TX10A chain width

[Slartibartfast]

(This came up in a thread on the facebook page, and I figured I'd put the info here as well on the off chance it ends up being helpful to someone.)

 

I've seen a lot of guys say that the older TX10As have "thicker" chains that are less likely to stretch. These guys say the WD21 chain is better than their WD22 chains. These guys make it sound like they have a lot of issues with the chains in the D22 (Navara, Frontier), but one of them says the WD21 chain looks about the same to him (in a picture). This guy did a writeup for replacing a stretched chain, but on an early D21, which doesn't really fit the hype of the later rigs being the ones with issues.

 

Nobody seemed to know when the cutoff date was for one chain vs the other. I was curious. Down the rabbit hole we go.

 

By comparing part numbers from the diagrams at parts.nissanusa.com, I found that there are in fact two different chains. Pathfinders from 7/1/88 up to 01/01/00 ('87 didn't list a part; it's not the best lookup system) spec a # 33152-33G01 chain. 07/01/01 + call for #33152-30C00. (Rugged Rocks lists the -33G10 chain for '86-'93; I'm not sure where they got those dates.) Exploded diagrams in the FSMs show the same exploded view in the '95 and '99 editions, but the 2000 FSM has a different diagram which includes a few parts marked "M/T Model Only." (I have no idea what these parts are for.)

A part # search for Xterras turned up that they used 33152-33G01 07/01/00 to 01/01/01 and 33152-30C00 for 01/01/01+. The '02 WD22 FSM shows the same exploded diagram as the 2000+ R50.

 

This tells me that there is in fact a difference in early/late TX10As, and the changeover year was '00 for Pathfinders and '01 for Xterras. Nissan Nut's how-to for installing Calmini crawler gears even has the info to tell them apart. Check out the fifth picture down, and the plug bolt above and to the left of the front-most electrical connector. If there's a bolt there, it's the early style. If there's just a flat spot, it's the late style. (I checked this against the transfer in my '93 and pictures of an '03 transfer on eBay, and it checks out.)

This, unfortunately, is as far as my research has taken me, and I'm not going to put much more time into this given that my '93 has the (supposedly) stronger box already. If anyone else has more info, or has had both boxes apart, I'd be interested to hear what you've found.

[adamzan]

Damn. I have an 02 X trans/tcase in mine. I guess it's weaker, but the old tcase would feel "loose" in 4wd low if that means anything.

[Cuong Nguyen]

The earlier tx10 chains had a width of about 2 inches and the newer ones had something close to 1.5 inch chains from what I remember. I didn't ever look into it much further since I already had the stronger one.

[Slartibartfast]

Given that the forum isn't flooded with VQ R50 owners complaining of slipping T-case chains, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

Cuong, that sounds about like most of what I've read so far. I just haven't tracked it back to a spec or a comparison yet to verify it.

 

One other thing worth noting: It looks like some of the early-style TX10As have the 4x4 switch (for the light on the dash) right next to the neutral switch where that plug bolt is on Nissan Nut's writeup, on my '93, and in the '94/'95 manuals. The '89 manual shows the two switches next to each other, and Bobsterriffic's '92 is like that too, so I guess Nissan decided to move the sensor at some point between '92 and '93. I guess the spotting tip should be that if there's a hole there with something threaded into it, it's the early style, and if it's not drilled, it's the late style.