jrofman

I own a 2004 Redline Roadster, build date 6/03. At 24000 miles I finally took my car into the dealer hearing the roaring and saw the feathering. it had probably been going on for months, but being so busy, I just dealt with it.

The dealer I went to, Miller Nissan, Woodland Hills, CA flat out said they wouldn't repair it, along with Santa Monica Nissan. I complained to Nissan Consumer Affairs, and I actually filed a complaint to the BBB because this isn't the first problem I have had, and it is one of the few that have not been fixed yet.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately I am not a hard driver on my car, rarely do fast turns or spin the wheels and drive on the highway every day. Tires are in great shape and look like they have about 15k miles left on them.

What kind of luck have people had with the 2004 roadsters with the feathering with Nissan?

SeanG

Some dealers will replace the tires on 04's (like mine did) most will not. It becomes more difficult for them to replace them with your advanced miles. I only had 8,000 miles on mine. 24,000 is pretty good for the feathering issue. I'm envious.

sluggoZ

iTrader: (129)

You've got to be kiddin' me.......I'd be ecstatic! If I get 24,000 miles!!! Especially on a performance car like the Z

jrofman

The fact is, though is that my tires are not worn. Why should I have to spend a thousand dollars, or rather 500 for new front tires when its going to happen again and again and again before the lifespan of the tire. It sucks, its rediculus, and its bad business.

E.F. VaBeach

iTrader: (2)

Tons of history on this on related threads - had my 2004 roadster fronts replaced at 9100 due to roaring and feathering. Had them rotated (side to side) at 8000, but the roaring returned and the dealer was great about replacing them, even though the TSB was for the 2003's only at the time.

The replacement RE40's do look different though - I think Bridgestone redesigned the shoulders to bandaid the problem through the warranty period. I (and just about everybody else) have resigned themselves to junking the RE40's (which is the suckiest overpriced stock performance tire ever) as soon as possible. This forum has reported mixed results with other brands - some claiming that better tires have solved the problem, while most are convinced it's a permanent suspension design flaw that can't be solved by the tire.

Bottom line - I drive the h3ll out of my car because I love it and I'll probably have to regularly grind the front tires into pulp and replace them. So be it - life's too short to get twisted up over a few hundred dollars while you're raging through the traffic with a smile on your face.

ZBoater

10K miles and no roaring, but I did replace my tires very early with Michelin Pilot Sports.

Richardew

I noticed the problem at ~9000 miles. I took the car to the nearest dealer (at the time I lived in Southern VA) which was Alan Vister Nissan, Roanoke Rapids, NC. THey inspected the car and ordered new front tires. When they came in I had 16000 miles on the car. They realigned the front end to the new specs and replaced the tires. No BS. They were great. My car is an '04 roadster with a build date of December '03.
rich

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

I just took my Z in and had them check the settings...NO problems!!

mikey384

Hi, I just realized what the tire feathering sounds like after my friend showed me. I have a 2004 ZR (7/03 build I think) with only 7700 miles. It just got dropped off at the dealer shop this morning. Dealer won't replace tires--they said Nissan won't cover after either 12000 miles or 12 months on the '04s. Well, I don't drive my Z that much! ARG! I'm a bit disappointed having to pay for tires that I didn't cause damage to!

In the meantime, I have contacted Nissan at 800-NISSAN1 and submitted a complaint. While doing a web search, I came across:

http://www.nissantireproblems.com

Anybody familiar with this website and whether or not it's a legitimate site for those having tire feathering problems on any year Z?

Jim 350Z Boston

Seems like most of the feathering on 2004's are on cars that were built prior to the assembly plant change in early 2004.

sselway

No feathering issue... but I do have a strange problem with the POS Bose not wanting to play through the driver-side speakers on CD mode. Maybe I should buy a new porsche... but damn they got Bose too.

mikey384

After doing some research, I came upon the zcar.com forum. Please see the discussions regarding the tire issue at:

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?...41529&t=141529
http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?...40636&t=140636

Reading vonsudderth's comments, he states the following:

"Cupping of the inside tread is not feathering. Feathering is related to toe out or in conditions and this is not the problem. The suspension has too much movement due to the double lower ball joint design. No amount of alignments and new tires is going to correct the problem."

I'm not an auto mechanic and I do not know this guy's mechanics expertise, but his statements seems to be consistent with some other people's stories as well as from that recent CBS news story on the 350Z--that the problem is due to the suspension...and is a problem that CANNOT be fixed due to the design.

While doing a Google search on "tire cupping", there have been a few vehicle models that have had this problem, such as the pre-1997 Ford F-150 pickups:

http://www.sporttruck.com/techarticles/1376/index5.html

In this case, did Ford offer a recall to fix it? From the looks of this article, I don't think they did. And I'm afraid Nissan ultimately will not fix its problem either...

slaponte

iTrader: (2)

Just a note, I disagree. Feathering and cupping are different things and what (at least my front tires) the car shows is FEATHERING.

Cupping are semi-circular indentations on the inside edge of the tire. They look like somebody took an ice cream scoop and chiseled the edge of the tire with it. Feathering shows as alternative high and low points on the inside edge of the tire.

I had thought cupping was related to bad shocks, but I don't have all this memorized. I did read that feathering IS related to Toe.

jrofman

Well in any case, nissan decined to help me, so I filed a complaint under the lemon law through the better business bureau. And this isn't the first major problem I have had with my car.