QX4 rearend Swaying - Need advise on what to do...

[Daemeon2]

Hello all. Allen here. I own a 1997 Infiniti QX4/3.3/4X4. Well over 243,000 miles and still purrs like a kitten when running. Its went thru 3 timing belt changes. V/c gaskets, intake gaskets, lots of brakework,transmissions services every 6 months, steady oil changes at 3k miles regardless of where its at. Tune-ups every year, You name it. I babbied the crap outta this truck. But lately..,It has been giving some severe headaches for several months now. I stand now at a loss on what to replace next on this readend swaying side to side issue...

What I've done so far:
Replaced Upper and Lower rear control arms with the Dorman brands - 2 times. (RockAuto and Advance)
Jan/2012 and 09/2013 - $400.00 plus each time. (dealer told me a month ago that they no longer sell oem arms for them..)
The rear lateral arm bushings ( Just this afternoon) 60.00 w/bushing installation - They are true Nissan Oem bushings.
New Monroe Shocks.
Rear sway bar mounts and links - moog parts.
Front sway bar mounts and links - moog parts.

The front differential has issues as well as the cv-axles.., But I dont think that would make the rear-end sway side to side would it ? (removed front driveshaft due to transfer case bearing is bad and now am going to have to remove/replace cv-axles in front due to the bearings in them are coming apart.)
This vehicle is a daily driver and My main/only way to get to work.

AS for me.., I do mechanic work for a living and I am very web savy on finding info. But after talking to 4 different Nissan techs and 2 different Infiniti Techs.., I am still at a loss on why this truck sways left to right when hitting a dip in the road or during accelrating and hitting a dip at the same time. It goes to wobbling so bad at times.., (especially at 55MPH and up) that I swear it is gonna flip over.
The only thing I can think of is that I did not, both times, set this truck down on the ground to tighten the bolts up. (which I know may cause premature wear of the bushings) BUT I did use screw jacks to push the rearend up as much as I could whilst it was on the lift to get it almost to ride height.

I tested it this afternoon after reinstalling the lateral bar back on the truck. On the way home.., its still swaying side to side. So far I got over 1000.00 in parts invested into this issue/problem and still I haven't been able to figure it out.

PLEASE HELP!!! it's gonna drive me insane If I dont get this figured out...

Thanks,
Allen

[yngw13]

Why did you have to change the control arms 2x?
Im guessing Dorman is no good?

You have the death sway...or at least symptoms of it...

on another note...

My uppers are bad...might go and just buy some polyurethane bushings instead of Dorman arms...you got me thinking

[fueler]

I had the death sway several years back, it was lower control arm bushings in my case. Replaced with polyurethane from 4x4parts.com and never had a problem again..... i definitely recommend the stiff bushings.

[albertsiu1914]

Hey everyone, I currently own a Qx4 2001 model myself. i also had the same problem with the rear end sway. i hope this answer will help you out Allen. I read your discription in all the parts you have changed. upper control and lower control arms. there is one more thing that you may want to consider changing would the trailing arms. once you change the trailing arms the sway will be gone!! approx 45-60 dollar parts.

[Zymol75]

ok there are only 5 arms (bars) on the rear of these trucks. (sorry, I always refer to them as trucks. lol.) So some nomenclature clarification may be in order. 2 upper bars. 2 lower bars and 1 lateral bar(also known as a panhard bar). Technically these are links. hence the term "4 link suspension" or "multi-link" or whatever. Control arms are the front, as they (by design) are lateral in layout and allow directional changes in the angles on the suspension.

I had this same issue and it scared the hell outta my wife and she refused to drive the truck. I went about it the same way you have but i went at it backwards from you. I changed my struts/shocks first. Then the panhard bar, then the 4 links bushings.(8 bushings) it was fixed, but I did a bit of overkill on the way. I got the poly bushes and also a set of airbags for the rear springs with separate air feed lines. The rear was solid as stone but the unthinkable happened. My upper link on the right side snapped clean off at the bushing head. I went into a flat spin and slid off the road into a field. Thank God I wasn't in traffic, and Thank Nissan their engineers don't hang out with the Ford Explorer engineers.

