Three problems related to sway bar have been reported for the 1996 Nissan Pathfinder. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On a long road trip from indiana to north carolina, the rear-end of my vehicle began swaying or rocking from side-to-side as I was going 60 mph or more and whenever I changed lanes. It felt very unstable, as though it may rollover. Upon my return home, I took it in for repairs and was informed it was the sway bar, the shocks and maybe the tires. I replaced &/or repaired everything. It seemed ok until my recent road trip from indiana to missouri when the exact same thing occurred with the rear-end swaying more this time but usually only upon deceleration. I now notice it during city driving which I wasn't sure about before due to all the potholes and bumps in the streets. I researched the problem online and found several other owners of this make and model reporting the exact same problem. There is even a 1998 service bulletin posted by a Nissan dealer on how to fix this "front/rear suspension excessive play" problem. This problem is dangerous. This is not normal. This must be a manufacturer's defect and these vehicles should be recalled to fix the problem.
Pathfinder 1996 - all 8 rear bushings have failed - the whole rear end fishtails around; the rear end has nothing to keep the rear wheels square - sway bar stabilizer link - rubber bushings on the rear stabilizers are defective - causes total loss of control - driver & passenger neck snaps back and forth dangerously - rear upper and lower control link rod bushings defective - which could lead to a crash, serious injury and death - an internet search turns up people all over the country that have or are having the exact same problem. Most are saying if you replace the rear lower control arm bushings or the entire arms ? TSB - does nothing - no report of defective equipment that was included with the vehicle at time of purchase - Nissan has stuck it's head in the sand -.
My Pathfinder was purchased new from the local Nissan dealer. Within one year the dealer replaced both front struts. They told me the struts were "leaking. " I got a letter from Nissan asking me to bring it in to have 6 or 7 possible defects checked. One of them was "unusual tire wear" which many Pathfinders had had problems with. The letter said that if my tires showed this unusual wear that the tires would be replaced. At the time garrand's told me that my tires were fine, but less than 2 months later I was told by a local tire dealership that my tires were ruined, and badly in need of replacement. The letter from Nissan also contained a "replacement page" to the owner's manual, on which it recommended that the tires now be rotated every 2,500 miles from now on! about six months ago I started to hear a loud banging noise coming from the front suspension of my Pathfinder whenever I hit a bump. I brought the Pathfinder to garrands and they told me that my right front strut was leaking and needed to be replaced at a cost of $775. I wanted a second opinion, so I brought my Pathfinder to a midas dealer and found out that the noise was in fact coming from the sway bar stabalizer link and not the strut. When I questioned garrands about this later they told me that the stabalizer link is part of the strut, and they have to be replaced together. I sent a long letter to Nissan in which I described in detail the problems that I have had with my Pathfinder. A month later when I heard nothing back from them, I called Nissan again and was told that they would not replace the struts or the stabalizer link. I was told "it is rubber, ya know! rubber wears out. " I have heard that Pathfinders have acquired a reputation for ruining tires and strut failure. My Pathfinder has 44000 miles and needs new struts again! this should not be happening!.