The Nissan Path

I noticed last night that I have a spring and bracket hanging from the under side of my 01.
It sits in between the rear swaybar and the differential. The spring is of large diameter, probably 1 1/4" and 4-6 inches long. It has a bracket hanging from it that broke off of somewhere and is dangling.

My first thought was handbrake, but that seems to be working just fine and both engages and releases as it should, no noticeable drag or smell.

I don't have a way to post pic at the moment. Any help would be appreciated.

The first thing that comes to mind given the size of the spring is the spare tire support. Is your spare still there?

AceEngineer

Just got under the car and got a better look and compared it to the manual. It is the load sensor valve spring. Does anyone know what the load sensor vale is and am I safe to drive with the bracket broken?

You're safe to drive with it broken. The load sensing valve is used on Nissan trucks to adjust the rear brake proportioning based on weight (or "load") on the rear axle. Obviously, it would be best to have it operational. If you do fix or replace it, make sure it's properly adjusted per the service manual when you are finished.