[Carczar]

Hello fellow members. I have a 2004 Nissan Titan King Cab 2WD with 101K miles that has a leaking rear right axle seal. So, I am planning to replace the seal shortly. I will also take advantage of the teardown to take a look and service the parking brake shoes as well as the rear differential fluid. I have a couple of questions. If I have to adjust/replace the parking brake shoes, it states on the NFSM to not reuse the 10mm adjusting nut if removed. I'm referring to the one that lies close to the parking brake pedal that you have to loosen up or remove to adjust the parking brakes. Why does it need to be replaced? I haven't looked yet, just read the manual. Is the nut a locknut or nylock nut? Secondly, the NFSM also states that the 12 bolts that hold the cover on the pumpkin cannot be reused. Is that also necessary, or can I run a die of the appropriate size to clean the threads on the bolts and a tap to clean the threads on the pumpkin and reuse the bolts with some threadlocker? Any responses will be appreciated. Thanks. :nerd:

 

[HRTKD]

I haven't taken mine apart but I would expect the parking brake lever adjusting nut to be a nylock nut. As long as it isn't backing itself off I don't see why you wouldn't reuse it.

 

[Carczar]

Thanks for the reply HRTKD. There's a similar nut on my '96 Altima on the parking brake handle. But I have loosened it to adjust several times. I have never removed it though. That car is 20 years old, but gravity doesn't work against it like the nut that faces down on the Titan. Any thoughts on the differential cover bolts?:smile:

 

[DeadRiver]

I think the hardware kit for the rear parking brakes is only 12 bucks and includes a new adjustment.

as for the rear differential bolts unless there is a specification that they are only good for one torque and then they fail you should be OK to reuse.

as you can see I was unable to reuse mine

 

[Carczar]

Thanks DeadRiver. The nut I'm referring to is by the parking brake pedal inside the cab of the truck. The NFSM states not to reuse the nut. It labels it with a star which means to replace if removed. But I am assuming that is if you remove it to replace the cable. As for the differential cover bolts, they come precoated with threadlocker from the factory. The NFSM states to not reuse them if removed. I was thinking of cleaning the threads of both parts (bolts and differential housing), and applying new threadlocker to bolts in order to save me around $30 for new bolts.

 

[HRTKD]

I would reuse the bolts on the differential cover. They aren't holding down something mechanical. It's just a cover. Use threadlocker to be sure.

 

[Carczar]

Your reasoning makes sense. I suppose the Nissan engineers state to replace those because perhaps when reinstalled without cleaning threads and reapplying threadlocker, they may loosen and you will lose fluid and perhaps lose your rearend and then perhaps lose your rearend literally....hahaha...:smile:

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[jdmartin]

You can definitely reuse the cover bolts. I have replaced the cover with used bolts with no ill effects thousands of miles ago. Some red thread locker on the ends. As for the nut, I haven't actually removed mine but have loosened it. Unless something comes off when you take it off, or there's a nylon insert in there, I can't see how reusing it would matter. I've reused cylinder head bolts on lots of vehicles, even though those are *technically* stretch to torque items - all it means for them is that you have to be diligent when torqueing, and willing to recheck after you got some heat/cool cycles. In the case of a parking brake nut, hell it's inside the cabin. Sometimes you have to take service manuals with a grain of salt - they're usually written by engineers, and as someone who has spent the better part of 2 decades working with engineers sometimes they lose sight of the fact that something that works on paper doesn't in practice, and vice versa.

 

[stroked93]

you don't have to remove the Diff cover to change the wheel seals. the axle is held in with the Bearing retainer plate at the wheel. Save the time and trouble. Just drain it with the drain plug and refill.