The Nissan Path

From day one I have felt my steering seems to "dart". Meaning if you would take your hands off the wheel it would tend to go one way or another rather fast depending on the road, surface, braking etc. No other car I have driven felt like this. I had the car checked over twice at dealer for this issue and they swear everything is normal. I still feel safe driving it but it is a little annoying. I know alignements could cause this but supposedly my tires are aligned? ANyone feel there Pathfinder does this? Is this normal?

bad tire wear?

No, mine doesn't do this. Definitely not normal.

steering box ?

Mine's fine if I take my hands off the wheel. Hitting bumps is another story.

Mine drives straight and true, no issues. Since this has been since day one and if the alignment and tires are good, I might think it was the steering box too.

It's Rack & Pinion Steering...no steering box.

My 06 does this. I've been researching it on the net and it may by what they call "Tramlining". Most of the info. on the net seems to attribute it to the tires.

Interesting. Well im due for new tires soon so hopefully that solves it. When I hit small bumps its anyones guess which way the wheel will want to pull.

I know exactly what you mean. The info. I read said that worn tires are more likely to do this.. mine are pretty worn also (trying to get a little more out of them before I spring for new ones). Hoping tires takes care of mine also. I did replace the front stabilizer bar bushings (pretty cheap and easy to do) hoping that would help with this issue but it didn't.

Clay350 wrote:Interesting. Well im due for new tires soon so hopefully that solves it. When I hit small bumps its anyones guess which way the wheel will want to pull.

Okay, so wait a minute. Your first post made it sound like you were having issues on a smooth road, such as your wheel pulling to the right or left instead of staying straight. Was this what you meant, or were you talking about the steering when you hit a slight bump?

I've had that momentary "oh shit" feeling every single time I've hit a bump since I bought it, although I'm obviously so used to it now that it no longer feels unsafe. I noticed it happening to an Xterra I was following on the freeway yesterday morning. He hit a crack in the road and I could easily see he lost partial control-the X swayed to the right and left as he/she tried to keep it straight. Driving and hitting bumps on a straight stretch of pavement hasn't bothered me in years, but driving at a good speed on a curved on/off ramp & hitting a bump is another story. I'll actually slow down a bit when I see a crack or whatever.

If I am driving on a PERFECT road and take my hands off the wheel it will USUALLY stay straight. However the slightest variation in the road will make the vehicle dart. A bump will do the same thing.

I have no problem driving it and can easily correct. It is annoying though. My 2002 ford explorer had much better steering in every aspect. My only worry is when my girlfriend needs to drives it.

Mine definately jerks on bumps, but nothing on straight roads, even if I gun in from 0 with my hands off the wheel

If someone found solution, I would be very happy to hear it.
I have the same problem and me neither mecanic cant find the problem.

So I've experienced this same thing twice. Once was in my fiances 1999 Honda Accord. Then it was most noticeable at highway speeds whenever you would go to slow down, and it didn't matter if it was a casual slowing down or a more sudden slow down. It would always seem to pull the same way as well, and I forget which. She was running 3 different types of tires(don't ask me! ) and they all had different speed ratings except for the two that were the same(and they weren't both at the front). One day I was a bit fed up with it, and as they were worn down significantly, and landed some decent tires on sale. The problem went away after that.

The other time I had something like this happen was with a mid-90's MR2 I had. It too only did it when slowing down, and it would sway in either direction, sometimes stronger than others, and sometimes none at all. I never solved this issue, but it had 200k on it, and I started thinking after the fact that perhaps it had some wear between the teeth and the rack at that point. When slowing, something with the R&P would shift forward and with the worn gap, it would then slide a bit to one side or the other. I never solved it and sold it on at some point, and that idea is a bit speculative, but maybe a possibility. The Pathfinder is relatively heavy, and could wear faster here that usual, depending on driving style/surfaces.