved style.
 
#6 ·
2007 definitely had the newer design on the front differential. Some of that may have bled back into late 2006 models, but that's not a sure thing (urban legend).

I would be inclined to stick with the OEM ratio so that the speedometer is correct.
 
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Discussion starter · #7 ·
HRTKD said:
2007 definitely had the newer design on the front differential. Some of that may have bled back into late 2006 models, but that's not a sure thing (urban legend).

I would be inclined to stick with the OEM ratio so that the speedometer is correct.
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That is my original intention, and what I'll probably do but going over my options with the Titan experts on here is fun and who knows what I will end up doing. It depends on a lot of variables. After driving it with the 3.36 gears I'll tell you it's fun, and better for towing but I don't tow that often and when I do they are light loads.

I drove up to the white mountains to visit a friend today and noticed a noise coming from the rear end. When I got home I put the rear end on jack stands and ran it through some gears and the right side outer axle bearing is moaning. Not good. This pretty much makes me want to change the rear end back to 2.94. I'll post some pictures and pull some numbers off of it but ultimately I would like to keep the housing and change the ring and pinion, differential, and both axles with new bearings and seals if possible. Some more experienced members I hope can tell me if this is possible.
 
#8 ·
My opinion, FWIW, stay with the 3.36 gears... fix the bearing/seals and swap in a later 2008+ front diff that will be stronger. Just my 2 cents.
 
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#10 ·
Certainly can go that route ^^^^, but I would worry about the older front diff style. They had issues with axle pull out and case cracking. The later diffs with additional webbing on the casting and improved axle retention still aren't real robust, but they are considerably better than the pre-2007 models. Maybe price out a used, newer model, 3.36 front diff. The swap is relatively easy. Properly setting up ring and pinion gear sets isn't for the faint of heart. Again, just my two cents.
 
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#11 ·
I've had both gear sets. The 3.36 has noticeably quicker acceleration from "seat of the pants" and got about 1 MPG worse fuel economy. I never noticed much difference either way towing but I was never that close to the limits either way. The 2.94 gears have been more durable for me, as I'm up to about 153k on this rear; my last one (big tow, which is the 3.36 gears), I was at about 75k and there was a whine starting to become noticeable.
 
#12 ·
I towed a 10,000lb trailer 2600 miles across the country with the 2.94 gears, no problem

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
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#14 ·
So I need some thoughts on this I swapped a 2004 with a 2006 rear end can't see any numbers on the 2006 to find out the gear ratio I believe my old one is a 2.94 and as I read here I kinda feel like the 2006 is the 3.36 ever since I've swapped them I've had every light on the dash including the vgc,abs slip, an the check engine which was on prior cause of an O2 sensor my 4 wheel drive will engage sometimes most of the time not thought I guess I'm not sure. Where to start any ideas from the Nissan guys out there ( everyone is right about the 3.36 being funnier to drive.
 
#15 ·
You need to confirm your gear ratios. If they are miss matched 2.94 front diff and 3.36 rear diff. 4x4 system will never engage properly and if it does it will bind. From your post it sounds like you have already tried to engage the system knowing everything is miss matched.

I have to ask, why in the world would you purchase a used rear diff without first confirming your vehicle's original gear ratio and purchase the correct rear-end? 🤔

Now you're here asking for help because the system is binding and your dash is lit up like Christmas? đź‘Ť
 
#16 ·
There are posts that show how to figure out the ratio by elevating the wheels off the ground, rotating them and counting the number of rotations of the driveshaft.
 
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#18 ·
If you can't address the issue now, disconnect the front driveshaft. I haven't had to change a front differential, but it seems to me that swapping the rear axle would be easier than swapping a front differential.
 
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#19 ·
So the drive shaft is removed I guess I'm not sure why that would matter because it don't spin unless it's in 4 wheel drive any way right when I did go-to remove it it spun freely an I wasnt sure if that is right or did I already break something I think so no strange noises at all. Well thanks for helping me guys enjoy yet another Nissan day
 
#20 ·
These trucks don't have a freewheeling front end (no lock-out hubs). So your front driveshaft turns any time you're rolling. Not a big deal, technically, unless you engage 4wd, at which point your front and rear axles will turn at different rates and your drivetrain will bind, unless you're in very sloppy stuff which allows easy wheelspin.
 
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