MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Hey Everyone! Well, I am going through my Pathfinder one step at a time updating and refurnishing the parts and components that 185,000 miles have taken their toll on, not to mention the 16 years of driving and offroading. One issue that I have been experiencing has been a very unstable ride at highway speeds. The truck had a tendency to swerve one direction or the other if the tires caught a ridge or dip in the road and it caused many white knuckled drives, full of constant corrections and allot of stress. Since the truck is lifted, it made the issue even more apparent. First, I replaced ball joints and I could feel a slight difference, but the erratic swerving was still a factor. Today, I removed the rock guard under the engine and it revealed that one of the two main bushings was completely missing from the bracket, causing about an inch of looseness in my front end. This video shows that inspection and how a $29 sway bar bushing set restored my Pathfinder to a very stable riding rig again. I apologize in advance for camera work in this video. You have to remember that I was videoing with one hand and doing all repairs and parts handling with the other. It is not as easy as it seems. [/i] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Great Post! I was wondering if those bushings were the source of my poor handling that I was complaining about. Now I have my next "to do"! Thanks for posting this!!! Where did you get those fancy red bushings from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Thanks. Another thing that's on my todo list. I guess with the tires on the ground the bar isn't under any tension and it makes it easy. By the way, my FSM (91) lists the torque for the bolts for the two center bushings at something like 60 ft-lbs. I stripped the welded nuts trying to get this on my truck (too bad I didn't replace the bushings when I had them apart last time...). Anyway, might want to take it easy on those. Not sure if the book is wrong (that's a lot of torque for 10 mm fasteners...) or if I just got unlucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 Great Post! I was wondering if those bushings were the source of my poor handling that I was complaining about. Now I have my next "to do"! Thanks for posting this!!! Where did you get those fancy red bushings from? It really made a huge unbelievable difference in my handling. It completely corrected the instability I have been fighting for over a year and it took less than an hour start to finish. I got the red kit off Ebay.Here is a link to the auction. I am sure they sell them allot. They have longer sleeves on them that the original too, so it actually takes a small amount of standing tension off. The stability is back and I could not be happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 Thanks. Another thing that's on my todo list. I guess with the tires on the ground the bar isn't under any tension and it makes it easy. By the way, my FSM (91) lists the torque for the bolts for the two center bushings at something like 60 ft-lbs. I stripped the welded nuts trying to get this on my truck (too bad I didn't replace the bushings when I had them apart last time...). Anyway, might want to take it easy on those. Not sure if the book is wrong (that's a lot of torque for 10 mm fasteners...) or if I just got unlucky. The 10mm bolts were only on the rock shield. The rest were all 14mm and trust me those bolts on the center bushings are hell to get out and back in. I was too busy using both hands during those moments to video. I broke off (2) 1/4" adapters trying to use a 1/4" socket with 3/8" ratchet, before I just went and found my missing 3/8" socket for 14mm. Even then I used my jack handle on the ratchet as an extension to mimic a breaker bar to back the bolts all the way out and all the way back in. It is at 60lbs before you even snug the bolts tight. Be prepared for that. Mine were not cross threaded either. They are just that tight. Maybe someone added some lock tite or something, but I could not see it on the bolt. My point is, do not worry about breaking those bolts. Worry about breaking your ratchet or socket and eat your Wheaties that morning. One more thing, I think that raising the vehicle a small amount until you see the tension lighten on the bars would make reassembly a little easier. I had to use a jack handle (in video) to lift it into place again. It took some effort, but was not horrible. I had also left all bolts very loose on center bushings while I was working on the outer bushings. I think that helped too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 (edited) Shipping to Canada is 25.00 I'm trying to find a better price. I'll let everyone know. Edit: Can't get better shipping from either the ebayer or the manufacturer. Oh well, I'll pay more and call it a "performance part" Edited November 14, 2010 by lint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 Shipping to Canada is 25.00 I'm trying to find a better price. I'll let everyone know. Yeah, that bites. I am sure