and new tires? Alignment and new tires at roughly 7300 miles. I turned 11000 yesterday and I DO have the tale-tell signs of feathering beginning on my fronts. Dealer has been notified. They are as unhappy as I am. This time it's on the outside AND inside. At least it's even. Yes, I do have my tires properly inflated at all times.

I was keeping this on the down-low until after I spoke to NNA, but they don't see fit to return my calls. The way I see it, there is NO CURE for feathering with the current front suspension set-up on the 350Z.

Best of luck!

 

Someone have a picture of what this looks like?

 

 

I'm still waiting to receive my Z, but this feathering thing is a significant concern. Does any one know what percentage of owners are plagued by this? Is it limited to a serial# range?

 

Sorry, Droid. I'm certainly no expert, but could it just be the nature of this particular tire combined with the suspension setup specs and component tuning - even if alignment is exact? I once put some light truck (LT) tires on an S-10 Blazer, even though that's not really recommended for SUV's (but I got them at a really good price). They looked like your tires (or worse) in a few 1,000 miles and made a terrible noise.

WayneTN

 

Droidekaus is right.

I took my car into the dealer this afternoon for the "fix". They were quick and done after an hour and fifteen minutes. I watched the technician drive the car out to park it, walked over and stopped him. I asked how far out of alignment it was and he said about .002. I then asked if that would fix it and he said, "No".

He saw the shock on my face and went on to say that it was an engineering problem and that swapping the tires was a waste of time for him. They were now going to wear on the inside again. He said that the camber is too negative and there isn't any way for him to adjust it. There needs to be more weight on the inside of the tire and there won't be until Nissan Engineering comes out with a real fix. As the walked away he said that there was no way that car should wear a tire like that in 6000 miles (with disdain, I'm good, I can recognize it).

Ok, now the service guy comes out with the paperwork and the keys. I asked him if this would fix it. He said that they were doing what Nissan said but it was no fix. The problem needed an engineering solution. I couldn't put into words how I felt. When I finally mumbled that my Eclipse went 50,000 miles on a set of Eagles he shrugged and promised to call me when they have something that would work.

I'm pumped leaving the dealer. This is a car that we planned to never sell after pining after our 240Z for thirty years. It's good that it's 40 miles to the house. I got home and pulled up the NNA number I had saved off this forum and called. I told the gentleman that I wanted to go on record that the TSB was no fix but a postponement of the ineveitable. I told him that I was upset with the stop gap measure that only insured that I would wear the tires out totally. He took down my complaints, I hope (it's tough to know what the person on the support line is doing). I also said that the remediation I expected was a real solution to the problem and a new pair of tires. I got the case number and said thank you.

I plan to call back every week until he's so sick of me that he'll go to engineering school and learn how to fix it! No, not really, however I do plan to keep in touch so that it does not get lost in the mix.

Thanks for the vent....!!!

 

is this something that a camber kit could fix if NNA or aftermarket company ever came out with one??

 

I just turned 3100 and I see no signs of feathering yet -- at least nothing that resembles what Droid posted above. No signs of goofy wear -- nothing. My vin is in the 11k range, and I'm wondering at about what mileage y'all started to see signs of feathering?

Thanks.

 

Does the Enthusiast model have these same problems?

 

Sorry to hear this, I'm at 9600 miles and haven't noticed it coming back since my tires were swapped at 8800 miles and alignment done...but like others I expect it to come back as well.

My Nissan Consumer Affairs guy gets a call from me every week already so I figure I should just set up a weekly conference call to vent!

 

You haven't even done 1000 miles yet. The pic above is NOT my new S-03s, it's the old 040. Right now at 3700+ miles after alignment, I can "feel" the tread blocks begin to exhibit the raised and lowered edges. My dealership confirmed this as well. With another 1000 miles, I expect the tires to begin to get noisy and show visible wear.

What the f**k are we going to do about this, people? DO NOT F**KING KID YOURSELVES about this not happening to you. It will. You may not know what to look for, or you may not hear anything, but give your Z 4500-6000 good miles before you think you are in the clear. Many people tooted their horns too early on the 17s only to come back and admit defeat.

www.350Zproblems.com and www.350Zlemons.com are both available. Hehehehe.

 

Yes, I got it around 5000 miles.

 

Again, this is a textbook symptom of an oversprung/underdamped suspension, and is also the reason why people complain about it being bouncy. if the struts were a bit more firm to match the spring rate it would take the boune out of the springs. I know it might sound odd to make anything more firm on the Z to make the ride better but a well matched strut/spring, even if its stiffer, will ride smoother. I just rode in a Z with the Tein setup just installed, it was firmer than stock, well matched, and rode like a dream

 

I have heard conflicting reports on this issue (NOT necessarily pertaining to 350z), my wife has a Jetta I put H&R springs on, it is Waayyyy underdampened, and got feathering bad as well. You could be right, has Nissan changed anything on the later VIN cars???? I am almost 11000 VIN)

 

anyone know if Koni or Bilstien, etc...is coming out with shocks for the Z?? I don't want to lower mine anymore, but wouldn't mind fixing this problem, if that is THE problem??

 

You said it, if youve ever drove behind a bouncy honda civic that some kid lowered on stock struts you have seen it too. Its not necisarily the aftermarket springs are too stiff for the car, they are just too stiff for the struts. When I was out at SEMA I saw EVERY company making replacment struts for the Z(if they dont they are just walking away from money on the table ) I would hold out for the koni adjustables since you can fine tune them to the springs.

 

I talked to Koni and the Tire Rack about when the Konis would be out. I am seriously considering putting on the Eibachs and then Konis or Bilsteins as soon as one of them is released. I am sick of this **** with Nissan burying their heads in the sand and doing nothing but market the 040s on a damn poster and put the cheapest possible shocks/springs on their top performance car!

I didn't want to change my ride height which is why I have waited so long. It looks like the wait will continue and IT IS HAPPENING TO THE PREORDER CARS PRIMARILY. Nissan's most loyal fans waited for months for the Z and every 350Z should receive the running changes made to cars before 9/19/02, just like their TSB dated January 23, 2003,ie. Tire Noise When Braking; Classification: WT03-001; Reference: NTB03-006. This TSB has been out for 2 MONTHS and there is no fix in sight.

THE FIX SHOULD BE INSTALLATION OF ANY AND ALL CHANGES MADE TO CARS BUILT PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 23, 2002!! If we are not considered important enough to receive what we all paid for, then maybe we should consider other alternatives.

 

I just got a new wholesale catalog from TIRERACK, NO 350Z listed under KONI section. I put Konis on my CIVIC and it WORKED!! (I had feathering on that too)

I wonder if that IS the problem if Nissan has simply fixed it by using a thicker viscocity oil for the dampers (really wouldn't be that hard, if done while manuf)

 

usually shock dampening is adjusted by the internal valving that regulates the movement of oil/gas from one cylinder to the other, which would be just as easy to change in production as well

 

ya, I use to custom tune motocross and mountain bike suspension. either change the valve (size) or change the oil viscosity (assuming the same seals can handle the additional pressure/load), either can do the trick.