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Wiggle


bherscher
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Hey, new to the forum but could not find a similar issue to mine after a search, so here's one for the brain trust:

94 pathfinder, manual, 2 whl drive, street use only, lots of miles but a fair amount of suspension joints have been replaced so far, but when I shift gears, or quickly release the throttle, the truck gives a sideways wiggle. It is more pronounced when trailering. I have been in, on, under, on top of this truck dozens of times looking for a culprit but cannot find anything that I feel would cause this behavior. Sure there are still some suspension mounting points that have not been replaced but they have been inspected and don't really act worn or loose.

I'm stumped! Any help? Thanks!

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Very well could be the trailing arm bushings, but just a hunch, how is the drive shaft universal joint? Loose or binding? That might be kicking things around, especially if the trailing arm bushings are worn. I mention this because you talk about abrupt load differences on the drive train.

Try checking the U joint for play, and then jack up the rear axle, start it, put it in gear and look. If the drive shaft and tranny look like the tail wagging the dog, it is binding and will slew the rear around some.

 

B

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Thanks for the replies. I have checked the suspension trailing arm bushings and the panhard bar bushings and neither show any signs of being bad. They are sound looking, tight and don't have apparent slop at all. There are two bars from the axle assembly to the chassis, no idea what they are called, and those bushings do show their age and have a little movement, but are not junkie looking to the point I would think to cause the issue. I could be 100% wrong on that, especially since I don't know what they are called! Perhaps these are also called trailing arms?

 

When I changed the center support bearing, I looked over the u joints but didn't notice anything particularly bad about them....looked like u joints! I will perform your test however as that just might be it after all.

Thanks again everyone for your comments, and if you know the name of the two bars attached to the axle please let me know!

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There are 4 trailing arms 2 lower and 2 upper. The lower would cause the wiggle. Try twisting the arms. Any movement at all means they're worn and need to be changed. Mine looked fine but made a huge difference in the handling.

 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

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Ok, just trying to understand what we are talking about. When you say there are 4 trailing arms, are you referring to the 2 (1 ea side) that connect from the frame to the wheel hub, and then the 2 that are located on top of the axle housing nearer the diff?

I've checked the lowers and they seem good. I'll try twisting them but the years have not been kind to my hands, and it is very tough to grab and growl like I used to. The 2 on top do have some twist in them however, and must be more worn than I initially thought.

Are all the bushings the same size for all 8 connections?

Still need to try Precise 1's test.

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