Four problems related to front suspension control arm have been reported for the 1998 Nissan Pathfinder. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the steering wheel began to wobble and the driver felt like she was going to lose control of the vehicle. The failure ocurred while driving at low speeds as well, but the degree of wobbling was lesser. The vehicle wobbled so much that the passengers became queasy. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for a diagnosis and the contact was informed that the vehicle needed new bushings, control arms, and struts. The manufacturer was notified and offered little assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 180,000.
The contact owns a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle swayed abnormally back and forth and the contact almost lost control of the vehicle. He took the vehicle to a local repair shop and a mechanic replaced one control arm. The failure recurred immediately after the repair was made. The dealer stated that he needed to repair the upper and lower control arm. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 84,000 and current mileage was 96,000.
My 98 Nissan Pathfinder sways uncontrollably from side to side when driving on uneven roads and freeway which could cause to loose control of the vehicle and crash. Numerous owners have reported the same problem on the internet and have been identified as a problem with the rear suspension control arm bushings and may include the control arm itself also known as upper and lower link arms. Updated 10/22/07.
While driving at 60 mph the vehicle began to shimmy from the rear end from side to side. It felt like I would loose control of the vehicle. I regained control by taking my foot off of the gas. The problem came back repeatedly -- at least 20 times during my trip on interstate 80 while bringing my daughter back to college. The proplem was not related to any specifice roas surface condition. It woul happen out of the blue. The road could be flat and smooth. It did not matter. I am sure that I would have lost control of the vehicle if it had happened during the winter and there was snow or even worse ice on the road. Since I had just purchased the vehicle used, I took it that afternoon and had a wheel alignment (front and rear) and I had the tires balanced hoping that this would correct the problem. However, on the way home the next day from the college the problem was still there. This is a very dangerous problem and I can only compare it to when you see a car towing a trailer behind it and the trailer begins to sway from side to side. I also understand that this problem happens to many models of the Nissan Pathfinder covering at least the years 1997, 1998 and 1999 and it is not related to any specific mileage on the vehicle. It could happen at 15,000 miles or 90,000 miles. This is a very serious problem and is caused by a design failure of the bushings (there are 4 of them) that are part of the control arms.