wobbling down the road

[Chriskaw440]

Seems strange but lately my '90 SE Pathfinder seems to "want to wander around in the rear end" when I accelerate or decelerate (without braking).

 

Mine is a 5 speed with less than 8,000 miles on the new clutch.

 

For example...just driving down the highway...straight line and all...then give it some gas....and I can feel the rear end wander to the right thus pointing the nose of the car to the left and if I pump the gas pedal over and over I can make the whole vehicle start just-a-swayin' down the road LOL. Basically when torque is applied to the driveline...the vehicle contorts or whatever you call it. I crawled underneath and all seems tight and it otherwise rides great. No lift kits, no hard driving in years, mostly stock other than K&N cone type air filter. Tires wearing normally, shocks not leaking or seemingly blown, springs not broken. Far as I can tell sway bars are tight and upper and lower control arms are normal. Lug nuts are all tight. No bearing noises.

 

Engine runs normally and its not stuck in 4x4.

 

Could it be broken motor mounts or tranny mount causing the driveline to move out of center when torque applied maybe? I cant check those too easily since I dont have a lift or can take the weight off the mounts to see.

 

Just feels weird and embarassing as I wonder if cars behind me can see the ass-end of my pathy wandering around down the road LOL. I swear it was not always like that.

 

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.

 

Sincerely, Chris with the ass-wiggling pathy.

[vengeful]

Rear suspension link bushings. Very common issue.

[Chriskaw440]

ah true since it is a '90 and the rubber is probably dried out or even fallen off as I have seen on other vehicles now that I recall.

 

thanks.

 

-Chris

[89_trailboss]

mine does the EXACT same thing. but I have 3.5" lift. I just replaced my panhard rod bushings too. oh well, it really doesnt bother me cause as long as im not jumpin on and off the gas rapidly down the high way there is no movement.

[vengeful]

Yep....that's the telltale sign that the upper and lower control link bushings need replacing.

[94extreme]

Rear suspension link bushings. Very common issue.

common on r50s not as much on wd21s but yeah, i sure would check the rear bushings first. could also be tranny or other mounts. you should be able to really notice that with engine running and in D. i know you said 5 spd. that's harder to duplicate.. still yank on the tranny and see if it moves. if it does, you gots problems man.

[Nutz]

while your in there, I would also check/change the panhard bushings. the panhard's job is to locate the axle lateraly, so if the bushings are gone, the rear axle will move side-to-side relative to the body, and your butt will wag. trailboss mentioned that he changed his but still has the problem, but his is raised 3.5 inches, which itself reduces the effectiveness of the the panhard, even with new bushings. to fix it, he might need to relocate the mounts to bring the panhard rod closer to horizontal again to eliminate the problem. since yours is stock height in the rear, you shouldn't have that issue, just make sure the bushings are good.

[Mr. Pickles]

On a similar note, does anybody with a rear locker experience any walk or wobble at speed while shifting. In particular, it seems to be getting stonger lately, when I shift from say 3rd to 4th or 4th to 5th on a gentle corner. The rear really tries to step out for a split second. Its of course always done this, but it seems to be more now. Time for some investigation of the same bushings, I do think. Poly-time!

[Chriskaw440]

Thanks everyone for the tips. On the control arms, are the bushing replaceable or do you just have to get new control arms all together?

 

I know on sway bars its easy to replace all the rubber bushings but its hard to tell on the control arms from looking at them on the vehicle.

 

Since there is over 230,000 miles on the vehicle....I'm sure there pretty worn. But that engine still runs perfectly and gets 350 miles to a tank of gas!

 

-Chris

[lgranch]

Yes the bushings are replacable, but be carefull in who supplies the bushings. I bought a set of urethanes that were support to fit. Without modifications there was NO WAY. I was able to press them in after I had cut the bushing. Factory rubber bushing are support to be easier to install, but I have never tried. If I have to do this again I would try to find a 2 piece bushing that presses in from each side of the arm.

BTW my 91 had the same problem you ar ehaving and this fixed it perfectly.

[Chriskaw440]

Cool thanks for the info. I remember a couple of years ago when I was at the local Nissan dealership after they installed a new clutch (and did a poor job of it too! idiots.....) to get them to do their work CORRECTLY and I asked about a noise that was coming from my rear end (the Pathys rear end...not MINE lol) and they put it on the lift and suggested that my control arms were worn out and probably causing the "klunking" noise. BUT, of course....they didnt quote me to just replace the rubber bushings....they quoted replacing all four control arms! go figure.

