Mine did the same. Someone posted elsewhere on this forum the diagram of the rails and all parts with a detailed method to fix the problem. Search for it - it works.

Before I had the Hardbar and Harness installed it drove me crazy to have any movement in the seat when transitioning corners - the thing just rocked back and forth enough to pi*s me off...the harness held the sides so it didn't bother me when using the 5-pt.

good luck

 

This thread is still going strong, I see. Most apologists will tell me to go **** myself, but here's a simple word of advice. If you're tired of the bullsh!t, dump your ****ing car and NEVER look back. It's what I had to do and I'm not one bit sorry.

This ain't a Ferrari, or a Carrera GT, or a myriad of other cars worthy of fighting for. It's a "sports car" built on a universal chassis. The guys who really race the thing (Performance, Schuitemaker) tore the suspension apart and built it up again to make it a real performer. Honestly, it's not worth the hassle if it gives you grief.

 

Actually, pretty sage advice. In life there are many things worth losing sleep over. Cars don't usually fit in that category. Having said that, my Z has been perfect, so maybe I'm not qualified to judge.

Wait, yes, I am qualified. The point is that you don't have to deal with crap if you don't want to. Take the bull by the horns and toss his ***. Get a G35. Heck, as I said, my Z is great, and I'm still thinking about getting a G35.

 

Good for you. My Z sucks and I'm going to stick it to Nissan any way I can. They seem to have taken that approach with me.

 

Apples/oranges. The Z is a great looking 2 seat sports car, the G35 is a GT, for a family guy that needs a back seat for the kids. If I wanted a GT I would get a BMW, M3 would be nice

 

I view it a little differently. I'm 65. God help me is I have to deal with kids again.

As good as my Z is, I have a problem with Nissan's handling of the "problem". They have made a mistake! Even though the tires are suspect, I believe that is not the real problem. I don't think Nissan believes that is the real problem.

I believe they screwed up in the suspension. They seem to be trying to fix the symptom rather than the root cause. I'm sure cost has a lot to do with that. However, they will ultimately spend much more with their current tack than if they just bit the bullet.

Also, they could work wonders if they would just communicate. Or course, to do that would be to alert all those Z owners who haven't realized what that loud noise is.

Ah, the corporate mind. It's a wonderful thing.

 

I somewhat agree...the difference is that I'm really sick of just taking the ********. I'm going to try my best to make Nissan responsible for the crap I've gone through with them. Believe me, when I finally get rid of this thing I will not miss it and I will not look back.

 

Ronny,

You hit the nail on the head! Nissan should come out and deal with this problem. I have no doubt that they know the root cause and can fix it. Extending the tire and alignment warranty is a stall tactic while making them look like good guys. In the long run, this will hurt them. It's all about short term profits. Our only hope is that the pending class action law suits will eventually force them to make it right.

 

Wow, it's been months since I've visited this board and I'm sad to see this problem still exists. I've had my Track for almost two years and it now has just over 30K miles. When I first experienced this problem, my dealer replaced the tires without question. When the problem returned, they rotated the tires and realigned to a new spec. By this time the tires were already chewed up so the roaring never went away. I called and complained and was told the tires are two weeks on back order. Earlier this week they fitted new tires and realigned the front and rear to some *new* spec that is supposed to correct this problem for good. I have my doubts. This is just one of several issues I've had with this car. Guess I should have purchased that BMW afterall.

 

Uhh...oranges

W/o listing the enormous list of shared small bits like FM platform and engine, etc...I'd just off the following suggestion/observation -
After you have some serious seat time in both cars a) tell me again it's apples and oranges, vs. two different apples, and b) go test drive the M3 again. I honestly didn't like the M3 - the higher sedan-like driving position compared to a Z or G35 was well, like apples and oranges. Impressed me as a great car for a non-family Guy who didn't want a sedan with 4-doors and with enough the bling-bling to impress the women...

 

Universal? ...and your new STi was built on a chassis uniquely designed for a special "Sports Car"? Uh, no, more like the ubiquitous Legacy econobox-stlye platform. One which BTW has had it's share of models with major warranty issues (e.g. first gen WRX's).

Kind of a useless slam comment on the FM platform from one who now drives a Subie WRX (read:butt-ugly with a big silly wing) built by a company specializing in making boring, ugly cars (except the STi - it's at least not Boring) off the same cookie cutter line. At least most the new Nissans with the FM/VQ combo are somewhat fun to drive.

