Hey all. I recently put on my winter wheels and was surprised by the wear on my rear summer tires. I have read that the 350Z is notorious for rear camber issues, so I am unsure if this looks normal. I am running 20mm front and 25mm rear bolton spacers.

 

I will be purchasing new tires for the rear and I want to know if I should get an alignement right after I install them.

By the way this tread is after a little over 20k miles and 1 auto-x event, and alot of spirited driving.

 

stock wheels? need more info

 

Wow sorry I thought I gave all the information I totally forgot.

Stock 2008 base wheels, stock suspension, and 20mm front and 25mm rear bolt-on spacers.

 

I would get your alignment checked. Never hurts if you haven't done one for a while. It looks like the tire wore pretty even for the inside 2/3 of the tire. That could also be to much tire pressure. Camber can cause inside tire wear but it would be worse on the inside ok in the middle an good on the outside. A toe out alignment will also wear the inside of the tires. So check your pressure. 32-34 should be good for daily driving and with the expense of new tires get the alignment checked.

 

Should always get an alignment after new tires are on just to protect the investment. Id say that's normal wear and actually pretty good life out of the KDW's considering how you drive.

 

Thanks for the comments. I run 32 psi for street driving and about 22 psi for auto-x. I will get an alignment because you are right, I need to protect my investment.

 

Im running the same spacer setup and I dont really have issues with alignment.
Was it this bad before the spacers? Also to me it does look like you over PSI the tires ( make sure you check your psi when the tires are cold)

 

Slightly off topic, but isn't 22 PSI really low for autocross? I target 40 psi hot for track events (which means about 30 cold). I have only run one autocross, but I thought the strategy was to start around 40 psi since there isn't time for them to heat up.

 

I ran 32 psi for half of my runs and my times were about the same, maybe slightly getting faster. Once I dropped to 22 psi cold I immediately shaved off 2 seconds.

 

I remember my Potenzas having similar wear, although it was a while ago so I could be wrong. I actually think it was less area left on the outside with no wear. What psi would you recommend?

 

Are these tires g-Force T/A™ KDW by chance? 300 treadwear and 20K miles with spirited driving and 1 auto x. An aftermarket rear camber kit will help out tremendously with helping your alignment guy getting your rear into spec to put more rubber on the road to get more traction

 

Yes they are, and I love them. They blow away any other tire I owned in respect to grip in dry and wet. The only downside is they are noisy, but since I installed my exhaust I don't mind. Plus they were almost half the price as the oem potenzas, which IMHO are garbage.

I never looked into a rear camber kit, what is a good brand? Also how does it work? Never really researched a camber kit. Are they like extensions to give more play for adjustments?

 

Can't argue with results.

 

I made friends with a couple of guys there that have been doing auto-x for years and they recommended it to me since they run about 20 psi cold.

I also noticed people were cooling their tires with water after each run. They were using the sprayer that is used to usually cool intercoolers.

They said running a lower psi creates bigger contact patches and I really did notice an increase in grip, especially in the low speed turns and the slalom.

 

I doubt you need a rear camber kit, it looks like you have good wear. A front camber kit will help more for autocross

 

My car is mostly for street with autocross here and there so I wouldn't get a camber kit for such a small amount of my driving will be on the track.

Thank you for your input on the rear kit. I was questioning it myself since I am at stock height so I would feel that 25mm spacers wouldn't have THAT much of an impact where the stock application cannot handle the adjustments.

 

Since my winter wheels are the same dimensions (I think so, V1 touring and V2 base have the same dimesions, although not sure of the offsets) should I get an alignment before I put my summer tires back on? I would rather get it done sooner then later since obviously I am putting the same wear on my winter wheels.

 

Definitely looks like camber wear! I'd recommend getting an alignment to make sure you maximize the life of your tires as well.

 

Anybody have info on if the v1 touring wheels and v2 base wheels have the same dimensions? If they are the same I will get an alignment now so when the spring comes around im all set