THE MAN SPEAKS THE TRUTH!

LOL



I had the engine and the turbo problem on my RX7 (hence the reason I don't have it anymore)

 

Since my Z now has 26k on it, the dealer said that he couldn't even do the alignment under warranty, and wanted to charge me $85. Is that a fair price for an alignment, or should I take it somewhere else? Does anyone have the right specs so that I can make sure it has been aligned to those specs? And is anyone aware of any tires other than the Potenza's which will wear better and not feather as easily? I do a LOT of freeway driving, and have no windy roads in the area, so from what I am reading, I am a prime candidate to get feathering, as I have already had it twice now.

 

msims:

I had my alignment performed at an independent tire and brake shop that specializes in Mercedes, BMWs, Porches, and sports cars for $60. They laughed at the settings in Nissan's TSB that came out 0n 4/12/2004 for the extended tire warranty.

Don't worry about the correct numbers. If the shop is competent they will align your car to their specifications.

I also had them replaced my worn out rear tires and front feathered tires (3rd set) with Good Year Eagle F1's. I have 4k miles on them so far and have no feathering. The inner and outer tread blocks are agressive on the Good Year Eagle F1's. Toyo T1's are also great tires. I have a friend that got over 16k miles on his '03 Track.

The ride is much quieter and smoother than with the stock Bridgestones.

Good luck...

 

I never expected to get more than 20-25K miles from my tires but at 9-10k miles I had road roar. You have to admit that no one expects that from any tire, even if it is on a sports car.

My dealership told Nissan North America that my car's alignment was checked every 3750 miles when they performed an oil change and a 100 point inspection. My Z was in alignment every time yet at 14,700 miles I was told not to drive on my tires as they were worn almost to the belt on the inside section.

Now maybe you feel this is normal but something here stinks to me. Am I really expected to go out every 9K miles and purchase a front alignment and new tires??? If so I will have to do that 3 times a year. That's $2100 on just the front weels and then add one set for the back and I'm spending $2800 a year to drive my Z without road roar and vibration. Had someone disclosed this to me before my purchase I would have walked.

 

Thanks for the info. My dealership claims that my Z was in alignment every 3750 miles. An independent opinion (guy in the tire business 20 plus years) said that in order for my tires to be worn down that quick on the inside the car had to be out of alignment from almost day 1. Nissan North America claims the Z was tied down funny and there are no true problems with the Z's design.

Who am I to believe???

My Nissan dealership has serviced my two Pathfinders since 1997 with no issues to report.

The independent guy has nothing to gain except maybe my tire alignment business.

However, Nissan North America took 71 days until they had someone return call even though I called them 11 times. Nissan North America is in a class action lawsuit for '03 and '04 Z's.

I want to believe that there is no design issue with my Z but I'm just not convinced yet.

 

I spoke to a man at Nissan North America and he claims that nothing changed between the '03 and '04 Z to correct the tire problems. He said the tire problems were caused by the way they were strapped on the underside while being shipped over to the US. Since then they strap the Z's down using another method that doesn't knock the front end out of alignment. Because they caught this problem and corrected it early, no 2004's qualify for the 2 years free tires and alignments.

 

If you believe that, I have a bridge I can sell you. IF it were true, then the problem really wouldn't exist in the '04's, yet is alive and well. I don't want to give up the car, so I'm going to take it to a well respected alignment shop up here, and put some new tires on the front. I simply don't have the time to fight Nissan, and furthermore risk having to turn the car in for a refund. I love my Z, and if I have to be creative and shell out a few bucks to keep the car, then so be it. Even though I'm very dissappointed in Nissan. Especially since this is my third Nissan in 10 years.

 

If you are interested in more info on alignment read this thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=92147

PM me with you email address and I can email the April 2004 TSB to you.


Please post the alignment details on the thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=92147


I wonder if this was the cause of the compression rod failure on early '03s.


