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Discussion starter · #221 ·
Great pics as always! You've gone thru a lot on your build. OK, so based on your experiences on Moab, what would the 35s do that my 33s can't do, as far as trails? I know that 35s require a TS at least, so it's in my plans. GONE is a possibility for next year!


Thanks! Well when you’re airing down, a 33 and 35” tire makes a big difference. 14psi on a 33 versus a 35 at 14 psi, gives you more footprint. Some of the trails they have require a 35” tire as well. 33’s are certainly doable on a lot of the trails, you just have to get the right line. It’s 1000% worth it. At least going once. The views are amazing and the trails are amazing.


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Discussion starter · #222 ·
Did a little Camping Date this past Friday. Couldn't stay the night as I had to work in the morning but spent a good solid 6+ hours out here and did some cooking. I definitely need to work on a better cooking/setup platform such as a fold down table. We were huddled up under the hatch eating out the back of the truck so a table/shelf would have been nice.



https://i.imgur.com/yDfPQZT.mp4
 
Ordered new tires on Sept 5th from Simpletire.com and received them 2 days later. Can't beat free 2 day shipping! Ordered Milestar Patagonia MT's in the 315/75r16 flavor. Technically a 34.70" tire.

These things are meaty!!



Getting them mounted.



Installed!






They have a nice little humm to them but nothing bad at all. Total weight of 5 tires was 370lbs! Which may seem like a lot but I believe my BFGs were heavier. Can't wait to test them out in Windrock!
Hey, I've been through the whole thread and haven't been able to find what spacers you're running in the rear. I'm interested in both the make and size. I plan on doing the TS in the future so I want to get the correct size to match now. I've also ordered, by complete chance, the same wheels that you have. Let me know!
 
Discussion starter · #224 ·
Hey, I've been through the whole thread and haven't been able to find what spacers you're running in the rear. I'm interested in both the make and size. I plan on doing the TS in the future so I want to get the correct size to match now. I've also ordered, by complete chance, the same wheels that you have. Let me know!
I want to say they are 2" spacers for the rear. I don't recall.
 
Discussion starter · #225 ·
Not a whole lot of update tbh. I haven't really been driving it a lot. My VDC, SLIP and ABS lights are solid lights now along with a hard misfire in cylinder 5 so I'm just waiting on the funds to be able to diagnose and fix it. One day I'll get to it lol!
 
Discussion starter · #226 ·
Well it’s been a while since my last post/update. Haven’t done much tbh.

Found a MASSIVE problem though.
Left my driveway and started hearing some clicking noise. Didn’t sound right so immediately turned around and went back home. Popped the cover off and I certainly didn’t think I would see this. I didn’t have the gears installed. The previous owner did. When my front diff blew up due to improper gear installation, we inspected the gears in the rear just to be safe. All were nice and tight. So I can assume they didn’t use loctite on any of these.

Hopefully I caught it soon enough to cause any major damage. I don’t see any chunks or large debris in the diff. The fluid was black and shiny as you can tell from the video.

Plan is to get all new bolts, loctite and torque them to spec and pray nothing else breaks on it because I certainly can’t afford to regear again.





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Discussion starter · #228 ·
That definitely looks odd. What gear ratio are you?
Running 4.10’s from RR. I can only assume this was an install issue. I discovered this Wednesday and the weird thing is, it drove completely fine the night before. Hoping that they just backed out and haven’t been that way for a while.


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Discussion starter · #229 ·
And if I take this to a shop, they will just tell me to regear and all that and that’s at least $1k if not more


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Dang sorry to hear that. I’m regearing in the next few weeks, I’d offer you my 3.69 gears for free, but that wouldn’t help you out in the front seeing as you have an m205, let alone running 35’s. You could have my 3.69 gears and 3.69 geared 180 too as a bandaid if you really wanted?
 
Discussion starter · #231 ·
Dang sorry to hear that. I’m regearing in the next few weeks, I’d offer you my 3.69 gears for free, but that wouldn’t help you out in the front seeing as you have an m205, let alone running 35’s. You could have my 3.69 gears and 3.69 geared 180 too as a bandaid if you really wanted?
I appreciate it. I’ve got a line on another E-Locker and M226 if needed but I’ll definitely keep in touch


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Discussion starter · #232 ·
So small update: After speaking with several trusted sources, I've decided to just order new bolts and red loctite them and let it run. There's no visible damage to the ring and pinion. No metal chunks in the fluid either, just fine shavings. So I ordered new bolts from Yukon and they arrived and they are too short. I took out one of the old bolts and its mangled. I attempted to use the shorter bolt but couldn't even torque it to spec before it stripped itself. So I measured the hole depth and the original bolts are 1/2" too short which explains how and why they backed out besides not having thread locker on them.

