Repair Nissan Pathfinder Wobbles Problem Rocks Side To Side
you will find information oh now to resolve a problem on nissan pathfinder SUV issues with the suspension when the truck wobbles side to side also known as the Death Wobble. I will show you how to fix it with picture and images to stop the swaying 4x4 [2319], Last Updated: Sat May 18, 2024
pathie
Thu Dec 04, 2008
54 Comments
58599 Visits
i have a 1998 nissan pathfinder SUV truck that i bought about 5 years ago. its very dependable, but lately my wife has been getting on my case because i need to fix the car.
the problem is that it wobbles back and forth when you are driving on the highway/freeway. so i replaced the front and rear shocks. while it did help, it did not fix the problem. everytime while driving downhill or when it hits a bump and rocks from left to right, its very scary and dangerous when it rocks side to side like that.
so today i went under the rear car and check the rear suspension to see what i could find.. and i think i may have found the problem. so i crawl under the truck and there it was, the upper and lower control arm bushings seem to be broken. check out these pictures i took with my cell phone:
so i went to the local auto parts store and they did not carry the bushings for this car. they said i have to go to the dealer for that.. which sucks, cuz them punks are going to charge alot.
Click Here To Learn How To Repair
ok, later in the day i went to the local nissan dealer and i asked for the lower and uppper control arms bushings, and before i can finish my sentence, i noticed that look on his face. then he replied, yes i know what you are talking about, you have a problem with your pathfinder excessive play right, there is a service bulleting. he showed me that bulletin and it says:
Classification: RA97-002
Reference: NTB98-001
Date: April 1, 1998
PATHFINDER VEHICLE PULL AND FRONT/REAR SUSPENSION EXCESSIVE PLAY
Applied Vehicle: 1996-98 Pathfinder (R50)
Applied VIN: Vehicles built before JN8AR05Y*WW256932
SERVICE INFORMATION
If a 1996-98 Pathfinder exhibits the following conditions, the cause may be from worn bushing(s) in the rear suspension upper and/or lower links.
* Excessive play in the rear axle especially during moderate acceleration or deceleration.
* Vehicle pulling at a constant speed
* Excessive sway and rocking motion in the front suspension when coming to a stop.
To correct these conditions, use the service procedure on page 2.
SERVICE PROCEDURE
1. Test drive the vehicle under the conditions described by the customer to verify the incident.
2. Inspect the upper and lower rear suspension links (indicated by the arrows in Figure 1 ) for damaged or worn bushings as follows:
A. Remove a suspension link from the vehicle.
B. Use a screwdriver to move the inner metal portion of the bushing in all directions while inspecting the rubber portion of the bushing for damage or wear (see Figure 2).
3. Replace the links that have damaged or worn bushings.
4. Tighten the link retaining bolts/nuts to specification.
IMPORTANT: Before tightening the link retaining bolts/nuts, the rear axle !lli!§! be
positioned in its normal ride height. Use one of the two procedures listed below to correctly position the axle before tightening the link retaining bolts/nuts:
.Place the vehicle on the ground.
.With the vehicle on the lift) support the rear axle with jack stands and slowly lower the vehicle lift until the rear lift arm pads just separate from the vehicle. Stop lowering the lift as soon as the gap between the lift arm pads and the vehicle is 1/2 inch.
5. Test drive the vehicle again to ensure the incident is resolved.
here is how to fix it
http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/nissan-pathfinder-how-to-replace-suspension-links-t6856.html
the problem is that it wobbles back and forth when you are driving on the highway/freeway. so i replaced the front and rear shocks. while it did help, it did not fix the problem. everytime while driving downhill or when it hits a bump and rocks from left to right, its very scary and dangerous when it rocks side to side like that.
so today i went under the rear car and check the rear suspension to see what i could find.. and i think i may have found the problem. so i crawl under the truck and there it was, the upper and lower control arm bushings seem to be broken. check out these pictures i took with my cell phone:
so i went to the local auto parts store and they did not carry the bushings for this car. they said i have to go to the dealer for that.. which sucks, cuz them punks are going to charge alot.