 

I'll shop around to find the bushings....probably just get stock ones as I dont really do any hardcore driving due to the age of my engine.....it has to last me a while longer!!

 

with a new house now, and not a condo...I have a nice big garage so I am anxious to back to doing car work and such.

 

Thanks again! -Chris

[vengeful]

Nissan doesn't sell just the bushings anymore. I just had to deal with that BS. I spent about a week looking for replacement rubber bushings for it, and finally gave up and ordered the poly's from AC.

[k9sar]

I can get them at my local dealer

 

link

Edited May 26, 2006 by k9sar

[vengeful]

Pinnacle lied to me! Those bastages!

[k9sar]

I can even get them for yours Dan

 

link

[vengeful]

I can even get them for yours Dan

 

link

Yeah, I went and changed it to mine.... :furious: @ Pinnacle.

[k9sar]

this is my local dealer too. Prices online are cheaper than walking into the parts dept. I asked them and they told me to order online then just add a note that I'd pick up the order at the shop. Discount price and no shipping charge.

[vengeful]

Cool!

[Chriskaw440]

awesome link! My local dealer wanted like $29.00 for each bushing! so I think I will order from the link you provided and the diagram is great.

 

Can't wait to "get 'er done" now.

 

much appreciation! -Chris

[RedPath88]

RockAuto.com has them too...

from the manufacturers Beck/Arney, ACDelco and MOOG

 

Even if you do not order from them, they list the part numbers you would need to make it easier to find some locally

 

 

k9, thanks for the link.. now I know for sure that the coil spring insulators will be a wrecking yard item or custom made.. combined upper and lower is over $45 :o

 

Although I only need one upper

[Kittamaru]

Not to be a thread necro, but my truck has this issue... I'd bet it's the bushings. Question though - Poly or Rubber? Advantages of either? And how hard is this to fix?

[Chriskaw440]

I just did rubber for mine.....not a high performance driver so why bother with poly....

 

I only changed my lower arm bushings......tools I used were a sawz all with small blade for metal .....big screwdriver and hammer (to pound out the old rubber and bolt sleeve....some people burn them out with a torch but to me that would stink to high hell!) and a small grinder wheel on my drill to grind out the inner sleeve of the arms to allow for the new bushings to fit in, since I dont have a big press and the bushings are and will be slightly larger in diameter than the holes on each end of the arm with the old bushings and sleeves removed. I just ground them out enough until the new bushings could be tapped in good and snug...then back on the vehicle. Oh and throw in some cuss words too when I was figuring it all out for the first time....once I got to the other arm, it was cake work since I figured out a system.

 

straight and solid after that!

 

-Chris

[Kittamaru]

Chris, care to do a write up for that? My big fear, as always - I'm inexperienced and she is my daily driver. I fskc her up, I can't go to work (or anywhere) till I have her towed to a shop and fixed

[Chriskaw440]

Hi,

 

well, each arm is held in place by one bolt at each end, one end to the frame, and one to the axle. Takes two wrenches to remove the bolt(s)....

 

once the arm is off (I suggest doing one side at a time)... I just used the ol' pound away at it method to knock as much of the bushing out of the collar with a big screwdriver and hammer. The bushings are held in the arm by a metal sleeve (which will NOT be removed by pounding on it...they are siezed in there....) which I used my sawz-all to cut the sleeve (careful not to cut into the arm itsself!)....once you cut through the sleeve, it will simple fall out or just tap it out with the screwdriver....the cut will break the bond it has on the arm. Remember my mentioning the NEW bushing will not just fit into the arm as it is slightly larger in diameter, and since I had no multi-ton press in my garage, I just used a drum sander on my drill (available at any hardware store or walmart...fits on just like a regular drill bit would...) I just sanded/ground out the inner surface of the hole in the arm until the new bushing would fit snugly into place, just by tapping it in with a mallet (or regular hammer with a block of wood so you dont damage the bushing)...

Once both bushings were in place, you just simply bolt it back on and then move on to the other side. Its really nothing difficult, just some patience and common sense. Like I said, its just a solid metal art with a hole on each end that a bushing goes in, then two bolts and thats it. You also CANNOT get a any kind of alignment job done until they are replaced since there is no guarantee the axles are square and can move around thus throwing off the alignment equipment.

 

You shouldnt need to jack up the vehicle to remove and reinstall the arms...since they sit high enough off the ground anyway...but I did use a floor jack just to lift mine a few inches for a little extra space, but not even enough to lift the wheels off the ground.

 

I have photos to show but for some reason this site wont upload them (just JPGS...geezz..) but I can email them to you if you like as they help to show what I talked about above.

 

-Chris