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Metal in rear diff oil


Mattmill91
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Drained and checked found a lot of metal fine particle and some larger chunks... I never learn. If the trucks talking try an listen...

 

 

Decent whine at speed..

 

How long every one betting.

 

Have a 500 mile drive tomorrow... should I just send it.

 

241d5276437df915f826941a6e7536ee.jpg

 

 

 

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Rear wheels bearings went out 2 years ago at 202k currently at 213k. Aprox 11k miles later. Wheels are fine but wondering what bearings starting to fail. Prolly the input bearings?


New to the gears. Interested in learning so those with knowledge please jump in

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Those bits are hard to see on my phone, but they look like the bits are from bearings rather than the gears. If you have a limited slip, could be bits from the clutch and drive plates. If you are not noticing any strange movements, should be ok for your trip. 

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That does look like a fair bit of stuff that shouldn't be in the oil, assuming the drain pan was clean to start with (there's usually all manner of bugs and whatnot stuck to mine). Hopefully your drive went alright.

 

I haven't had a rear axle to bits, but a few guys on here have had theirs apart for diff upgrades and whatnot. You can download the service manual from Nico for free as well, looks like the PD section covers the rear diff.

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500 miles down ! Made it. No crazy noises. Thanks for advice.

Think 11k miles ago I didn’t put in LSD oil post the wheel falling off.

And there was a strange noise when turning that it would make for a little.

The pan wAs dirty. The big bits of black crap where there u was just taking about the metal chunks.

Thinking more about it I prolly did damage the LSD.

There was a lot of fine metal particle in the oil

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Yeah, that could explain the debris. You could just grab a third member from the wreckers, easier to replace the center than the whole axle. The '00-'01 Xterra LSD is supposed to be better than the R50 LSD if you can find it, might be a good excuse to upgrade.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made it 1139 or so miles. Made my trip and returned. Then today coming home from work it made a terrible noise and screech for about 30 seconds then slowly went away. .. I am starting to think it’s the in pinion gear bearing. but she is surely on the wayyys out.

 

 

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True that! I was 15 and I took my parent’s 1985 Volvo 240 out for a drive in what was supposed to only be in our neighborhood but I actually took it across town. I was coasting in neutral at about 50mph when I accidentally threw it in reverse instead of drive and it instantly started spinning around in circles right in the middle of the road.

Luckily it stopped perfectly on the side of the road as if I had pulled off on purpose. I made it home before the rear end died but it never left the driveway under its own power again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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Yeah this weekend I am going to toss in this open I had from when my wheel fell off. Since I got a whole axel cheap (different ratio no LSD) few years ago. Some time it pays to keep some junk around. IMG_2511.jpg

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Not sure if rebuilding or buying a new (used one) is the way to go.

 

There’s a 02 xttera on eBay for about 300-350 on eBay

 

Pretty sure I have a 4.6 lsd. It’s a 97 SE 4x4 manual. Adjustments.jpg.09664bfae5b201b3f6d98254ef1b7dae.jpg

 

HG 46? Is the 4.6 ratio correct?

 And as far as gear ratio the higher it is the “lower the ratio” ie is 4.6 representing 4.6 pinion spins to one ring spin? Haven’t ever really dove in to the gears

 

Has any one installed a “lunch box locker” ? Know of any compatibility’s? Looked like a power trax was out there but it didn’t say pathfinder compatibilit. But did list the same axel and spline

 

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There are no lunchbox locker options for the rear axles on R50's without switching from 33 spline to the somewhat hard to find 31 spline axle shafts out of an early Supercharged Frontier. @hawairish covered the details in another thread but its a pretty involved job if you can find the axle shafts

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@Mattmill91

Replying to a few things here...

