[Carrot Top]

I just changed me rear diff oil last saturday and found pieces of metal on my magnetic drain plug. In total about 6 pieces (1 large and 5 small pieces). The largest looks like part of a tooth off the ring gear. I have an 04 CC with OR and BT with locking rear diff. I have 72,000 miles on it. (out of warranty) I went to the dealer to find out what Nissan would do for me. They sent Nissan a request to help pay for the repair but Nissan declined and said they would not pay for any of it (no goodwill). I then asked how much does it cost to replace the rear axle and was told $3,800 parts and labor. I was blown away!

I have read all the threads on Titan Talk with great interest. It appears most have had the rear ends replaced while covered under warranty. Since mine is not covered and I did not purchase an extended warranty I have these questions.
My questions are:
1) Why can't the broken gear just be replaced vs buying a new rear end?
2) Are parts (ring, pinion, spider gears) available to purchase to repair rear end by a qualified repair shop?
3) Can I keep my locking rear end after replacing broken gears?
4) Has somebody else repaired theirs? If so how much did it cost you?
5) If I have to buy an axle from the dealer how much is a fair price for the part?
6) Has anybody put an other brand/size axle into their Titan? Other then a Dana 44.
7) Is there any other options I have not thought of?

I''m still driving the truck. I don't know how long I have before total failure.

I appreciate any help to these questions.

 

[HudsonValleyTitan]

Other than complete replacement of the rear diff, you could switch to a TruTrak LSD differential. Problem is, you lose the E-LOCKER.

 

[Carrot Top]

I just spoke with my driveline shop for pricing on my options to replace my rear diff. Here is what I found out:

Cost to buy and install TrueTrac is $982.
Cost to buy and install OEM Rear Locker is $1200.

They have an OEM locker in stock so I asked if it has 2 spider gears or 4. They said it has 2. I thought I read on Titan Talk that Nissan replaced the old design with a new 4 spider gear model. Can anybody clarify this for me? I would like to keep my locker if I can but I don't want the old weak design if I can get a stronger spider gear model.

If I cannot get the stronger model I think I'm better off going with the TrueTrac.

 

[helomech]

Does it look something like this. This is the spider gear teeth. When they replaced mine they told me it was with a different rear end and it had 4 instead of 2.

 

[bbomar]

I would go with the Tru-Trac!!!

If you want to get a rear end that you can choose the Gears on.........

http://www.dynatrac.com/

 

[Elias60]

I've had my rearend changed twice at $3800 a pop. I paid $1600 for my extended Warranty I guess Im ahead $6000 I guess you have to look for some silver lining in the rearend cloud fiasco!

 

[Carrot Top]

Helomech,
Yes your pictures are exactly what I found. One big tooth and several small fragments. I spoke with a different mechanic today and he suggested going with the TrueTrac since the OEM unit is so weak. I called the driveline store here in Las Vegas and they are going to see if they can even get the OEM Locker with 4 spider gears. I won't know till next week. I will post this info when I get it. So far I'm leaning towards the TrueTrac LSD. It's cheaper in cost and I think stronger. It would be a shame if I went with the OEM and sometime in the near future was in the same situation with another broken spider gear. Fix it right the first time and last time.

 

[54warrior]

My questions are:
1) Why can't the broken gear just be replaced vs buying a new rear end?
2) Are parts (ring, pinion, spider gears) available to purchase to repair rear end by a qualified repair shop?
3) Can I keep my locking rear end after replacing broken gears?
4) Has somebody else repaired theirs? If so how much did it cost you?
5) If I have to buy an axle from the dealer how much is a fair price for the part?
6) Has anybody put an other brand/size axle into their Titan? Other then a Dana 44.
7) Is there any other options I have not thought of?

1) Nissan won't sell just the gears because their fix has been to just replace the rearends under warranty. I was wondering what was gonna happen when guys such as you, who are out of warranty, have a failure. Answer--they try screwing you into buying a complete new rear axle/diff assembly....total BS

2) Not that I'm aware of

3) Chances are that it's your spider gears that failed and I haven't seen any aftermarket ANYTHING available for our rearends aside from the Tru-Trac.

6) Yes. PRG aka PrerunnerGreg, owner of PRG Products has a custom Ford 9" rear end in his 2WD Titan. It's not that simple on a 4WD truck though, because the front and rear diff's have to co-exist. Right now, the only aftermarket item available for the Titan is the Detroit Tru-Trac LSD which has been previously mentioned. Even it's only available for the rear though. There are no gear options for the rear or front, and no locker/lsd options for the front. The Tru-Trac rear LSD is all that's out there for the stock rear end.

I hope some of that helps??:cheers:

 

[Carrot Top]

Here is my update from the Driveline Shop. They called Spicer regarding the OEM Locker and found out there are no changes to the original 2 spider gear model. There is no 4 spider gear model. They even told the Driveline shop that the OEM Locker is prone to failure. Nissan is replacing rearends with no better a model then the Titan had before. Based on that info I am not going to pay for another OEM Locking differentiial that will break again.

I went ahead and had them order me a Detroit TrueTrac differential. Mr rear diff is making noises now so time is of the urgency. I would recommend every Titan owner to regularly change their rear diff oil for the first signs of metal on the magnetic plug. (absolutely check it right before the warranty expires at 60,000) Then get your Titan in to Nissan for replacement. Get yours covered under warranty before it expires like mine did. It will cost me $1000 to fix with the TrueTrak.

