Lately, it seems that I can feel everything on my steering wheel. I had the truck aligned and balanced, but it isn't that. It's like if my steering was loose or something. This leaves me with a lot of driving exhaustion. I am going to take my X in to have that checked in a few days, as well as for a break job, but I first wanted to know if anyone has experienced this, and to ask others to share with me their experience and outcome..

Shouldn't this be in the Suspension forum?

I don't have any issues with the steering on my X BTW.

FWIW, I just replaced the stock shocks with Bilsteins (at 34,000 miles) and noticed a lot less road vibration coming through the steering wheel.

I can't tell from your post exactly what you're feeling. My steering never felt wander-y or loose. I was just surprised at how much smoother everything felt with the new shocks. Well worth the money, by the way.

I've got the same feeling with my X --> loose steering (along with the fact its been out of alignment since the day I bought it).

I'd also like to know if there's anyway to lessen this "loose" feeling in the wheel.

WATCH OUT!
I just bought a used 2000 X (to get out of a stupid lease on my last car)

and it turned out that the steering rod had worn out and the steering felt like olive oil spinning around....

get it replaced - warranty covers it - otherwise I think it's about $270 for it....

Sounds like a worn center link. Instead of buying a OEM Nissan part it would be better to buy a heavy duty CALMINI or if you really got some bucks a SLR upgraded steering system. The CALMINI system goes for a little less than $500 while the SLR unit can cost from $600 to almost a grand.

Not on a stock, non-lifted 2WD, the center link should last the life of the vehicle.

Well I didn't notice the 2WD part. Mine's not lifted though and it's starting to show signs of wear.

Hi! New guy here. Okay, I have the same problem on my 2000 2wd (standard suspension) Xterra. wonders all over the road, steering feels like it's loose, a slight shimmy on the right front tire.
I changed the shocks out and that seemed to help some but while I was removing the tire I saw the tie rod arm moving all over the place. Not sure what you call the parts but the pitman(?) arm on the right side has a wiggle to it. what parts do I need and Where can I get them! HELP!
Thanks in advance.

The rod SHOULD last the life time but obviously they're not!


Aif

ps: totally disgused with the Nissan dealer that sold me this Junker.

I'm on my third steering gear box at 26,000 miles. The first gear was tight (no play at all) but, had a fluid leak. The second steering gear was real sloppy from day one. The third unit is not as tight as the first, but better than the second. It's still too loose in my opinion. Wish I had stayed with the leaky one, but who would have ever thought this part would have such a quality control problem?

Something else is going on now. If one tire drops into a pot hole, the steering wheel telegraphs a strong twitch or bump, like something is loose. I'm thinking there is some worn part in the linkage. I remember Ian describing a similar symptom which he described as "bump steer", I believe. However, I don't remember the cure.

sounds to me like your in need of an aftermarket steering system... or maybe just a replacement OEM center link.

both Spencer Low Racing and Calmini have/will have soon Aftermarket steering systems.... just check out their websites

Like I said....

that's the exact problem that I had. Luckily it was still under warranty.

Mine was slipping and sliding like a JELL-O all over the road, like you said. It was really annoying, to say the least. Got kinda scary on the freeway too, doing anything above 60 made the whole truck wobble....

Now it holds the road fine. A little stiffer to turn, but at least it stays on the road!

so just to test this little theory out (i had noticed my steering fellt a little "off") i crawled under my truck today...

sure enough, loose as all hell... actually i wasn't scared before but after crawling under there i am now....

so that whole "no-lifted 2wd" thing just went out the window...

hope i can wait till the calmini system is out... i just can't aford the SLR one, so my only other alternative would be an OEM replacement.... no thanks, i already know i can kill them.

but in nissans defense(at least in my case) i have beat the hell out of my truck, and taken it on some trails that were way beyond what a 4x2 should be driven on

I'm new here. I was looking for some posts that sound somewhat like my problem. I have a 2001 SE (30,000 miles) and and I just drove my parents 2000 XE (50,000 miles), and their X feels WAY tighter than mine! My steering wheel feels very loose, you can turn the wheel at least an inch or more before the vehicle actually turns, and my suspension feels very loose and mushy, I don't feel confident at all when taking turns, it feels like the truck is going to tip over. My parents feels great, good tight steering wheel and suspension. Mine shouldn't feel like that when it is a year newer and has 20,000 less miles on it then my parents, right? What's the deal? Is this something to take to the dealer (warranty work)? I hope I've described the problem well enough, please let me know if you need more info or details. Thanks.

There's a worm gear adjustment screw on top of the steering box that might help...

