I know tie rod ends are a common wear and tear item on any car, but i was asking because the 95 max i test drove today showed signs of a broken tie rod or sumthing having to do with the steering wheel. I looked at the rack and pinion and there were no leaks or tears in the boots. But something felt loose. It was almost scary to drive it fast, because the car would veer off to the left without me turning the wheel to the left with heavy acceleration. and also the steering wheel vibrates at times. I looked on this website, nhsta where there are complaints filed for this same exact symptom, where the outer tie rod end came loose, causing the car to veer to the left and resulted in loosing control and an accident. I can do tie rods myself, i jus wanted to get an input from you guys. The car is a 95 gle auto, she purrs like a cat, has 216k on the dash, engine seems to have been taken care of, no leaks, and tranny shifts smooth.

 

I would recommend that you do ball joints and sway bar end-links at the same time as the end-links. You can rent the tool from NAPA and it makes the ball joint replacement suuuuuper easy, and the tie-rods and sway bar end links are easy as is. It is not necessarily a necessity to do so but I feel it is the best way to a sure mind. Also, the failure of one of those parts can lead to extra stress on the others, decreasing its lifespan. It is the very first thing that I do to each used car I get, since being able to remain in control of your vehicle is a must, and driving around paranoid wondering what your vehicle is going to steer you next just plainly sucks!

 

Thanks for the quick reply man, i have one of those pickle fork ball joint removers, from my previous 93 max, and also that 36mm axle nut. But that does sound like a good idea to do it all at once, and yes i want to be in control of my car, and not have it wondering off the road.

 

Tie rod wear is common to any FWD car, especially if the car's motor can deliver alot of torque, as the VQ does.

DW

 

Could also be a worn LCA bushing. If the lca shifts and the tire moves forward, the tire will turn outward a little bit. Tierods and bushings are a common problem on ANY 17 year old car, especially a FWD one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/95-99-Nissan...3105e6&vxp=mtr

 

I have and have used the pickle fork as well, but trust me, it is worth renting the tool from NAPA. It doesn't cost any money in the long run $50 - I think - returnable deposit. It is basically a giant C-clamp that not only makes removal a breeze, but also installation absolutely painless. I literally had one side swapped out in about 10-15 minutes using it. With it there is no extra parts needed to be removed first, besides the tire.

 

I dont kno, is 195/65/15 the original tire size on a 95? driver rear tire is 185, sumthing, and driver front tire has the wires coming out. Could that be the cause of the car veering off to the left also? Im going to pick the car up, but with one final test drive before i get it, i have to get to the bottom of this.

 

these cars came with 2 different wheel sizes from the factory. if it's 15's, then 205/65-15 is the oem size. 16's are 215/55-16.

 

Yah all the tires are 15in on the car, just 195/65/15 all around,except the driver rear which is 185/65/15, so it may b throwing the car off balance, but ill get to the bottom of it today when i pick her up, ill b a happy maxima driver again.

 

Well i figured out the problem guys, it was a loose ball joint nut lol

 

Ummm, what about the 4 tires? Your car is riding on tires smaller than stock on all 4 corners.

DW

 

It's not the end of the world, his speedometer will be a little optimistic. I have that size snow tires.

 

Lol yah they are, i have 2 195/65/15 on the front, on drv rear 185/65/15 and passenger rear is 205/65/15. Soon as i get sum extra cash i will put the originals all around, but it does'nt effect the ride too much for now.

 

yeah. so your speedometer will read a little, and I mean little, faster than what you're actually doing.

if your speedometer reads 65, you'll be doing 63.69