broke my front diff time to trade it in

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krnnerdboy
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broke my front diff time to trade it in

Postby krnnerdboy » Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:13 am

I broke my front diff and am selling the patty...it was from a quick 5 min romp on a 5ft hill that broke it and am completely disheartened by this ordeal...I hope nissan fixes it, but regardless the patty is going...check out the classifides b/c I'm selling my front 9000x and ac coil setup complete


bender031
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Postby bender031 » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:21 pm

Hey man sorry to hear your luck, Sounds like you are ready to throw in the towel, are you still under warranty?
Seems as though a decent number of frontier/xterra owners have encountered the same problem.

I understand your concern...best of luck.
keep us posted on what the dealer says about a repair...if you need help finding proof of other front dif issues let me know.

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RacerZX
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Postby RacerZX » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:19 pm

Woh! Can you give some more details on what killed it?

krnnerdboy
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Postby krnnerdboy » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:14 pm

check out my cardomain page...the last pics of the hill is what did it. all low speed crawling and nothing irrational....

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2121595

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RacerZX
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Postby RacerZX » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:55 pm

?!?!?! Yeah, looks like nothing special, no doubt. Were you in 4-lo at the time? How did it fail?

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rragpaoa
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Wow ....

Postby rragpaoa » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:04 pm

Hmm .... the front diffs are the R180 type. Fairly rugged. Used as the front diffs on some of the older original Pathys. The rear has the R200 series which is not too shabby.

Is it the Diffs, or the axles that broke? Could the lift have caused the problem (although it shouldn't). I have wheeled my 05 LE 4x4 quite a few times with no problems with 4Lo (no lifts yet).

I have talked to Calmini at the OffRoad show in Pamona about the after market parts coming out for the 05+ Pathy, and they got me all excited of what coming out. I asked if they have wheeled the 05 Pathy in some real off road environments and they said the Pathy had no problems keeping up.
Now, after hearing your ordeal, it make me wonder.

Let us know what you finally decide.

krnnerdboy
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Postby krnnerdboy » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:51 pm

the car was in 4 low and the pedal was about half way down and the tires were spinning and ABLS did their thing to make it up the hill, but I guess the brakes had enough torque to cause stress to the front diff...the axles are fine but the diff exploded from the inside out (the lift should only affect the axles integrity not the diff...othe cases where non lifted frontiers broke)and the oil was all glittery from the internal parts!! I find out tomorrow if it's covered under warranty...wish me luck

btw this is not an isolated incident...many documented on xterras frontiers but first on pathfinder....

the 180 is a strong differential but just not strong enough to handle the extra weight our trucks carry over the last gen...which is the same case for the 05 tacomas which use the last gen tacomas rear axle and they are frying it w/ the extra weight and 240hp...

I wouldn't doubt the pathfinders integrity offroad...I would just minimize spinning the wheels when one is in the air.

krnnerdboy
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Postby krnnerdboy » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:57 pm

BTW...the most amazing thing was that it made it up on 2 wheels and that I had no problem opening and closing the door at that angle....shows how rigid the chassis really is ..try that in a unibody or even in my tacoma and the door wouldn't shut right.

Image
the passenger side wheel is actually off the ground!


Image

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rragpaoa
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Postby rragpaoa » Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:22 pm

Thanks for the info. Let us know what actually broke inside when you take it to the dealer. Just curious if its the spider gears, axle splines, ring and pinion.

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RacerZX
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Postby RacerZX » Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:32 pm

I did some googling and can only find two other instances of front Pathfinder diff failures. One was clearly from a hit on a rock or something, the other probably a defect as it happened when on-road. Can you please provide me some URLs to other Path/XTerra/Frontier front diff failures?


krnnerdboy
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Postby krnnerdboy » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:56 am

I really hope that the dealer comes through so I would keep the SUV. After looking at the market again I remember why I choose the pathfinder

Touareg...reliability,unibody and power
LR3...reliability
gx470...too old man but def a nice ride and price of course
4runner...everyone has one, but nonetheless a great SUV but hate the . seating position
FJ...everyone will have one...but the biggest aftermarket support...suicide . doors are useless


and most of all I don't want to pay the taxes again. That 3 to 4 thousand in taxes alone can go to cryoing the diffs and rims and tires as well coilovers....what to do???

amr40509
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Postby amr40509 » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:40 am

Sorry to hear about your luck.

Amazing amounts of force can be generated when in 4low and in a spin/grab situation.

I've seen tons of broken parts off road. When a wheel is in the air, you are spinning/grabbing with one wheel, you are really hitting your drive line hard, I've seen lots of parts broken this way.

My thinking would be that if you want to play on the harder things off road-- trading in would be an option. BUT your best choice would be to keep the Pathy, take the money you are going to lose on the trade in, and buy a project Jeep/Sammy/Bronco/Scout and a used trailer.

There are two ways to drive off-road -- the one where you pick you line and only use the amount of power really needed -- and the loud/expensive way. I've taken my '78 Bronco on some amazing trails and through some places that look much worse then where you blew your diff. I'm not saying you were doing anything wrong, but I don't think a careful line over that obstacle would require being 1/2 on the gas in 4low under wheel spin. If you want to drive that way -cool- have fun, but bring a trailer.

krnnerdboy
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Postby krnnerdboy » Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:10 am

if I trade in it won't be to wheel it, believe me...I have my tacoma for it...I'm aware of the situation I was in was causing stress on the drivetrain, spin/grab, but remember the half throttle in the pathfinder doesn't equate to tire smoking wheels spin...you have the ABLS and VDC that can not be fully defeated for that. What happened on the small mound of dirt was just very dissapointing.

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rragpaoa
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Postby rragpaoa » Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:14 am

Try to keep the Pathy if you can. I have wheeled in my quite a bit (LE 4x4). Nothing too hardcore, but definitely a lot worse than your dirt hill ordeal that broke your diff.

More and more aftermarket parts are coming out. I just confirmed from ARB in Seattle that they have the rear lockers for our vehicle. The Pathfinder has a worldwide presence, more so than the Xterra, so I'm sure there will be more aftermarket parts soon.

However, if you are going to trade it in, go for the Lexus GX 470. I have one and it really is amazing offroad. I have seen somewhere in a magazine that some guy completed the Rubicon without problems (suspension lifts, tires, and lockers). There are a lot of aftermarket parts as well. It really is not that much more expensive than a my LE.


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