AndyC

Yeah, the front dif is an R180. Not particularly strong but I wheeled mine for 5 seasons on 33's with no issues. If one were so inclined, an M205 from a Titan (assuming the gearing matches) can be bolted in utilizing V8 pathy cv's. Or a full Titan swap with M205, Titan UCA's and LCA's and cv's. An OE mid travel SL!

Who does twisties in a pathy?!

Timing chain, there have been issues with the guides. If it sounds at all like it has a super charger, the guides are failing and its a very expensive fix. Insure they have been replaced before purchase. There have been some issues with automatics and the radiators, same old Nissan thing. Another big issue just for the 2005 model is they had 2 spider gears instead of 4 and they are prone to breakage. I would check and see if it was an early production model or not. I really like that generation of Frontier or Xterra, but the 2005 is definitely problematic, so get as much info as you can before purchase.

Put it somewhat closer to stock.

I ran 255/85/16's on my xterra for years (BFGmt) great off road and little penalty on road, got 33x10.50s on the 92 now, pizza cutters are the way to go.

Yes, it's in the Naches area, I'm in the South Sound. Liberty is burning now, going camping off of 410 this weekend. We will see what trails look decent for the next trip.

Gone muddying lately? A little mud on the inside of the wheel can cause violent shakes.

X3 on some sliders, but my biggest bit of advice is to find an experienced local club. Good, patient spotters and folks with lots of extraction knowledge are worth more than any bolt on parts. Oh yeah, take lots of pictures, they help you and the rest get through the non-wheeling months.

This year? Haven't had the new to me pathy up to moon or funny rocks, but playing around with the idea of setting up a trip at the end of August. Lots of fun lines to play on! Let me know if there is any interest and I will post up a more definitive plan as it hatches.

Door dings? Hah! Want to throw the wet slip and slide in the back? Do it! Pile it to the roof with my tools and saws, NP. The thing works, kids like dancing on the hood, do that on a new truck!

Most certainly. You can also check the ujoints for play by twisting the driveline while in gear.

My 2c, repair what you've got. At least in my experience the Nissan cv's are much stouter than aftermarket.

This may be a pain in the ass solution, but maybe swap the shafts side to side and see if the problem follows. Could be the new shaft was assembled to tightly and is binding at that angle. It's a good 2 hrs of work, but it would narrow down your problem.

Are you going for looks or off road function? I've got the AC 3in kit, rear flexes great, the front has a lot of rake to it to keep the cv's happy. I hate to say it, but I would personally go the Mr. 510 route and run 33x10.50s keep the truck near stock height, low profile front UCA bump stops, super soft rear springs and shocks. That's my next plan...

I love those year z's. Is there a good way too clean up the intercooler piping? With such great lines, it looks like a two year old who didn't blow his nose!

So... How is Joe's cruiser now?!

That looks really nice! Good distance between the hood and the hoops, plenty of room for flex in case of impact. Great design! What are you going to do for the other skids?

Had time to reassemble the cv's with the Rockford boots. They make the boots on the cardone shafts look like paper. Still need to tighten the grease seals, but everything looks good!

I don't know about Lummi's, but I've had good dealings with Gundies in Bellingham. http://gundies.com/

Not sure about a trick. This was my cv, I removed the grease seals with a small screw driver and cut the boot off to minimize mess. You're then left with this. There is a snap ring holding the bearings and a planetary in place. Once the ring is off, the assembly pulled out. Then you have... At the end of the shaft is another snap ring, once you remove it, you can completely disassemble the remaining pieces. Hope that helps!

So a two day soak and these are the original Nissan cv innards. Inside boot, anyone see any cause for concern? They seem pretty smooth for 170k mi.

For the most part, student loans tend to be very low interest. You may want to keep them as they are. I'm not sure who you bank with, but a lot of banks offer free or low cost financial advisors. Maybe make an appt. to speak with them and see what they have to say. If you really want to combine them you will more than likely need to build up some credit or equity.

That being said, what you wrote is what my bad cv's sound like.

Before you buy new cv's, check for play in the ones you have currently. Try moving them by hand. Also, put it in 4wd, have a buddy drive it over some bumps and see if you can locate the noise. If it is the cv's (or cv) I would personally locate some lower mileage Nissan cv's and run them.