Dampener

[wilson]

yodel!

 

so I recently put some larger tires on my hoopty and I noticed that the steering feels a little sloppy. kind of a side to side kind of slop. like theres a bit of play. so I figured that I had some bad ball joints as she was lifted recently as well. so I started poking around to see whats what. I noticed on the center link there appears to be a really convenient mount for a steering dampener. now I've never looked through the steering section of the FSM till just now, and I'll be dammed! there is a steering dampener on the schematic!

is this something that comes standard and I've been missing all these years? or perhaps only with the trucks that came with 31s, which I now have?

 

now if I sound like an idiot don't worry.. I am

[ahardb0dy]

I've seen the mount your talking about but don't recall ever seeing a truck that had a factory steering stabilizer. Most aftermarket stabilizers don't use that bracket anyway. When you install larger tires and wheels than stock they tend to emphasize any weaknesses you may have in your front end. larger tires will normally raise havoc over time on the Nissan front end so make sure to check your ball joints and idler arm, did you get it re-aligned after switching to the new tires?

 

Nissan FAST shows a steering dampener as being an option

[OldSlowReliable]

yodel!

 

so I recently put some larger tires on my hoopty and I noticed that the steering feels a little sloppy. kind of a side to side kind of slop. like theres a bit of play. so I figured that I had some bad ball joints as she was lifted recently as well. so I started poking around to see whats what. I noticed on the center link there appears to be a really convenient mount for a steering dampener. now I've never looked through the steering section of the FSM till just now, and I'll be dammed! there is a steering dampener on the schematic!

is this something that comes standard and I've been missing all these years? or perhaps only with the trucks that came with 31s, which I now have?

 

now if I sound like an idiot don't worry.. I am

It was an option, but you can buy aftermarket kits from several companies, if I'm not mistaken some of the bigguns are rough country, rancho, and a couple others.....

[KovemaN]

RockAuto.com carries a kit from Monroe for under $50 that mounts to the OEM location. I added that to mine, but I didn't notice much of a difference.

[ahardb0dy]

I wouldn't consider using the factory shock, I used to tell people all the time the first thing to replace on any new truck is the shocks, most of the stock shocks are usually garbage. I had a rancho single stabilizer on my 87 Hardbody but as koveman said about his and I agree even with the Rancho I didn't notice any difference

[GrimGreg]

I notice a little difference offroad, not as much of a jerk on the wheel over bumps (Rancho kit). I have the mounts for a stock one (frame side) I grabbed off a junker, planned to use it on my 88.

 

As for the slop, you probably have either a worn center link or worn tie rod ends.

[adamzan]

Check the centerlink and inner tie rods that is what seemed to die first on my oem front end.

[OldSlowReliable]

I'd replace the tie rods and balljoints, not all too costly, and it can't really hurt (unless they are obviously OK)

 

Otherwise, the tires may be just accenting a bad CL or something thats always been there.

[adamzan]

Also forgot to add. I have the steering damper (oem style) on my 95 (added it) and on my 93 (came factory) and I could feel a big difference on the crap roads here between those 2 trucks and my other 95 se, that didn't come with one.

[5523Pathfinder]

I run the factory shock on mine. It does just fine. Matter of fact, its been installed for almost 4 years now. Certianly helps with bump-steer.

[GrimGreg]

Another wobble possibility might be worn bearings.

[wilson]

Another wobble possibility might be worn bearings.

I adjusted the bearing and can get no movement twisting the tire form top to bottom while its raised. I do,however, get plenty of movement left to right( steeering). the center link does a sort of twisting thing that I understand the HooHaa unit takes care of?

how can I tell if the rod ends or idler arms are bad?

[OldSlowReliable]

Moog Tie rods fixed alot of my play steering, and a good alignment...but I should mention that my steering WHEEL moves when locked in position, so it would move significantly, but it was just moving the steering system, make sure your steering wheel is held firm

[lint]

yodel!

 

so I recently put some larger tires on my hoopty and I noticed that the steering feels a little sloppy. kind of a side to side kind of slop. like theres a bit of play. so I figured that I had some bad ball joints as she was lifted recently as well. so I started poking around to see whats what. I noticed on the center link there appears to be a really convenient mount for a steering dampener. now I've never looked through the steering section of the FSM till just now, and I'll be dammed! there is a steering dampener on the schematic!

is this something that comes standard and I've been missing all these years? or perhaps only with the trucks that came with 31s, which I now have?

