March 2015 – Machiine

How to replace the front sway bar bushings on a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder R50

If you are noticing a clunking sound coming from the front of your vehicle when going over uneven roads and speed bumps it’s likely that their is play in your sway bar. If your front bushings are worn then your sway bar will move when your wheels go up and down. Resulting in a clanking sound.

Nissan Pathfinder Sway Bar and Bushing It’s really easy to replace your bushings. It’s essentially the same procedure for all vehicles.

Here are the steps to replace your front sway bar (stabilizer bar) bushings

1. Check if there is play in your sway bar. I had Shawna jump up and down on the sidestep of our truck while I checked the sway bar underneath. Sure enough, the sway bars were loose and clunking.

2. You will need:

Replacement bushings. These usually go for around $20-$30 for the pair. You can find them online for less. They are called Suspension Stabilizer Bar Bushing Kit. Nissan Pathfinder r50 replacement sway bar bushings

14mm socket and ratchet

Socket extension

A rag

The nice thing about the Pathfinder is that it’s got good clearance. You won’t need to use a jack for this. (As you can see in the example photo Shawna took) working under the Nissan Pathfinder

3. Remove your skid plate or skid bars so that you can get at the bolts on the stabilizer brackets holding the bushings. (If you don’t have skid plate skip this step).

There are 4 bolts holding your skid plate in place. Remove them all.

Removing skid plate

4. There are 4 bolts holding each of the front stabilizer brackets

Remove them all.

example

5. Once the brackets are removed, your bar will swing freely. Remove the bushings. They have a slit on one side making them easy to slip off.

worn sway bar bushing

You can see the just how much the old bushings have worn when compared to the new one.

worn sway bar bushing compared to new bushing

6. Clean the area on the sway bar where your bushings sit with a rag.

7. Replace the bushings.

8. Bolt the stablizer brackets back in place.

9. Reattach the skid plate with the 4 bolts.

10. Go for a drive and enjoy your solid front sway bar.

This is a great DIY project. Will save you a few bucks doing it yourself and shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. Best of luck

1999 Nissan Pathfinder r50

How to change your life without changing anything, the scientific way

Every year I look forward to the winter snowfall, the reason is that I love to ski, but that all changed about 8 years ago. My friend was teaching me how to ride a dirt bike. A passion of his. Sadly I shattered my knee.

The bike was a two stroke and my friend was riding ahead of me. I was going up a hill when the belt caught, the front wheel lifted and my knee was driven into a rock as I lost control.

For the next two seasons I sat on the sidelines as my leg healed. Losing the ability to ski, bike, run, walk… taught me how much I took for granted. Fortunately my knee did heal but the lesson has remained.

Recently I learned a second lesson. A friend of my wife and I was sharing how every morning and evening she says 5 things that she’s thankful for. What a great idea! So for the last 3 weeks or so I’ve been doing this as well. In the next bit I will share what I’ve learned.

Before we get into that, Robert A. Emmons published a fascinating study on sleep and gratitude in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. People were asked to keep a gratitude journal everyday for 2 weeks. The subjects were able to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and feel more refreshed in the morning.

I didn’t know about this study when starting this, but I’ve experienced a similar effect. I’ve also noticed that I have more energy after work.

At first it felt kind of weird saying 5 things I was thankful for. In fact it felt so weird that I had to force myself to do it at first.

Today I heard a guy talking about the fact that so often we look to people that we aspire to be like and we spend our time focusing on that, rather than looking at our own lives and realizing that there are some people who would love to be like us.

Not only can I relate to that statement, but it’s the very thing I’ve been thinking about. As I’ve continued saying things that I am thankful for I’ve noticed that my appreciation for the things in my life has increased. I like driving my car more … I’m amazed that I get to live where I do … you get the point.

But not only that, the other day I saw a reflection of my wife and I driving and a thought popped into my brain, “I want to be like those people”. Again it’s a weird thought, it’s strange even to write about it. But really how cool is that! To want to be like you are.

We live on this amazing planet. Everyday is a gift. So I want to leave you with this thought. There are people around the world who want to be just like you. Who want to live where you live and hangout with people like yourself. By saying 5 things you are thankful for everyday you can live a better, more fulfilled life, and you don’t need to shatter your knee to do it.