The Nissan Path

Hello. I have a 2001 LE Pathfinder, 2WD.

At appoximately 40 mph, it begins to shake side to side pretty violently. It usually happens when the wheel is turned to change lanes.. It is like a couple of large guys inside shaking side to side. As soon as I let off gas, it settles back down.

I can activate this by traveling down the road and quickly jerking the steering wheel side to side a couple of times. Then the body of the truck rolls side to side. During this, the steering wheel is straight and there is no vibration in the steering wheel itself.

Everything mechaincally seems good. Tires are good, have been re-balanced recently, but did not solve the issue. I had a mechanic look at it and he said that it looked good (He could not get it to roll like I described). It used to do this at 65 MPH, but now is doing it at a slower speed..

Any ideas?

bump... any ideas?

how many miles are on the pathy? Sounds like shocks are shot. Also check the sway bar connections. Something is definitely not right, although jerking motions aren't the best way to keep the truck stable.

It has abouty 100k. All of the bushings seem good and tight. When I have the car up on the jack, nothing seems to have excessive play. The sway bars are in good shape and firm. The shocks (I would think) would have to be completely blown to give this type of reaction...
At first I though it was the rack and pinion, but it seems fairly stiff as well....

When you had it up on the jack, did you check for play in the wheels? Maybe the bearings are on their way out. Usually they start making noise though. I can't really think of anything else right now.

It's your rear trail arm bushings

How did the rear trail arm brushings work out? My 97 model is doing the same. But it has 200k on the clock so I thought replacing the shocks might help, Or I'll just put it into a mechanic and let them deal with it.

i had the same problem on my 97. I replaced the shocks and the struts. It still kept doing it and my old mechanic asked me why it was doing it.

I took it to Leschwab tires and the guy jumped in and drove 3 feet and said there is someting broke under neath lifted it up and he said it was the bushings right under the rear door. $180 later and havnt had a problem yet. If ya have a Leschwab center near ya they will check it for free and they know what the hell they are doin. unlike my last mechaic

oh and i had my barrings go out on my driver side front. Never made a noise just riped the whole wheel off destroyed everything from the inner CV on out. the mechanic rebuilt that and thats when he asked me why my truck rolled like that.

For anyone else, rsankar is right. Your real lower control arm bushings are the reason for the swaying.

Jose

I had the same problem. It was fine until I hit about 45mph. My friend who is a Nissan Tech said it was the torsion bars. We replaced all 4 and now it's great.

This is good help cause I have a '97 Pathfinder and it has the same problem. I can't track down which bushing it is but I'm thinking about replacing all 5 links.

1996-2000 Pathfinder rear bushing problem

Nissan has issued a TSBS (Technical Service Bulletin) on the issue (NTB908-001, NTB098-012), but has not dealt with it as a recall. It is an expensive fix ($700–1,400) repair due to faulty control arm bushings. A Polyurethane after-market bushing replacement is suggested over the OEM part (since it is faulty).[3]

Their TSB website says: "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"

Many customers have complained of this issue happening at highway speeds 55 mph+ which causes the vehicle to sway back and forth dangerously. NTSB "complaint" board has numerous owners that have complained about the problem but Nissan has not addressed the design flaw or issued notices or recalls to the owners