ChinaClipper:

Any thoughts on why my dealer in OK would have different specs loaded into the computer for 350Z's? I'm trying to come to grips with this issue and have discussed this with the service manager. His comment has been that spec's were updated and that his alignment computer was accurate. At 1500 miles, wife's car has no uneven wear when checked by hand or by tread gauge. I would appreciate your thoughts.

DOH.

 

DOH,

I had the car shipped from Frost Nissan in Boston, Mass, but I use Jackie Cooper for service locally. Bob Isam, the lead mechanic at Jackie Cooper, is a longtime OK Z Car Club member/past president and z owner. I haven't had time to call him to talk about my car, but he is responsible for getting the tires replaced, alignment and everything. I don't know what specs were used. You might call and talk to him about it to double check Nelson. I doubt you would see tire wear yet at 1500 miles. I didn't notice any problem at all until around 7000 miles.

 

My dealer told me that the nissan Specs for total toe were 0.0-0.8 (degrees) mine are right @ 0.0 and I have feather wear. We need to find out what the right specs are.

 

Yea, the miles are light right now. I've read some posts where they see/feel a problem as early as 2000 and as late as yours. Many seem to say about 4000 miles or so.

My wife had a '93 300 Z 2+2 that she bought new from Nelson and just sold when she bought the 350Z. Nelson did all the work on it and I have grown to trust them completely. It would be interesting to see if his spec's match those of Nelson Nissan. If you get yours aligned, ask them for a copy of the computer sheet with the spec's and your actuals - that's what I have from Nelson.

I plan on checking alignment again at 3000 miles - it's worth it to me in order to find out if the alignment is changing or not.

 

DOH,
I would have no idea, as the only thing to come to my mind would be a change caused by the TSB (which no one has posted here yet!). Might I suggest that you check another Nissan dealer in your town and enquire about what the specs are on their machine? Like RobJames, I suspect your Z has too few miles to notice a problem. My "roaring" started about 6000 miles on the odometer.
Sorry to not be of more help.
cheers,

 

It would be great if others would ask for and obtain the computer print out when getting their cars aligned. Each print out should have the specifications and the actual readings for all four wheels. Then post your results for comparison. I would have scanned mine but the sheet is so faint and hard to read with background "noise" that it would not scan.

 

Hmmmmm can't get my alignment settings pic to attach....

 

For those of you have forgotten because this thread is so large, I decided to change my OE tires at 1600 miles and my installer pointed out the beginnings of feathering. I just had my oil and filter change recently and we, my Service Writer and I, visually inspected the new tires that have 1100 miles on them. No sign of abnormal wear at all, but the problem showed up quickly with the OE tires.

My point is, the OE tires seem to be more prone to the problem and I would suggest people who are still running the OE tires to check them much sooner than 3000 miles.

 

true, mine began showing signs when i replaced them w/ aftermarket tires/wheels, at 1100 miles. the oem tires have a treadwear rating of 140, my new (much higher performance) tires are 280. the stock tires are JUNK.

 

2 things happened today

1. got algn done, will post measurements in a while

2. dad brought home a G35 coupe today w/ wheel/tire package, no way in HELL, the Z and that car have same suspension. will post thoughts in a bit

btw, my dealer knew NOTHING about the bounce/feathering problem

 

Well, I went to go and try to buy a Z today, but before making my purchase, I asked the guy about the Feathering and Transmission issue and he said he has NEVER heard of it. So with that, I told him that I have to think about the car because i can't handle these kinds of problems at the moment.

 

http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/nissa...3.asp?mscssid=

Here is the current list of TSB that Nissan admits to.

And though this issue with the tires feathering/cupping is a pain in our @ss!
I still believe this car is a great performance car for the money.

 

OK, I am back

a few things, the SM knew NOTHING about the bounce or tire feathering issues. but I got my alignment done anyway.

the alignment guy said that the fronts were very close to nissans latest specs, BUT the rears were pretty far out (he was surprised I was mentioning anything wrong with the fronts).

here is my cars specs

.....LEFT FRONT....................................................RIG HT FRONT.....

after............before..................................... after...............before
-1*20'........-1*17'................CAMBER.........-0*44'............-0*46'..
8*55'........8*57'.................CASTER............8*38'.. ...........8*31....
0*04'........0*05'....................TOE...............0*05 '.............0*06'...
5*02'........4*56'....................SAI................4*4 3'.............4*42'...
3*42'........3*39'..........included angle............3*59'..............4*42'...



.......................................FRONT............befo re..............after.........
CROSS CAMBER.....................................-0*35*............-0*31'.......
CROSS CASTER......................................0*18'........... ....0*27'........
TOTAL TOE.............................................0*09'....... ........0*11'........



.....LEFT REAR......................................................RI GHT REAR....

after...........before...................................... ...after.............before
-1*36'........-2*30'...............CAMBER..............-1*35'.........-1*52'...
0*05'.........0*03'................TOE.....................0 *04'............0*03'...


.....................................REAR...............AFTE R..............BEFORE.........
TOTAL TOE...........................................0*08'......... ......0*06'............
THRUST ANGLE.....................................0*00'............. ..0*00'............

it took me 20 min to do that, can anyone tell me how it looks????

 

Rod, your dealer not knowing anything may depend on how may Zs he's sold at his shop. My salesman, who is also the New Car Sales Manager, was really surprised. I have known Syd for 14 years and he wasn't faking it either. The dealer's allocation is not large here and the other owners are probably just beginning to get to 3 or 4000 miles now. The abnormal wear and noise will start soon, I believe, and they will get the complaints. I was just lucky to have changed my tires from the 040s so early, I may have avoided the worst of the problem.

If the OE tires are faulty, then what are they doing to the aluminum a-arms? I am no expert at anything, but the tires and mechanical bits in the suspension will wear a certain amount since they are a system. Obviously, the tires would wear an enormous amount more than the a-arms, but wouldn't some mechanical bits wear as well?

I'm setting up a straw man again here, but I am just trying to eliminate possible abnormal wear problems, and the rotation of tires from left to right after the wear problems, might constitute an attempt to bring the mechanicals back into spec, hopefully. Rough68fish, would you ask your dad if I am having my usual pipe dreams, or could the OE tires be that deficient and changing the camber? I have read recently, a set of the 040s w/15000 miles on them were requisitioned by some Nissan engineers back to Japan for whatever. I am probably engaging in my usual spurious correlation, but I'm curious and don't mind being ridiculed if I am. Ah, well, to bed....

Boomer babble

 

interesting, they do sell a fair amount of Zs, BUT the service dept is for Nissan and VW, so the SM has a lot on his plate. He is a VERY passive tyoe guy (very frustrating for a guy like me to work with, since NOTHING seems to faze him). I let him know I have a case with NNA, hoping to get him to spark up, NOHTING worked to catch his interest.

 

According to the specifications that my NIssan Service manager gave me, your Total Toe is out. HIs specs stated Front Total Toe should be at 0.0 to 0.8 If I read yours right, it was set to .09 and now its .11? Steven Lamm(NNA) is getting back with me with the correct specs .

 

Does anyone in here have a Z they bought after JAN 2003 and have this problem?

 

let us know

 

Here are my alignment numbers before and after....


Is it just me or is my front toe-in waaayyyy out of spec???

 

aggie300zx,

Oh MY GOD, your toe settings were way way out of the specs.
Your left front tire was 12.5x out of the spec range or 1250% !!!

Your right front tire was 9.5x or 950% out of the spec limit...

Not only that but your front camber is right at the spec limits and your rear tires are right at the spec limits too. Yikes!