Take your car to a local Firestone dealer. They will perform a courtesy check for you. Tell them that the dealer said it's the tires, and you would just like to make sure. Trust me. The tires, although they suck, are fine.

 

Went to my dealer yesterday for an oil change and to furhter my request for new front tires. At the service desk I voiced my concerns to my SM tnat the tire swap didn't do any good and that I was getting road noise again. I requested new tires. He stated he would talk to his manager. Got back to me after an hour or and asked if I had talked to NNA and I informed him that I had started a file.

The y then called NNA, without my file number, and got the OK to replace the 2 front tires. No alighnment as I had one done when the TBS was performed. The repairing of the rims will be done later. They said that they would have them repainted and I agreed with them as the scratches were small.

All I can say is that my experiance with my dealership SCOTTESDALE NISSAN has been great. Whenever I have requested a repair under warranty they have done it with no question or hesitation.


Az240z

 

I am now an expert at finding this on tires I guess. THe story is my 2004 C Blue (only month you could order one) is coming in Sep 5th or so. Dealer called and said they had a used one Just like the one I ordered that just came in with 10,000 miles(2003 model). I checked out the front tires and I could barely feel the cupping but it was there. It just doesn't show up near as fast as it does on the z's bridgestones. And because of the tread design it might not make as much noise either.

I'm on my second set of front tires. Nissan replaced and did a second alignment at 7500 miles. Now at 8500 miles the noise it comming back and I can feel the cupping.

 

Boomer:
Thanks for the reply. I too had an alignment done at 1700. The Toe was way out and I noticed cupping starting on the outside of the tire. The 040's were put back and a side to side swap never took place. I now have 7300 miles on the car and there is no evidence of abnormal tire wear at all inside or out. I am constantly watching them.
I plan to change the tires to something other than the 040's when these wear out. The Service manager also has said he will check the tires at every oil change and will replace them as well if the wear begins to show.
He admidts there is a problem and Nissan is aware of it. A fix? not at this time but he feels there will be one. I bought the 100K extended warantee when I bought the car. He also says the records of the alignement and inspections are on file.
If something happens, I wish it would happen soon.
Thanks,
Lew

 

The tire noise has continued to worsen. Took my Z in for the 7500 service last Monday and complained about it. Picked up the car after work and my invoice said “CUSTOMER STATES VEHICLE HAS TIRE NOISE, CHECK AND ADVISE… P COULD NOT DUPLICATE AT THIS TIME… TIRES WEARING EVENLY, NO FEATHERING OR CHAPING”

What is CHAPING? Did they mean cupping? Let me tell you that the noise from the front of my car is driving me crazy when driving under 20 mph especially when I am braking to a stop. I can run my hands over the tire tread and feel the abnormal wear on both the inner and outer tread on both front tires. Who are these guys trying to fool? I’m getting pissed off now. I am going to call NNA tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Until this last altercation my service advisor has indicated that this front tire noise and attendant abnormal wear is a known problem. I am now getting the impression they feel there is not a problem with my tires. Why the sudden about face?

Anyone else getting this change in attitude?

By the way, my driver’s door build date is 09/02.

 

Your story adds some validity of my theory. I would need a much larger sample, obviously, to conclude that aligning the tires early saves irreparable damage even to the 040s. A case study is how you're experience is classified. It is encouraging for new owners and people who have put less than 2000 miles on the car. However, Tere P. had her alignment done at 2200 miles and her 040s are cupping(the correct term) has started after 4000 miles, so we have a hit and a miss. Inconclusive evidence, contrary evidence, no proof yet. Thanks for your report anyway.

I read somewhere the only non-metal ***** in the suspensions armor is a lower control arm w/a rubber ball joint. Could this be the Achilles' heel? Rubber deflects a lot more than urethane or metal and I don't understand building a sports car with stiff springs,soft shocks and a rubber ball joint in an independent suspension, especially when the ball would be a focal point for deflection when a bump was hit by a stiff spring. Anyone know?

Boomer babble

 

I had the tire feathering on my Z at around 5,000 to 7,000 miles. My vin number is #235, and I got my car in August 2002. I took the car into the dealer and complained about the problem. The service guy told me that it might be a design flaw in the Z's Suspension. Anyway, they said that they performed the TSB (checked alignment and rotated front tires), and the problem was fixed. I now have over 15,000 miles on my car, and have not had the tire feathering resurface (knocking on wood). The only thing that confuses me is that I had two different sets of wheel locks on my front tires at the time, so there is no way the dealer could have rotated the front tires, even though they said that they did. I did not puick up on this till a few days after I left the dealership. I don't know what the dealer did exactly, but my feathring problem has not come back yet.

