I guess I'm blessed, regarding the feathering issue--14,000-plus, no problemo,
no humming. I do have the hatch door thing, the driver's-side power wdw. problem, & the paint job chipping nuisance. Also, overnight, my hood's gotten
t-i-g-h-t, to the point that it loudly snaps open, & it takes a good slam to
get it closed. I'll be taking it to the body shop for adjustment.

Old-timer from Puerto Rico.

 

Hi, guys, I'm relatively new to the threads; bought an '04 Touring Coupe, 13k miles
on it when bought. I guess I'm blessed, the OEM Potenzas are in great shape.
The driver's side power window glitch is a part-time problem; hatch door strut
problem, also, and the gas latch release thing,too. The good news is: BEST engine in the automotive industry; no overheating problems; incredible torque
throughout the WHOLE band! Comfy (ergonomics) for a Sports car. BEST-looking ride in my condo'!!! Look at the bright side, young'uns!
--Old-timer from Puerto Rico, in a love affair with a Zed!

 

so..this feathering problem..i have aftermarket wheels on the Z im buying...20" 245/35/20 on the front and 275/35/20 on rear... im not even sure what the stock 350z wheel sizes are..i kno its 18 inch....

car is a 2003 with only 4900 miles on it :S... does everyone pretty much get this feathering issue? cos this thread is huge O_O

 

Hopefully I can get an answer from someone who knows what they are talking about. I have read this thread until my eyes hurt, literally. I have a 2003 z with 7900 miles with feathering evident. If I understand this correctly, the problem is caused from not being able to adjust the toe/camber. I have read dozen's of posts they are not adjustable. Here is my question, won't adding adjustable toe/camber arms products (like Cusco) and the proper adjustment fix the issue? I realize Nissan won't pay for it, but for $400 it seems like an easy fix. Anyone?

 

Like stated before tried to read through all this but my eyes started to melt.
Basically at this point even with aftermarket parts , there's no real fix??
Don't feel like dropping 6bills on new tires just to have them chewed up. anyone??

 

I'd also like to know as well. I just purchased a 04 Performance Model with 29k miles, it does not have the stock tires it seem to have been replaced. Should I be worried.

 

Not necessarily. The OEM Bridgestones don't last that long in any case other than parking the car. Neither did the Michie PS2's on my G Coupe, even running a Pirelli tire set in winter, after 4 years the Michies are toast, and their wear rate is a lot slower than the OEM Bridgestones.

DO get an alignment, at a good shop. My last alignment at the dealer was either off or I beat on the car at some point, the wheels were like so:
/ /
\ \

Also stock alignment has a little rear toe-in, another surprise - picture running with your shoe-lace ends tied together. I went to zero rear toe (on my G Coupe) and dialed back rear camber from 2.5 to 2 deg, partly due to the larger tires/wheels.

Re:feathering, I was in on this thread early, I never figured out the magic combination. Common sense tells me with all the AM options out now, consider front adj caster/camber, it's cheap now and I would have done that. Also from 2004.5 forward, Z's got 427 lb/in rear springs where 03's had 314 lb/in rears, part of me says spring rates may have had a role here, too. In any case I'd find some 427 rear springs, too. My G doesn't have this issue but also went up on rear springs with 19" OEM wheels in 2005 MY+.

The incidence of problems dropped off a lot after 2004, not entirely, but I don't see nearly the numbers of people complaining about their '05/'06 cars, and back in early 2003 this was a ~5k mile problem - my tires chewed through one side in 5000 miles, swapped side to side, another 6k later, same issue.

Start by getting a good alignment - Hunter equipment and a good performance shop, not your dealer. I just did on my G Coupe, and the difference is astounding.

 

It's not an accross-the-board sorta thing. Only time will tell, quakerroatmeal.

 

It's been a LONG time since I checked this thread. I bought a new 04 Roadster in November of 04. Tires would feather at about 8 - 9,000 miles, but kept getting them replaced for free by Nissan.

However, totaled the car last year with 50,000 miles on it, got the exact same thing, but an 05 Roadster and it started feathering at 13,000 miles. I have just lived with it for 6,000 miles but will be replacing with different tires when I scrounge up enough money.