I dumped my Z, too, but "it don't make me bitter" - you don't have to come back to this forum dumping crap about all Nissans.

Go back to your forum for misguided people who like fast and butt-ugly ecnonboxes with wings big enough to look like they're really overcompensating for something...

 

I was just talking about looks, sorry I did not make that clear. I love the looks of the Z. The G35 is a good looking vehicle, just not a Z. They should both drive and handle the same or very close. Yes I would rather deal with the Infinity dealer than a Nissan dealer, would be better service, I'm getting tired of the 1 1/2 hour oil/filter changes, only warranty problem so far, the front tires and they replaced them within 1 week of mentioning the feathering, that was around 4500 miles ago and so far so good. But I am sure that I will have feathering before I get 8-10K on these new tires. I only put 8-9K miles on this Z a year so I would like a tire solution but it's not my biggest concern.

 

Uh, oh. Got Steve-o riled up again. You wanna trade PMs some more?

OK, OK. So I was a dick about it. The point is that the chassis the Z sits on also has to accomodate the 5,000 lb.+ FX. The excuse everyone gets that, "sports cars do this..." from dealerships is horsesh*t! Why is it that only ONE car on the FM platform has these problems? The Z should have gotten it's own, purpose-built chassis much like the S2000.

Regards,
Brad - Overcompensating for something.

 

What's different about the G35's front end? It doesn't seem to have the feathering problems that the Z33 has.

 

Longer wheel base and I'd guess different caster angle as well, but that's just a guess and I have no facts behind the caster comment.

 

I have the tire feathering problem that I noticed at 4K miles with tire wear on the inboard portion of the front tires and audiable roar which has gotten worse until I took it in to the dealer at 6K miles. The service manager said the procedure was to remove the tires and switch sides followed by a balence and allignment. He also ordered me two new front tires which will be installed in 3 weeks following another allignment. My allignment specs were as follows:
BEFORE allignment
Left Front
Camber: -.9
Caster: 7.8
Toe: .11
Right Front
Camber: -.7
Caster: 8.2
Toe: -.05
Left Rear
Camber: -2
Toe: .08
Right Rear
Camber: -1.8
Toe: .08

After Allignment
Left Front
Camber: -.9
Caster: 7.8
Toe: .02
Right Front
Camber: -.8
Caster: 8.2
Toe: .04
Left Rear
Camber: -1.7
Toe: .09
Right Rear
Camber: -1.7
Toe: .08

 

I don't know what the caster angles usually are on the G35 either, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are less than the Z on average.

Another thing I have noticed is that the caster angles seem to vary a relatively large amount from one Z to another, which would explain why some never get rid of the problem and some do.

 

You'll be back with abnormal wear on the outside with those #'s. I was there too.

 

Just so we are clear, are your toe settings in degrees or inches?

 

We are all beating a dead horse

OK... I am on my second new set of front Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tires. They only have about 2,000 miles on them so far. My two previous sets both experienced noticable road noise after approximately 8,000 miles consistently. I currently have about 22,000 miles on the rears and the tread is wearing thin.

Here is the reality of the 350Z tire problem:

1) The tires cannot be rotated on the Nissan 350Z in a traditional or regular fashion as they should be on any vehicle approximately every 7,500 miles - THERE IS A REASON WHY TIRES ARE ROTATED! (so that tire wear is evenly distributed).

2) The OEM front suspension characteristics of the Nissan 350Z make the front tires especially prone to abnormal and excessive tire wear.

3) The OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 Tires for the Nissan 350Z use a relatively soft compund, which makes them more susceptible to increased wear.

CONCLUSION:

** IF YOUR FRONT SUSPENSION IS ALIGNED PROPERLY AND IF YOU DISMOUNT AND ROTATE THE FRONT TIRES ON YOUR NISSAN 350Z EVERY 7,500MI YOU SHOULD NOT EXPERIENCE CUPPING, FEATHERING, ABNORMAL/EXCESSIVE TIRE WEAR AND BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM LIFE OUT OF YOUR TIRES! (on the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 should be around 25,000 miles)

Notice that I have ONLY stated facts, now is it too much to ask to dismount and rotate your front tires every 7,500 miles (2 oilchanges)? Granted, it would be nice if we did not have to do this ... but unfortunately this seems to be one of the prices we must all pay if we wish to continue driving a 350Z. I think it is a small burden and I am willing to deal with it. At least Nissan will also buy you a new set of front tires if the problem returns again while following this procedure, which it shouldn't.