Click Here To Learn How To Repair
ok, later in the day i went to the local nissan dealer and i asked for the lower and uppper control arms bushings, and before i can finish my sentence, i noticed that look on his face. then he replied, yes i know what you are talking about, you have a problem with your pathfinder excessive play right, there is a service bulleting. he showed me that bulletin and it says:
SERVICE BULLETIN
Classification: RA97-002
Reference: NTB98-001
Date: April 1, 1998
PATHFINDER VEHICLE PULL AND FRONT/REAR SUSPENSION EXCESSIVE PLAY
Applied Vehicle: 1996-98 Pathfinder (R50)
Applied VIN: Vehicles built before JN8AR05Y*WW256932
SERVICE INFORMATION
If a 1996-98 Pathfinder exhibits the following conditions, the cause may be from worn bushing(s) in the rear suspension upper and/or lower links.
* Excessive play in the rear axle especially during moderate acceleration or deceleration.
* Vehicle pulling at a constant speed
* Excessive sway and rocking motion in the front suspension when coming to a stop.
To correct these conditions, use the service procedure on page 2.
SERVICE PROCEDURE
1. Test drive the vehicle under the conditions described by the customer to verify the incident.
2. Inspect the upper and lower rear suspension links (indicated by the arrows in Figure 1 ) for damaged or worn bushings as follows:
A. Remove a suspension link from the vehicle.
B. Use a screwdriver to move the inner metal portion of the bushing in all directions while inspecting the rubber portion of the bushing for damage or wear (see Figure 2).
3. Replace the links that have damaged or worn bushings.
4. Tighten the link retaining bolts/nuts to specification.
IMPORTANT: Before tightening the link retaining bolts/nuts, the rear axle !lli!§! be
positioned in its normal ride height. Use one of the two procedures listed below to correctly position the axle before tightening the link retaining bolts/nuts:
.Place the vehicle on the ground.
.With the vehicle on the lift) support the rear axle with jack stands and slowly lower the vehicle lift until the rear lift arm pads just separate from the vehicle. Stop lowering the lift as soon as the gap between the lift arm pads and the vehicle is 1/2 inch.
5. Test drive the vehicle again to ensure the incident is resolved.
here is how to fix it
http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/nissan-pathfinder-how-to-replace-suspension-links-t6856.html
nissan_sucks
Sat May 29, 2010
Eric
Tue Feb 05, 2013
I have a 2003 Pathfinder.. the wobble started a few months ago. It was very minor at first. It would torque to one direction when i hit the gas and then rock back the other direction when i let go of the gas. So i thought it might be the motor mounts. However.. now it basicly just wobbles all the time while im under gas or hit a bump on the highway. Its become dangerous.. Could there be more to it than just the rear end? Perhaps motor mounts and rear end? It sucks allot.
https://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/nissan-pathfinder-wobbles-problem-rocks-side-to-side-t6838.html
https://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/nissan-pathfinder-wobbles-problem-rocks-side-to-side-t6838.html
2003 (United States)
Tue Jul 02, 2019
we started 50,000 miles ago wrear sway bar, it only helped some, just figured lots of miles thats the best it's gonna get! now new struts & shocks later didn't change a thing except for clunk noise from old broken right strut mount the front suspension of ours lookfeel absolutely perfect, but the body try to contort and bob on acceleration and deceleration! the only thing we haven't fixed is what all these folks are speaking of! we love our 03 pathfinder walmost 200,000 on it, but now she wants some upgrades and getting costly, from trans, to ac, suspension, radiator, the dreaded all 6 cylinder spark plug tune up, motor & transmission mount, another brake job and a few other things wwear and tear!
