H233B Differential Options

[ADIDASilvias]

Alright, so I took my 02 Pathy in yesterday to have a buddy of mine do some service on it and it appears the vibration I have been experiencing between 55 and 70 mph is at least partly the rear differential (if not all of it). While the truck was up on the lift we accelerated to about 55 and the diff was making pretty horrible noises the entire time. We tried doing a drain and fill and the amount of metal that came out with the fluid was RIDICULOUS! Shavings, and even small chunks present. We refilled the differential in hopes that at least it might quiet it down until I get a chance to replace it but it did not.

So I am hoping someone will either have a good link to a cheapish replacement for the LSD or an aftermarket upgrade. I am interested in either replacing with stock internals, or upgrading to something that will be good for ON/OFF road driving. I am not planning on any hardcore wheeling, just backwoods jaunts to somewhat out of the way mountain bike trailheads.

I've googled the subject, but there seems to be not a whole lot of aftermarket support for the Pathfinders in general and haven't come up with much.

Any help here is greatly appreciated! I am confident the current differential will run for awhile longer, but it needs to be fixed cause I don't want it to blow up while I'm off the pavement and have to deal with getting it home under someone else's power.

Thanks!

[Towncivilian]

Surprising that an H233B blew up; this is the first time I've read of a damaged one. I think your best bet would be to find one at a junkyard or find someone who's parting out their Pathfinder.

[ADIDASilvias]

Yeah, I don't know if the previous owner was just particularly hard on it or what. The rest of the suspension and drivetrain seems solid. We repacked the front wheel bearings and now they are nice and tight, and all the other components (tie rod ends, CV joints, etc.) seem to have had a refresher in the last probably 50k miles by the condition of the boots and such.

I'll probably look into finding a used replacement diff but was wondering if anyone knew of any aftermarket rear differentials that might be worth looking into . . . after all, if I'm going to be pulling it apart I might as well upgrade

[Towncivilian]

I think you'd be better off posting this question on NPORA. There are a lot more gearheads there than on this site.

[ADIDASilvias]

Thanks Town, NPORA was my next stop. My user name there is drewp29. I've had the ADIDASilvias user name for a long time on NICO, just never really posted much until I got the Pathfinder.