OK, I'm getting a little antsy about my new X. If what I'm reading on this and other forums is true, I've purchased the worst X possible in terms of diffy problems, i.e., an '07 Off Road w/ manual trans. What gives? What's the consensus here? Are there any steps I can take to maximize diffy life, such as switching to synthetic fluids, etc? Should I avoid certain types of driving (please don't say off road!)? Or is it just crap and should I start saving for an after market upgrade for the inevitable day when it bombs? ...JB

Have fun but don't do any mods that aren't easily removed in case you need a warranty claim. I.e. 5" Lift, bigger tires, etc.

'06 and up X's seem to have less issues with the Rear Diff, but it takes a while before people get sufficient mileage to have a breakdown.

My rear went at about 24K Miles, but didn't blow until the Dealer test drove it. All Warranty.

I think you should follow that advice, no mods, use the stock tire size and get an extended warranty. I have a 05' with 20k on it now and used it for light off-road and snow driving. No issues yet but I'm going to get a 7 year 100k warranty just in case. I think that your not seeing everyone having the problem, it seems like the guys doing the really hard off-roading with big tires are having most of the problems.

If this keeps us Nissan is going to have a very expensive recall.

I bought the 7/100 extended warranty w/ the X, so I'm good there. Really extreme off roading isn't in my future as far as I know, and if it ever is, maybe I'll just mod the crap out of it (literally) and replace the crap w/ stuff that works. Thanks for your replies............JB

It doesn't take much to have a problem though... in June we busted an axle and blew out our front diff driving through some ruts at Hungry Valley... our X was only 4 months old and had less than 10k on it... Nissan's first question was did we hit a rock(abuse)but after seeing our full set of Shrock skids they covered it and the X was up and running in 4 days... oddly enough, 2 weeks ago we popped a front swaybar link about 10 feet from the spot where we blew the diff (The Nissan Black Hole of Hungry Valley) and after asking the rock question again Nissan fixed that too...

a word of warning, unless your long term warranty covers any damage it will probably still be subject to the "abuse" defence that a lot of dealers immediately raise...

Interesting. I thought I was the only one that had thoughts about issues with the diff's. I do get a howl out of the rear on my 06 on the highway around 70mph, but only when maintaining speed. And this is a vehicle that primarily sees highway driving, only occasional off road use.

Make sure you tell your Service advisor the next time you take it in for an oil change, etc. Documentation is your friend.

I'm concerned!!! I had a VW Torureg and got rid of it because I did not want to stuck somewhere.

Thought the X would be a lot more reliable, but now somewhat worried about the diff. Had a 88 Pathfinder and never had a problem with it @315k and the guy I sold it to now has 366k and still no problems,(other than one new transmission and 2 timing belts).
Wish I could still have the good feeling about reliability as I did with the Pathfinder.

Having been someone who went through both a front and rear diff.

Keep the wheel spin down. Keep off the skinny pedal. and cross your fingers.

The front diff went on a muddy hill climb, but I didn't think I had much wheel spin at all.

The rear, I'll be honest, no idea what happened. 2 weeks after the last time I wheeled, I was doing 15-20mph down a residential street, made a turn onto a street and POP.

I'm going to still wheel the X, but I think the Jeep will be the one that gets beat up from now on.

I wouldn't worry too much, but don't do anything to make the Dealer question your warranty claim.

The '05 OR's seem to have the most issues with the rear and the 2 spider gear setup, but they replace with a 4 gear setup and so far I haven't had any problems.

Time will tell and I'll let everyone know what happens if it does.

Saw the extended Jeep with a bunch of friends this past weekend 4x4ing. Liked it, probably will be my next truck. Also, we have a Nissan "headquarters" along the freeway in Huntington Beach area, plan on going there and seeing if someone will speak to me about the diff problem.

Eh, the 4dr Jeeps are not all they are cracked up to be.

I know of 3 that have caught fire for no good reason

They are under powered (who ever thought putting a minivan engine in a Jeep was a good idea needs to be fired).

They are a Jeep...they will break.