that local parts stores can easily get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 The 10mm bolts were only on the rock shield. The rest were all 14mm and trust me those bolts on the center bushings are hell to get out and back in. I was too busy using both hands during those moments to video. I broke off (2) 1/4" adapters trying to use a 1/4" socket with 3/8" ratchet, before I just went and found my missing 3/8" socket for 14mm. Even then I used my jack handle on the ratchet as an extension to mimic a breaker bar to back the bolts all the way out and all the way back in. It is at 60lbs before you even snug the bolts tight. Be prepared for that. Mine were not cross threaded either. They are just that tight. Maybe someone added some lock tite or something, but I could not see it on the bolt. My point is, do not worry about breaking those bolts. Worry about breaking your ratchet or socket and eat your Wheaties that morning. Hehehe. Yeah, I meant the bolts were 10 mm diameter, I think you mean the head is 14 mm (so you use a 14 mm socket). I stripped out the "nuts" in the upper piece of curved metal (where you had trouble getting the tab in at the back because of your steering stabilizer shock). I just more nuts on TOP of the stack though. When I take it apart again I'll drill out the upper piece and just use a through-bolt and nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 (edited) ...Please note the FSM torque specs for the front and rear sway bars are wrong... I think they are really supposed to be like 30~40ftlbs 12-16 ftlbs Edited November 13, 2010 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 Hehehe. Yeah, I meant the bolts were 10 mm diameter, I think you mean the head is 14 mm (so you use a 14 mm socket). I stripped out the "nuts" in the upper piece of curved metal (where you had trouble getting the tab in at the back because of your steering stabilizer shock). I just more nuts on TOP of the stack though. When I take it apart again I'll drill out the upper piece and just use a through-bolt and nut. I broke them loose with box wrench with another interlocked into the end for more length. Then I used ratchet to take it out the rest of the way. The ones I was talking about being SO hard were the 2 that secured the bracket itself to the frame. Those were tough, but I took them out so that I could have more room to work around the steering stabilizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 ...Please note the FSM torque specs for the front and rear sway bars are wrong... I think they are really supposed to be like 30~40ftlbs If you can confirm what they are supposed to be, I will add it into the video. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 (edited) If you can confirm what they are supposed to be, I will add it into the video. Thanks for the input. Well I can confirm that sewebster isn't the first or the last person to strip the bolts by running them up to the FSM spec of 58-65ftlbs. Page FA-37 gives you that spec for both the bolts into the frame and the clamp bolt and it is wrong. If you run back to page FA-5 you can see it gives a differant spec for the clamp bolt (12-16 ftlbs) so I would apply that Lower spec to BOTH BOLTS INSTEAD. Lastly on page FA-3 it too says 12-16 ftlbs for the 2wd pickup anchors which use the same bolts in a differant location. So your corrected spec is 12-16 ftlbs for those little m10 bolts. On the fromt swaybar calmp and mounting the clamp to the frame. Edited November 13, 2010 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 Well I can confirm that sewebster isn't the first or the last person to strip the bolts by running them up to the FSM spec of 58-65ftlbs. Page FA-37 gives you that spec for both the bolts into the frame and the clamp bolt and it is wrong. If you run back to page FA-5 you can see it gives a differant spec for the clamp bolt (12-16 ftlbs) so I would apply that Lower spec to BOTH BOLTS INSTEAD. Lastly on page FA-3 it too says 12-16 ftlbs for the 2wd pickup anchors which use the same bolts in a differant location. So your corrected spec is 12-16 ftlbs for those little m10 bolts. On the fromt swaybar calmp and mounting the clamp to the frame. Thanks. I will make the changes tomorrow. I am a little too tired to trust myself with editing tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 You can also buy them online direct from manufacturer here: http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/categories.asp?cat=Nissan+Trucks FYI these come in Black and Red. The black ones are graphite impregnated, and are self lubricating as a result. The red ones need to be lubricated, and over time, may tend to squeek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 really? I thought the options were POLY and RUBBER and with POLY you get to chose red or black 'cause they can dye it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 errr, yeah...they poly ones come in red or black. Isn't that what we were jawin' about? The rubber ones come in black only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 15, 2010 Author