Master4846

As I read more about the issue of feathering I have came to the conclusion, like many of you, that it is a design issue. A mistake that Nissan really could not have seen coming. So here is and idea for them to make it up to us.

Reimbursment.

Lets say you have to replace your tires every year because of the issue and you keep you car for 5 years. At about $700 for tires, that comes to $3500. Now when you go back to get a new car you get that amount of money off what ever car you decide on. On top of all other incintives of course.

This doesn't solve the problem but it would let us know they are trying. It would be great for their buisness, sales would go up alot. It may be wishful thinking but it just might work.

And lets face it some of us bought Z's knowing it could have the feathering issue, so I realy don't have foot to stand on.

rolling

iTrader: (2)

GREAT idea
but its just wishfull thinkin{(

i think its an understatement to call this an "issue" this is a Problem!!

03FIDDYZ

I have an 03 and i dont know what tire feathering is, i have read a lot of posts about it but they never really say what it actually looks like. Will it still do it if you get bigger wheels?

flightz71

wow. I don't even have a Z and i know. lol... Tire feathering was caused to a design faulty in the suspension. The tires would wear out bald naked on the inside by 10k miles vs. the supposed (20-25k?) Moreover, when you brake, your steering wheel feathers like crazy and your tires make an unbearable sound from what i hear.

Z_xtc

Got almost 12k on mine. Speaking from experience: The inside tread of the front tires wears abnormally due to (supposedly, according to Nissan ) an incorrect factory alignment spec which caused the car to come out of alignment from the factory which caused the "cupping" or "feathering" issue (on the front tires, only).

Mine has it bad, and I'm about to have them replaced by Nissan. The roar is not too bad at say 60 to 100, but from 60 down to a stoplight it will roar surpsingly loud as you approach the light. I can actually feel the cups on the tires as I get to the last few inches before I stop.

On the other end of the speed spectrum, when i get near 100 or above, it gets to roaring againg too.

Soon, i will have a fresh start on this. Can't wait!

The steering wheel doesn't "feather" but the (front) tires do.

Z_xtc

I've seen posts previously that showed pic's of the feathered tires.

Nothing I've seen so far suggests that bigger wheels would help.

Z_xtc

Ps- Don't forget that the bigger the wheels, the slower the car (all else being equal) which is why u don't see real race carz w/ bling wheelz . . .

myz8a4re

iTrader: (2)

doesnt matter what size wheel & tire you have on the car, the feathering is caused by the geometry of the suspension.
also, some are confusing inner camber wear with feathering. the bald or heavily worn inner edges is due to heavy (-) camber settings wich causes the inner portion of the tire to wear much faster. the feathering is a wear pattern wich ressembles an "overlap" pattern between the tire tread blocks. yes the heavier (-) camber helps make the issues more noticeable on the inside tire edge since wear is more appearent, but the feathering is pattern of wear wich happens on turn in & braking due to the aggressive positive front caster combined with the also aggressive negative camber & toe settings.(toe effects the location of the feathering on the tire the most). when nissan changed the toe specs all they were doing is moving the location of the feathering on the tire, not eliminating it. the geometry would need changed drastically to prevent it, wich would call for an entirely adjustable suspension, allowing all settings to be adjustable wich is not the case with our current suspension. a setting need be set so that the car would posses the current specs when the suspension is loaded in a corner & braking, not where the current specs are where they are with the car sitting still/flat. the already aggressive settings become much too agressive when cornering & braking. i believe the new suspension design has to many areas of flex, allowing the suspension to change settings when loaded hard. yes all cars change when loaded but the z's geometry changes drastically. just to end this id like to add that all the changes of the suspension that have been done thus far to try to eliminate or slow the feathering have resulted in poor handling capabilites. the turn in suffers & cornering takes more effort at the steering wheel. nissans original specs allowed for great turn in & cornering, almost effortless. its unfortunate that we have to take away from that to slow the feathering. now that we got a taste of the handling the car posses we can feel how drastically it changes when lightening the original toe specs. if the car were introduced with the current specs as well as slightly different camber & caster settings we wouldnt miss anything & the feathering would be more of a "mild" issue over a much longer time frame......just my .02c!

-justin

Aggro_Al

+1