Highway driving

SIREJOE

MEMBER
1998 INFINITI QX60 HYBRID
3.3L
V6
4WD
AUTOMATIC
360,000 MILES

The truck wobbles side to side. Not the death wobble side to side on the X axis, but this is on the Y axis, like a metronome.

I replaced the upper control arm bars, and the back shocks. It seems to be worse now than before. Before at 130 kmh when I hit a bump on the highway it would start to do that wobble, titling from the left to right and getting worse if I did not release the gas. Now its doing it at 80 kmh.

Several months ago I replaced the lower control arm bars and that fixed the X axis wobble and that is not an issue anymore. That happened when I hit the gas.

Its like it tilts to the one side and cannot compensate quickly enough to the other side, or hold itself upright properly once it gets tilting from side to side. Before I could release the gas and it would immediately correct itself, now it seems to take a few seconds to self correct.

Thoughts?

6 Replies

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

Have the front end checked it may be ball joints, idler arm if you have one or out of alignment causing the problem. Also check wheel balance.

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Monday, June 13th, 2016 AT 3:42 PM

SIREJOE

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The front shocks have been replaced, front passenger CV joint as well. Both tie rods. Inner and outer on front end. Driver side ball joint has been replaced recently as well.

It does not feel like a front end issue at all. And why would it get worse with the new rear shocks and upper trailing arm bars? In my previous post, I said control arm bars, I meant trailing arm bars.

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Monday, June 13th, 2016 AT 3:56 PM

SIREJOE

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It does not shake when driving either. That is not to say it does not need a tire balancing, but there is no noticeable shake when I am driving, as one might expect with unbalanced tires.

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Monday, June 13th, 2016 AT 4:02 PM

HMAC300

MECHANIC
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I am assuming this has stock tires or close to what came with them and not being raised with larger tires. It could be a bent wheel as well. When you say trailing arm bars I assume those are the ones in back was the pan hard bar bushings checked as well as lower links and are there any cracks on mounts of trailing arms upper and lower? How about stabilizer bar is that ok as well as links for that with no loose mounting on stabilizer anywhere. If front trailing armsor transverse links were removed were all bolts tighten with weight on them that may be the problem as it's out of whack. Were wheel bearings removed and not tightened up correctly?Arrow points ot transvers bars is in ft lbs first column.

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Monday, June 13th, 2016 AT 4:48 PM

SIREJOE

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4 POSTS

I put on 17" rims. Original is 16". The total height of the tire is about 1/2" higher than stock though.

This only happens when I hit a bump on the road. Not a pot hole or anything, just a dip in the road that causes one side to go lower than the other.

The links in the back were never changed but appeared to be in good shape when I did the upper bars. They were still stiff.

I did the rear stabilizer bushings as well as the fronts not to long ago.

Ive looked over the truck for anything loose and nothing seems wrong, but I didnt tighten them to spec.

I did the front brakes a little while ago along with the rotors, so I took the front assembly apart. There is no play in the front tire though. Nothing side to side at least. They were tightened back up as tight as I thought was required.

What parts of the vehicle help when it leans to one side or the other? I have done the bounce test and even when I first put on the new shocks it seemed to be pretty soft when rocked side to side. It didnt stabilize as fast as I would have imagined.

Could it be the rear springs? The bumpers are not bolted to the frame, they are just loose in the spring, could that have anything to do with it?

The shocks are KYB 343388's. Which is correct for this truck, but just dont seem strong enough. I dont know. It could only be so many things, cant it?