97 Pathfinder rear sway

I have a 97 Pathfinder SE 4wd 5spd, which is completely stock. I bought with 35K on it and it now has 47K. It seems to sway excessively in the rear, when driving about 75 - 80 on the freeway. It will sometimes oscillate side to side in the rear enough to be a little concerning. It will generally calm down by accelerating. I am not very knowledgeable about suspension components, but I have peeked underneath to see if I saw anything blatantly wrong. The only thing I found the appeared out of the ordinary at all was the passenger side "mount" (I have no idea what the correct name for this part is) to the rear sway bar was twisted. I was able to straighten it easily (maybe too easily) with a 12mm wrench. It still sways however. I do not know if this is a the normal behavior for a 97 pathy or if I have a bushing wear problem or what. Does anyone have an idea if this is a normal trait for Pathfinders? If so is there any aftermarket suspension pieces that could tighten this up a bit.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

have you checked the tire pressure? you may also want to check and make sure everything under there is tight.

[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif[/img]<font color=red>you can't polish a turd [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif[/img]</font color=red>

What's a sway bar for ? J/K I throw mine off for better articulation a while ago......
The rods are supposed to twist a certain amount, just make sure all the bolts are torqued down correctly. You may get a shop checking your shocks, it sounds more likely that they're worn out. Get a set of Rancho 9k's.

http://home.off-road.com/~karsten
[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/mad.gif[/img]3 3" 33x12.5's and still alive ![img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Elliemae]

I have a 97 Pathfinder with the same sway or rock at 65 to 70 mph. The swaying stops once I let off the gas but when I'm on long distance drives its quite annoying. It also seems to be worse when I have the cargo area loaded.

I had my vehicle checked out at a garage, they checked the struts, shocks and looked for rust or anything that my cause this rocking. They found nothing. I also contacted a Nissan dealer and they said that these Pathfinders (and I quote) "rock like a ship on the ocean" - this is what they told me.

I guessing this is a design flaw. They changed the body style and also made the Exterra after this year and I'm wondering if the new Pathfinders or Exterra's have this problem.

[adventure dad]

Sell it to me cheap its about to fall apart.Just kidding I have bought 2 pathfinders cheap because they had this prob. though,here is your answer,the bushing in the rear sway bar links or whatever their called are completely worn,there may be a way to put new bushings in,I just ordered new hard parts over the internet and paid my buddy to install them.

[adventure dad]

Forgot to mention there are 2 on each side in the rear that were bad.Wierd feelinghow when you let off the gas it sways,step on the gas it stabilizes.Replaced these on 2 different trucks this is def. your problem.