Here's a side by side picture of the old and new bolts


Here's what I was sent:


Here's what happened when I tried to use a new bolt:


So I'll be running to a parts store to grab the proper grade 8 bolts instead of ordering them. I'm just hoping that the threads aren't jacked up from them being loose for god knows how long. Every.Single.Bolt was barely hand tight. I also ordered new bolts for the Ballistic Fab cover. They were rusty and not pretty. Sad part is the bolts for the ring gear are about $4-$5 each. Hopefully I can return them minus the damaged one and get a refund.
 
Discussion starter · #233 ·
Well finally finished fixing this issue! 4 different trips to the bolt store to get the right ones. I measured internally and it was 1 1/2" deep. So I got 1 1/2" grade 8 bolts that are 1/2"-20 thread pitch. Went to put those in... a smidge too long. So I go back and see if they have anything shorter and the next option is 1/4" shorter. Well I didn't want to get a shorter bolt so after consulting with a few trusted members/friends and decided to get a washer or 2.

Tried that, too thick. It's catching on the backside of the housing. Sooooo back to the parts store I go! They said they could shave the bolts down 1/8" or so but it take them a little bit since I was getting 12 of them. Only needed 10 but its ALWAYS good to have a few spares! It was also recommended to get a 1/2"-20 tap to clean the threads out due to how mangled the old bolts were. Boy am I glad I did that! The tap took all kinds of gunk out of those threads. Once that was all cleaned out, put all the new bolts in with red loctite and torqued to 90lbs all around then went back and torqued 135lbs. Once I putt the gasket stuff on, let it sit for 24 hours, I filled her up with synthetic and took it out for test drive with ZERO issues! No clicking/claking or anykind. At least from the rear haha! Nevermind all the other squeaks and noises it makes lol.
 
Was looking at those imperial measurements for a sec wondering..., but seeing as it's a Dana 44, guess it makes sense lol. Good call on chasing the threads, I'm sure it was a mess in there. Hope you got enough height on the threads to ensure a good fit. It took the torque spec so that's a good sign. Nice save!
 
Discussion starter · #235 ·
Yea definitely got lucky! Especially with the scrap on the diff cover and slight piece missing off the fill plug. I didn't find any metal pieces in the diff or fluid either so idk where ti would have gone. I used almost 2 cans of brake cleaner cleaning the whole diff out and everything too.



First time driving it in almost a month so it's covered in "Southern Snow". Felt great to drive it again
 
Discussion starter · #236 · (Edited)
Well it was short lived. Driving down the street (luckily it was very low speed) and heard a "TINK" and hard vibrations at the wheel. Got under and found the U-Joint shattered. My VDC/SLIP/ABS lights are still on so I couldn't remove the driveshaft and just limp it home in 4wd so I had to call a dam tow truck. I had a feeling one of the u-joints were going bad. I kept hearing this squeaking but it went away. Visually nothing looked wrong in any of the u-joints but its 100% my fault. Just laziness.



Shop said the driveshaft was good but the slip yoke wasn't so I had a hard time finding a reputable source for a new one so I just snagged a used complete driveshaft. I already had brand new spicer u-joints so those will all be replaced.
 
Discussion starter · #237 ·
Also found out why my VDC/ABS/Slip lights were on... right rear ABS sensor. Hard to believe the cheapest sensor I’ve found is $127 [emoji58]


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Discussion starter · #238 ·
Not much of an update but I took my dephep off to repaint and modify my awning mounts. Needed to flip the brackets to have the awning a little higher for my side lights. I also bought new lights as the 2 under the awning stopped working and were very dim. They were just some cheapo amazon lights. I'm going to weld in some mesh flooring on it as well which I've been wanting to do since I got it.

Waiting for the rain to stop so I can wire wheel it and paint!
 
Discussion starter · #240 ·
Yikes, glad it wasn't at full speed or you may have been saying hello to a drive shaft through the floor... How long did you go on the original ujoints?
A while lol. I got the truck a little over 3 years ago and hadn't changed them. They were supposedly new when I got it so I think I got good use of them
 
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