The Nissan Path

HI guys...back again with another Q:

My rear differential makes a sound when I go over bumps. Its not a bad clunck, but more like a soft butt rubbing sound ( Sorry, I just dont know how else to put it).

My mechanic says the only way to fix it is to take it apart and insert SHIMS . He said this is a known problem for pathfinders and that eventually the teeth wear and thus there is "play" that happens.

Did I understand it right?

I can say without hearing the experiencing the noise for myself. If someone told me they had a rubbing noise in the rear while going over bumps, the first thing I would think of is bad or split bushings in the rear suspension links. I'm not familiar with a lot of diff issues on Nissans, in general. I would sometimes run into one that had a high-pitched noise whenever a load was placed on the rear diff, which we would replace the diff as an assembly. I don't know if your noise is the same?

No there is no high pitched noise. It is like a very soft clunk. Every mechanic who has heard it says:

1). Oh that sound is not good. You need to have work done on the differ

or

2). There is alot of play happening in there. You can have that fixed with shims.
He went on to explain that the metal wears over time, making the teeth loose, thus the play.

I've had this sound for going on 6 years now, but ever since the last guy told me it was vital to get it fixed ($400) estimate, I am paranoid that something is about to happen and I will lose control of the car at high speeds.

Anyway..I thought I would put it out there and see if others have had alot of play in their old differs.