I promptly removed the upper arms/links/bars and bought genuine Nissan loaded links. (At the dealer last year, readily available) So, now I have poly lowers and stock Nissan uppers and panhard bar and Airbags with stock springs. It now rides like a firm Cadillac.

Just posted to add another perspective to your dilemma... Hopefully you have no issue with poly like I did. I think what happened was the poly were not shaved properly and did not allow any flex in the rear suspension and the old metal welds in the links gave up. I haul alotta crap and pull trailers frequently.

[Daemeon2]

Well I've come to learn Dorman stuff just doesn't have the "top 10 quality manufacturing specs " I've come to expect in alot of aftermarket products.
I can install a window regulator of theirs and next year I will be replacing it again with another. It seems the quality of aftermarket products these days has surely went down the toliet compared to those of 10-15 years ago...

I got 29 years of auto experience of being under the hood of a car and making it go Vroom without a doubt. I know my parts. I know what they should and shouldn't do. If you buy a replacement part.., it SHOULD LAST at least 3-5 years !!
(sorry for my rants...bad day at the office....lol)

As for my issues and my hip shaking truck..., (lol)
My Worse case senario.., I build mine from scratch... Then I know for surely my baby will become a monster truck...lol
THAT.., OR.., convert it to LEAF SPRINGS like a 97 Hardbody p/u truck. Then, I KNOW it would be able to stop this swaying !!!

AS to reply to the last post..., Infiniti of augusta told me they no longer sell those bars for my truck.. the uppers and lowers...
I dont know if the person was BS'ing me or not..., but I took his word on it...

SO I believe I want to try to get some poly bushings ... If someone would be kind enough to post a direct link to some that will work on a 97 infiniti qx4/4x4/3.3VZGE truck.., that would be most awesome. (perferrably the lower ones... it's a place to start again to see if this fixes the issue...)

I, personally.., still believe this should have been a Nissan/infiniti recall deal and they should fix this crappy design for FREE...

AS for the 2X repairs.., its a long story started by an old ex friend of mine at a nissan dealership where in my past I used to hang out and hotrod up 240sx's..

I will be calling my local Nissan dealership tomorrow to find out about upper bars and their warranty or if any recall on this issue was available.... I might even try another Infiniti dealership in another town I know of...

Again.., my apologies for my rants above.., it's been a VERY long day at the office....lol

L8taz,
Allen

[Towncivilian]

There is no recall available for this issue. A technical service bulletin was issued which basically states replacement of trailing arms is necessary. I don't think revised/fixed parts were specified, but I may be wrong. I'll dig up the TSB for you tomorrow.

[yngw13]

Polyurethane Suspension Products


https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/suspens ... 5_377.html

[Daemeon2]

I am going to try these out...
Moog K200275 ... As for why.., I'll get to that in a minute...


After speaking with 5 different Infiniti dealerships and 3 Nisan dealerships.., I have come to learn that there is a difference in the actual size of the lower4 bushings. Infiniti bushings are a tad bigger with thicker metal on the outer shell than the ones offered for the Pathfinder. The rubber part is the same. They ALSO ,(in some cases) Have the same part number but are different when Mic'd with a digital micrometer.

So no on to OPTION #4... get Poly bushings.... SO I started this deal by calling several companys....

Called Whiteline Polyurethane Products... bushings are discontinued... only availablity is what current sellers have in stock... (they make 50% of the polyurethane bushing products out there on the market...)

Called Energy Suspension... They say they can fab some up.., but may take almost a month to do and the price would scare the crap out of me...

Called Rusty's Offroad, Woods Brothers 4X4, 4X4 and OffRoad Parts.com..., they offer only the ones for the Pathfinder and offer NO guarrentee that they will work correctly in my Infiniti... They can only say that what some of their users have told them that they will work... ( I won't do "Guess Workings" on my baby...

SO finally after a complete waste of my day.., I called Moog Suspension. They offered to me my rear lower bushings with a 1YR Guarantee...If not satisfied.., contact them with the bill for labor and the parts and they will promptly refund it - no questions asked. Now where I work.., I usually do ALOT of front-end work and end up usually installing LOTS of Moog products in those vehicles. They usually seem to last just about forever. SO I said why not give them a try...