One of my friends tried pushing me into a jeep, his brother sells them. Thought it was kinda strange that the grand cherokee comes stock with a class 2 hitch. Said no way, went with the X instead and love it.

It does go in next week for an oil change and they are going to look at the rear at the same time. Service manager said the howl is not normal, if they can get it to do it they will open it up and look.

Well, according to Nissan, there is no problem.. It's all operator abuse in their eyes, but good luck anyhow.

I'll take your advice and go light on the mods. I don't think I'm going to need too many for my intended use, anyhow. I'm thinking definitely sliders, probably Shrock. The lift issue is still up in the air; just really don't think I need that, and it would be a pain to "normalize" the truck if I had to take it in for a busted diffy under warranty. the idea of some day getting a nice strong front (and possibly rear) bumper to replace the plastic fiasco on there now, and that would probably require some sort of lift to compensate for the weight sag. could I just punch up the springs to handle this?
Thanks..........beddie bye time ....JB

Just dont take it off-road and you will be ok. It only took a few trips to blow my rear and it has been sitting for 5 months at the dealer while I pursure a lawsuit against Nissan. They are agressively trying to crawl away from there diff design flaws, as they think they will save a few 100 million that way. Nissan has 0 commitment to the off-road community it appears and while reliability is greatly up over early Xterras, the exploding diffs, troublesome electric t/case and other issues make this truck not look like a trail or expedition rig, just a soccer mom mobile with an off-road sticker. Myself I am wheeling my 250K beat to hell Montero on stock diffs and 35s for another 2 years until I pay the X off and the J/K gets a better engine. Even now, atleast if the J/K stauled or burned they would fix it, Nissan says I should not have installed a lift they premote and designed or ever gone off-road...

Exactly what happens when the diff goes? Are there noises for a while first? Does it go all of a sudden? Can the truck still be driven a little, or is it totally dead? Also, if it goes go and then Nissan fixes it, is it OK and better than stock?
And...heard the 05's are more prone, true? Thanks

Personally I had no inclination of failure, until that is, I drained the gear oil to reseal the cover and put on a shrock diff cover. I found two huge chunks of metal and knew it was going bad. Next day made an appointment and they replaced the Rear end assembly without question.

As to the better replacement, I was told by someone I have great confidence in, that the new rear-end is the '06 and up design which has 4 spider gears instead of two. There is no telling how many '05's will have issues, time will be the judgement of this.

Web Album of close up pictures of the chunks.

Thanks for the pictures. Went and checked out the Toyota FJ and the Jeep extended wheelbase unit, and did not like either one. So...I really want to keep the X. Seems that if I have the diff(s) replaced with the newer 4 spline units it would be OK. Does this seem logical??? Or...are there after market diffs out there that could be used to replace the bad diffs??? Thanks for opinions.

You're welcome and as far as I know there is not a replacement Diff unless you go drastic and so you won't have any warranty.

As far as longevity, like I said time will tell, I won't be changing my driving style and always try to keep wheel spin to nil.

You're just going to have to decide for yourself.

So I'm sure this issue is getting old but here's my one question... Are '06-07's o.k.? I was thinking about an automatic 06 or 07 "S" model. I had an '05 six speed that had the worst clutch ever but no diff. problems. Well my fiance totaled it last weekend and I want another X but not if there's not a quality year to buy. I can't wait for the 08's, must buy now. Someone with some know, tell me what you would buy if you needed a reliable rig that was to be used 75% highway and 25% off-road. (nothing too extreme mainly mud, snow and trails on the way to camping spots)Usually pulling two atv's. Thanks.

Ok, so what would it take to throw some aftermarket diffs in the front and rear?

13-18K would do it. There will be cheaper solutions coming out, probably 5-6K some day.

I have been reading the thread on the differentials and it appears that with the 4 spider gears in the 06 the problem has been resolved for the rear dif, but the jury is out on the front dif problems. I also saw a response from Xterraracer that he was working on a solution also.

I think the offroading you describe would be fine...my bud with an '06 OR has had zero problems for example, and he does Rousch, etc as well.

It SEEMS to be more of an '05 issue, and maybe later year's that used the 2 gear rear instead of the 4 gear version.