The Nissan Path

2005 2WD. 144,000 miles. When I hit large bumps on the highway the steering wheel jerks left and right, then corrects itself. Sometimes it is scary. I brought it to the local Nissan dealership. They said I needed a new bearing assembly on the front passenger side. After replacing that, I still have the jerking on the highway. How can I have this diagnosed and fixed without having them replace everything under the hood?

Could this be related to alignment? The vehicle drives straight.

Could this be related to old shocks/struts? Lots of miles, and I've pulled a camper a dozen times.

What should my next step be?

Mine does that when it needs an alignment. Has since it was new.

05 4WD w/188k and mine does the same thing, its hell on hwy curves but then i'm a "spirited" driver so i've gotten used to it not handling like a car around corners at speed.

When ever I've replace my tires and have an alignment done like skinny said it usually gets a little better(did this last week). But even after that its not sorted completely and will eventually get worse again.

That being said i've never upgraded or replaced any of the suspension parts but looking to do so soon and hopefully that will at least reduce some of the general bump/shock/rattle on a ten year old suspension.

I had the exact same problem. Its your front shocks not absorbing the impact right from the bumps. I put a 2 inch lift on and it fixed everything. Actually my pathfinder handles 10 times better now. I used Rancho quicklift for my front.

hagnik wrote:2005 2WD. 144,000 miles. When I hit large bumps on the highway the steering wheel jerks left and right, then corrects itself. Sometimes it is scary. I brought it to the local Nissan dealership. They said I needed a new bearing assembly on the front passenger side. After replacing that, I still have the jerking on the highway. How can I have this diagnosed and fixed without having them replace everything under the hood?

Could this be related to alignment? The vehicle drives straight.

Could this be related to old shocks/struts? Lots of miles, and I've pulled a camper a dozen times.

What should my next step be?

did you have a steering wheel shake also? this post definitely made me want to upgrade my front suspension lol at highway speeds the vibrations are so bad my back seats are noticeably shaking, drives straight and everything.. just shakes

kaktus wrote:I had the exact same problem. Its your front shocks not absorbing the impact right from the bumps. I put a 2 inch lift on and it fixed everything. Actually my pathfinder handles 10 times better now. I used Rancho quicklift for my front.

hagnik wrote:2005 2WD. 144,000 miles. When I hit large bumps on the highway the steering wheel jerks left and right, then corrects itself. Sometimes it is scary. I brought it to the local Nissan dealership. They said I needed a new bearing assembly on the front passenger side. After replacing that, I still have the jerking on the highway. How can I have this diagnosed and fixed without having them replace everything under the hood?

Could this be related to alignment? The vehicle drives straight.

Could this be related to old shocks/struts? Lots of miles, and I've pulled a camper a dozen times.

What should my next step be?

kaktus wrote:I had the exact same problem. Its your front shocks not absorbing the impact right from the bumps. I put a 2 inch lift on and it fixed everything. Actually my pathfinder handles 10 times better now. I used Rancho quicklift for my front.

hagnik wrote:2005 2WD. 144,000 miles. When I hit large bumps on the highway the steering wheel jerks left and right, then corrects itself. Sometimes it is scary. I brought it to the local Nissan dealership. They said I needed a new bearing assembly on the front passenger side. After replacing that, I still have the jerking on the highway. How can I have this diagnosed and fixed without having them replace everything under the hood?

Could this be related to alignment? The vehicle drives straight.

Could this be related to old shocks/struts? Lots of miles, and I've pulled a camper a dozen times.

What should my next step be?

I bet you had an alignment done when you did your lift. That is what improved your handling.

To the OP, get your rig aligned properly and you won't have this issue anymore.

kennynnek wrote:did you have a steering wheel shake also? this post definitely made me want to upgrade my front suspension lol at highway speeds the vibrations are so bad my back seats are noticeably shaking, drives straight and everything.. just shakes

kaktus wrote:I had the exact same problem. Its your front shocks not absorbing the impact right from the bumps. I put a 2 inch lift on and it fixed everything. Actually my pathfinder handles 10 times better now. I used Rancho quicklift for my front.

hagnik wrote:2005 2WD. 144,000 miles. When I hit large bumps on the highway the steering wheel jerks left and right, then corrects itself. Sometimes it is scary. I brought it to the local Nissan dealership. They said I needed a new bearing assembly on the front passenger side. After replacing that, I still have the jerking on the highway. How can I have this diagnosed and fixed without having them replace everything under the hood?