Can't believe this is still going on, but since it's not an 03 or 04 I guess Nissan isn't replacing them for free. OEM tires suck anyway, so I wouldn't take their OEM's if they gave them to me for free. Rear tires only last about 15,000 miles anyway.

 

After an alignment, several sets of tires and 45,200 miles, feathering is back. I have marked the high points on the photos. Those are the white portions of the tread blocks. The blocks are bevelled going from low to high, and begin again with a low point on the next block.

 

"An alignment," as in one in 45,200 miles?

 

Yes. 45,200 miles ago. Damn those miles add up fast.

 

03 and 04's with feathering get free tire replacement?

 

No But if they do start, we will be the last to know.

 

No, that was really unusual and had to be dealer eating the cost, NNA did not replace in general - you go the side to side swap (fresh meat approach) and alignment under warranty. Search this huge thread on "free tires".

Some of the people who really went after them were offered replacement tires, one guy I remember even Michelin PS's All-Seasons - hard as rocks with a wear index of about 440, horrible traction. Clearly they were just tying to send him off with hard enough tires that it would take longer for feathering to show up again.

Later (2005?) OEM came with new model of the Bridgestone with the tread blocks on the inside not fully cut, RE050's without the full gap between blocks, another attempt to forestall the problem but didn't eliminate it.

 

Or less, my smaller 225/235 Base Z tires were almost at the wear bars after 11k miles. I would have had to replace very soon after that.

If I had to deal with that today, one thing I'd look into is things like adjustable camber arms for the front, among other thing. I would go upsize to 245/35/19 F and 275/35/19 rears with a good light wheel. I can't say enough good things about how much that transformed the handling on my '04 G Coupe for the better, along with a few other things like beefier sways and end-links.

The sad part is it seems people who just drive the car totally OEM Stock and maybe don't push it hard all the time seem to have the most problems. My second feathering went away mostly after a long track day, just wiped the tread clean by wearing it down below the level of the cupping in about 80 track miles. Those Bridgestones stuck well enough, but completely at the cost of wear rating (140?). Tires like Michhie PS2's, or Falkens even, or the Goodyear F1's I run today last considerably longer with maybe a 220-260 spread for rating.

Yes, the OEM tires are horrible. I'd buy other Bridgestones like the Pole Position, but they are many $$$ for how long they last.

I track and AutoX a '91 Nissan SE-R, and I can replace all four 15" tires for the cost of about one rear tire on my car, using Kuhmo MX's, Falkens, whatever. The cost for this staggered sizing is out of control because it so limits your choices.

 

thanks for the information, i have a 03 track model, right under 25k miles on first set of tires, what are my options? the growl is getting ridiculous

 

Well, the dealer would swap tires side to side, then do an alignment. And, being out of bumper-to-bumper warranty on time I think, charge you for it. I'd consider either getting that done somewhere else with very good quality balancing and alignment rack like the Hunter so they don't hose your Ray's, and get a really precise alignment. With dealers, it seems to be hit or miss.

That is the lowest cost, least risk solution I can think of that will make it go away at least for awhile, while you consider your long term options.

Also consider a zero-toe rear alignment, I just about fell off my chair when I found out the OEM spec is some toe-in for the rear and 2.5 deg negative camber. I went to Zero toe and -2 deg to put more rubber down for straight-line, realizing that it will make the car a little more tail-happy.

Up front, swap tires on rims, go with factory spec toe-in or a little less, and see what happens. No one has the definitive answer for this problem, or they're not telling if they do!

HTH

 

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I bought my 2003 touring in September of 2002. I went through the initial feathering problem, and was treated with the side to side swap which helped for a while. At 42,000 miles on the original OEM tires, Nissan paid 50% of the price for the new design Potenzas. By this point, the rears were shot as well, so I let them replace all 4. They did a free alignment; I paid for the rears. I now have 66,000 miles on the car; 24,000 on the new fronts - no sign of a problem. Granted, I do not track the car, just drive up and down the Garden State Parkway every day. It's been one of the most reliable and fun to drive vehicles I've ever owned, with other than the tires, an air filter and brakes, is completely factory original.

 

I am abit of feathering all I have to do is get an alignment? or new tires and an alignment?(this thread is 194 pages long!)