Topic: 2004 Pathfinder

[zeeboy47]

I picked up the used 2004 Chinook version in Feb, and shortly thereafter began to hear a clunk from the front end. Only seems to happen on the crappy Montreal roads, which for me means all the time

Most noticeable at low speeds going over depressions in the road. I think it might be a torsion bar bushing, but hard to verify.

Anyone out there see the same thing?

[HeliDriver]

I once replaced the front struts on a friend's Pathfinder (2001, IIRC). The struts were clearly shot, but her main complaint was the "clunking" noise from the front end.

I'm not sure, but I think the clunk was from the worn out strut bearing. Anyway, replacement of the whole strut/bearing assembly took care of the noise (and stopped the truck from bouncing down the road, too  ).

[Trainman]

Good to see you posting your question here too   

As I mentioned on NPORA, this year of Pathfinder (in fact from 1996 to 2004) does not have torsion bars, rather it has coil springs.

There are a fair number of bushings on both the front and rear of Pathfinders, so I would start with the some on the front, such as the strut bearing that SiRCivic mentioned as well as the sway bar bushings.

[articsteve]

What' the mileage 

Generally, when you hear a clunk going over moderately bumpy surfaces its a sway bar link because they are the weakest link of the front suspension. They are also the cheapest and easiest part to replace.  So you check them first.  Lift front end up, wheels hanging and see if they have play in either end.  That is the first thing to look at, IMO.   

Cost should be no more than $35. per side if you look around.  Dealer will be about $80. I think.

[sailor723]

I had a clunk in my '03 that turned out to be sway bar bushings. I think the milage was just a little over 100K

[zeeboy47]

Thanks for the tips folks.

Beast has 105K mostly highway, and rides very nice other than the anoying noise!

Guess I am going to have a good time under the truck prodding the anti-sway bars....It sure has enough of them! Of course my procrastination has led me to have work on it in the freezing cold. I'll put the front end on jacks, and using a small jack unweight the wheel to see what is wonky. Hope to get to it soon and report back what I find.

Too bad they don't come with wear indicators...sort of turn red when needs to replace