Dropped the car off this morning. The service mgr is going to request new tires right off the bat and re-check the alignment. I'm not sure what kind of tires I'm getting and at this point I really don't care - just fix it and let's move on. So I hope to have my Brick back by 5 pm today - tires might have to be ordered so I might have to return for a 2nd visit (5th over all).


So far so good - I'm waiting for the bump in the road.

hope not though....

 

It's not when you bought the car, it's when it was built that determines if your car has the fix.

 

Build Date: Jan. 2003
Miles: 8,400
No feathering

 

I wondered if this was tire feathering? I haven't noticed any noise except when making slow sharp turns, but most car tires make noise like that. I have little notches out on my tire in the pic below is that normal. The car is a January 03 built with 6000 miles. I could just be paranoid about tire feathering.

 

Here's another pic. I have some weird wear on the outer ring, but it's hard to see in the pic.

 

I think that the feathering is on the INSIDE part of the tread. If you run your hand gently over this band of tread (the inner-most one) you'll feel it. Using the front drivers side tire, run your hand in a clockwise direction over this tread and it should feel smooth. Then run your hand over the same spot in a COUNTER-clockwise direction and it will feel really bumpy. NSANY over at Frenzy described it best when he said it feels like when you pet a cat's fur in the "wrong" direction.

 

Bought June 12th, 4400 miles, a lot at 85-95 mph between Tucson and Phoenix. No feathering or loud road noise even on concrete sections.

 

I just started to notice mine at 6200 miles. There isn't any noise yet, but the tire is wearing weird. Also I tried what Dr. Bonz said above and it felt bumpy. I wish there was a fix for this. It looks like there just giving it an alignment and possibly tires. I'm probably not going to take it in till they have a real fix.

 

mf01

The small chips or chunks of missing tread are common with the OE tires. Unlike the cupping ( feathering ) this is not a problem.

 

I took it to the dealer Thursday and the guy said I had mild case of tire feathering. He said they could swap the tires and do an alignment, but the rims would get scratched (that's lame). I asked him if that would actually fix the feathering proble, he said "Yes". I was thinking yeah right.

 

yes Jan. 03 models have the problem. you need to ask to see if FEB 03 or newer has the problem. i've seen 2 jan. models in person with the issue. by the way i drive mostly long highway trips and didn't start until 8500 miles.

 

Build Date 03/03

Definitely Feathering at 6,000 miles. Contacting dealer tomorrow.

 

Saw the service advisor today. He ordered new tires "no questions asked". All he did was run his hand across the inside of the tire, talk to the manager, and the tires were ordered. I did not even mention new tires. He mentioned that Nissan just sent out the newest set of alignment specs a few days ago.

 

Can you get these specs?

 

Right Click on the following link and select "Save As Target"

http://urljr.com/aj - 350Z alignment spec I received 8/26/03

then load the GIF image into your favorite Image processing software and resize to match your printer.

 

I have a 03 with a build date of 06/03 and the inside of my front tires are feathering. I have 3,300 miles. I am not too happy about this. Will the new alignment specs fix the problem? Should I just bring it to the dealer first or should I contact Nissan? Just want to know the best course of action. Thanks.

 

bosotheclown, Thankyou very much. I will take that to the dealer and compare it to what he had from before. Also, he never mentioned anything about the TSB fixing the right-pull, so I'll have to grill him about it.

 

I just got the pulling to the right TSB and the noisy tire wheel swap TSB done. The tires are VERY quiet now. No more ROAR. It car still pulls to the right a bit but not nearly as bad now.

Here is a thread that shows the alignment specs and my readings before and after the 4 wheel alignment.

http://www.350zfrenzy.com/forum/show...&threadid=2408