if you have a shimmy/vibration at 60 mph..
06-17-2011, 08:19 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 251
if you have a shimmy/vibration at 60 mph..
..your problem may be very well related to a bad steering rack. During early production of 2004 steering rack used to have a design flaw that would lead to premature wear and it could be even already bad if the car was brand new. Rack has been redesigned, has a new part number and has a tighter feel. I changed mine just recently and vibration/shimmy are totally gone. There is really no way to test the rack, unless it makes noise or leaks. Sometimes it may bang during turns or hitting road imperfections and has a visual play up and down on a driver side. This play is easy to confuse with worn inner tie rod (take the boot off if in doubt and check for play again).
Do not purchase your rack from auto parts store. They will sell you a remanned rack, that most likely will be wobbly. Rebuilders do not do anything except replacing seals and maybe flushing the part, do not expect them to fix mechanical problems. Basically what happens is that bad racks go back on the market, leaks may be fixed but it will be probably still a worn part.
New rack from the dealer is about thousand bucks.
Do not purchase your rack from auto parts store. They will sell you a remanned rack, that most likely will be wobbly. Rebuilders do not do anything except replacing seals and maybe flushing the part, do not expect them to fix mechanical problems. Basically what happens is that bad racks go back on the market, leaks may be fixed but it will be probably still a worn part.
New rack from the dealer is about thousand bucks.
06-17-2011, 08:46 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,625
..your problem may be very well related to a bad steering rack. During early production of 2004 steering rack used to have a design flaw that would lead to premature wear and it could be even already bad if the car was brand new. Rack has been redesigned, has a new part number and has a tighter feel. I changed mine just recently and vibration/shimmy are totally gone. There is really no way to test the rack, unless it makes noise or leaks. Sometimes it may bang during turns or hitting road imperfections and has a visual play up and down on a driver side. This play is easy to confuse with worn inner tie rod (take the boot off if in doubt and check for play again).
Do not purchase your rack from auto parts store. They will sell you a remanned rack, that most likely will be wobbly. Rebuilders do not do anything except replacing seals and maybe flushing the part, do not expect them to fix mechanical problems. Basically what happens is that bad racks go back on the market, leaks may be fixed but it will be probably still a worn part.
New rack from the dealer is about thousand bucks.
Do not purchase your rack from auto parts store. They will sell you a remanned rack, that most likely will be wobbly. Rebuilders do not do anything except replacing seals and maybe flushing the part, do not expect them to fix mechanical problems. Basically what happens is that bad racks go back on the market, leaks may be fixed but it will be probably still a worn part.
New rack from the dealer is about thousand bucks.
wow, great info! thanks
+1
06-18-2011, 07:44 AM
#4
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 251
yes and no- many of those many others you are talking about ended up having poor handling after turning that stiffness bolt, i.e. steering wheel would not return to center. Vibration may somewhat disappear, but car would feel like it had no power steering and would eat up tires. And yes, Nissan did ussue a TSB about it for a reason- it is a lot cheaper for them to suggest you turning adjustment bolt on a defective rack than issue a recall. Even if car is still under warranty, I doubt any dealer will replace the rack, it is just too expensive for them. Mind you, part alone is over thousand bucks list price. Probably second most expensive after transmission.
06-24-2011, 01:50 PM
#10
There is a 24mm 6 sided bolt at the bottom of the steering rack. There isn't any room to get in there without taking off the sway bar so I took it to the dealer and they adjusted it for free under the TSB for it. What I did was print the TSB and take it with me to the dealer and had them do it. There is a picture somewhere of it in one of these threads. I will look for it. Here it is. The bolt is the bigger one to the left.
Last edited by BadBlackMaxSL; 06-24-2011 at 02:31 PM.
07-04-2011, 07:44 PM
#11
Banned
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 129
how much do i have to tight? .... i Did that,,, maybe over tighten it .. however now the smooth strearing is gone .. what i have is ... when i make a turn .. the car keep on rolling.. doesnt wanna come back to center.
07-04-2011, 09:16 PM
#12
According to the TSB it will be about a 1/4 turn. Anymore than that it will be too tight and it sounds as if you are too tight. Back it off about an 1/8 at a time and see how that feels.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Sprint
General Maxima Discussion
49
12-13-2002 11:55 AM