34 cold. That equates to about 39 or 40 once they're warmed up.

 

Hell,the dealer says mine was in spec on the front end,front tires were badly cupped on the inside edge.....Have had people remark that it sounded like bad front wheal bearings.(The noise was so bad).
I just purchased four new tires( Michelin sports) the independent
shop that performed the new front end alignment said the toe was way out,and the unadjustable camber was not in specs as well.I have been assured that untill there is an after market kit
to be able to adjust the camber that the front tires will continue to produce abnormal wear.
Hahaha.....hell it was only a $35,000.00 car,suppose the $1300.00 I just spent on tires was a bargain,shame they had to be replaced at 7000 miles though.
I am to say the least PISSED OFF....a run around by Nissan,and
then a denial of a real problem with the car by Nissan....How many of you people out there would buy another Nissan?.....I sure as HELL WOULD NOT.......

 

I've been poking around the Internet looking for information on abnormal tread wear and came across this site:

http://www.kaltire.com/commercial/me...tires/heel.php

This is based on tractor trailer wear patterns but it looks very similar to a "feathered" RE040. They attribute this wear pattern to torque stress or poor tire design. I believe someone metioned a correlation to braking somewhere in this thread or in another thread and he may be on to something. What if the abnormal wear was due to the deformation of the tread blocks under a torque stress such as hard breaking and the resulting scrubbing action. It would make sense. It could also account for the fact that the wear does not progress linearly. It comes on slow and, once started, progresses rapidly. If this were true I'm sure it would be good news for Nissan because either they've dialed in too much front break bias and/or the RE040 is a poor tire and Bridgestone will ultimately be held accountable. Let's just see if Nissan ops for a tire swap on the '04's.

 

doubt it's the tires.. since not everyone has the tire feathering problem. And we all have the same tires from stock... RE040.

I have S03 now and time will tell if I will get feathering again..

 

Recall is under way to replace front tires and bushings. Nissan has admitted a problem and will be taking corrective action. Why
bushings? Arms may be wrong length which as talked about before. My source is a service manager who has 40 sets of new front tires coming. This is great news. Check your mail boxes

 

PM on this site or e-mails??

 

For six months now I have been reading post about tire feathering.

At 5100 mi, I placed my Z in the shop for an oil change and rattles. Yesterday the dealer called to inform me of tires feathering. This is one issue I was hoping to avoid. Seems like no one will be able to escape this tire issue.

One of the main reasons I sold my Eldo ETC, was because it spent more time in the dealers garage than mine. Everyone I asked regarding purchasing a new car said with a Nissan, all you have to do is take care of the fuel and oil.

Now it seems that until this tire feathering issue is corrected my car will be spending wasted time in the dealers garage.

This will not help future sales of this vehicle, nor will it accelerate the sales of the 2004 Z.

I am sure that Nissan will come up with a fix in the near future. It is one thing to replace a stereo, replacing front ends and tires can be very costly.

 

That is what we thought when we ordered the car and waited 10 months. We had bad luck with my wife's last car. It was a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX.
I was not going to buy another Japanese car, but Nissan is a great company with fantastic cars and reputation.
What a surprise to learn that these 350Z's are nothing but a $35.0000 POS
We have replaced the stereo, amp and subwoofer. It still sounds like a cheap AM radio, the windows streak, exhaust smells and rattles, replaced front tires at 5000mi now at 7800 it needs tires again due to feathering!!!!! What next!!!!!!

To say I ams pissed off is an understatement, I am not mad at the dealer, they have been great. It is not there fault that this car is a POS. The funny thing is my wife still loves the car?

 

The whining on this thread is unbelieveable. Obviously you have never owned a Ferrari... needs about 10,000 in service every 4 months and it costs WAYYYY more than the 350z. You bought the first year of a new vehicle, what did you expect??? The car has some issues, but I am confident that they will be resolved. I LOVE driving this car and a slight clunk in the seat and some grease on the window isn't going to diminish that fun. I don't yet have the feathering problem and I don't really care as I am confident that they will fix it and I will get new tires if if happens anyway... no biggie to me... The bang for the buck on this car is amazing (not just the performance, but the styling too) and I am still happy even with these problems. Hey, Ford is still having recalls due to bad ignition switches...

 

Its funny you mention Ferrari's. I know them very well. I used to buy and sell them. We have had a few 308's,512 BBi,Testarossa,Daytona spider,400i and now a 355. Ferrari's all cost big bucks to maintain. I know that and expect it when I take one in for service. We just put tires on a 98 355 but they lasted 18,000 miles not 2000.

I also had a 83 Lamborghini Countach about 10 years ago and got many big repair bill's like a $8900 clutch job. The difference is that I know the Italian cars are like boats you have to keep dumping money in them. But we are talking about a Nissan. It was my opinion that they were maintenance free compared to an Exotic car.

I am sorry if you do not want to here the complaining ,but this forum is to discuss Problems with our cars.
Yes $35,000 is chump change compared to Ferrari but its a lot for a Nissan,hell i could have bought her a nice 308/328 Ferrari for that kind of money.
I am just upset because I do not want to have my wife driving a car that needs tires every 2000 miles. I can live with the rest of the small problems.

