Swapping Armada diffs for better performance?

[Clay350]

Hey guys sorry for the late reply.

If your using your original pumpkins then the output shafts will stay the same because they have the speed sensors. If you used a different carrier (like me) that does not have the speed sensors on the output shafts you have to switch them over. They are a direct fit. Just replace output shafts from your original carrier. You will need a slide hammer. Takes 5 minutes.

I do not have OEM wheels anymore. But you should be able to directly calculate what the speeds would be by comparing ratios and old speeds. Weight and drag won't matter since the torque converter is locked in 5th gear at these speeds. You are correct in stating that with my old gearing I was at 1900 RPM @ 70 mph. After Switch I was at 2200 RPM @ 70 MPH. This correlates exactly with the difference between rations which is 1.15.

BTW... How did you reduce 800 lbs? I took off a bunch of stuff from mine but im guessing it was 150 lb max. roof rack, side steps, wheel fenders...etc.

I do not know where to get the actual gears for these carriers. If I remember correctly I easily found the front gear but could not locate a rear. That was one of the reasons I just decided on entire carriers.

Clay

[volvite]

Clay,

With the gear swap are you now getting less MPGs than before? If I'm seeing this right, at 70 mph with the original setup you were at 1900 rpms, and now at 70 you are at 2200 rpms.

[Clay350]

Did not notice difference in MPG. I remember after the swap I payed attention to it. I don't remember the numbers. I seem to remember it might have been a little better after the swap. Regardless it was not much of a difference at all. Bad before the swap. Bad after the swap.

[forgottenzone]

Clay, thanks for the reply.
looks like I will be going the same way you did. getting good used carriers.
I dont see how you can have better mph, when it takes higher rpm to maintain same speeds on highway.
my foot is heavy. I cant keep my foot off the gas pedal. I had 5.4 range rover, then the new 07 5.7 tundra, before the pathfinder, and pathfinder being 2000 pounds lighter, difference like night and day.
I get 12 mpg City and I can get 20 highway if I am milking the pedal, and thats afrer switching to elect. fans. I use to get only 10 mixed driving before. I can imagen after changing the gears. well I didnot buy it for economy. and I get free gas.
Weight Reduction:
mud flaps, running boards, LE door moldings, roof rack, full size oem spare wheel and tire, complete 3rd row seats removal, wont believe how heavy those seats are, oem electric pushing fan, oem mechanical fan and clutch, fan shraud, debageing, oem primary cats, oem muffler, oem resonator. The wight was checked pre and post work on same scrap metal digital scale, Both times with 1/4 tank of gas.

[forgottenzone]

Added few more things to my previes post, and tried to fix the spelling.
Sorry everyone for my spelling. English is my 3rd or 4th leng.

[Clay350]

You can get better MPG with lower gearing. In MOST cases higher gearing will give you better MPG. But there comes a point that higher gearing will reduce your mileage because the engine is laboring to hard at a given RPM.


It is not just simply what rpm you are turning at a given speed. If you are geared so high that the engine is laboring to achieve that speed then your mileage will sacrifice. I believe this is the case with our pathfinder V8. The gearing is simply to high on the highway.

I need to look into your electric fans. My fans are on all the time. Even when its 0 degrees out I hear the fan howling away. so annoying.

[disallow]

an old grey-beard here at the company I work for (we manufacture over the road coaches) explained it really well.

Engineers call it the 'sweet-spot', its that place on the HP/Torque chart where torque and HP meet. The place where the highest torque value versus the lowest HP output vs the lowest RPM.

This is simply a function of the fact that it takes fuel to make HP. The lower HP you need to generate the less fuel you need. But there needs to be enough torque to ensure the vehicle can keep moving.

The engineer's definition: "The sweet spot is the engine speed measured in revolutions per minute (rpm) at which brake specific fuel consumption is at a minimum."

A good link:

http://roadking.com/2011/06/sweet-spot/

t

[forgottenzone]

Clay350, I see you found my electric fan thread.
If you ever get it don, you will love it and the fact that you can udjust the cooling temperature and the fan module does the rest.
Also the sound is like night and day.
you wont hear anything humming from the engine anymore.
I have had stealership install a remote starter when I purchased the car as a free deal. and i dont use it anymore. It takes less then 2 minutes for the engine to get to running temperature.

[Clay350]

Today it was -11 when I started my pathfinder. The entire 10 minute drive to work the fan was howling and screeching away? Why? Im finding a plug or relay and yanking it after work.

[forgottenzone]

Plug, Relay? Which fan are you talking about? the pushing electric fan by the grill? or the main fan?
Main fan is mechanical. It has a clutch. thats why even at idle it spins.when the temperature rises the clutch activates and it spins faster, at idle below 2000 rpm when AC compressor works, the electric pushing fan powers up, and you get even more noise. once the enigne revs over 2000 rpm with AC on, the electric fan goes off. Main mechanical fan always spins at diff speeds no mater what. with Flex a Lite dual fans you remove oem mechanical and electric fan, and headache goes away.

[Clay350]

Isnt the clutch electrical? Couldnt I pull the plug on that?

[disallow]

Isnt the clutch electrical? Couldnt I pull the plug on that?

No it is 100% mechanical.

[forgottenzone]

So far I found a rear pumpkin / Carrier assembly, and its on its way.
I have been searching for a while now, Best bet is car-part website.
I found that LKQ company has right now 36, well 35 I ordered 1.
35 - 2011 Armada 3.357 carriers. I spoke with few LKQ places and they told me most of these are like brand new or less then 100 miles.
Looks like delivery trucks had accidents or something?
Pricing ranges from $825 to $475. It looks like depending in what state the LKQ place is? There are like 8 of them at 2 LKQ places in Ohio all at
$475. I spoke with some different places non LKQ and they want to charge for Carrier cores. Crazy, junk yards want cores.
I think LKQ is the best bet.They will ship the Part to any LKQ place that's close to you, there are over 200 places in US.
Shipping is free since they do their own shipping.
And they don't charge ( Core ) for the Carriers.
Also they give 6 months warranty on them.
So all you pay is the price and tax.I called the place where the carrier is, they gave me the Quote #.
Then I called the closest LKQ place which is in Hunts Point Bronx for me, gave them the Quote #, plus I told them that I was auto repair shop,
Used my friends busyness information, and they ordered it, COD, and since I used the auto repair shop to purchase, they will even deliver it to the shop for free.
I think you can't beet that.

As far as the Front Carriers, there are much less available. and are more $
Most available are Titans, then Armadas.
There is 1 - 2011 and few 2010 titan carriers available on car-part website.
I found 2010 for $750 and its 300 miles away. going to go and pick it up. Its still on the truck.
The guy told me truck has 34,000 on it Ill check when I go to pick it up.
He was like, I wont bother with the core since you are coming far away.

[NmexMAX]

I bought the 1 year warranty, can't remember the mileage it was guaranteed for.

And if you can, seems like you have, get the 07+ version ofr the front (M205), since the previous version is a bit weaker and has been known to crack and catastrophically fail.

You'll know this by the 3 ribs on the head of the diff, vs the 2.




But, this pic is only for informational purposes since looks like you got the 3 rib.

[forgottenzone]

Yes, its 2011 Rear and 2010 Front.
Rear should be coming in tomorrow.