Boo
Fri Aug 14, 2009
it ain't the swaybar. had the same problem, all 8 bushings on the 4 trailing links were garbage. i got aftermarket poly bushings and bolts and nuts for all 4 trailing links and the panhard rod. the panhard bushings turned out to be ok, but replaced them along with the trailing link ones. a lot of work, but cheaper than a dealer doing it. i needed a high speed cutting wheel to cut off 2 of the old bolts - a hacksaw wasn't working too well, and an impact hammer wouldn't get the bolts out after i got the nuts off. having a hydraulic lift made it easier. if you do aftermarket bushings instead of replacing the entire link you need an impact chisel to get the old bushings out and a big vice to press the new bushings in. see 4x4parts for one source of poly bushings. the truck drives great now, but there is a noticeable gear whine in the cabin now due to the harder bushings. cost about $255.00 for the aftermarket parts. good luck.
Lee
Fri Mar 30, 2012
Well I have a 2000 Pathfinder 2 WD with 125K miles on it and started to experience this on the freeway about 6 months ago which I never had before. It really seemed noticeable when the freeway or road is taking a left turn. Seems to really start rocking back and forth when there are bumps in the road while the road is turning left. Also notice it was especially bad when you get in the dips that are made from lots of trucks on freeways and road or freeway is turning left. It is very scary as the Pathfinder starts rocking back and forth so much sometimes that it could easily get out of control. Does this on roads too. Mostly going over 45 mph. I replaced the tires, front struts and rear shocks. This helped a tiny bit but now have noticed that it is still there and Bad! The place where I took it to get the struts and shocks has no idea what it is. So should I print this web page out and take it to him? Has this really fixed the problems for everyone? Has this fix not worked for anyone? Let me know. Thanks.
may (United States)
Tue Jul 02, 2019
with only 125k may only be your sway bar but if you can do all of it at once, you are golden for another 125k w a pathfinder handling like new
Nick
Mon Apr 20, 2009
it is the sway bar. i had the same problem and got it fixed for about $300.
mitcheroo (United States)
Tue Jul 02, 2019
if it's your sway bar your vehicles symptoms area little different than listed above at 155,000 miles thats what we replaced, now it's a whole different feeling, now at 197,000 miles we have replaced that and the shocks, struts all the way around, rebalanced and rotated the tires and still can be a crazy roller coaster ride! at 90mph it can be quite entertaining for an adrenalin junkie! but it happens anything over 55mph! we had 2 shops inspect our front control arms and other critical handling items in front, but i'm not sure how thorough they were r if they followed up inspecting the control arms and sway bar and all the bushings and miscin the rear oddly the vehicle seems to be trying to twist and bob on the weird grooved concrete highways and a real weird contortion on the body when accelerating or deceleration!!!! so i'm aiming to look at replacing items toward the rear differential suspension as per service bulletin above for 9698 pathfinders perhaps the aftermarket cheapo rear sway bar wasn't stout enough for this application or the shop got a defective one, because the issue at the time was never completely taken care of but the vehicle has nearly 200,000 miles on it, a quarter of those hard miles and or pulling a uhaul trailer! we love the rig or would of traded it in for a car payment in hopes for as good as a rig as this one has been! the hard call is how much more do we want to spend on it as she has moved into our savings and credit cards about $4,000 in the past 2 years on other things pertinent to keeping her on the road safely! transmission, rear main and oil pan gaskets, the radiator, brakes again, the complete ac compressor and items there in, and the dreaded complete tuneup! the 2 spark plugs only very talented mechanics seem to reach wo dismantling the intake and such so they can get to them! thanks nissan!!
you can get great prices on automotive parts if you can find a shop that will let you use them to get their cost on parts at places like o'reillys, autozone or set up your own account wthem as a jobber i got my struts about 40% off retail
you can get great prices on automotive parts if you can find a shop that will let you use them to get their cost on parts at places like o'reillys, autozone or set up your own account wthem as a jobber i got my struts about 40% off retail
if you go to the dealer and ask them to fix it for you. they will gladly fix it for you. in exchange,, all they ask of you is your money.