dw93 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hi My pathfinder has started to wobble like if you were steering from one side to the other quickly at almost all speeds but gets worse at higher. I've been trying to search around for what it could be and have found the death wobble so far but i haven't read anything about in that that the steering wheel also is moving back and forth rapidly. To keep it from wobbling it i have to have a very tight grip on the steering wheel and hold it as still as possible. It happened right after i went out 4x4ing and hit the pavement where i noticed it. i also read it could be a bent rim. Does anybody have any insight on anything else or where i should start? Oh and its a 1993 pathfinder xe 4x4. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd21overland Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) Hi My pathfinder has started to wobble like if you were steering from one side to the other quickly at almost all speeds but gets worse at higher. I've been trying to search around for what it could be and have found the death wobble so far but i haven't read anything about in that that the steering wheel also is moving back and forth rapidly. To keep it from wobbling it i have to have a very tight grip on the steering wheel and hold it as still as possible. It happened right after i went out 4x4ing and hit the pavement where i noticed it. i also read it could be a bent rim. Does anybody have any insight on anything else or where i should start? Oh and its a 1993 pathfinder xe 4x4. thanks Very first thing i would do is jack up the front of the truck so both wheels is off the ground and then grab the tire and move it left to right and see hoe much it moves and also what is loose. Anything causing that much movement should easliy show up when doing that. If for some reason your not able to get it off the ground have someone get in the truck and move the steering wheel back and fourth while watching the steering linkage. It could be your tension rods, tierods, idler arm or center link. My guess is a idler arm but with the way your describing multiple things may be bad. But since you said it happened right after you went offroading guessing its a idler arm or tension rods broke. Edited February 18, 2012 by wd21overland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 "Death wobble" won't happen on an ifs vehicle...its a phenomenon on solid axle vehicles...check for mud caked in wheels or lost wheel weights...do the inspection as stated above and you should be able to find something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
918pathy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Check the wheel weights, yo may have knocked a wheel(s) out of balance, mine wobbled like crazy once i hit 50+ MPH, took it down and all the tires balanced, and it is alot better now. My rear wheels had no wieghts on them at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dw93 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys! I will check that out tomorrow and i will post if i find anything or when it has been fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfftourRoadie96 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) "Death wobble" won't happen on an ifs vehicle...its a phenomenon on solid axle vehicles... I thought it was the opposite.....the "Death Wobble" is more of an R50 thing IFS..... Which is usually fixed by replacing the Lower Control Arms. This is PINNED in the R50 section Death Wobble Edited February 21, 2012 by OfftourRoadie96 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 They have it pretty well covered. Worn parts lead to the thing known as "deathwobble" One of the canooks on here (Adamzan?) had it but it was his upper arm bushings(?) Check the easy stuff, retourqe the wheels, hell it could be a broken belt in a tire and give the truck a really good wash. Then crawl under and pull on stuff to figure out what could be worn/is worn. If you hit something hard enough too possibly bend a wheel I'm guessing you broke one or more belts in a tire(s) Best of luck in fixing your @!*%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I had the death wobble on my 92 pathfinder due to the tension rods bushings and also the holes were wore out....i had a thread but it must be too old? I can never find old threads on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 found it!! http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=26145&st=0&p=480356&hl=edicer2&fromsearch=1entry480356 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dw93 Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Hey sorry I just remembered I should post what fixed the problem I finally got sick of it and took it to a shop and they ended up replacing the tie rod end, both control arms and the spindle. They said the tie rod joint had just worn on the spindle and it was just wobbling in there and could have snapped the joint at any point and have both wheels go in different directions and also the control arms were just toast. Anyways it's fixed a thousand dollars later even using used parts and having a good discount on the labour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 you could have bought a wrench set and done that job for 100-150$ using junkyard parts and new tie rods and done it yourself! oh well its fixed now! just for future reference it is not hard to work on the suspension of pathies.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 the bushings in my rear lower control arms were blown out on one side causing my death wobble. Rather than replace the entire arms on both sides, I just ordered new bushings and yanked out the old ones and popped in the new ones. Done deal. it wasnt QUITE that easy as it took a good bit of labor to cut and pound out the old ones and wrestle in the new ones (no press in my garage) but it was that or pay big bucks that I didn't have. Been fine ever since and I only had to replace the lower ones. The bushings run around 16 bucks each I think and two in each arm of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dw93 Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 I would have done the work but I was already sick of it cuz I had just changed the front axle which decided to be a hastle and the shop owner who I know wanted me to sign a waiver if I wanted to drive it home cuz it was so unsafe and third I needed it finished quick because I had no vehicle to drive and had to barrow one of my parents vehicles leaving them out of a vehicle also all the parts were from a junkyard besides the tie rod end got a new one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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