I told the guy, ( I think his name was Steve in technical support) that if it starts swaying after 3 days of installing them.., he could expect to hear from me ASAP....

Picked up the (2)front and (2)rears from Amazon for $50.10 and free expedited shipping...

So Now I am gonna slam these in those Crappy Dorman Arms and see how this goes.... Hopefully this weekend... Also replacing the upper arms with some MORE Dorman arms this weekend too... ( I dont want to take any more chances.) If those fail on me.., I got some POLY bushings from energy suspension on the way to slap into those as well... (JUST the UPPERS ONLY...)

So until then or whenever it starts back or not... I will post and let it be know how they are...

l8taz,
Allen

[Chuck Tribolet]

When you tighten the bolts, just jack it by the diff. That will preload things. I don't know if your '97 has
the spare underneath, but if it does, drop the spare and put it in the back of the truck. No need to mess with
screw jacks.

[Zymol75]

https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/complet ... -6244.html

I had these installed in my 99 Pathfinder and in my wife's 99 QX4 when I sold the Q. I have removed the upper ones from my Pathy but still have the lower ones in today. Same kit x2 for both trucks.

They are stiff as hell. And if I still had the Q I prob would have removed them by now. My Pathy is a hauler and has AirJacker bags in the rear... but the Q was my wife's with no hitch and fancy couch pillows in the backseat. It def wouldn't not have been ok if it rode like MY truck does. But nonetheless, they fit.

[Daemeon2]

I just thought I would jump back on here and let ya'll know how things went so far on my Infiniti...

Well to sum things up on what is going on so far on this swaying deal...
about a week after my previous post here, I ordered Some Bushings from Moog for the lower arms. (K200275). I called Moog and asked them what is the best way for them to be installed. I was told to put the Fat part of the rubber towards the center of the bar.

(All of this is in OCT-2013)
The first week... it was extremely tight as heck... rearend did not sway any at all...
2/nd week - it got a smidge bouncy.., but no sway as I saw...
3/rd.. same as 2/nd...but did notice a smidge of sway...
4/th week... started notice a sway in the rearend..BUT it is waaaay different than it ever was before all of this started. It does sway.., Only and I mean ONLY if I hit a big road bump going downhill doing 60mph or faster. BUT it goes away quickly if I let off the gas. Before all this started and before this last session of bushings installations..., it could hit that same bump at that same speed.., and if you were behind me.., you would think I was warming up the tires like at a nascar race.
It got so bad.., It even scared me some.... ( and that is alot for a guy that drive derby cars on occasions...)

I am going to talk to a guy that I know online that custom builds 4X4 suspensions. I will see if by chance and the cost to custom build some arms with a pivotal joints in them and to make them adjustable as well.

And as for the bushing installation..., I did have it on the lift and used screw jacks to remove them. Once I got the bolts and nuts reinstalled and almost snugged up.., I set it down on 2 floor jacks till it lifted the rearend up as far as it could. The suspension was compressed. I them air hammered them till they would not move any more. I rechecked the bars and the rearend with a 5 foot HD prybar to see if they had any play..., none was found. It is unknown at the moment after 4 weeks of driving her around if it has play in it now...

Until next time...
l8taz,
Allen

[donald]

https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/complet ... -6244.html

I had these installed in my 99 Pathfinder and in my wife's 99 QX4 when I sold the Q. I have removed the upper ones from my Pathy but still have the lower ones in today. Same kit x2 for both trucks.

They are stiff as hell. And if I still had the Q I prob would have removed them by now. My Pathy is a hauler and has AirJacker bags in the rear... but the Q was my wife's with no hitch and fancy couch pillows in the backseat. It def wouldn't not have been ok if it rode like MY truck does. But nonetheless, they fit.

when you installed the 4x4 split design... did you remove the metal collar left by the old bushing?
The product photo on 4x4 parts doesn't seem to include a replacement metal collar.

The reason I ask is that I'm likely going to tackle this for all 4 trailing arms. Based on this youtube video, they hack the metal collar from the old bushing. Since the split design kit doesn't seem to come with a replacement metal collar, does that mean I can leave the old one in there and simple slap the split-bushings in? or do the split-bushings not need that metal collar?

Thanks!