i have read a lot of threads about the feathering problem and i wonder does Nissan fixed this problem on 2005 models?

yeah, i know they said that thei have done it.. but does someone tested it already?

i know few people have 35th ae models here.. do this car suffer from this issue?

 

They put on "cheap as_" tires on the car. They have a stock tread rating of like 140? That means they will only last like 10,000 miles. They sould have just went with the Nitto 555r (street legal drags) they have about the same tread rating.

I already have to replace the fronts that the dealer swapped.

 

I think tire feathering can easily be avoided by getting your alignment checked. I had my 04 checked out at 8000, they didn't notice any uneven wear on the front tires and just re balanced the tires.

I wouldn't think your alignment was jacked if your stock tires feathered. I think its more of a combo of where the tread design is on the stock tire and where they wear out the most. Also the stock tread is only 140.

If I keep my current wheels I will replace them with some Falken's that have a 30k treadlife.

Feathering has been blown out of proportion... once you replace your tires and as long as you get your alignment checked 2 or 3 times a year you most likely won't have any problems.

 

Exactly, and the feathering in most cases were all on the early 03's. Thats why in the TSB there is vin check to see if your car falls in the tire replacement.

I dont even think you need to check it that many times in a year.

 

and really, the '05 has not been out long enough for owners to even think they got tire feathering yet.

 

Funny how the people who always say that are people who haven't been affected. Ask one of the owners who have gone through alignments, multiple tire replacements, replced the tires with aftermarket tires, etc., if they feel that "feathering has been blown out of proportion."
This is good advice, if it's valid, which I honestly don't know if it is. I don't think it's as simple as replace your tires and get a few alignments every year, however the dealer replaced my tires due to feathering (at ~9K miles), and since then I've replaced the tires and have gotten one alignment and will soon be getting another one, so I'll be (as it so happens) testing your theory. Car is just at about 12K miles now).
You could easily attribute the fewer number of '04 and late '04 cars with feathering to fewer people with '04's being on the forum or fewer '04 owners at the 8K-ish milage point, etc. To be honest, I don't even know if there actually are fewer '04's with problems (than '03's), and statements like, "the feathering in most cases were all on the early 03's" are not based on facts and figures. If you have a source, then by all means post it, but...

I've seen '04 (and late '04 often referred to as '04.5) owners posting about feathering problems, as well as '03's. Many of these people have had the problem "fixed by the dealer" only to have it return. They've changed out suspension components, tires, wheels, got alignments, and in some cases it has returned. Go figure.

As for it only affecting early '03's, I would buy that, except what caused the feathering on the '03's? What was fixed for the '04 models? These are questions that people can only guess the answers to, and no one really knows how many '03, '04, '04.5, and '05 owners have experienced the problem, or will experiece the problem.

 

Back then it was said the way that nissan tied down the cars on the boat from japan to the US. Thats what caused the toe in specs to be off. I have an early 03 and went to the dealer once for the tires replaced and alignment fix. That solved my problems.

I blame the tires that come on the car. They are very soft and have a very low treadware rating. Much easier to form to the road.

 

I don't mean to say it doesn't exisit. But I have had 3 random people come up to me and ask about car that asked about tire feathering. So the fact that 3 non Z owners are asking me about it makes it seem like this problem is going to happen on all Z's. Even the guy at the tire store said he has seen the same type of problem on other cars but no one talks about it like they do on the Z.

I can tell you about people who have had a horrible time with their S class benz... but I don't go around thinking the S class is a horrible car.

Before I got my Z a guy at work told me how jacked up the 350Z's alignment is and he would never buy one. Thats what I mean by blown out of proportion, the general car public thinks the Z is a POS and every owner just has to put up with tire feathering... This is far from the truth.

About the tires, I am not surprised that when you replace the tires with the same brand they feather up again. I have heard people speculate that the problem is caused by where the ware on the front tires happens and that its just an unfortunate tread design on the stock tires.

Not to say that replacing tires with a different brand will fix the feathering for everyone but I would be willing to bet there would be far fewer cases of it... on the order of any other car I would guess.

 

Same thing happens to me. The first thing some people ask me about; that are in the market to buy a 350Z, is the freakin tire feathering!

 

also by blown out of proportion i mean once the first guy with an 05 claims his tires are feathering everyone will scream that nissan hasn't fixed the problem.

 

yep

 

Sorry guys, but the problem is real and unsolved through '04. I had my bone stock roadster's fronts replaced at 10K due to obvious feathering and resultant roar.

The '04 coupe and roadster experience has been a direct parallel to the '03 coupe guys' comments in this forum. Fortunately, I have a great dealer who has stepped up to the issue, but it's a shame that so many '04 owners experiences have been nightmares.

Yes, the stock RE040's Potenzas suck, but a buddy at work has had them on his new Mazda RX for over a year now, without the same problem.

Standing by to see how '05 pans out . . . . . .

 

True, but that will be as annoying as all of the posts that proclaim that the problem has been "fixed" -when in fact they don't even know what the problem was exactly, what caused it, and how it was fixed, or the stance Nissan (or the dealers) have taken with some people.

I took mine in to examine the issue as the tires were louder (note: not very loud though IMHO) when slowing down at ~35MPH. The dealer was the one who said it was feathering and told me to come back the next day for two new tires. It certainly was quieter after the change, but even before it wasn't like mud tires on a truck or unbearable as some people report.