1996 Nissan Pathfinder Death Sway Question

[Wwaterman]

Hey folks,

I already did the rear upper and lower control arm bushings. I just picked up my in-laws at the Phoenix airport and drove the 1.5 hours to my home in the mountains -- and the death sway was very present with a loaded truck and going 70 MPH.

What else can I do? Shocks are new. Coil springs? Can I clamp the old ones for a stiffer ride?

Thanks!

1996 Nissan Pathfinder 194k miles. Just getting started at 194k. Just about everything works like it just rolled off the showroom floor.

[Wwaterman]

I found one of the classic threads on the death wobble. The gentleman mentioned this:

http://www.amazon.com/LIFT-60732-Series ... B000CFS028

Think it would help? Thanks!

[atraudes]

If you had an up-down problem, I'd say check out the springs and shocks since those are the directions they control. Since you're still having a side-to-side problem, I'd recommend you check out the condition of the bushings on the lateral arm.

Did you replace the control arm bushings with polyurethane bushings, or did you use the included rubber ones?

[Wwaterman]

Oh boy, I think I used rubber ones. SOB, I used rubber ones. That was not a small job either. SOB...

[Wwaterman]

It was about 6 months ago that I replaced them. I'm going to try my buddy's impact wrench on the bolts just to make sure they haven't loosened slightly. I feel like when I first installed them they were better... IDK -- I should have used polyurethane. I thought they were kind of a PIA to replace.

[atraudes]

Polyurethane is definitely more work to install, but it's the only solution that's going to last. The rubber bushings are supposed to last as long as the OEM ones (you'd think!!), but I've heard a number of accounts of them wearing out pretty quickly.

Sorry, I hear your pain! Check out the lateral arm (panhard rod) first, and see if it's super squishy. Look on the upside: if you have to do the arms again, you'll know exactly what you're getting into

[Wwaterman]

I was just checking out the lateral arm (panhard rod). Maybe I'll go for this next.

[Hawairish]

When you torqued down the trailing arms, was the vehicle on the ground?

[$$$]

I had the same problem..jus did rear Lower trailing arms, upper controls and sway bar links...as good as new i was quite happy. Be gone death wobble!

[Wwaterman]

Yup, it was on the ground when I torqued them down.

[Wwaterman]

Maybe I'll do the sway bar links next...

[Wwaterman]

After rooking it on the polyurethane control arm bushings, anyone have any recommendations for rear sway bar links, bushings, etc? I figure I'll do the whole thing except for the actual sway bar.

[atraudes]

I recommend Proforged sway bar links. They make really high quality products and get great reviews. I used a set of those and bought some poly bushings for the sway bar from 4x4parts.com which were surprisingly not too spendy.

Oh yeah, get some polyurethane grease and use plenty of it. I had to do my trailing arms twice because I didn't grease them the first time around and ended up with an ensemble of creaks and groans.

[Wwaterman]

Atraudes: Thanks for all your help, brother. I wanted to knock this project out this weekend, so I just went with rubber bushings and generic sway bar links. My logic is this: New rubber has got to be better than 20-year-old rubber! The old ones looked pretty old and dry. I'm waiting for the parts to be here at 5 PM from AutoZone and I'll have it all together before Monday rolls around.

We shall see... Sway bar links/bushing are a whole lot easier than those upper/lower control arm bushings. If it doesn't fix the problem, I will make a point to get the poly ones.

So basically, after this evening: I have done all of the rear control arm bushings and all of the sway bar bushings/links rear. I have to imagine it will be tighter. I'll probably do the panhard rod too.

-Will

I thought everything was fine until I had 5 adults and luggage going 65 mph on the highway. The death wobble came back. Fingers crossed the sway arm was the culprit.