08 with death wobble & vib

**adkl1** · 12-02-2007, 07:23 PM

hi im a new 08 pro-4x owner.. love the truck but i have a few problems to get worked out. I flew up to SAN FRAN to pick this truck up and drove it home to the PHX area had a great time driving down the coast but when i got to the LA area i noticed i had a side to side vib it starts around 65mph and stops around 76mph. i dont feel it in the steering wheel but it shakes the seats so i stopped at a tire shop and had the front two tires Road Forced Balanced (watched the tech) they got them back to spec. I continued home as i was going over a bridge bam(DEATH WOBBLE) i knew what was going on so i slowed down 55 and got it under control then it happened 3 more times.. The concrete freeway turned into asphalt so i set the speed at 71mph and was getting that shaking all the way until i got to AZ and was able to bump the speed up to 81mph BAM no more shaking.. has anybody had this same problem? Any info i can give the dealer would help out so they can fix this problem.Could the drive shaft not be balanced right ?? please help this will drive me crazy...

Shane06fl · 12-02-2007, 07:29 PM

A dealer should be able to fix the vibration if it is the driveshaft. If it's the tires they might cover it but the tires have a seperate warranty.

HudsonValleyTitan · 12-02-2007, 07:35 PM

If you had the vibration in the seat but not the steering wheel, why didn't you get the rear tires balanced instead of the fronts? Or all four?

**anmut** · 12-02-2007, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adkl1

hi im a new 08 pro-4x owner.. love the truck but i have a few problems to get worked out. I flew up to SAN FRAN to pick this truck up and drove it home to the PHX area had a great time driving down the coast but when i got to the LA area i noticed i had a side to side vib it starts around 65mph and stops around 76mph. i dont feel it in the steering wheel but it shakes the seats so i stopped at a tire shop and had the front two tires road forced balanced (watched the tech) got them back to spec. so i continued home well i was going of a overpass BAM DEATH WOBBLE i knew what was going on so i slowed down and got it under control then it happened 3 more times.. So i got off the concrete freeway onto asphalt and set the speed at 71mph and was getting that shaking all the way until i got to AZ and was able to bump the speed up to 81mph BAM no more shaking.. so anyways does anybody have any info i can give the dealer so they can fix the problem ???? Could the drive shaft not be balanced right ?? please help it will drive me crazy...

I noticed my passenger seat shakes a little bit at hwy speeds but I didn't think it was anything because the seat is the only indication of the shake. I'm interested in finding out what info you get on this.

**adkl1** · 12-02-2007, 07:42 PM

im gonna have the rear tire's balance this friday,i will be surprised if that helps but either way that will not help the DW..

eagle sg · 12-02-2007, 07:51 PM

The Pro4X package combines heavier shocks and more agressive tire size and tread. Seems to me that the combination was not extensively tested before release. Go see your dealer (be nice) and ask them to call tech support, they are aware of the situation, however they said to be working on a solution.
Don't call the 800 number as the "out of country" operator can not help you.

Rich

HudsonValleyTitan · 12-02-2007, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eagle sg

The Pro4X package combines heavier shocks and more agressive tire size and tread. Seems to me that the combination was not extensively tested before release. Go see your dealer (be nice) and ask them to call tech support, they are aware of the situation, however they said to be working on a solution.
Don't call the 800 number as the "out of country" operator can not help you.

Rich

I have that same exact "combination" (Rancho shocks, and even wider tires than the PRO4X) on my 04 SE. It came as the OR package before the 08 models. Where do you get your information?...lol.

GreenmtnTitan · 12-03-2007, 09:34 AM

I have the exact same truck and the EXACT same problem.

The shimmy was there during our test drive of the truck and we assumed it was just a tire issue as well. The dealer first balanced the front tires to no effect then the rears. Still had a chassis shimmy that didn't really come through the steering wheel but was only noticeable on very smooth highways at 68-76 mph. The dealer called tech services but they had no data on a problem like this.

