Jim 350Z Boston

I think that in order to really get a true idea of the feathering problem. We need to get a much better analysis of the problem.

If someone is knowledgeable in statistics and is willing to compile and analyze the problem, them I think a survey such as the following is best to determine the problem.

I believe that questions like the following should be asked.

1. The year and level of the car (touring, enthusiast etc.)

2. When did you first notice the feathering/cupping etc.

3. What is the build date of your car. Does the Vin # have the letter T or W in it indicating the factory of assembly?

4. What size rims do you have, 17 or 18. Are they stock of modified?

5. Did you have any damage to the front end prior to the feathering problem.

6. How do your drive (aggressive, moderate or non aggressive)?

7. Did your car have the new front tire design when purchased?

8. What modifications did you make to the car prior to the feathering problem?

9. How did you dealer handle it? (I've noticed that some dealers are better than others).

Please keep in mind that I am not taking the side of Nissan. However I tend to think that the problem may involve other factors. There is no doubt the this problem existed in the 2003 models and some of the 2004’s. In fact I was just reading an article in Road and Track where they revisited their 2003 test drive. In it they stated that they did encounter abnormal wear in the interior of the front tires. However, they said that after they made adjustments to the alignment, the problem was resolved.

I’m sure that there are other questions that should be included here.

Let me just state that I have a 2004.5 with almost 5000 miles an no problems. That does not mean that I will not encounter any in the future.

I would like some feed back.

Thank you

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

You forgot the most important quesiton of all. How often do you get alignments? I think you will be see a definite corelation between feathering and alignments.

koolzero

iTrader: (14)

Are there any G35Cs with feathering?

Q45tech

Every brand make and model directional tire has feathering issues [some not too bad some pretty bad] on every make and brand vehicle! Function of not rotating and flipping tires on wheels frequently enough to reverse wear the "heel toe feather".

Just a fact of life with directional treads. Even non directionals feather just not as fast!

koolzero

iTrader: (14)

Yeah I talked to a guy that works at Lexus and said that the SC-430 feathers and people were very pissed that they had to change their tires soo often. Has anyone seen any other class action suits against car companies though other than Nissan?

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

I haven't seen any car get slammed for it as bad as the 350Z, but the IS300 and RX-8 both come with the same Shitenza RE040s and I have seen complaints of feathering from both. I think people often lose sight of the fact that not rotating the tires automatically cuts the life of a tire almost in half and the Shitenza RE040s obviously have a tread block design that makes it happen quicker than certain other tires.

BigMike

Finally, someone with a good idea. I'd be willing to compile the data but first we'd need a thorough survey. I'd created it in HTML or PHP and post the web site. I think there may be a common link somewhere - Factory, Model, Region it was sold, something.

Should we start a new thread for a fixed period of time for the questions?

Now I'm just waiting for the smartass to tell me someone's already done it and to do a search. So in advance I'd like to tell those people to kiss my a$$

Tenac1ousZ

iTrader: (2)

+1

My Z (manufacture date: July '04) made noise after about 8k miles. I took a look at the tires and saw uneven wear on the sides of the tires (see pic). My old maxima's tires had the same noise problem too, so I'm not surprised.

I believe the wear pattern on my car is caused by braking, as one side of the tread rubs against the road more, resulting in uneven wear (kind of like how an eraser wears unevenly). So, I rotated the fronts -- even though I'm not supposed to -- and the noise went away. Correct me if im wrong.

Jim 350Z Boston

I believe that if you dismount the tires, flip them , remont and then switch sides, then you can rotate the fronts.

Also, and correct me If I'm wrong but the outer tred on most tires seem to have one side of the tred slightly higher than the the other. So that when you rub your hand one way it will feel slightly rougher than the other.

I tried this on some other cars and that is what happend. Not cupping, just seems normal.

BigMike

If you rotated your front tires and they are turning against the direction of the arrow, you're just asking for trouble. There is a reason those tires have directional arrows on them.

What you're saying is that uneven tire wear should be expected and accepted. This has to be the craziest thing I've ever heard. Your analogy of the eraser doesn't hold water because the tires aren't locked up and skiding. The force to brake the car comes from the center of the wheel and isn't biased towards any side of the tire.

The problem is that the 350Z has flawed geometry in the suspension. A car, especially a sports car should have adjustments for Toe-in, Toe-out, Cast, and Camber. For the Z to not have any or limited Camber adjustments to me says that Nissan was cutting corners. Lets face it, the Z is NOT and never will be a Porsche. Its a cheaply made, mass produced sports car that has a great drive-train. But that isn't any excuse for Nissan to not own up and fix the cars. For Nissan to admit they have a tire wear problem with the 2003 model and then people have the exact same problem with the 2004 model, and then tell them its not the same issue the 2003 owners had just blows my mind. Does Nissan really think people are that stupid? Also, can you imagine if you owned a car that had problems like the BEFORE the Internet? Car companies would and could make the average owner think their car is the only one with the problem and its their fault.

Tenac1ousZ

iTrader: (2)

No Mike. What I'm saying is that my old Maxima had very similar jigsaw wear pattern on the sides of its tires, so *I* was not surprised when I saw those wear patterns on my Z. Whether it should be expected and accepted is subjective.


While the tires aren't completely locked up and skidding across the pavement, it does get dragged a long the ground (meaning it does slide to some degree) when hard on the brake, as a 3,200+ lbs car (3,400+ lbs roadster) is not light and, thus, not easy to stop. Just because it isn't smoking and making sound doesn't mean the tires aren't sliding lightly when stopping, especially those sudden stops.

The part of the tire that has the most contact to the road will be where the brake force is applied to, and that varies depending on your camber settings and tire pressure.

More negative camber will allow the inside edge of the tires to have more contact to the road, thus, it will be the part which more brake force is applied to when braking -- and visa versa with Positve camber. Having too much air pressure will give the center of the tires more contact to the road, allowing the brake force to be applied to the center of the tires, as you've stated.

The Z uses negative camber setting, and assuming the tires are inflated to the proper pressure, the inside edge of its tires will have the most contact to the pavement going straight and, therefore, will get the most rubbing when braking, not its center. And when turning (either fast or slow), the inside and outside edge of my Z's tires get the most contact with the road, and if braking is applied while turning, then those sides will have the most wear, not the center. But your car could be different, however.

Vince.

Tenac1ousZ

iTrader: (2)

Yup, one side of the tread is rougher, and its edge is sharper than the other side. Looks like how the tiles on my roof is angled.

arejohn

To all you getting regular alignments. What changes?