Hi All,

Just want to say this is a great forum, I've searched around for ideas for tips on how to change all the fluids a few weeks ago, everything worked out perfect.

I also swapped my front bearings on the assumption that a noise I was hearing was a result of shot bearings. Had the same noise in another car years back and that's what it was. The noise didn't go away. Its still getting worse and appears to be coming from the front/underside of the car.
It's a blunt tick that speeds/slows in relation to axle rotation. Sounds like 'puck tick... puck tick' and is noticeable at speeds under 20mph, with or without brakes, in or out of gear. when going slow, it appears to dissapear when turning corners - both ways. It's audible from both sides of the car with the same volume.

Not sure if this is related but the front diff fluid was dark gery/milky vs the rear diff fluid which was normal colour. I thought maybe the front diff was a clutch type limited slip vs a torses or gear type rear diff... I have no clue what kind of diffs are in my mada.

The sound appears to go away at speeds higher than 20-25 mph.

Any thoughts? I'm worried it's the diff, but it could be the half shafts too (cv joints) although the sound appears to be coming more from the middle of the car, is it possible the bearings on half shafts at the diff are worn on both sides?

I've searched alot around this site and titan/nissanhelp but haven't found similar posts.

Welcome to the Site!!! There's been quite a few times I've paid a dealership the $70 diag fee w/ an estimate of repair then fixed it myself, especially with the F-150 I had for a few months. Diagnosing noises can be tough... A few people have had to have the front drive shaft rebalanced.

Thanks Pops... I wish I had a dealership nearby that I trusted. I'm in Canada and have a US truck... they don't like me much up here, I've been to a few dealers for various things and they always give me a hard time. They also rarely know what they are doing when it comes to the Mada. The Armada's are really rare up here, in fact the F150 is the best selling car/truck in Canada again this year with over 80,000 units sold and the Armada is one of the worst (only a couple hundred sold) so the canadian dealers just aren't familiar with them.

I'm trying a new dealer out to see about the more common abs/brake light issue (I have that too). I'm crossing my fingers they will be able to help with this front end noise and the flashing airbag light issue too. I don't want to get into the parts replacing game with any of this stuff.

I don't suspect my drive shaft simply because of the weird noise. I was convinced it was a bearing, assumed wheel bearing, but I also know there's a bearing at the diff side of front half shafts. It could also be the cv joints or the diff or something in the AT or transfer case although it doesn't sound like it's coming from that far back.

Sounds like the CV joints to me.
Also check to see that the half shafts haven't slipped out of the differential housing a little. This is a common problem.

Is the idea to see if there are any splines showing at the diff end of the half shafts? When I replaced my hubs I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary but if it's loose I could've pushed it back in as I was taking the hub off.

A couple other things that I've noticed... I have a 50mph vibration and I also noticed that putting it in 4 hi makes it less frequent, still there sometimes, but not all the time at low speeds like normal.

It's weird that it's only noticable at low speeds without turning. Its not like the sound gets drowned out by anything and the frequency of ticks is still slow when it disappears so its like it acutally goes away rather than getting too fast or quiet to hear.

Welcome to the club Kreutz73!

Same *Exact* problem here. Shaking at around 50, weird noise going slow. Very odd.
Feels like it's coming from the front left side of my truck.

Any solutions found?

Seems that a common problem is the half shafts slipping out of the differential housing (as SCR38 said). I'd check that, CV's and U-joints first. My front u-joint went out but didn't make much noise, just vibrated at speed.

Good day everyone.
My front end noise turned out to be a bad universal joint on the front propeller (drive) shaft.
I heard and felt it at low speeds, like driving through a parking lot and at highway speeds around 65-75mph it vibrated.
I went under the truck, shook the shaft and sure enough that's what it was. I could have fixed it myself with the $20 joint from PepBoys but the dealer said the warrenty will replace the whole shaft so I'll let them have a go at it. My service writer knows I'm ASE certified so he rarely tries to pull the wool over my eyes.
As for now I removed the shaft as I drove to SC for the weekend and didn't want the u-joint to granade on me. It is sitting in the cargo area wraped in plastic and I'm loveing the increased gas milage I got with it out, do they make lock out hubs for these trucks because I'd love a pair lol.
Will suck having the shaft out when it snows this weekend though, oh well.

Good day everyone.
My front end noise turned out to be a bad universal joint on the front propeller (drive) shaft.
I heard and felt it at low speeds, like driving through a parking lot and at highway speeds around 65-75mph it vibrated.
I went under the truck, shook the shaft and sure enough that's what it was. I could have fixed it myself with the $20 joint from PepBoys but the dealer said the warrenty will replace the whole shaft so I'll let them have a go at it. My service writer knows I'm ASE certified so he rarely tries to pull the wool over my eyes.
As for now I removed the shaft as I drove to SC for the weekend and didn't want the u-joint to granade on me. It is sitting in the cargo area wraped in plastic and I'm loveing the increased gas milage I got with it out, do they make lock out hubs for these trucks because I'd love a pair lol.
Will suck having the shaft out when it snows this weekend though, oh well.

Thanks for the info! I might have this problem too. How much of an increase did you get? Is it safe to run it without the shaft for a long period of time?

Thanks for the info! I might have this problem too. How much of an increase did you get? Is it safe to run it without the shaft for a long period of time?

