[PerpetualDynamism]

Great, that's what I thought. So the titan halfaxles will bolt right onto the Xterra wheel hub and bearing assembly?

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

PD, to summarize: You are getting failing stock Xterra CVs, that have been installed on longer extended half-shafts, right?

Correct, I current am running CV half axles that are the stock CV's on the SAW extended axle shafts.

And want to go to an m205 and stock Titan half-axles?

Want to is a little strong. What I want is a long term solution to fix what appears to be a CV going bad. Simply replacing the CV seems like a temporary fix, so I'm interested in what it would take to fix it long term. I'm exploring the possibility of swapping to the M205 and Titan half axles as the solution.

If both of those are correct, I think you're in okay shape with your plan ... but Chris is right, there are cheaper ways to solve this, in the interim, if you want to give your wallet/bank account time to recover before jumping into the m205 swap.

Stock Xterra (OEM) half-axle assemblies can be had on car-part.com ... or the forums, used but with lower miles, from guys who are doing the m205 swap themselves. That way you won't have to buy new from Nissan (which is, I'm guessing, where you're getting your $450 number from). Sounds like you're already aware, but for those following along at home, the OEM equivalent aftermarket half-axles (like from Rock Auto or the like) often have a different CV design and half-shaft spline count - than the Nissan half-axle; making them incompatible with the exended half-shafts needed to run the r180a with Titan length control arms. Limit straps are also a great idea, as Chris suggested, and relatively cheap security to prevent this from happening again ... they will limit the angle of the CV at maximum suspension extension/droop, and should keep it from binding.

The long and short of it, is that the expensive part of the extended half-axles needed to run the r180 diff with Titan width suspension is not the CVs, but rather the longer (and limited production) half-shafts ... which it sounds like you already have.

However, even if I got the new CV's for free (instead of the $450 that Nissan wants for new ones) I'd still be looking at roughly $450 in labor, to give me what may be another 1 month solution. Right? It seems to me that my current setup may be too much angle for the stock CV's to handle.

OP - Weren't you the one that had grease leaking out of your cv's after you put the extended axles in? If so, i'd be willing to bet they were not installed properly (it doesn't sound right that they would be spraying grease like that). I bet it has nothing to do with the angle.

*Disclaimer - I have no personal experience with a TS so take this for what its worth

I was the one with grease leaking from my CV boots following my TS. After talking to LIXterra and PRG Greg I've been lead to believe that there likely was too much grease in the boot and what I saw was excess grease leaking out. I don't totally understand this (if it was sealed well wouldn't it stay in anyways?) but I was basically told that may have been normal.

I agree, I was also suspicious that I lost so much grease, and then a month later my CV fails...

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

Well, I would be content running the R180 long term which is why I didn't do the M205 swap when I did the rest of the TS.

I currently have no plans of stepping up to 35's, so I don't need the regearing options available to M205 owners. Also, I have no plans to install an air locker in the front.

However looking into this more, I do see the value of going to an M205 which would allow me to use standard Titan halfaxles. That could help me avoid some of this current headache again in the future if I were to have cv/halfaxle problems again. I'm not against parting out the current halfaxle assemblies and selling the R180 if it means I wouldn't have to worry about this kind of problem ever again.

Can anyone else confirm that 4" of lift can be handled by the Titan axles better? Other similar experience?

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

Any ideas on an easy way to confirm binding at full droop? Jack the front up until the tires are off the ground then try and spin the tire by hand, and listen for popping?

Also, I understand how limit straps would help limit droop, but this problem has come about without any offroading trips since the TS. So it's only been at ride height essentially.

I discovered the sounds coming from the wheel well area about 100ft down the trail, moments after engaging 4WD. The sounds continued as I drove down the trail for a few hundred feet, until I turned off 4WD. Nowhere during this drive was I really flexing out, so droop overall should not have been too extreme.

I'm not against replacing the CV on one side if that makes sense. I started this thread partially to weigh the validity of that approach. I hardly want to push the M205 option!

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

All good points. It could have been a bad install on just that side. Would explain why I've only heard noise on that side.

Just FYI, although I don't have a constant clicking while driving around town yet, I am definitely starting to get noises from that area of the car. I think some of it is clearly binding up, and some sounds like metal hitting metal.

It sounds like I may need to park the car soon until I get this all worked out to avoid further damage...

Also, I've been paying more attention to the steering issue. It seems to jerk the wheel to the left occasionally. Any way this could be related to a bad CV? I'm struggling to picture how the two could be related. I hope I don't have two gremlins!

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

Well I think the decision was made tonight on how to move forward. We started hearing popping and binding in the passenger side as well!

So I think we'll just be upgrading to the M205 and used OEM titan halfaxles. At this point I don't know for sure if it was too much constant angle on the CV's (seems less likely) or they were assembled poorly when the extended axleshafts were installed (more likely?). But either way, I have always liked the idea of a stronger front diff, and the aftermarket that comes with it (upgrades one day), and in this case I am really liking that we'd be using OEM mass produced halfaxle assemblies as they came from Nissan.

I've been looking at prices for used components on car-part.com. I'm pretty sure I'll get used halfaxles for $50-$100 each. I'm on the fence about the used diff only because I'm not sure the price difference between used and new ($1130 +s&h) is enough to warrant a used one. We'll see.

Anyways, just wanted to update the thread with our discovery. I think I'll be driving one more day and then parking the X until I can get it to the mechanic with parts. It's starting to sound bad much more often!

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

On that note, there's no reason to not use an M205 (with the 3.357 gearing) from the QX56 or Armada right? Just figured I'd double check.

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

Well I'm pretty sure the binding is happening at the wheel on the drivers side at least. It seemed pretty obvious that was the location of the sound when we stood outside and listened.

But if it was the diff I'd upgrade anyways. I was thinking of having the mechanic who puts the new diff in just opening up the R180 and making sure everything looked good in there so I could sell it and be confident I'm not selling something that is broken.

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

So today I purchased a M205 from a 2010 Inifniti QX56, along with the half axles.

So, people with more experience, would you bother to replace the flange seals inside the diff if you were upgrading to the M205? I could purchase 2 for about $55, however I'm not sure about the cost to install those (looks like it requires opening the diff), and more importantly if it's really worth doing.

Here's the catch, because I'm not driving the car I've already made an appointment to get this stuff put in on Friday, and I wont see the parts until Thursday evening... So I kind of have to figure out if this is worth upgrading and buying the parts before I see the diff.

Anyways, thoughts?

 

[PerpetualDynamism]

Ok, purchased flange seals.

One last question for people in the know. I need the following fasteners, but it would take the dealer several days to get these from 2 different places. I need my X sooner. So I want to just go pick up these fasteners from a hardware store.

Anyone know what thread/pitch, length, and grade the following fasteners are? These are for mounting the M205.

3x Diff/Frame bolts - 54726-7S000
2x Nuts for Diff/Frame bolts (1 screwed into frame) - 08918-3442A