Share Posted November 15, 2010 Well I can confirm that sewebster isn't the first or the last person to strip the bolts by running them up to the FSM spec of 58-65ftlbs. Page FA-37 gives you that spec for both the bolts into the frame and the clamp bolt and it is wrong. If you run back to page FA-5 you can see it gives a differant spec for the clamp bolt (12-16 ftlbs) so I would apply that Lower spec to BOTH BOLTS INSTEAD. Lastly on page FA-3 it too says 12-16 ftlbs for the 2wd pickup anchors which use the same bolts in a differant location. So your corrected spec is 12-16 ftlbs for those little m10 bolts. On the fromt swaybar calmp and mounting the clamp to the frame. I didn't get to this today. Hopefully tomorrow. I installed my oil filter relocation kit and did an oil change and spark plugs today in the rain. I am zonked now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 errr, yeah...they poly ones come in red or black. Isn't that what we were jawin' about? The rubber ones come in black only. I didn't think the black ones were graphite impregnated, I thought they were just plain black poly. also, for kicks Moog's poly is dark blue. aditionally energy suspension recomends using their formula 5 grease on all their bushings to reduce wear and keep noise down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 ye ey! and then some others are yellow.... But, if we are having a convo about Energy Suspension bushings, they come in red or black. Made of poly, and the black ones are graphite impregnated, which help lubricate them over time. True, I'd use grease too on them as I hate squeeks. I got the black ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandpath Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 That my next to do list. This is a great forum, lots of great info. Thanks man!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) Arg! I've been lying on the cold, snowy ground for the last 2 hours fighting my end links! Both were totally seized in there, and one of the spacer tubes was split and completely seized to the bolt. I never thought I could use split and seized in the same sentence! Finally got them out, the new end links on, and the bushings in. I'll try to upload photos a little later. Since they're on now, I'll leave them be for the next six months. I'm glad I got this done, and hopefully the snow ruts won't be tossing me all over the highway this winter! Anyway, I'm wondering if I should use copper grease or maybe a bearing grease on the shaft of the bolt so the spacer tube won't seize on? Edit: The ride is waaaayyyyyy better! Totally corrected all the slop I was having at the wheel. Gonna love my 150 km commute to work at 6 am in tomorrow's snowstorm! Edited November 22, 2010 by lint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Hey Jim, if you still have those old outer bushings you took of, it might not be a bad idea to hold on to them as backups or give them to another member, since they were new We installed them to pass inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 Arg! I've been lying on the cold, snowy ground for the last 2 hours fighting my end links! Both were totally seized in there, and one of the spacer tubes was split and completely seized to the bolt. I never thought I could use split and seized in the same sentence! Finally got them out, the new end links on, and the bushings in. I'll try to upload photos a little later. Since they're on now, I'll leave them be for the next six months. I'm glad I got this done, and hopefully the snow ruts won't be tossing me all over the highway this winter! Anyway, I'm wondering if I should use copper grease or maybe a bearing grease on the shaft of the bolt so the spacer tube won't seize on? Edit: The ride is waaaayyyyyy better! Totally corrected all the slop I was having at the wheel. Gonna love my 150 km commute to work at 6 am in tomorrow's snowstorm! I will let someone else answer the grease question who may know better. It sounds like you had a time with it, but that it was really needed too. Glad to hear that your ride is better too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJim Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 Hey Jim, if you still have those old outer bushings you took of, it might not be a bad idea to hold on to them as backups or give them to another member, since they were new We installed them to pass inspection. I did keep them. They are bagged and ready to use and certainly if anyone needs them, I would be happy to send them to you. My inner bushings were bad, but I do have a couple of used ones that are in good shape in my tool box if anyone needs them as well. Just let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Nah I'm good Actually my front bushings are horrible and the frame mounted ones you replaced are in even worse shape than the ones that were on your truck... well, at least the one that is still there Been that way for years, used to it now, no intent on replacing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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