Question for anybody who has replaced their Locker with the TrueTrak. What did you do with the electrical wiring running to the rear diff and the module attached to the rear diff. Does it just stay there or does it have to be removed from the housing?

 

[bbomar]

$1000!!!!

I hope that's rounded up!!

Usually around $800

 

[Herbpov]

Here is my update from the Driveline Shop. They called Spicer regarding the OEM Locker and found out there are no changes to the original 2 spider gear model. There is no 4 spider gear model. They even told the Driveline shop that the OEM Locker is prone to failure. Nissan is replacing rearends with no better a model then the Titan had before. Based on that info I am not going to pay for another OEM Locking differentiial that will break again.

I went ahead and had them order me a Detroit TrueTrac differential. Mr rear diff is making noises now so time is of the urgency. I would recommend every Titan owner to regularly change their rear diff oil for the first signs of metal on the magnetic plug. (absolutely check it right before the warranty expires at 60,000) Then get your Titan in to Nissan for replacement. Get yours covered under warranty before it expires like mine did. It will cost me $1000 to fix with the TrueTrak.

Question for anybody who has replaced their Locker with the TrueTrak. What did you do with the electrical wiring running to the rear diff and the module attached to the rear diff. Does it just stay there or does it have to be removed from the housing?

That is the same as I was told. There is no updated differential. They will just keep replacing them until your warranty runs out and then it's the owners pay. There is no fix, that why they don't sell the parts. Just a roll of the dice when the rear will fail.

 

[TallTexan]

Welcome to Nissan! That means the 08's will start failing soon .

 

[Herbpov]

Does anyone know what they do with the rearends that they take out? I'm beginning to believe that they rebiuld them and use them as replacement rearend. That's maybe why the replacement ones have a different part number. Just something to think about.

 

[TallTexan]

Does anyone know what they do with the rearends that they take out? I'm beginning to believe that they rebiuld them and use them as replacement rearend. That's maybe why the replacement ones have a different part number. Just something to think about.

I think you are right! When I had two new diffs start whinning at about 2k and both had dates of 10-16-06, something smelled fishey. Later I noticed others that failed after mine had replacements with that same date. The are feeding us re-runs. A friend with a 07 had his diff fail and his new diff had a date within 2 months of the date his failed. My truck is a 2wd and the problems I had was leaking wheel seals and whinning comming from the ring and pinion. I think they sent them back to factory or local shop and adjusted the r&p and sent them back out. About what I would expect.

 

[Carrot Top]

Well guys I had to have my Titan towed to the Driveline shop on Monday. My rearend was making so much noise that I was afraid to drive it across town. Now the cost of getting my TrueTrak just went up by a tow charge. My Titan should be done by tomorrow and I can't wait to drive it and check out the new TrueTrak differential. I will report back.

 

[thclimer]

Carrot Top,

Sorry to hear you had to have the trucked towed. I was wondering if you were using synthetic gear oil? How often had you changed the gear oil? Also, do you have the finned differential cover? Good luck with the TruTack, sounds like most are very happy with theirs.

 

[Carrot Top]

thclimer,
Yes, I installed the finned cover as soon as it was available in 2005. After reading all the posts on rear end problems I didn't want to take any chances. I also did my first rear diff oil change after break in at 1200 miles. The original oil was so black and burnt smelling you would have thought that it was in there for 50,000 miles! At that time I went with Mobile 1 75-90wt synthetic. After I got the finned cover I switched to Mobil 1 75-140 wt synthetic per Nissans recommentation. I have regularly changed my rear diff oil every 20,000 miles. Always Mobile 1 since the original break in oil.

I think I took too good of care of my rear diff. If I hadn't been so paranoid about taking care of the rear diff I think it would have failed earlier under warranty. Saving me the $1,000 to pay to fix it now out of warranty. I think all the locking diffs are a bad design and are prone to failure.

I hope the TrueTrak will last the life of the truck. Can't wait to get it back from the shop.

 

[Bullwinkle]

I would not go through the dealer if your truck is out of warranty. Go to an independent shop & get a new or rebuilt Dana 44 put in with gears & locker/limited slip of your choice. End of rear end problems.

 

[Dom249]

thclimer,
Yes, I installed the finned cover as soon as it was available in 2005. After reading all the posts on rear end problems I didn't want to take any chances. I also did my first rear diff oil change after break in at 1200 miles. The original oil was so black and burnt smelling you would have thought that it was in there for 50,000 miles! At that time I went with Mobile 1 75-90wt synthetic. After I got the finned cover I switched to Mobil 1 75-140 wt synthetic per Nissans recommentation. I have regularly changed my rear diff oil every 20,000 miles. Always Mobile 1 since the original break in oil.

I think I took too good of care of my rear diff. If I hadn't been so paranoid about taking care of the rear diff I think it would have failed earlier under warranty. Saving me the $1,000 to pay to fix it now out of warranty. I think all the locking diffs are a bad design and are prone to failure.

I hope the TrueTrak will last the life of the truck. Can't wait to get it back from the shop.

I wouldnt blame you..I couldnt wait neither till my trutrac was done being installed. I love it. Everyone loves it, you'll love it, just be carefull when its wet, itll really put you sideways in a jiffy.

 

[Carrot Top]

Thanks for the heads up on the sideways action. I will have to learn what new driving characteristics having a TrueTrak creates. I'm sure I will have fun. Does anybody know if there is a breakin period and if so what is the recommended breakin procedure?