Good approach. Please request the before and after alignment dat and post it on:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=92147

Z owners can register with the law firm handling the class action lawsuit. You can register at:

http://www.sheller.com/Practice.asp?PracticeID=145

 

pulpz2:

I posted my before and after alignment specs on the link you requested back on 11/5/2004.

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=92147

 

Sorry cpoe52, didn't make the connection. I do have a question about exactly what you mean by,

and

When you say they laughed at the setting do you mean that the alignment was not done correctly by the dealership or the independent shop disagreed with the new toe settings specified in the April04 TSB?

Because looking back at your toe settings posted on the other thread it appears that the independent shop set it right to the TSB spec. The TSB calls for total toe of 0.08” and no less than 0.04”. You are at 1/16” = 0.06”. So your toe is right on and you no longer see feathering.

I bring this up because I was little confused about what you where saying. I thought they set the toe to something other than the TSB recommendation.

After my realignment (the second one after the first was done wrong), my toe i s 0.08”. I think this is too much toe in because I'm now getting slight feathering on the outside tread instead of the inside tread. So this spring I'm taking it in and having the total toe set to exactly what you r's is, 0.06”. Hopefully this is the sweet spot.

Thanks

 

I posted the April04 TSB at:

http://home.woh.rr.com/hixpage/350z_docs/

 

pulpz2:

The technician laughed at Nissan's settings in TSB-NTB04-043 because from the top view looking down at the front tires they were set like this:

\\ _______ //

Of course this is exaggerated, but that was what I was told.
So far I have 4k miles on my new Good Year Eagle F1's with no signs of feathering. Still a little bit early, so we will see. Lucky for me I live in Southern California so I am still racking the miles on this winter.

 

OK this is why I'm confused, according to your before and after alignemt data you have:

\\____// negative toe (toe-out) - 1/32" : old setting (notice the minus (-) sign)

//____\\ positve toe (toe-in) 1/16" : new setting (per NTB04-043-actually you have 0.0625" and the TSB calls for 0.08")

Sounds like the technican did what the TSB said to do.

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR:
"My dealership claims that my Z was in alignment every 3750 miles."

Guys when you go to dealer to get service ask for a copy of all work done. Some rotten apples request that you sign for work done at "NO CHARGE" that the dealer submits to Nissan (or FORD, GM or manufacture) that the dealer gets paid for as warranty or TSB work. So these dealers will try not to give you a copy of these work-orders.

Most manufactures request that customer sign these workorders or dealer does not get paid for work. Rotten apples submit work but do not perform the work. This is not just for Nissan Dealers but all dealers.

One incident with a Ford dealer showed work for replacing an ignition switch under TSB/warranty but work was never done. When the switch broke, Ford headquarters had records that the repair had already been done by a dealer in another town. This may have been a clerical error but when a request was made for copy of signature on the workorder.....well work was performed.

As a habit, I sign for nothing unless I get a copy and can read what I'm signing, no folded workorders where they request signature in back or they show only line to sign at.

 

pulpz2:

Maybe that was the way the car was aligned when I brought it in 5k miles after Nissan performed TSB NTB04-043 in April 2004. If I remember correctly he didn't spend much time looking at the copy of the TSB I brought in. He aligned my car to his machine's specifications. I know it was not a Hunter system. I could find out what kind it is if you want me to.

They align alot BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes and autocross cars.

The guy that did my alignment, only does alignments. He is their only alignment technican.

 

I have a question. I don't know if it's been asked but this thread is HUGE. Does anybody here have an aftermarket suspension setup?

 

I'd like to know that too ... and if this will solve the problem.

 

If you see my car at various racing events it will have a huge sign warning gawkers about the problem.

If you're an activist you can distribute handouts at local auto shows with nothing more than a link to this website.

 

I guess I am one of the only ones who stuck it out and had my car fixed (at no cost to me). Hopefully those who gave up and are slamming the car are not accelerating my depreciation...

 

What dealership did you go to? Mine in Richardson has failed to fix mine and I'd like the advice.