Hi,

Need your help. I have owned a Datsun 260z and 280z and was holding off until the Z had the same feeling of excitement. Well the 350z has it all.

I am ready to buy 03/04 (can't afford a new one) but the tire wear problem really concerns me.

Is it possible to find a Z without this problem? I was thinking of only looking at cars that have not had a tire change since purchased this way I can pretty much negate the wear issue.

possible?

 

I assume that you're taking about “feathering” front tires. There are 13 pages of posts on the subject. Sorry but I doubt that I can shed any new light on the subject.

 

Yes all 350z's suffer from uneven tire wear.

 

Even 2005's, I checked couple dealers' demo cars. Tires are all....

 

There are approximately 150,000 350Zs on the road today, and you know for a fact that each has experienced uneven tire wear? Do you have a reference for this statement? Thanks.

 

There are many differences...

There is Feathering and then "un-even" Tire wear...

not all Z's Feather... But it is something caused from Negitive camber which the Z has becuase it is set up for track driving (road course not drag)... So the Inside of the tires wear more... Sometimes they feather especially when driving straight most of the time...

The fix to tire wear on the inside and get your tires to wear more "even"
Here is your answer...

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ht=tire+rotate

 

My Z has 34,000 miles. The factory skins lasted until 33,500 and there wasn't any noise differance with the new tires and the old ones wore even... So not ALL Z's have the problem...

 

YES all Z suffer from that from either the TDC...ur control is oFF..another thing is the gears..it suppose to balance out your tires so you wont loose control? i think thats on the TOURING and above..that have the LSD. and all that...right??

 

Likelyhood is you will have some degree of feathering/uneven tire wear on 03/04s.

My 03 had 24,000 miles on them when I switched to Toyos.

On most, tire wear is not that big a deal.

 

+1

 

That's a pretty broad statement. I have 14,500 miles on my Z and the tires look brand new. There are probably fewer Zs with tire wear problems than there are with the problem. You don't hear about good news near as much as you do the bad, kinda like the news you get from Iraq.

 

Its broad but it is true. The 350Z is not setup to wear the tires evenly. They are not rotateable by standard means and the factory specs call for negative camber and aggressive toe settings which will cause the inside of the tire to wear faster than the outside of the tire. All owners should have realized this when they purchased the 350Z, but it is obvious that most don't.

 

Yes, all 350z's have uneven tire wear. You should also believe everything you read on the internet.

 

Oh yeah they may look brand new, but go to a store and buy a tread depth checker and check the far inside of the tires tread and then check the far outside of the tires tread and I guarantee the inside will be worn more than the outside.

 

I believe that you're alluding to the fact that the optimum set up for handling adversely effect tire life. You can dial in zero or positive toe and camber to extend tire life, but this is at the expense of handling. The 350Z is not designed like a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Most 350Z drives will never see 40,000 on a set of tires. Every suspension set up is a compromise between handling, street civility and tire life: you cant have all three.

 

Above are photos of my front tires at 20,000 miles. The high-low spots on the inner tread are easy to see. You may call it “feathering” or “cupping.” Aside from the fact that the tires roar like hell, handling and traction are fine. BTW I replaced the tires soon after the photos were taken.
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English please.

 

What about that baby born in Mongolia half human and half wolf. And the parents raised it on live rabbits. That’s true right?

 

Not true.... I didn't have any tire issues until I lowered my car and made the mistake of not getting an alignment right after.

I was around 13,000 miles. no road noise, cupping, or uneven wear.

 

If you don't get it....you're not going too!