There are tons of posts from people who have feathering, but I have not read anything that describes why this is happening, and what people thing the problem is. How can a tire wear funny just on the edge of the tire?

Is feathering common, not just with the Z, but any car ?

 

Lastest publication of SportZ Magazine has a very good article. TOE they say is the problem. You might want to get the article at take it with you to your dealer.

 

I'm confussed as well, i've also heard that it's a lack of camber adjustment.

 

too much front toe in. camber wears the inboard edges more, but it doesn't come out feathered.

it can happen on any car.

 

What my deal said is..
They did "TSP" (what is that??) and "Alignment" (I know.) so mine is fine now.
is that true?

by the way, my dealer gave me 360 dollars off on nismo wheels instead of 2 new RE040s.

 

interesting that the g35 coupe has no tire feathering issues, but nissan still hasn't found a fix for the z. are the two cars really that different?

 

Feathering Investigation

Read through this site from a fellow Z owner. It's a very detailed investigation into the feathering issue. He has a pretty good theory of the cause of the abnormal tire wear, though I'm not sure where he stands now...

AFAIK, no one knows the exact cause of the feathering at this point. That is why there's so many posts about the problem itself, but not the cause. If we knew the cause, then we'd see posts about the solution rather than complaints.

Hopefully Nissan gets its sphincter in gear and comes up with a true fix soon, rather than continuing with their 'pseudo-fix' tire swap

 

Feathering is caused by a complex interaction between alignment, suspension geometry, and the tire design. All of these can interact causing harmonics and side to side oscillation of the wheels, causing feathering. Sports cars with "aggressive" suspension geometry and wide high performance tires are very susceptible to this type of problem.

Due to the complexity, it is often difficult to find the "root cause" without extensive testing and simulation. But, that is what Nissan's engineers are paid to do. I suspect they already know the root cause and are working on the most feasible solution.

The real challenge is to find an ecnomical solution that will work on all affected 350's, and put this issue to rest.

 

I agree doc, but lets look at what has been reported about the issue of tire featuring.

(1) We know the 2003, 2004 and 2004.5 (euro-suspension) 350Z's all come with B/S RE040 tires.

(2) We know tire featuring has been identified on all 350Z model years except for 2004.5 models (maybe not enough mileage yet).

(3) We know alignment adjustments have been performed on the 350Zs experiencing tire featuring with very little success.

What can be concluded from these observations?

My guess is the suspension design of the early 350Z (i.e., pre-2004.5 euro-tuned suspension) is the problem. I also think they know this is the case, but as you said are trying to come up with an economical solution short of replacing the suspension on the affected 350Zs. However, they will soon have spent more time fixing the tire featuring issue then it took to design the car in the first place.

 

What are things to look for? What is being done about this? Is it officially recognized by Nissan, or do you have to shell out $$ for new tires....and if so, is this going to keep on happening?

I just bought the car with 10k miles on it...haven't noticed anything yet...the car is LOUD at slow speeds though. I wonder why there isn't a recall?????

 

The loud noise you here at low speeds is most likely the featured front tires. Run your hand counterclockwise along the inside edge of your front tires. If it doesn't feel smooth then tread blocks are featured.

 

I just noticed there is a 126 page thread on the subject....holy cow! I wonder why it's taking Nissan so long for a RECALL!! Pretty obvious they've got a problem there.

 

woohoo!! according to the nissan page/VIN mine is a 2004.5 ..

 

JLC,

Those are good observations. If the euro4.5 suspension is not experiencing the feathering problems what changed?

Did any of the aluminum multilink members change? If so, how did this affect geometry?

As far as I know, the only change is the front strut rebound damping and spring rates. If that is the case, then changing out the 2003 strut/ springs with 2004 parts should cure the problem.
It seems to me that change would be relatively easy for Nissan to implement. While it is an expensive solution, so is an endless campaign of tire replacements.

Also, do we know for sure that euro4.5 cars are not having the problem? I agree it is too soon to tell.

Another related issue: the G35 uses the same suspension parts, excluding shocks and springs. It is not having the problem, or at least not in any significant manner. Why?

Again, the complex interactions due to system integration issues are not easy to solve. Nissan must solve it, not matter how difficult.

 

the only reason he's concluding that 2004.5s don't have the problem is that nobody who owns one has reported the problem. but nobody with a 2004.5 who has reported here has enough mileage for the problem to have developed. so there is currently no reason whatsoever to believe the feathering issue has been resolved (as far as i can tell).

also, euro Zs suffer from tire feathering as well.

 

You can't have a recall without a fix.