 

now if I sound like an idiot don't worry.. I am

 

'

Yeah, Well, I'm new to Pathfinders as I only got my '95 SE a few months ago, but I gotta tell ya, I hate the steering (as opposed to my lowered mk2 Jetta). I've replaced f&r shocks. I noticed that mount too on the CL, and saw the steering damper listed in both the FSM and in my Haynes manual (came with), ended up searching NPORA and found myself here. The land of information, hehe... Was wondering if that was an option or standard equipment? Think that I'll source out a damper and mount that and see if there's a difference. The CL and tie rods seem good.

[Simon]

Personally, I don't like steering stabilizers. My thought is that the will mask problems that would otherwise be apparent without one. I've run 2 WD21 Pathfinders and now my X with 33" tires and never had a problem with bump steer or found any need for a stabilizer. That said, I've also run aftermarket steering components for years, and my steering has typically been in fairly good shape. I could definitely tell if there was play though, and I gave it the needed attention. My fear is, with a stabilizer, I might not have noticed.

[adamzan]

Personally, I don't like steering stabilizers. My thought is that the will mask problems that would otherwise be apparent without one. I've run 2 WD21 Pathfinders and now my X with 33" tires and never had a problem with bump steer or found any need for a stabilizer. That said, I've also run aftermarket steering components for years, and my steering has typically been in fairly good shape. I could definitely tell if there was play though, and I gave it the needed attention. My fear is, with a stabilizer, I might not have noticed.

I agree, as much as I liked my stabilizer when I had it, I had an outer tie rod that got extremely worn and went unnoticed until I heard it clunking. I would said if you want one check your components for play often.

[lint]

So again, I crawled under the rig and checked everything out. But while it all seems good and tight under there, I really am starting to cringe when highway driving and the Pathy starts following the road ruts and I'm getting tossed about inside. I noticed that on one of the bushings for the front sway bar, I can see light around it. Do you think that this could be causing my poor handling? Tires & shocks are new. I've read a lot about the CL. How do I test it for being worn out? As always, thanks!

[Kingman]

I adjusted the bearing and can get no movement twisting the tire form top to bottom while its raised. I do,however, get plenty of movement left to right( steeering). the center link does a sort of twisting thing that I understand the HooHaa unit takes care of?

how can I tell if the rod ends or idler arms are bad?

 

The center link should have absolutely zero movement in any direction other than directly left or right when you pull on a tire. Check this: jack one front tire up off the ground and twist on it, the other tire being on the ground will "load" the center link when you twist and if any of the ball joints in the steering system are bad it will appear as up and down or twisting movement in the center link. That can account for a vary large variety of problems/sloppiness.

 

Stabilizer bar link kits are insanely cheap, replace them. $10 at the most for the parts, and RockAuto sells polyurethane kits which stiffen it a little.

[lint]

Thanks KING-man! That helps me out tons. I'll check it out at first light tomorrow! Cheers

[porsche4786]

Is it ok to replace the center link without having an alignment done? I just had mine aligned and hate spending money on alignments unless I do a bunch of things all at once. I plan on replacing almost all of my bushings on the front steering system and probably some of the suspension bushings and ball joints next summer, then getting alignment done. But I'd really like to replace all the parts I can that don't require an alignment right away.

[GrimGreg]

Is it ok to replace the center link without having an alignment done? I just had mine aligned and hate spending money on alignments unless I do a bunch of things all at once. I plan on replacing almost all of my bushings on the front steering system and probably some of the suspension bushings and ball joints next summer, then getting alignment done. But I'd really like to replace all the parts I can that don't require an alignment right away.

It "should" be OK, but if they set the alignment wrong due to a worn centerlink, then putting a new one in would cause it to be off. The change (if any) would be in the toe. I would swap it and see how it feels/looks, and go from there. I would deffinately wait until after all the parts are replaced before getting another alignment though, if you are planning to change them. Worn ball joints can greatly effect the alignment.