Silverstone_350

Ok so I guess I'll ask... what exactly is tire feathering? Anybody have pics of feathered tires? I only have 1875 miles on mine so I don't think I have any feathering yet... although my car is pulling to the right already.......

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Ugh! I already ordered my 04. I am thinking of calling my dealer and seeing if they can delay the order untill I can figure out for SURE two things.

1) There is talk of a thrid tranny for the Z on this and other forums. I want to know if they are using this new tranny in all newly produced Z's yet, if not, when? Also does the new tranny fix the issues with grinding people have had?

2) There is again talk on this forum and others about a new suspension that was developed by nissan folks in Europe for the european version of the Z. It is believed that Japan loves this new suspension and will start to use it in all Z's. What I want to know is When are they going to start putting this into Z's that will make it to the states, and will this new suspension solve the pulling to the right and tire feathering issue or not.

I am going to call my dealer tomorrow and ask them if they can delay the order. I hope they didn't put it in as I was at the dealer about one week ago.

If anyone has ANY idea about the new tranny and new suspension, please speak up!!!

cusdaddy

Yes, I do know what it is and how to look for it, but no hint of feathering on my car. I guess I'm lucky so far ::knocks on wood::

KONVERTER

iTrader: (2)

did you run your hand over the inner tread of your tire...

i didnt notice until i ran my hand over it...

specialp

In a class action lawsuit, the only person that comes out top is the lawyer. if you would like to complain about the tires, and really get something done, fill out this:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/

there are about 20 complaints already. couple that with the many that have the problem on this board, there may be a recall.

habubauza

When I purchased my 350Z this week I had a discussion with several of the maintenance supervisors and as well as a manager and I was told off the record that Nissan is well aware of the problem and although not confirmed, supposedly they are zeroing in on a cause. Don't know if this was discussed however the "unofficial" working theory is that the problem may be caused by the method of SHIPPING and the way the vehicles are/were being secured. It was pretty technical stuff however what I was told was that the way some of the vehicles were being secured may in fact have been BENDING the strut /suspension system or bar or something to that affect. A part that is primarily aluminum but I don't know if they will say anything official about that. You guys may want to ask around and see if there is any validity to this theory.
Habu-

Beamm

Hey now, some of us represent (or will represent) that comment.

Lawyers will give you a good deal. They'll only take 40% of the settlement amount (give or take a few %) :P


I say wait and see what Konverter's lawyer comes back and says. If there really is a major safety issue here then maybe a suit is the way to go. Maybe there is some massive safety issue we don't know about. If there isn't then I also like Konverter's idea of creating a record to give to Nissan and see what happens.

toykilla

iTrader: (1)

what is the status KONVERTOR?

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Yes. What is going on with you and your lawyer?

What are others, (if any), up to in terms of applying pressure on Nissan to fix this issue?

There are well over 60+ pages of posts in the repair forum alone about feathering. It's CLEARLY the most common and seemingly most frustrating problem the Z and Z owners have.

I can't believe with all these people on this forum who have this issue we cannot for one reason or another join together and fight this with some force.

I'm tired of reading everyones complaints about feathering/cupping and there being no freaking effort to do something about it as a group. I don't have my Z yet but damn, I'm already wanting, willing, and waiting to do something about it.

I am sure a lot of it has to do with us not knowing what our options are. I myself do not know how to best approach this situation and that keeps me from doing anything myself. Also I don't have my Z yet so I don't really feel right leading a cause on something I've a right to complain about, yet. BUT, if someone out there knows what can be done about this then please speak up and I will do my best to get things rolling.

I myself am waiting for my car to arrive to find proof of feathering/cupping so I can fill out the complaint with the NHTSA.
It appears only a handful of people have actually filled out the complaint. What I don't understand is of the many angry owners who have feathering, why hasn't there been more people signing onto the complaint? Don't just complain people, do something!!!

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I'll go and calm down now.

WashUJon

This theory has been around sinc the feathering first appeared in '02 on the pre-order cars. No one has been able to prove or disprove its validity, unfortunately. However, the theory doesn't seem to hold much water, since if that were the case, you'd think they'd have changed the shipping process at some point. We can surmise that wasn't so, since the newer cars are still exhibiting the problem.

ny10522

I love this car but will NOT buy a 2004 until I am confident that Nissan has eliminated the feathering problems, the transmission problems, the pulling to the right problems, the clunking problems, the up down suspension problems, the poor paint problems and the driver's seat movement in turn problems. Figure I can avoid the seat fraying problem by getting leather. Nissan are you listening???????????

archman350z

Yes, this happened on my car. When it came off the truck, it pulled to the right really bad. The techs inspected it and found that both the tie rods and lower control arms were bent by the trucking company...bastards. I now have 8,000 miles on my car with no suspension/alignment/cupping problems.

I agree, the only people to get ahead in class-action lawsuits are the lawyers. You all will get your check for $0.50, and the lawyer will get a new Porsche GT3. I hate lawyers.

Also, I hope you all realize that by suing Nissan you are effectively telling them never to produce a Z again. I will make all of your lives hell if you do this to me.

Oh, the technical term is "cupping." Feathering is when the tread gets higher in one direction as you go laterally across the tire, not circumference-wise. It's hard to see, so it's best to feel with your hand. As you move your hand around the tire (direction of rotation), in one direction it will feel smooth, in the opposite direction you can feel little "knife edges" from the edges of the tread blocks. This is caused by a number of things, including crummy tires or improper balancing (for reference, my friend's BMW 540i had this exact problem...the vibration was severe while driving...a race shop told us the tires were junk off-brands and weren't balanced right by the shop that put them on).