 

Does anyone have handy the address for the manufacturer, NNA or whoever? I need to send my lemon law notice. My cupping has come back after having my first new set of tires.

 

Look in the back of your owners booklet for the address and specific instructions regarding the Lemon law in your state.
Mark

 

I had been supplying the dealer with my peculiar wheel lock master key for a while, when much to my surprise, my wife finds out that the dealer does not need it - many dealers have a 'super' master key that is capable of defeating all keyed wheel locks! Imagine my surprise - and the dreadful thought if such a device should fall into the hands of the unscrupulous....

 

Just wondering what exactly the nose from tires feathering sounds like... I do however hear a loud tire running on road sound in my car, but I figured that was just from the cheap interior/no sound insolation from the inside. Hopefully it isn't the tire feathering.

 

The dragon lady z quote is quite a ways back. Neither Nissan nor your dealer are likely to be authorized to give you a pro rated check or anything resembling money. Its cheaper to give you another set of 040s, you are in a catch 22 situation. NNA gives you new 040s and the dealer mounts them on your car. You could take them to a tire store and trade them in and have the new tires you trade for mounted. Your different tires would be how much you could trade for + mounting. You might ask your dealer if you could just take the new 040s and trade them, but they could be violating a contractural agreement w/Nissan doing it and refuse.

The TSB says "Tire Roar Under Braking" or words to that effect, there are lots of descriptions earlier in this thread. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info! Hope a master key does not fall into the hands of a criminal!

 

Hi Boomer, I worked it and worked it and still only managed to get 040's on front. After the toe adjustment the feathering came back, inside and outside of front tires. Rear's are wearing perfectly. However by the time the new 040's on the front needed replacment the tires on the back were down to the wear bars and all 4 tires need replacment. I was curious about the mileage on the tires anyway and backs got 28k miles before replacement was necessary. Good info on Nissan's dime.
So today my S03's are going on the car and they are re-adjusting the toe again to the current spec's.
I will watch for feathering at 7-8k on the fronts or maybe Nissan will have a fix by then. Or better yet, maybe I won't have feathering on the S03's. I'll let you know.

 

Hi, Z Dragon Lady, I think 28,000 is good mileage on the backs, sorry you couldn't work different tires for the front, but I am not surprised. Has Nissan actually updated the latest alignment specs to your knowledge? I have 4100+ miles on my Michelins and they look brand new on the alignment specs used in 01/03, so I was wondering if they made a change. The way the Michelins look, I may get 50,000 mies on them, but your 03s are a better handling tire for warm weather and you have dedicated snow tires anyway. I hope your new tires are trouble-free and the cupping is gone forever.

It is good to hear from you, I hope you are having fun with your Z, I am and I look forward to hearing from you again about your 03s. Good luck, Boomer.

 

a lot of good links and advice at: http://www.autosafety.org/lemonlaws.php
, talks about how to file a complaint, state by state - but I'd advise starting with an attorney given the $$$ involved here.

 

Bob James:
Please Keep us posted

 

I had the tires replaced on my 18" fronts and the noise has not returned yet. I have put about 1000 miles on them and so far, everything is O.K.. I just know that it will return and I will be frustrated again and will just have to deal with the problem! I would, though, like to get a different tire this time around! And since the buck will be coming out of my pocket this time, What would be a good 18" tire to replace the s03's with?

thanks,
calvin

 

On 8/29 I took my car to a dealer (not who I bought the car from). I had the TSB and told them to check it out. The guy didn't seem familiar w/ it. However he came back w/ a multi page print out from their system.

My car has 16K miles and I've hearing noise for some time, but just have taken it in. I visually checked the tires every once in a while and couldn't see any feathering.

A little while later they told me that the tires are too far gone to rotate so they called Nissan to order new tires and they will give me a call when they get the OK.

Its 9/2 and I haven't heard back. I'm gonna call the dealer tomorrow and also call NNA and file a case.

 

It's my understanding that the milage limitation is 12500 for the tire alignment and I am not quite sure of the limit on tires. But if they can't align the tires after 12500, then how will they be liable for tires after that?

calvin