I didn't do any scientific testing but I did drive from Richmond VA to Columbia SC and burned LESS than 3/4 of a tank of fuel. These trucks don't have a front axle disconnet. What does that mean? It means the front drive shaft is spun by the front wheels even when the vehicle is in 2wd. Your basically spining dead weight every time your driving in 2wd and the affect on gas milage will be more drastic in stop and go/city driving because you gotta spin that shaft every time you pull off.
Most other 4X4 have either a front axle disconnet or Auto or manual locking hubs to allow the front wheels to free wheel when not in 4 wheel drive.
I think Nissan did it without the disconnect because it would allow the Auto 4wd to engage a little faster.
As for having the front shaft out, it won't hurt anything just be sure to leave the transfer case in 2wd mode. It just means you now have a 2wd Armada until you put the shaft back in.
Thank you.

DRG.

Dropped my front propeller shaft and sure enough the u-joint at the tranfer case end is toast.

Took a quick test drive (without the prop shaft) and noise is gone.

Thing I can't figure out is why the noise went away when turning corners. Doesn't make sense. Also very annoying that noises never come from where they sound like they come from! :rolleyes:

Now I need to replace the u-joint, any tips? Looks pretty straight forward and I have the service manual but it shows the use of a hammer which is always a sign to ask fellow weekend wrenchers if they have any experiences to share.

I don't know why but that is the one that always seems to go bad :confused: . PepBoys has a beefy looking replacement for around $20 bucks. There are spring clips used to hold the needle bearing caps in place. Use pliers to pinch and twist the clips out then tap down on a cap which should cause the one on the opposite end to slide out of the yoke. Or you could just buy the part and have a shop install it for you.
The reason the nosie goes away when you turn is the front shaft actually speeds up when you turn and centrifugal forces hold the worn ends in the caps which keep it from clunking. This is the reason you don't drive on hard dry surfaces in 4X4 Hi or Low. When you make a turn the front and rear drive shaft speeds differ which will cause the drive train to bind up which could actually break something.

New greasable u-joint purchased! $15 CDN from NAPA. Now I just need to get it installed. Old u-joint is out, new u-joint is in freezer for easier install. Any tips for install? I did a dry run to see how the new bearing caps would fit but it's tight so in the freezer they went.

re: failure... I don't think this u-joint fails because of using 4WD hi or low.... we've had the truck 2 years and never used either... only use auto every once in a while and only on snow covered roads in the winter. Also, running in 4WD in the dry is hardest on your diff (very hard). This failure came on quick over the last few months so I also don't think it was pre existing damage from the prior owner either otherwise we should've seen it sooner. I think these u-joints simply need grease every once in a while and the stock ones don't have zerks.

New greasable u-joint purchased! $15 CDN from NAPA. Now I just need to get it installed. Old u-joint is out, new u-joint is in freezer for easier install. Any tips for install? I did a dry run to see how the new bearing caps would fit but it's tight so in the freezer they went.

re: failure... I don't think this u-joint fails because of using 4WD hi or low.... we've had the truck 2 years and never used either... only use auto every once in a while and only on snow covered roads in the winter. Also, running in 4WD in the dry is hardest on your diff (very hard). This failure came on quick over the last few months so I also don't think it was pre existing damage from the prior owner either otherwise we should've seen it sooner. I think these u-joints simply need grease every once in a while and the stock ones don't have zerks.
You said it. Zerks make maintainance so much easier. I don't think it failed because of using 4X4 either. I think it's a lack of proper grease.
In my post above about 4X4 Hi/Low I was just explaining why we don't drive on hard dry surfaces with it engaged, binding.
The freezer is a good idea and should help it go in with just a few taps. A brass or lead hammer would be good to avoid damaging the bearing cup. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Just finished and took it for a test drive... quiet and smooth!! and no more vibrations. Used brake cleaner to clean out the yokes before installing the new u-joint. Had the u-joint in the freezer for 1/2 hr or so and that was enough to let me seat the bearing caps properly. A few light taps later they were all in. I topped the u-joint up with grease with my gun and it was good to go back in.

I just put a 2 post car lift in my garage this winter so I've been having fun working on all the cars. It's nice to be able to sit under the truck to do a job like this :D:D

Still can't believe how much of a difference a $15 u-joint made in the ride.

I'm a little nervous about re-using the drive shaft mount bolts... not sure if they were the kind of torque stretching 'one time use' bolts or not... they looked normal, I used a little locktite and will check torque in a few weeks. but it's really hard to tighten them properly, can't get a socket on them and have to guess at torque, I figure I overtightened them a little but that should be better than too loose.

Just finished and took it for a test drive... quiet and smooth!! and no more vibrations. Used brake cleaner to clean out the yokes before installing the new u-joint. Had the u-joint in the freezer for 1/2 hr or so and that was enough to let me seat the bearing caps properly. A few light taps later they were all in. I topped the u-joint up with grease with my gun and it was good to go back in.

I just put a 2 post car lift in my garage this winter so I've been having fun working on all the cars. It's nice to be able to sit under the truck to do a job like this :D:D

Still can't believe how much of a difference a $15 u-joint made in the ride.

I'm a little nervous about re-using the drive shaft mount bolts... not sure if they were the kind of torque stretching 'one time use' bolts or not... they looked normal, I used a little locktite and will check torque in a few weeks. but it's really hard to tighten them properly, can't get a socket on them and have to guess at torque, I figure I overtightened them a little but that should be better than too loose.
Don't worry about the bolts, I'm sure you cinched them up good.
Good job.

i had the same exact problem, originally thought my weight was off in my tires. I brought it to the tire place and those guys said my transmission was shot which i knew they were full of it. I did research on here and you guys called it, it was my u-joint. both were totally rusted and damaged. The OEM don't have the grease nipples which make them deteriorate faster