How exactly did you check your ujoints... unless you removed your driveshaft, you will not feel enough slack just by moving it with your hand...
The symptoms you are listing are typical of a (or more) ujoint slowly going out. now your truck is 02 and I can tell you that you are in the sweet spot for that year (+9) that the original joints will start to fail. It happened to many of us with 01-02 and it's , up to a point, normal wear.
On my truck I could not feel any slack while the driveshaft was on the truck. Even with it in my hands, there was no slack, but the needle bearings had started to wear in a weird way that instead of rolling they were like skipping in steps..like if they were square a bit...
Now you only feel a slight vibration and it goes away. And the more you have weight or step on the accelerator, the more you feel it.... this is the ujoint fighting the torque you're sending there way. R50 platform truck rear diff (qx4, pathfinders) have a strong history of non-problems.. The h233b is stronger and more reliable than a dana 44 (not to mention bigger also)... The only annoyance with them is eventually you will start hearing a growl at fixed speed... that's the pinion bearing starting to give... but this only happens at over 200,000km and will stabilize (not getting worse)... so ... to go back to the story, I suggest you go underneath, mark the initial mating point between the driveshaft and pinion and trans, then undo the 8 bolts, then work out the ujoints manually and see for yourself...
A ujoint from neapco cost just over 20 bucks... you will need 2 for the back and if you decide to do the front also, then another 2... read my story here :
http://npora.ipbhost.com/index.php?show ... t&p=481906
you will even have part numbers..
S.