I convinced the dealer to pull a completely different set of wheels and tires off of another new '08 NON pro-4x. This was still a set of the same 18" wheels but had the Goodyear tires instead of the BFG's (IMHO the BFG's suck anyway). No change to the vibration.

This left us with the problem being in the chassis or driveline. The dealer said that they were willing to tear into them but recommend that I put some miles on the truck to see if it is a "break-in" issue that would go away on its own. I've put over 6k miles on now and the vibration seems to have improved some BUT it may be that I've just gotten used to it.

I'm very suspicious of the driveshaft. Mine has a lot of balancing weights welded onto it (like 6+ of them). It looks like the factory had a hard time getting it to balance. How many weights do others have on their driveshafts?

I had also found a TSB for older (06 and older I think) model trucks that addressed a vibration throughout the trucks that was caused by a misalignment between the driveshaft and the differential (the differential is actually angled improperly). The TSB prescribed a shim kit to fix the problem. This may be my next request to the dealer if I find here that multiple weights on the driveshaft are normal.

Let me know what your dealer does.

54warrior · 12-03-2007, 09:39 AM

I have a vibration at 35-45 mph. It has done it with THREE different sets of tires on there, of varying sizes. I just bought the shims prescribed by the TSB you mentioned...(they only cost me $8.00 for the three different sizes). I had planned to install them over thanksgiving, but I couldn't get the U-bolt nut's loosened. I plan to try again over christmas break. For $8, it's worth a shot though.

eagle sg · 12-03-2007, 10:01 AM

The standard OR package may not be the same dampening package, therefore the previous trucks may not exhibit this condition.
Where do i get my info "lol?". Easy, i fix these kind of things almost on a daily basis.
It's not the driveshaft or a bent rear halfshaft. Yank out the Rancho Junk shocks and the wobble will go away. However, the way in which nissan will take care of this issue is up to them.

Rich

FourDoor · 12-03-2007, 10:18 AM

I have the same truck 08 Pro4X and have not had any wobble issues. Closest thing to it was when I was driving from LA to the Bay Area on I5 and hit some road on the freeway that did not agree with the tires very well due to channeled grooves they put on the freeway. The tires would follow the grooves but since the grooves in the road were inconsistent, it resulted in a wobble inside the cab. Steering wheel was fine but the truck felt like someone was shaking it. Got back on some new asphalt several miles later and all was good again.

If the Rancho shocks were bad/blown on the OP's setup, I don't see why he wouldn't get the wobble at all speeds. As stated before, the Rancho shocks have been on these Titan's now with the OR package for years. If Nissan corporate is aware of the issue and "said to be working on a solution", then it would lead me to believe that simply swapping out shocks is not the final answer.

eagle sg · 12-03-2007, 10:28 AM

The shocks are not "blown". and the pre 08 shocks are not necessarily the same valving. The "wobble" seems to be more pronounced in the longer wheelbase configurations.

Rich

FourDoor · 12-03-2007, 10:39 AM

OK if the shocks are not bad/blown and the valving is different on the 08, then why isn't there more 08 owners complaining about their Pro4Xs with the wobble? When yous said yank out the junk Rancho's, what did you have in mind to replace them with to get rid of the wobble? It is a brand new truck and would take a hell of a lot of convincing the dealership to get them put on different non oem shocks on there to replace the Ranchos.

**adkl1** · 12-03-2007, 11:07 AM

well its going to the dealer on wed and I wrote a letter for the tech so we will see I guess.. the front end fell way to soft to me.. I hate rancho shocks wether they are making the problem worse I don't know..I could feel the wobble coming to work doing 50 on a simi rough road this morning.. as for the high speed shake I really think it is the drive shaft...

eagle sg · 12-03-2007, 11:56 AM

There are plenty of 4X owners that are noticing this condition. If you read my post you will see that i stated that the "handling" of this issue is entirely up to nissan motor corp.
Stop with the driveshaft already, the frequency of the vibration is much too low for that to be the cause.
Just log you complaint with your dealer and have them contact tech after checking the basics.
Just trying to help and save you guys multiple dealer visits. It will be resolved when nissan forwards the info to the dealers.

Cheers,
Rich