Could this be related to alignment? The vehicle drives straight.

Could this be related to old shocks/struts? Lots of miles, and I've pulled a camper a dozen times.

What should my next step be?

This is most likely a tire balancing issue, or tire damage. Have them checked out.

New shocks alone eliminated the wheel jerk on mine.

I'm having the issue also on my 08 path . Ranch quick lift front set on 9 and rancho rears on 9 with HD lift coils from 4x4parts . still can get the bounce gone . am doing new tires this coming week.. Would love help on this

Diablo3662 wrote:I'm having the issue also on my 08 path . Ranch quick lift front set on 9 and rancho rears on 9 with HD lift coils from 4x4parts . still can get the bounce gone . am doing new tires this coming week.. Would love help on this

Same boat here.
Got new suspension and tires on all four corners.

Heard it could be the bushings - anyone looked into this?

Aftershake (the unsteadiness when you cross a bridge joint on the highway--especially while turning) and tramlining are both inherent characteristics of a body-on-frame truck. Sometimes certain tires and suspension modifications can help/hurt but it's usually something you kind of get used to.

Our 2008 LE V8 4WD Pathfinder had the exact same issue.
We bought it used and it rode great during our test drive on smooth highway assfault.
Later, driving on NW hiways at 60 – 75, hitting bumps like expansion joints or frost heaves the steering wheel would sometimes (not always) jerk out of my hands. Also, any large bumps or pot holes would really get the thing all out of sorts. It would sometimes feel like I could lose control of it. The steering wheel would feel light and I felt like I did not have control. Hitting these bumps also would at times cause a really severe shock to the car. It was at times really violent.
Had it done this during our test drive, trust me I would have walked away….
I thought for sure it was the suspension, so I replaced the front struts and rear shocks with stock Nissan stuff from Courtesy Nissan. Much to my displeasure that did not correct the issue.
I installed the Airlift 1000's and ran them at 10psi. That made a little bit of difference but not that much.
Finally after recommendations from other members on this site I had a 4 wheel alignment done at a reputable alignment shop. The shop I went to had the Hunter Alignment machine.
The Nissan dealership in my town has that machine too. I just didn’t want to deal with them.
The alignment toe-in adjustment was way off on all four but especially on the back wheels.
Anyway, the alignment totally corrected the issue we had. We drove from Seattle to Boise and back recently and it did great. I-90 out of and into Seattle used to make this thing ride like a pig. This time it rode great. It did not ride like a Cadillac but that was ok. It rode like a typical body on Frame SUV.
It actually rode very comfortably. It is so much better now.
I hope our experience will help you or anyone else reading this.
Long story short, as recommended by others on this site, I would recommend getting a good, high quality alignment from a reputable alignment shop or the Nissan dealer.
The alignment made all the difference for us.
Good luck.

Hey - know this topic is a bit old now, but I am having the exact same issues with the steering bump on my '08 V8. Replaced front struts, rear shocks, wheel bearings (that were totally shot, BTW,) and have had 2 alignments done (not convinced they were good alignments, no change, and both made adjustments, or so they say, with no improvements). The alignment places also told me the rear alignment was 'within spec and they didn't want to touch it, one told me the COULDN'T touch it, there was no way to adjust it. The 2nd place I took the truck for an alignment were the ones that told me the wheel bearings were bad (very bad, lots of play) and that I had to replace before an alignment could be performed (which I knew). Replaced them myself in under 2 hours total.

So - I have an appointment at the dealer for a good 4 wheel alignment and see if that helps. Getting EXTREMELY frustrating. Just bought it 2 months ago and it did NOT do this on the test drive. The dealer I bought it from 2 hours away from where I live, handed me the keys and copied my license and told me to go nuts with it. Drove the thing for an hour with my girlfriend on every kind of road I could find to make sure the 9 y/o truck I was buying drove well. Drove like a DREAM. Even parked in an empty parking lot and crawled under it and shook and tried to move things like U-joints, axles, tie rod ends, swaybar links, etc to make sure everything was solid. It was. Now this!

forgot to add - neither alignment shop had a working printer, apparently. I insisted upon printouts (even before they took it in) and was told printers were not working, at both places. Not that printouts can't be manipulated, but at least its something. So - after two alignments, I still do not have a printout of the current specs on the truck and where I stand. So, like I said, off to the damn dealer.