[crash2045]

I have a 2008 rear axle in my 2004 Titan LE 4x4 big tow. It is a locking 3.36 just like the original. I'll spare you the story but at any rate I have a bent drivers side axle and the differential is acting a little weird. When I jack up the rear of the truck and put it in gear it spins a little then grinds. It only does this under idle, if there is any throttle then it wont grind. Also when the tires are on the pavement, it acts normal. Any way, I decided to replace the rear end or at least the differential and drivers side axle.

So, here's my question.
I came across a 2004 differential from a Non-locking 2.94 rear end over in the buy-sell section. I do have the axles from my original rear-end. Can I put this differential with my old axles in the 2008 housing with the 2008 3.36 gear set? In my mind I can't see why this wouldn't work but I want the Titan Talk community's input on this before I jump in, just to find I wasted my time and money, neither of which I have a whole lot of right now.

 

[bestatchess]

Negative. The Timken Set 10 axle bearings for the 2004 1.41" diameter axle shafts will not fit the machined tube ends of the 2008 rear axle housing, which requires Timken Set 80 bearings.

Caveat: You might be able to do some trick custom stuff like sleeve the housing bore or find a specialty bearing sized to fit the Timken Set 80 race and the Timken Set 10 ID (i.e. press fit onto the 1.41" 2004 axle shaft). If you figure that out, you will have a bunch of people interested that want to install TrueTracs in 2008+ trucks. If I was pursuing that, I would call Hoopers and/or Arizona Differential.

And that assumes there are no other dimensional changes that would affect mounting a 2004 differential carrier in a 2008+ housing (and there may be other changes besides the tube end bore size). I would call Arizona Differential and see if they could figure it out. Cuz they could sell a kit to install TruTracs into 2008+ trucks if they could get it worked out.

 

[crash2045]

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm not wanting to really get into any custom stuff. TruTrac, maybe but that's if I can find another rear-end I can swap my gears into it, if it's a 2.96 ratio and I already have her opened up. trying to stay on the cheaper end of things, considering I just bought a new GSX-R 600 and I managed to convince my wife this wouldn't dip to deep into our pockets.

 

[pipho]

My truck does the same thing, I was sure it was a bent axle but now Im not so sure I think its in the brakes. I keep waiting for it to get worse to figure it out but it hasnt. When I jack the truck up and spin the rear tire it rotates 3/4 of a turn the groans to a stop. It only does it when moving slow, spin it fast and it goes away, I also notice it when I drive slow against a wall. I replaced my rotor also thinking it was a warped rotor and 2 days later it came back.

 

[04BlackTitanLE]

Maybe you bent the caliper bracket so everything is sitting in there crooked.

 

[crash2045]

My axle is definitely bent. I spun into a dirt bank when I guy lost control on some ice coming at me. I took the wheel and caliper off the truck, then put her in gear. When the rotor spun it looked like an egg. Its definitely fubar.

 

[04BlackTitanLE]

Maybe all you need then is a new axle shaft if all you bent was the flange that the lug nuts are pressed into and not the spider gears or anything. Which side is it? Doing a quick car-part search of the nation the average price seems to be about $125-$150 per side.

 

[Nightstalker 6]

Maybe all you need then is a new axle shaft if all you bent was the flange that the lug nuts are pressed into and not the spider gears or anything. Which side is it? Doing a quick car-part search of the nation the average price seems to be about $125-$150 per side.

After getting into my axle seals and bearings, I am leaning towards the statement by 04. The axle itself seems to be a robust part with a minor flaw on the seal. I'd also venture to say that the axle end is bent and not anything with the spiders. You can pull that axle out and look at it yourself, but be aware that once you pull the seal, Nissan recomends replacing, not reusing.. that would include bearings and spacers unless you got them pressed off at a machine shop. even then, they could mess up the bearings.

I'd look for a complete new axle.

 

[bestatchess]

Not hard to jack it up and inspect the shaft and the tube end machined bore. If you have it on level ground and jack up one side, you won't even lose any gear oil when you pull the shaft. The bearing supports the shaft at the end of the tube housing and the side gear supports the inner end, so, yes, I would think it would tend to bend outwards of the bearing near the flange. Yeah, Nissan says to replace seal any time you pull shaft (of course the seals are notorious for leaking no matter what you do). But you can also wipe off the perimeter of the seal and the machined housing bore and put a thin layer of Permatex Ultra Black Oil Resistant RTV around the outer periphery of the seal before you put it back.

 

[titanmike]

Not hard to jack it up and inspect the shaft and the tube end machined bore. If you have it on level ground and jack up one side, you won't even lose any gear oil when you pull the shaft. The bearing supports the shaft at the end of the tube housing and the side gear supports the inner end, so, yes, I would think it would tend to bend outwards of the bearing near the flange. Yeah, Nissan says to replace seal any time you pull shaft (of course the seals are notorious for leaking no matter what you do). But you can also wipe off the perimeter of the seal and the machined housing bore and put a thin layer of Permatex Ultra Black Oil Resistant RTV around the outer periphery of the seal before you put it back.

Ever try that with a seal thats already leaking? I may give it a shot and see if it works. I have 75k on the 06 and had a TT put in around 30k. I didn't change the seals then and they have finally started leaking. Although its not that bad yet.

 

[Nightstalker 6]

Chess, you might be on to something totally different there, why not do the black etc with a new seal. mabee that is the one last time fix. I might try that with the drivers side seal when I do it.

thanks bro.

 

[04BlackTitanLE]

Thats weird, i've pulled my axle shafts multiple times and reinstalled them with the same seal and have never had an axle seal leak. But then I upgraded lol.

 

[bestatchess]

Chess, you might be on to something totally different there, why not do the black etc with a new seal. mabee that is the one last time fix. I might try that with the drivers side seal when I do it.

thanks bro.

That is what I did when I recently replaced the seals. I dunno if they were leaking around the periphery of the seals or around the central hole in the seal that receives the axle shaft. It is something that a lot of the Jeep guys do when replacing Dana 44 axle seals. The new seal (at least the one I got from Nissan) also comes with a little grease dam around the central hole.