 

More info on the recall please. My car is the dealer right now for its tire physical and I want info on this when I go back to talk to the SM please.

 

This guy's "recall info" is total BS. Don't put any stock in it. Look at his other thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=31026

Notice how he mentions a SEARS service manager.

I don't understand why some people have to BS info like that. That's in the worst taste...

 

Thanks WashuJon. I was going nuts thinking we had it nailed.

 

I think that my point was missed. 35K is not alot of money for the car - regardless of the nameplate on it. I knew that I was buying a 'semi-exotic' two seat sports car. Putting the Nissan emblem on it doesn't make it any less of a 'semi-exotic'. 35K for this type of styling and performance is awesome and if you buy a first year run of a brand new car, you HAVE to expect problems. I don't care who the manufacturer is, they ALL have problems with just about the simplest things (not just the new complicated stuff, but usually the simple stuff that it seems like they SHOULD have got right). I completely agree that the car should not need tires after 2K miles and that none of these other problems should have occurred, BUT it shouldn't be costing you anything other than your time to drop the car off and have new tires put on. To me, it doesn't seem like all that big of a deal. You are not dumping any money into it (like a Ferrari or a Lambo)...

Andy yes, you could have purchased a used 308/328 for the thirties, but those things seem SOOO dated today and they are dogs (especially the older ones). The Z is 1000 times the car.

 

Here's some interesting info I found out from two dealers. Neither of them had the capability to replace the Z's front tires. I asked what they did to perform the "TSB" (swapping front tires)? They said they took it to Tire Kingdom to have the swap performed. The dealer was subing out this work. Not only can't the other dealer change the Z's tires, but claims they couldn't do the alignment per the TSB! Their equipment was broken and had been waiting replacement equipment for 2 months???? Kinda disturbing but may explain Sears being mentioned.


__________________

 

You are correct, I did expect some problems with a new car. The dealer has been fantastic.
My problem is that Nissan put tires on my wifes car at 5000 miles. But it took 2 weeks of arguing with NNA to get us new tires. It now has 7800 and the tires are feathered again. The dealer now saying that NNA told them this was NORMAL.
It would be different if they were willing to repair it again,but now we are stuck with putting tires on the car if we want to get rid of the noise/vibration.

 

I'm just a newcomer here but it seems like if a person is inclined to whine about his or her feathered tires this is the place to do it. And it is a big deal to have to repeatedly take the car in for service, particularly for those who do not trust others with their vehicle, and that should include just about everyone. I have made three visits to one dealer to have the car serviced per the TSB. On the first visit they scratched my front rims all up and then put the tires back on the rims exactly as they came off (ie. not rotated). On the second visit they swapped a set of tires and rims off another brand new Z, however, they neglected to reprogram the computer for the different transpoder id's so I had no pressure monitors on the front. Another individual inflated all four tires to 50 lbs because it said "50 psi max" on the sidewall. And as the gentlemen mentioned above most dealers do not have a tire machine that can handle these wheels. Mine was indeed farmed out to Tire Kingdom so in addition to the damaged wheels I had the pleasure of some stranger driving my car around town. And because the alignment numbers were all within specs I can only assume that I'll be back again in a few thousand miles. Will Nissan again step up with a new set of tires and will I have to repeat this entire process? I'd rather not. Nissan, if they have not already not done so, should have cars out on test tracks running 24X7 with various configurations until the problem is solved and that should be followed by an immediate recall. Whether or not the recall mentioned a few posts above is ******** or not Nissan will ultimately have to have one. It will be in their own best interest. They can't just continue to replace tires in perpetuity and they certainly can't afford to wait for the lawsuits to start because of wrecked Z's with feathered tires, regardless of the cause of the accident.

 

What's the best way to address this with the dealer? At my last oil change the svc dept. noticed it but said I would need to pay for an alignment at 5000 miles. Please share your stories.

Thanks

 

Just got off the phone with the SM at Bankston Nissan. Tires have been analyzed and NO signs of the feathering has surfaced. I have 2,300 miles on the new front tires. This is what I figured since I have been doing my own testing and inspection once a week, also. SM has been in touch with the District SM who in turn is passing the info along. I know for a fact that the DSM has been passing this along to the North Texas dealers. The NT dealers have been told that this is what was done to solve my tire feathering. My new specs are posted a page back for those who want them.

My SM said he is not aware of what Nissan Corporate will do with the info. He is not aware of any other solution that NNA has for the feathering issue. No word is out there from corporate.

Guys and Gals, I do not know what this means for us other then my car is fixed for now. Will this be spread out from NNA? Does NNA have another solution? Is this the solution we have wanted? Should you all rush out and match my toe specs? I am going to pick up my car in a half hour and will ask more questions for you.

I am open to suggestions from all of you.

 

Was a report done by Hunter? We need it if it is available and so does NNA and the offices in Pasadena or wherever in socal needs it too. If Nissan's engineers don't at least read this information, I will probably stroke out. I'm sick of rumor and misinformation. Nissan should listen to their dealer network you speak of, so the info is worth something to other owners than just you.