{"id":1741,"date":"2026-03-12T00:27:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2026-03-12T00:27:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:27:59","slug":"the-pathfinder-conversion-steering-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/suspension\/the-pathfinder-conversion-steering-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pathfinder Conversion Steering Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This was confounding me all day, but once I got the van on the ground and testing the steering under weight, it was binding up on the turn to the passenger side.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Is the steering stabilizer binding up?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AclUPoner_c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can see the problem at the 47th second.\u00a0 It turns to the right, and the whole van kind of torques and strains, until it gets passed the problem.\u00a0 It&#8217;s very disconcerting.<\/p>\n<p>I couldn&#8217;t figure it out no matter how many times I turned the wheel, and had my buddy B.J. help me with it.<\/p>\n<p>I was kind of thinking the steering stabilizer was the problem, so I took that off.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1742\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_210543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1235\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_210543.jpg 1235w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_210543-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_210543-1024x473.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_210543-768x354.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1235px) 100vw, 1235px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t the Pathfinder stabilizer&#8230;. This was an aftermarket one that I installed a long time ago on the Econoline, that frankly, I don&#8217;t think works well.\u00a0 I did buy a new one that&#8217;s the same as the pathfinder model, but maybe I&#8217;ll work on that after I figure this out.<\/p>\n<p>I turned the wheels again without the stabilizer, and it still bound up.\u00a0 Weird.<\/p>\n<p>Next, and as much as I don&#8217;t want to do this, I&#8217;m going to get rid of the stock Econoline center link and tie rods, and try to install the old Quadravan ones.\u00a0 Back a long time ago, I actually cleaned this up thinking that I was going to use these, so maybe this was just fate.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1743\" style=\"width: 1245px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1743\" class=\"wp-image-1743 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_212609.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1235\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_212609.jpg 1235w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_212609-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_212609-1024x473.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_212609-768x354.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1235px) 100vw, 1235px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1743\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top: The Pathfinder tie rods. Bottom: The Econoline tie rods. Both look very similar, but the Pathfinder is slimmer and slightly more bent around the eyelet area.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After a little work, some new tie rod seals, and quick wrenching, I had the authentic Quadravan steering in place.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1744\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220507.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1235\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220507.jpg 1235w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220507-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220507-1024x473.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220507-768x354.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1235px) 100vw, 1235px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I do like this better.\u00a0 The driver&#8217;s side link is way slimmer.\u00a0 Gives me more room away from the track bar brackets.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1745\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220515.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1235\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220515.jpg 1235w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220515-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220515-1024x473.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_220515-768x354.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1235px) 100vw, 1235px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The only downside to this is the condition of the tie rod joints.\u00a0 All of them are really shoddy.\u00a0 They are 40 years old, and they look like they are 80 years old.\u00a0 I need to find replacements, but there aren&#8217;t many.\u00a0 I&#8217;m hoping by cleaning them up, giving them new seals, and using some good quality Mobil 1 synthetic grease, that it&#8217;ll preserve what little life they have left.<\/p>\n<p>Started up the van, and started turning the wheel.\u00a0 Sure enough, the same kinking occured.\u00a0 Now I&#8217;m perplexed.<\/p>\n<p>What could it be?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I FIGURED IT OUT!  The steering is hitting the running board! \" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Yq0VNHVgUJE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Now I got a new project in the morning.\u00a0 I&#8217;m going to cut away at the running boards so they aren&#8217;t so perpendicular to the track.\u00a0 As long as I can make this cut clean, I should be able to set the screws into the screw boss and keep this in place.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1746\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_230344-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"1235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_230344-rotated.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_230344-138x300.jpg 138w, https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260311_230344-473x1024.jpg 473w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t want to get rid of these running boards.\u00a0 They are really useful since this van keeps getting taller and taller.\u00a0 Maybe I can look into upgrading to something like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/61+CadGDecL._AC_SL1500_.jpg\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1125\" \/><\/p>\n<p>No time right now.\u00a0 Just cut this up and get this van back on the road.\u00a0 I&#8217;m two days over schedule!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This was confounding me all day, but once I got the van on the ground and testing the steering under&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/suspension\/the-pathfinder-conversion-steering-problem\/\" title=\"Read The Pathfinder Conversion Steering Problem\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,177],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1747,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions\/1747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickpisca.com\/diesel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}