Nissan Repair: qx56 Steering wheel shimmy, steering wheel shimmy, wheel weights

Question
Hi Von, 2004 qx56 60,000 has developed a slight back and forth shimmy in the steering wheel more so at 60 mph the problem moves in and out every 5 to 10 sec. without the brakes being applied.road surfaces affect frequency and severity of the movement of the wheel. I had new tires and wheels put on checked for worn front end parts bal. of tires and none of this has fixed or even effected the problem .What else would cause this problem in your opinion Im going to run out of money chasing this problem down   
Please help, ronnie

Answer
Ronnie,

If yours is all 4X4 check the front drive system for a loose or worn bearing.  I cannot imagine the rotor hubs being warped.  But, to check out what is going on you will need to have the car lifted and run it, if four wheel drive while it is in the air.  There is a good chance that the wheels could be out of radial balance.  You have really large tires and wheels and if the tire/wheel assembly is out of radial balance they will act like a gyroscope.  Many shops do not have folks that know how to use the balance machine properly.  Or, if you have nice, shiny wheels they will not put weights on the outside of the wheel.  There are tape a weights that can be used for this process.  So, first thing is to get the tire balance checked and make sure they put wheel weights on both the inside and outside edges to make sure you are 100 percent balanced to include the radial balance.  If that fails then it is getting the QX56 on a lift and see what is going on.  I have even moved tires from the front to the back to resolve problems like this.  If the alignment is off, it will not cause the problem you describe.  But, it will cause the vehicle to ride the ruts in a more pronounced way.  Tire pressure is also a factor.  I do not know if you have stock size replacement rims or monster 22s on your vehicle.  The larger wheels have more rotational mass and that would aggravate the problem.  So, it is vitally important that the radial balance be done correctly.