D22 Frontier / D21 Front hub interchangability

[DrewUth]

Hi all...new member...I recently purchased a super clean 99 frontier V6 4x4 king cab as a replacement to my 92 V6 4x4 king cab hardbody. The drivers side hub on the frontier (auto locking) is not working properly and seems to be missing some pieces. I have read the axle info stickies here and on the Club Frontier forums, but I haven't found any info about swapping the older hubs onto the newer trucks. The hubs look identical, I guess the real question is do the axles both have the same number of splines? Could I disassemble the hubs and swap out the splined parts?

Before I go spend money on new parts for the Frontier, I would rather salvage some from the old truck before I sell it. I'm not really into the manual locking hub option either.

Any help is much appreciated!

[DrewUth]

Hey Mr. DesertRat, I'm sure you know the answer, help me out!

[Desert Rat]

I think I used to know this but since I've been running a Dana 44 front for so long now, I'm not certain any longer, but I'm pretty sure the hubs won't interchange.

Any 98-04 hub will work though.

A quick search on Ebay found a set for $50. This would give you a spare.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-FRONTIER-L ... e5&vxp=mtr

[DrewUth]

Yea I did see that and I had it in my saved/watched list. Thanks so much for your reply! It seems that the hub on the drivers side of my Frontier is missing the locking cam assembly- it either got left out or it was removed due to being broken.

[DrewUth]

So, an update if anyone is interested...after taking them both apart, both my 92 and the 99 have 28 spline axles. The D21 hub is all steel, and the D22 hub is all aluminum. Also, the D22 hub uses some different parts, and has a bearing in the end- so it is a bit deeper/longer (uses longer bolts too) than the older unit.

HOWEVER-

The axles are the same length from the circlip to the end- so, I predict that if i remove the circlips and swap all the hub parts from one to another, the older hubs will go onto and work on the newer truck. I ran out of daylight today after work, but I will be trying it the next day I have some time.

[DrewUth]

For some (un-exciting) closure- I ended up just buying a set of parts from a 99 xterra and swapping the hubs. The salvage yard would only sell me complete spindle assemblies- complete with rotors and ABS sensors; I got the pair for $100 so now I have a nice spare set of rotors as well as an entire spare hub. Snow is coming to NJ soon so I wanted the 4wd working!

[Desert Rat]

good deal.