Two problems related to front suspension lower ball joint have been reported for the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Rust/corrosion in unibody at lower control arm/strut assembly on 97' Nissan Pathfinder passenger side. The problem/failure is equivalent in severity to the situation Nissan is recalling for the driver's side. (pe11004) also (NHTSA campaign id number: 11v244000). If the corrosion becomes severe enough, the stresses involved in the strut assembly operation loads, compounded by the lateral loads created by steering, and handling, may cause the lower control arm, lower ball joint/strut mount to separate from the unibody. This would invariably result in a loss of steering control, and quite probably, in a highway speed failure, throw the vehicle into a skid as the passenger side wheel stuffs itself into the wheel well area.
1997 Nissan Pathfinder 4wd, terrible wobble on uneven pavement, causing vehicle to sway out of control at high way speeds. Nissan did not know why. I replaced all tires. . Front struts, lower ball joints. . Finally found on internet site, that the rear upper and lower link bushings wear. This causes the rear axle to shift, in effect,,the rear axle steers the vehicle. . Cause of the bad bushings.