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=45;t=001387#000006

Brent

New shocks should cure the excessive body roll during turns. Worked like a charm for me.

which series of the bilsteins did you guys get? do you have lifts installed or stock?

How hard is this to get to and can I do it myself? How?

Are new shocks all I need to fix this wobbly, vibrating, loose feeling suspension? I guess this wouldn't be warranty work then, huh? Is there anything else it could be that by taking it to the dealer they would find? I just know mine should feel like my parents X...a tight and stable feel.

The steering sector shaft adjusting screw can be reached from the engine bay with a long flat blade screwdriver (2002 and newer us an Allen wrench AFAIK).

You'll need to pop a few of the plastic rivets loose on the inner fender rubber flappy thing to get to the side of the steering box.

Then loosen the locknut on top of the shaft (should be 17mm).

Then look down into the engine bay at the top of the steering box, and you'll see the slot on the shaft.

Try a small amount at first, 1/4 turn or so. Too much and it can make steering difficult.

Tighten the locknut back up when done (22 lb. ft.)

I am stock. I got the Bilstein OEM replacements through SLR. I forget the part numbers offhand but if you call SLR and tell them what you have or plan in terms of mods, they'll set you up.

Well, I decided to take my X into the dealer and see if they could find anything wrong. They said they drove it and checked the suspension and everything was how it should be. I just don't get it! Why would mine drive noticably worse than my parents year older X with more miles? I asked the dealer about possible worn shocks and they said they tested it by pushing down on the front and seeing if the truck bounced up more than once (which it didn't, they said). Is this correct? Should I take to a tire/suspension shop and see what they think? Any suggestions? Thanks.

Well i would suggest to go for second opinion at proper place - i.e tires/shocks shop.

I recently replaced mine - had same problem - sudden "floating" in different directions, crappy wiggling after small pits on road, all the sudden vibrations from time to time through steering column.

I went to chums at local dealership for 60K full blown service right before it all started to get worse and worse. They didnt say anything other than "oh well it might be alignment problem.. but we arent sure, seems ok"

So i asked here on forum, then ordered new shocks (wanted to put real ones anyway), then grabbed it all and went to tire shop, asking guys to have a look and stick in new shocks. Basically after they handed me my old shocks back - phrase rythming with "clucking bell" came in mind. They were "expired, ex-shocks, cease to be, gone to meet its maker.." & etc... i.e dead. I.e so much for trusting dealership to check something like that.

So now i am riding my new bilsteins and all the shitty issues gone. (and i am driving quite funky roads here, since we are up in mountains..)

Uzbad, before you replaced your shocks did your suspension feel kind of wobbley and loose? Every time one of my tires goes over a bump that tire feels like it shakes/wobbles/vibrates. I also can feel a lot of vibration through the steering wheel. When I go over a gutter dip (such as in residential areas) the truck feels like it sways/rolls. The feeling is something like sitting on one of those gliding rocking chairs (somewhat, not quite that bad, but that type of feeling) but side to side not front to back. Anyway, sorry for going on and on. Does any of this sound like the problems you were having? And the new shocks fixed this?

Its ok 8) We all been there about mods on our trucks.

Yes what you having is pretty similar to mine. I also had very scary floating on speeds more than 50m/h - when wind was hitting front truck was going sides , same as boat does. It was bad enough to scare me quite seriously.

I would suggest to do two things (thats actually what i did) - first get new shocks, and second - check your alignment. Its probably ok, but it might contribute to certain level of vibration you getting.

I got 20% stiffer front ones and OE rears from SLR. Stiffer front ones b/c i am planning to put on aftermarket bumper sometime in next few months, Also b/c i am big guy and mostly traveling with passengers - so front is going under pretty serious weight pressure, considering that i am not loading much of cargo most of time. Also b/c we do have pretty stiff roads here 8) and going down and making turns sometime getting truck in odd angles 8)

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Actually if you want - you could take off your shocks first - by yourself.. I didnt have any tools to measure torque of bolts so i gave up on that idea, but if you have someone around who has them - you might want to do it first. Simplest shocks test is to compress them and see how they are uncompressing. Listen for odd sounds and watch general behavior 8) My old ones were doing lots of cracking noises, clicking and sqeaking, as tubes seemed to have sand in dirt in them.

have fun 8)

Thanks for all your replies, especially Uzbad's. They have helped out a lot. I guess I will look into replacing the shocks. I plan to keep my X stock, should I just get the OE replacments or do something like the 10% stiffer ones? How much of a difference in feel will it make from one to the other? Also, I read somewhere about steering stabilizers. Good or bad? Would this tighten my steering up a little? Would a tire/shocks shop be able to install it for me? Thanks again!