Originally Posted by SteveZ

Driving style? That's bogus. One of the earliest worst cases I know of was a friend's wife who commuted about 20 miles each way on freeway to and from work. If anything the best my tires ever looked was after a track day when they were pretty well scuffed flat, basically like shaving the tires. "Normal" use seemed to be the worst driving style, i.e. lots of pedestrian driving and straight line freeway.

I would not put much stock in the RE050's, the idea of using a harder compound has been tried and failed, all it usually does is increase ride harshness and when the wear comes, makes it much louder and pronounced. I personally know someone who against my advice took Michelin P/S All Season tires, sure they have more than twice the wear rating, but for 20,000 miles you get a markedly inferior ride both in performance and ultimately safety, the tires don't stick, braking distance increases, and that's probably not why you bought the car. I feel that a stock Z is heavy enough that the high wear rate but reasonable traction of the first RE040's wasn't a bad compromise, I was 75% through mine at 11-12k miles. At least they performed well until the problems started (5k miles or so). The car wasn't made for tires that don't stick (hint: search on "swapped ends today" or "crashed my Z today" in this forum).

They did feather, they cupped, they were swapped, etc. I walked from the car, break-even or close enough to my G-Coupe. The Pilot Sports on the V35 (2004) have not had this problem after 32k miles; the front dampers and springs are identical to my Z, the rear springs may have been a little softer, not sure if by 2004 they went to the ~425 ft-lb springs like the Z. Some people have had this problem with the Coupes, too.

The RE050 is no Michie PS AS tire, but you may want to ensure that Nissan has not gone with different dampers or spring rates on the front especially; it fixing an '03 350Z was this easy I would have done so. They may have made changes to the front end not in geometry as much as springs/dampers, I cannot imagine running a lot harder compound. I'd not be surprised if in going to a longer wearing compound changes were made somewhere else, they have to keep the balance of the car either through tread design or other suspension changes which your car may not have. The newer RE040's were a step in the right direction with their tread pattern and the blocks not cut to the edge. A nice idea that will maybe get people out of warranty by their second set of fronts vs. the first. But don't assume what's good for the newer Z is good for you, it will likely just be another expensive fix that will last for a bit longer.

I spent the better part of 2 years talking to a lot of people on this and never really figured it out, either. Alignment isn't the issue, although it can make things worse. If newer Z's truly are statistically better and not suffering this problem as much, then I would look at what's changed - spring rates, damper construction, etc. as not much else has really changed.

If you want to PM me feel free, not much of a story to tell, but if I can help I would at least tell you what I "know". The attached is how badly shot mine RE040's were at ~5k when I took the car in because it was skipping under moderately hard braking, the ABS would go nuts - skipping off the tops of the cupped tread. Also had the compression rod pass side replaced same time under TSB. All the swap did was feed the beast fresh meat...by 10k both sides looked like that.

HTH

Originally Posted by fedupp

I agree it's not alignment issue but where do you get your info on a design issue. I have never read or heard of a change in any or all of the front suspension parts in the four years I have followed this problem. Is this just an assumption on your part or do you have actual proof. I'm not disargreeing with you that it may be a design defect I would just like to see something in print that states that Nissan has made a change to the front suspension. Otherwise your assumption is simply speculative.

Originally Posted by fedupp

I agree it's not alignment issue but where do you get your info on a design issue. I have never read or heard of a change in any or all of the front suspension parts in the four years I have followed this problem. Is this just an assumption on your part or do you have actual proof. I'm not disargreeing with you that it may be a design defect I would just like to see something in print that states that Nissan has made a change to the front suspension. Otherwise your assumption is simply speculative.

Originally Posted by SteveZ

Also remember the car is the sum of its parts - rear spring rates have changed, too in the 350Z over the years. That impacts weight transfer in a wide variety of situations.

Haven't seen the diagrams myself, but have read the same in reviews, info that reporters obviously didn't come up with on their own but most likely found in their press kits...

Originally Posted by fedupp

This is all I ever hear. Someone heard from someone, who heard from someone else. Who are these so called reporters? Who do they write for?

Originally Posted by frank350z

I called Nissan Consumer Affairs today after my visit to N. Plainfield Nissan and explained that as the original owner of my 350z - I never received notice in the mail that this TSB had an expiration and the problem exhibited itself only recently - and I should be entitled to AT LEAST a 4-wheel alignment correction under my extended warranty...