ZMEGO

Any plans falling through with a class action suit?!

corsair

iTrader: (12)

The first step in this process is to file your complaint with NHTSA, as mentioned several times in this thread. I see THOUSANDS of poste HERE, but hardly anything filed on the NHTSA website.

We all appreciate all of the wonderful posts and information gained by those posts on this site, but we need to be addressing the issues with the people who matter.

Michael-Dallas

Or, at least, not sell a Z in the North America. Then we'll have hordes of angry people wondering why Nissan doesn't bring the Z across the water.

I wonder if G35 owners (sedan and coupe) are encountering the same tire feathering issue as well as JDM Fairlady's. They all share the same suspension albeit different spring / strut / sway bar rates.

I've said it many times what causes the tire feathering. I've even provided helpful links. All it takes is a search on google and you'll find an abundance on tire feathering, the cause, and the solution. It makes me wonder if people are being ignorant to the information (and would rather have a free meal ticket from Nissan) or just lazy to implement the solution (and would rather have a free meal ticket from Nissan).

Again, here's something from Yokohama's web site regarding alignments: http://www.yokohamatire.com/utmeasures.asp Ok, so your dealer has performed an alignment and the feathering is still there. Well, the alignment specs on the 350 may be incorrect for your usage. There is no right or wrong alignment specs, just recommended ones and you may have to experiment w/ some settings to find specs for you. I.E. If I want to dial in less understeer and more oversteer, then I'd dial toe-out or zero toe (since the front tires on RWD vehicles will toe-out at speed); unfortunately, that toe-out will cause my inner tire feathering.

And those that drop their car 1" or more. Guess what, you will encounter a phenomena where your suspension will toe-in and toe-out under suspension travel. The phenomena is called bumpsteer and you will have to replace your tie rods with ones of the appropriate length to counter it.

Michael.

reiver

Didn't Ford and Firestone (owned by bridgestone) do the same thing for a while?

Reiver

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Yeah they did and it only got resolved because people kept dying.

I wonder if some Z owner is going to get killed this winter due to cupped tires not stopping as well in the wet. Hmm... If I were evill I'd keep my fingers crossed but, really, Nissan needs to do something about this before something like that could even happen.

Go file your complaints folks! http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Beamm

Yea, nobody benifited from the silicone breast implant suits, the tobacco suits, the asbestos suits....

You know why this happens? Because people sue over stupid things like the high performance tires on their $30k sports cars wearing unevenly. When I bought my car I knew I'd spend more on tires than I'm used to. The fact that they're wearing faster than I expected (well, they might as I don't have this problem yet) is a little of a downer but not worth suing over. I dropped the $$$ for this car and I'll drop more for the tires (as long as it's not a safety threat which I honestly don't think it is). And it certainly isn't worth wasting the time of the court (when they could be convicting murderers and throwing crooks in jail) nor the time of some poor lawyer working 80 hours a week and keeping that person from putting criminals in jail and away from his/her family. The reason you only get $0.50 from a class action is because you get a huge class (e.g. 30,000 Z owners) suing over something small (tires). The law firm gets 30-40%, and a lot of that goes to covering the costs of the lawsuit (imagine what happens when you need to mail out 30,000 letters all the time with updates on the suit). Divide the remainder amongst 30,000 and you get the idea... The point is...the fact that you only get $0.50 is to keep people from bringing frivilous lawsuits.

BMW has been sued in the US...they still sell BMWs here.
VW has been sued in the US...they still sell VWs here.
Heck, Ford was sued over the Pinto and years later GM STILL went and put the gastank on the outside. What they'll have to payout on a lawsuit will be nothing compared to the profit they can make in the US.

Just go and file a copmlaint with the NHTSA...and as long as this IS NOT a safety issue I won't be joining any lawsuit.


And, none of what is said above is supposed to constitute legal advice in any form. It is only my humble opinion and nothing more. I do not have any sort of relationship with anybody on this board and you should consult your local attorney if you are truly interested about bringing a lawsuit against Nissan.

Greg

Good grief.

Noisy tires are noisy. There are some noisy tires with wonderful handling characteristics. If the stock Bridgestones don't suit you, change 'em.

Some cars don't get good mileage, others wear out tires. Trade cars.

The world has seen enough litigation. The only folks who get a meaningful settlement in class action are attorneys.

ZMEGO

I too put down $$$ for my Z....The point is that yes, sports cars are normally noisier than regular cars, but the noise from the cupping is not "normal", The cupping itself is not "normal" unless of course you subject it to extreme driving conditions....e.g. drag racing, speeding through potholes and the such. The Z is smooth and relatively quiet when the tires are good, but when the tires begin cupping the noise becomes unbearable and embarrassing. We can't simply lay down and accept this..... Nissan has a defect on their hands and they have to step up and correct this....I really don't think this may be a serious safety issue, but then again, I wouldn't want to be the one to find out. l. The cupping is not normal and has happened twice within 15,000 miles in my Z. I had a set of Nitto SSS that lasted me 40,000 miles on my 3000GT without any problems before I got the Z...was it that the tires were that good? I think it's because the car didn't have any inherent defects that affected the alignment resulting in cupping... I've had several other vehicles without any major problems with alignment. To simply say that the Z is a sports car and we're gonna have to change our tires every 7,000 miles and pay for an alignment every few months is as moronic as the people saying this. It might be easy to say "get rid of it" or "trade it in" or something of the sort, but I've had my car for a year and I love it......but I'm not ready to take an 8 to 12,000 dollar hit on my wallet......Nissan, step up and take care of this issue.