hey all, i have trolled around the forums, and have found a ton of great info here.
thanks for the place.
i have a question on my 03...
i have to admit i didnt do my homework to the fullest and found out later that not all xterras came with a limited slip rear end... (doh!)
i am looking at my options for upgrading the rear end of my x now. (captain peg leg if you dont rock her)
i have seen some guys talking about ARB, and others talk about the stock lsd unit.
i dont do tons of offroading, and am not sure if i have the real need to go with an air locker.
(doesnt the whole shabang run about $1500 ??)
do i have any other alternatives ???
i know some guys are saying the stock units are garbage, but surely are better than what i got now or no ?

if you don't do a lot of offroading you will be fine with the open. The LSD that comes in them is a piece of junk. If you were to buy one used you could get one used for under $100 easily then would need new ring gear bolts (probably about $30, there are 9 of them), new carrier bearings(about 80-100 for the pair) and installation cost(at least $180).

For all that cost I wouldn't bother.

I bought an LSD and never even bothered with it because they suck.

I might screw around with the LSD and mod its clutch pack to get a higher breakaway torque so it is more usable but the ARB will be what ends up in there when $ allows it.

ARB's can be bought for around 700 if you shop around and compressors are around 150 then you just need carrier bearings and ring gear bolts.

From what it sounds like you don't really need an ARB though.

good deal thanks.

If a shop is installing it then skip the carrier bearings; they will charge you the same installation labor price regardless and the bearings are good for (literally) hundreds of thousands of miles if the preload is set properly.

My front axle has a 300ZX lsd and carrier bearings that I re-used from a used R200 open diff, they work fine. My rear axle has a carrier from an old Hardbody pickup and those carrier bearings have well in excess of 100k on them with no issues.

Buy the bolts if you like, but those bolts are special extra-fine threaded, hardened, high-metric class bolts that can withstand re-use once or twice. You have to be sure to put red threadlock on them regardless.

Hey fellas,

I picked up on this old thread because it comes close to answering my question.

I have an '03 SE S/C with lsd on the rear (and front I'm told, but I haven't checked it). My traction in deep snow was unbelievably good. Until last winter, that is. I went in the ditch and almost was able to drive it out, but I think I might have been a little rough on it because I heard a loud clunk and it definitely isn't working now.

Symptoms: When I spin the left tire forward by hand, the right one doesn't move. When I spin it backwards, the right turns forward just a little and there is a bit of noise coming from the differential. Question 1: That's not normal is it?

Of course now I've been reading guys here say that the '03 lsd is junk, but I really have appreciated it in deep snow. I think it's gotten me out on more than one occasion, and I don't think my usage warrants a locker, so...Second Question: Is it possible to fix it? If so, what does it take? Is that the process described in this earlier post?


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Super Black '03 SE S/C

unless you bought a LSD for the front from Calmini I really doubt that you fave one. All factory front diffs are open.

That makes sense. It is stock. My mechanic told me that it was limited slip, and I thought that was odd, but short of jacking it up....

In any case, what about the rear diff? Is that repairable?

Probably - I guess it depends what's broken.

It's likely the spider gears in the differential. You can either replace those (assuming that's what is broken) or you can replace the whole differential. It could also be your ring or pinion gear, but those are pretty tough.

Diffs shouldn't be too hard to come by - so many of us have replaced them with ARB air lockers (which I highly recommend, if you can afford it).

pics of my rear air locker install HERE. You can at least see what it looks like in there.

This is the differential itself after removing it from the 3rd member and taking off the ring gear:


The "carrier bearings" are what you see on the top and bottom.
The spider gears I'm talking about are inside it (you can see a few gear teeth in there in this pic).

I still have the old carrier out of mine when I put in my ARB, pull your third and take a look at what is wrong, I have no idea why I tought that you were talking about a front diff????? but I hace a spare carrier for it also.

Awesome information guys. Thanks. Now I have something to work with. I'd sure love to have the locker, but unless I upgrade to a second gen. OR, I can't justify the cost based on my usage (off road maybe 4-6 times per year and nothing technical, just mud and snow and then pulling the occasional chevy out of the ditch).

It will probably be a few weeks before I can start any action, but from what you're telling me, this can probably be fixed for maybe a couple hundred, which I can totally justify. I'll try to post any success or failure and which direction I go.

Sitting here and pondering some more...searching the forums for more answers....and as a result, I have one more question for the fellas with knowledge of the rear end.

I've been experiencing some extra wear (cupping, outer edge wear, and of course noise) on my front tires and she's been pulling to the left. I had the alignment checked; alignment is good. Caster and camber are good. Now, last time I experienced pull, the cause turned out to be a cracked lower right support arm. So I had him check those again and those are fine. Plus the symptoms don't quite match. He said, let's rotate the tires and wait 6000 miles and see if we get more uneven wear. I'm 3000 miles into that.

But my question is this. If my LSD is busted, is it possible/probable that I'm getting some uneven torque to the rear wheels?

No, the way that the LSD works is by friction. As they wear they provide less and less friction so it becomes more like an open carrier a little every day.