Here's my story:

2004 Touring edition. Built late '03 (November, I think). Pulled hard right from the time I picked it up. Gave it back. The dealer worked hard on it, swapping tires, re-aligning, checking this and that. Still pulled hard right (into the next lane with all four wheel in 3.5 seconds or so).

NNA sent their "super tech" who had it aligned a bunch more times, swapped tires again, brought a set of tires off of a loaner car. Still pulled hard right. He called the factory while I was standing there and spoke with some Engineering types. The '04 was supposed to have been fixed by moving the engine cradle a bit to one side, or to a slight angle, I was not certain which by listening in.

I took the car home and checked everything that I thought might be contributing, all of which they dismissed without checking:

Brake drag
Axle Bearing free wheel and play
Front and rear strut support settings
Etc...

I found that the right front wheel spun considerably harder than the left (driver's side). When jacked up with a wheel on it, the right side would only freewheel less than two turns no matter how hard I spun it, the left side maybe 5.5 or 6 turns max. Hmmm.... They discounted this as a problem without even checking it. I pulled them and checked them as best I could (the bearings are sealed in a unit with the hub) and finally decided to move them side to side. The car was a bit better.

I then looked over the brakes very carefully, and at first did not find anything obvious, but after pulling the cover off the area where the master cylinder is located, I noticed that the cylinder was way over-filled. I mean well past the line all the way to the top. Wondering if this was not allowing enough room for fluid to return, thereby causing a caliper to drag just a bit (which, by my unscientific analysis would be the one furthest away, or the right) I took a digital pic and sent it to NNA. They poo-pooed that as a cause as well. I drained the fluid back to normal level. The car was a bit better but still pulling.

I took it back to "super-tech" who put in the 2003 "fix", which is a lower rear control arm on the right front side that is a bit longer than stock, which pushes the wheel more to the front, supposedly counter-acting whatever is making the car pull right. The caster was now out of spec on the right.

I could not see any difference in the car, super-tech thought it was fine, pronounced it "healed" and left before I could talk to him. When picking up the car, I thumbed through the alignment results (dozens) until I found the last one performed at the direction of "super-tech". He had set the rear alignment such that the thrust line was out of spec, which he thought made the car fall under the Nissan spec for how much time it can take before it runs into the right lane on a very tightly specified road crown (not found anywhere in the known world). I thought it was just going to wear out my rear tires and cause other problems, but NNA had ronounced it "fixed" so that was that. Lemon time?

It is a good thing that dude left before I arrived, because I would have likely gone to jail for beating him to a pulp for the crap he was trying to pull.

Taking things one more step, I carefully measured the ride height all the way around and found that the car was sitting lower on the right by at least 1/4" both front and rear, the front being somewhat worse. They have a metric spec for ride height and I think the car was out, but when I passed this on to them as another thing to look at, they also poo-pooed this and would not even look at it. I measured the front suspension mounting points from the exact same spots on both sides, and the right side was mounted/welded/punched, or whatever in such a way that I am sure this was what was causing the ride height difference.

Next up was a set of Tein basics. I carefully tweaked the height to where I wanted it (maybe 1" lower than stock) and balanced it carefully for ride height with my weight added on the driver's floor, re-aligned the car (the caster was still out mind you) and PRESTO! the car ran darn close to straight. Not perfect, and it still wanted to go right consistently, but now it took 13 or 14 seconds to run into the right lane. Not too bad.

As for tires, well, I put 27,900 on the RE040's in just over 1 year since I bought the car, and they did feather a bit in the last 5,000 - 7,000 miles. Note that I was RELIGIOUS about rotating every 5,000 miles until the very end, and I had the alignment checked and reset at the same time. The feathering came up at the end because I did not rotate on time because the tires were getting close to the end of their life and I no longer cared.

Now for the best (and weirdest) news of all:

New Pole Position 03's went on last week.

Re-aligned, but made no adjustments to the Teins. All 4 wheels are in spec, even the right front where the caster was out as described above???, and of course, my camber is near the end of the negative range due to the car being lowered a bit, as would be expected.

THE CAR RUNS AS STRAIGHT AS A DAMN ARROW. It will track straight on a smooth straight road for almost as long as I care to let go of the wheel.

Something is up with the design of the car and it's suspension and the RE040's design that pulls the car. It seems to me that this may also be related to the feathering issue even if your car does not pull "hard" right. My guess is that every 350z made, with RE040's installed, pulls consistently right, even if it is not too bad, or if it is considered to be in the Nissan "spec". Try it and I bet you will find that if it pulls, it is to the right, even on flat or opposite (left) road crowns.

Obviously, time will tell if my tires will feather, but I will rotate them every 5,000 miles and check alignment, and wait and see.

This may not be the solution for everyone, but with the Pole Position 03's on it, the car finally runs like it should, is smooth and grippy, and it does not wear out my right arm countering the right pull.

I can finally fully appreciate what a sweet ride this car is when it is right.

Ray

 

2004Z roadster. Had 18 months. Mileage 10,500. Early build date. Nothing done to the car other than 4 oil changes. Today dealer verified front tire (s) starting to feather.

Sevice rep professional. Thinks without final investigation that the tires will be replaced, but the alignment will be my bill. Wants to run the whole package by Nissan for the official decision I will know in a couple days.

I have read all or most of the threads on this since I got the car. I would not bet on anything at this juncture.

I will post the results when available.

Fred

 

you have to pay for an allignment? BS!!!! It's their problem not yours they need to fix it. When you can show a judge 100s or 1000s of threads relating to the same issue it's not your allignment problem is NNAs.