  1. Can I buy that double-cardan joint off you?  Not sure it helps me, but I like collecting drive train stuff, lol.  What gears are on that diff anyway (you can look for the ratio, it'll listed as ##:## on the perimeter of the ring gear).  Guessing 4.363 (48:11) from a 2wd 96-00 R50.
  2. The diff being sold on eBay...I'm certain that's not from a 2002 Xterra.  That style of carrier (4-pinion, 2-piece open diff) was used for 31-spline model H233B axles.  33-spline open diffs only ever had the 2-pinion, 1-piece open, like the one in your spare diff.  If anything, it came from a 99-00 (early 00) 31-spline Frontier, or possibly older WD21 Pathfinder or D21 Pickup.
  3. If that diff came from any of the trucks I mentioned, the HG46 would actually mean it has 4.625 gears.  33-spline HG46 is 4.636.  Trivial difference, but a difference nonetheless.
  4. The picture of that diff is from a rather old eBay listing I saw years ago (I've used that exact pic to reference that specific style of carrier several times in other discussions).  The "Ace" logo and yellow stickers are from Ace Pickup Parts, a JY in Tucson, AZ.
  5. The Lock Right locker you linked does fit that eBay differential perfectly, but in order to make it work in your truck, you'd need 31-spline axle shafts.  The shafts from a 99-00 Frontier work, as do ones from C200 Frontiers (I have a write up about this).  The internals from a 33-spline unit won't swap.  Not sure if @TowndawgR50 is still going to do the 31-spline swap, but he has all the parts you'd need.
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So your one the money of the open diff I have sitting here from the time I lost a wheel bearing... I used those axel shafts and 3rd member housing ( correct term?) but just hooked up my diff that was on the truck. (Didn’t wana fight with the drive line bolts at uni)

 

 

So you kinda went over that fast.

 

 

So your saying if the parts of the eBay listing are not what is pictured but are what they claim to be (02 terra lsd) they wouldn’t work? Cause I have a 33 spline not a 31 spline ?

 

And the locker is a 31. That was used in newer axels on frontiers ?

 

The locker was just a fun idea I thought of.

 

 

[mention=36148]hawairish[/mention][mention=37543]TowndawgR50[/mention]

 

You guys rock! I appreciate the support and guidance.

 

But in mean time tossing in this open and obviously not using 4wheel is a decent solution to keep me in the truck commuting to work (7 miles) instead of bicycle ridden. In these terrible Central Valley winters of CA.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Mattmill91 said:

Lunch boxes don’t like trailers? I do tow a pair of stand up skis around in the summer. Didn’t consider limiting factors. emoji848.png

I wouldn't tow with a rear differential lunch box. They're great for a dedicated trail rig but under load they lock the rear axle up, which would be most of the time with a trailer.

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If the diff really is an 02 Xterra open diff, it'll look exactly like the diff you've already got, not like the one in the eBay listing.  If it's an 02 Xterra LSD diff, then it'll fit your truck perfectly because it'll be 33-spline.

 

The Lock Right itself isn't splined for 31- or 33-spline ale shafts, but it re-uses the 31-spline side gears.  As confirmed in another one of my posts, the 31- and 33-spline side gears are cut very differently, so the 33-spline side gears won't mate with the Lock Right's components (and the 33-spline side gears won't fit that 31-spline open carrier).  Given all that, the Lock Right can only work in 31-spline applications that have the open diff.

 

Across all H233B carriers, the LSD carrier is identical, and LSD internals can be interchanged.  It's the open diffs that are different.

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And yeah, mechanical lockers are great for what they are, but keep in mind they are more like "unlockers"...they're always locked under torque, and will only unlock when one tire needs to rotate faster than the other (say, around corners).  The moment you give it gas, it'll lock up again.  It's all negligible when going straight.  But, it's not something I'd want to have when towing.  (On the flip side, GM trucks have optional Eaton G80 mechanical lockers that are always unlocked, and will auto-lock when there's enough slip/rotation...pretty neat.)

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Ok so we can toss the idea of the lock right out maybe some day I’ll get a air locker.

 

And so I should swap this diff out so it don’t explode on me. Then I’ll have to decide either rebuild diff I have. Depending on damage carnage inside.

 

Or buy the one from eBay that is if the item is a 4.6 xterra LSD - and to buy it whole for the full $365 for the whole unit or just get the guts for $300. I suppose $65 might be be worth the possibility and pain of improperly setting gear backlash and such. Plus the pressing in and out of bearings of housing. I do tend to learn the hard way and slowly. Why do it right once. When you can do it wrong TWICE. b44443115892de0cabb3ef532cd07768.jpg

 

Fairly confident it’s that pinion bearing on the inner side. I’d think that’s the one which takes the most load. But it could be the axel shaft side bearings.

 

 

 

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