2002 SE steering mystery

[EdB]

Hello every1, Im new to the forum. After countless attempts to solve this myself and 4 different mechanic shops Ive decided to come to people that own an Xterra and see if any1 else has encountered this problem.
So here goes, I encountered a wander about 8 weeks ago. Felt like a ball joint so I changed them all out, Didnt fix it. My next fix was inner and outer tie rods. No resolve, in the end the following work has been done to the front end and it hasnt gone away;
Inner and outer tie rods
Upper ball joints and upper bushings
New lower control arms
New stabilizer links
New drag link
New wheel bearings
New tires
New steering gear box.
Any ideas as to what the hell is going on??

Side note: No accidents in 9 years Ive owned it and had a clean accident report on carfax.
OH and alignment was done yesterday, texh said alls good under there

 

[Prime]

Have you done anything w/ the upper control arms? That is where the alignment is set on the 1st gen. If your bushing or excentric bolts are worn, it will cause a travel.

 

[EdB]

Uppers go new bushings and new hardware

 

[EdB]

I should add I get better handling in 4x4 if that helps any

 

[TerryD]

Have you checked the idler arm?

Also, what condition are your tires in?

 

[EdB]

Tires are new AT3s Idler arm bushings seem tight. After the alignment I notice it quite a bit on uneven roads. It has bad wheel bearing feel to it If that makes sense

 

[TerryD]

Did the issue show up when you installed the AT3s? My 285s tend to grab ruts in the road and pull the vehicle into them. It has a wandering steering feeling when that happens. The wider the tire you run, the more pronounced it will be.

 

[EdB]

The issue showed up on the old lower control arms.
I didnt realize tires did that, I am running stock 265-17s

 

[Prime]

Check your pitman arm and idler arm. Also the bushings in the center link

 

[EdB]

I will definitely check those in the morning. Thanks

 

[Nick Nicolas]

did you change the lower/rear bushings in the frame? These trucks seem to follow the crown of the road more prominently than other vehicles I have owned but if this issue hasn't been noticed in your 9 yrs of ownership, it must be something that has failed. Could it be an auto locking hub? When they fail, they sometimes don't disengage fully and can make noises from a loud grinding to a barely perceptible groan, couldn't see this causing wandering though.

 

[EdB]

I havent checked no. I have a slight bang over rail tracks in the rear end, bcuz its so cold here I assumed it was just a frozen shock.

 

[Nick Nicolas]

rear bushings for the front control arm. They are separate from the control arm.

 

[Slapdash Racing]

What Nick said. These are a beeyotch to swap too. Good luck.