Don't budge on this. Trust me they are taking it in the shorts on this and Lemon cases will kill them if they are not careful. Be strong and tell them you are not paying for anything. (I did and the only thing I have paid for is oil changes, and after market parts like tint etc...). Nissan knows they have a problem and for some reason have not (or will not) fix it at the factory. I think if they do they will "legally" admit a problem and thus screw the attorneys in court so I think that is why they are holding out.

my $0.02
-Charles

P.S. My new Z should be here on July 15th from my Lemon case. They gave in.

 

My Z also had these problems mentioned above and after about 7 alignments
at the dealer I decided to take matters into my own hand. I figured aftermarket parts would be superior so I got tanabe GF210 drop springs,
rear camber kit, 20" Stern Hypermesh, and an alignment at a friends shop
and never again have I had this problem. Doesn't pull to the right nor left,
no tire feathering at all and smoother ride. Maybe it's cuz of the tires(continental sport contacts 2). alot quieter, re040's don't even come close in comarisen to these rubbers. bridgestone should pull these from the market.
By the way , nitrous intall finished and loving the extra boost

 

I just bought a set of Fulda Quantum Elites to replace my Potensas that were replaced twice by the dealership. After the second set wore in 14K mi I decided to take matters into my own hands and get a diffrent type of tire. Not wanting to spend alot of money on a test set, I opted for the above named brand from Tire Kingdom. I did have to drop a size on the aspect ratio ( 225/45/17 Front, 235/45/17 Rear) in order to get a complete set. After the install the wife and I took a five hour trip from New Orleans, LA to Destin, FL for a summer getaway. When I got home about an hour ago I checked the tread depth with a dial caliper where the cupping should be and found no difference between the treads. This is after roughly 800 miles on the tires. As the milage builds I'll keep you all posted. Its to early to tell, but this may be a tire problem and with regular alignments it could be remedied by switching to a different brand. Dont take this post the wrong way though, I am not taking Nissans side on this one. If it does proove to be a tire problem, I think they should be obligated to replace the tires with a brand that will not be subject to the wear problems that we have had so much trouble with. Thanks

 

Wow it sounds like a lot of people are noticing a difference with different tires. I have S03s and I am now noticing a pull to teh right farely substancially. It seems that Nissan is eating a lot of tires and thus $$$ to not fix this. I wonder if BS is paying for it because they actually have a problem? It just doesn't seem like either company would let this go on. It seems like it is something that could be fixed quietly in the next build and just be done with it. Or maybe it's something unique about the combo of 350Z plus BS tires. who knows but it sure is a hassle.

 

The dealer was able to replace both front tires and do a 4 wheel alignment at no charge to me. It was paid for under warranty. I thanked them.

Fred

 

Do you happen to have the numbers for the alignment

Thanks

 

Is it an early O4 or O4.5? Yes before and after numbers are very important for those of us that are watching for the "fix."

 

just swpped my 03 for an 05 under the lemon law. I noticed when I took my aftermarket tires off my 03 they were all wearing unevenly. So I am not going to put them on my 05 for now. I want to know/see if anyone has had any problems with the 05?

 

How does that work under the lemon law. Do they just give you an 05 for what you still owe on the 03(that would be ideal) or what kind of a trade value do they give you on the 03?

 

like car for like car, change the VIN on the loan (if you have one), only replace factory items. I have to pay to ahve all my extras moved over from 03 to 05 car. I can/could've upgraded car etc... if I wanted to pay extra $$$. They pay $2000 to Attorney if settled or total fees if I win in court. Attorney charged $2000 because we settled. I don't want to drag this site down by posting Nissan North America negative comments so if you want to know details please PM me.

 

anyone hear anything on the 05 allignments? just picked mine up and have 500 miles so far. Anyone have 10K?

 

I've got an 03 Coupe and I hear a lot of road noise on rough surfaces like really worn concreat highway. But it's pretty quite on smooth surfaces like new asphalt. Its this consisgtent with tire wear and the other common Z issues?

 

yes that is the road noise. Also crank your stearing fully to teh right tor left and look at the wear on the tires. if you notice that the inside is wearing much faster than the outside (or center) then you are having the allignment issue. Take it to the dealership and have it alligned (and tell them to replace the tires too).

 

Crap

 

If it's the excessive tire feathering you will also hear it on smooth roads. It's more noticable during braking. I have 05 and it is very noisey on rough concrete roads. Noise seems to radiate through rear wheel wells. I have ordered insulation for the interior of the wells and undercoat for the exterior wells.

 

Man, I just got off the Phone with the tech working on my Z. 2004 base . 633$ to Align and replace my front tires, Replace the gas tank--(covered by Warrenty)17k on the tires.
I talked till I was blue in the face... Called Nissan's infamous hotline, got the feeling that an **** probe would have been easier..
I love my car... but times like these make me wish I had a honda...

 

and am suffering loud road noise under 30 mph and under braking on my '03 touring. do i have any recourse in remedying the problem in your opinions? have not tried as of yet, just been reading these posts and other forums. if no recourse with Nissan, then what is needed to fix this problem? alignment with aftermarket parts? thanks for the help.

 

I am getting the feathering for the second time on my 03 touring. I've also had the TSB done under warrenty around 28000. Now the feathering is back at 36000 and the dealer told me i am out of warrenty and it's my responsibility to get it aligned and new tire...

not sure what to do here... argu for the lemon law and get new tires and alignment? or maybe do a trade up for the 05's....it's a beautiful car and i hate to get rid of it...