I have had the front tires replaced twice, three front end alignments the last one by factory rep. Now my car goes in circles after you turn steering wheel and let go. Actually it seems to track wherever you leave the wheel, all the way over or half way. Took back to dealer and they say its a steering u-joint bad. We shall see. Saga will continue.

 

Alright lets clear this problem up. My Z is 2005 and only has 1600 miles on it. From the very first I bought the car, the steering DOES NOT return back to the center when I turn sharply to either left or right. I thought it was normal. so do i have a problem here guys??

 

Cars with lots of caster, like ours, have less return to center force than those with less caster. Steering offset, the distance from the center of the contact patch to where the steering axis intersects with the ground can help increase the return force. My Z has enough return to center when the wheels are almost straight, but that pretty much goes away for hard turns in a parking lot. It's normal as far as I'm concerned. I have an '04, which I had realigned by a competent shop on a really good machine. The rear toe was off from the factory. Not much, but it was off.

If you want more return to center force, increase the steering offset by spacing the front wheels further out, or buy a front-wheel drive car with no caster and lots of steering offset. Since we have no caster adjustment, there's nothing to do about that.

IMHO. YMMV.

Asterix

 

Sooooo ... does anyone know the 04 alignment specs. I have done a search but havent really found any definitive values or the posts point to the Apr 04 TSB which does not contain a full set of specs on it.

I had my dealer do an alignment recently after first 2000 miles just to be certain they were ok. I am not happy with the results. The handling feels jittery, slight steering-wheel shake at high speeds and there is more road noise. I have a Jul 04 build and should already have the most recent alignment specs. The car handles much differently now.

I am going back to get the alignment checked again and I want to make sure the dealer has loaded the newest settings. The print out I requested indicated 2003 settings, but, it could be that the title of the specs on the computer is wrong. The dealer stated they did have newest specs, but, I dont trust them.

Thanks

 

 

X2

 

If this is referring to my post about 04 alignment specs, give me a break here .... to tell the truth I am not even sure why I got this response...

We all know how frustrating it is with Nissan dealers. I just want to get the rights specs so I can check them against what the dealer has to remove one variable from getting a proper alignment. They may be using the correct values, but, did a crap job.

I just need some facts ...

thx

 

That was my response to this entire thread. Your post was probably one of the few sensible ones. If you truly care about alignment specs that much, then who cares what Nissan says is right. Find what you like and allows you to drive the car the best and set it up that way. If you do a search I know there are posts where guys have put what there car was before and what it was after the alignment. Compare yours to theirs.

 

Yep, very right.. thats why I said ....

 

I remember that there was a thread about the new alignment specs and how it affected handling but the thread died w/o any conclusions on the topic. I just had my tires replacement and alignment done before i stored the car for winter, so I didn't really get a chance to test the handling out myself. I'm curious how many people that had the alignment done experienced this loss in handling? And if they did, what did they do about it?

 

bump .. to keep this alive.

Anyone have any input on handling characteristics of recent alignments and what to do about it?

Anyone have the newest alignment specs we can all keep in our back pockets for the eventual alignment your dealer may perform or, more importantly, if you go to a good alignment shop.

 

Im going to make an unfair comparison here.......people dont buy Ferraris because theyre dependable, people buy Ferraris cause theyre sexxy. Same goes for the Z. When I bought my z, I didnt know about window grease, tire roar and fu#ked up trannys. Despite all these problems, I love the Z. Get over it, especially you young guys like myself cause when its all said and done, rollin the Z beats the hell out of minivan pimpin.