Running your hand around the inside tread will feel smooth going one direction and rough going the other direction. That is feathering, or what I called cupping.

 

Well I washed the car today and I wanted to take a look at the tires while I had the chance.

All looks well so far. Right now I have 1900 miles on the car.

The build date on my Z according to the sticker on the inside door jam is 06/2004. Maybe they corrected it now.

I didnt get the chance to feel the tire. I did notice however on the outside of the front right wheel what appeared to be a gob of rubber. I thought it was road tar but apparently its not.

 

My 04 Convertible has a very slight pull. Took it to the dealer and they said there was a TSB that mentioned replacing right strut ROD. I will get the exact TSB on the 13th.

 

If you want to see some pics, I snapped some while mine was up on a lift. Go to this thread:

http://350zroadsterclub.com/cgi-bin/...89006788,s=100

Actually, it is the roadster forum, but you should be able to get there. someone else described rubbing the inside one direction then another and that will tell you for sure. It was described to me as the feeling when you rub a cat's fur the wrong direction! One thing for sure, you'll know it when you feel it!

 

I just got fixed my front alignment along with replacing to new tires from dealer. My mileage was little over 24000 mi, and it's my first time to fix for the alignment. I have my aftermakert suspension kit waiting to put on the Z, but I'm kinda waiting if the problem will occure again since many people are complaining about reoccuring the problems. I'm kinda feeling my car pulling to right side after fix the alignment. I'll check the car on highway end of the day. This problem is So XXXXing annoying!

 

I bought 2005 roadster the day after Thanksgiving, it definitely pulls to the right. It is not very noticable until I take my hands off of the wheel, then it will make a complete lane change in about 10 seconds at 70 mph.

I only have a few hundred miles on it so far, so I can't see any tire problems yet.

 

Could it be the right tie rod? I know there is a TSB for 03/04 models with this problem? something completely unrelated to feathering?



on another topic...how about you 05 owners? did nissan finally get the message and provide a perm fix for 05 models? or same old story diffrent year?

 

Uhhh i donno what the deal is.. but i just bought a 350z on xmas day.. brand new 05 straight from the dealer.. i donno what crack head filled the front left tire to 50 and the front right to 30... so i fixed that.. and then i drive some more and i notice it pulls to the right a little.. iam like wtf? how can this be.. it has less then 80miles... how is the alignment already messed up... so iam gonna take it back to nissan soon and have them fix it.. thats pretty stupid for a brand new car to have alignment issues... but now i see this thread and see i am not the only one.

 

Out of curiousty, how long does it take for the dealer to fix the alignment issue?

 

If you mean the alignment issue that causes the tire wear there is no true fix. For the pulling to the right issue they need to replace a part on the car. There is a TSB for that.

 

Update: 7000 on my new Pilots and the feathering and tire roar has returned. Going to look into the California Lemon Law.

 

That is what I like to hear! Sue those incompetent people!

I went back through your posts and noticed that they even used the new alignment machine when they put on your pilots. This leads me to 3 conclusions

1. They did not use the correct specs.

2. They did not do use the machine correctly.

3. They did everything correctly and the problem is with the cars design.

I am going to go with #3!!!!

I should be wrapping up my LL case shortly. Another six months or so is my estimate.

Good luck with your case!

 

did you get the alignment data sheet detailing the before and after alignment specs when the new Pilots were installed? And have you had an alignment since then?

And what type of driving do you do and how would you categorize your driving style?

For example – commuting/ curvy roads and normal/aggressive?

 

No Data sheet

No Alignment in the last 7000

Commute on 2 lane roads, mostly straight, avg 68 mph - Aggressive.

 

OK. I am assuming you do very little aggressive cornering type of driving.

Did you go with the Pilot Sport or Sport A/S?

 

About 10 90deg turns @35mph a day. Nissan put Sports on the front.

 

I replaced my tires with Pilot Sports A/S a little over 10.000 miles ago and no feathering has reoccurred.
Lucky me....

 

OK. Sorry for the twenty questions but I’m just trying to get a sense of what’s going on here because I plan on keeping my Z. I would like to share what I have experienced so far:

Experience #1: Tire Roar observed at ~6700 mi. Alignment outsourced by dealer to Firestone because the dealer did not have the appropriate machine. Firestone did. I requested data sheet upon completion of alignment and tire swap. The alignment felt “funny” so I investigated further. After reading the data sheet and the latest TSB I realized my alignment was WAY off. Returned to dealership and asked service rep what happened? I got a “dunno, but we will redo it” answer. The alignment was done properly the second time. I know this because I verified it first hand. If I had not paid attention the first time it is very likely my tires would have been destroyed in a very short time due to the misalignment.

Lesson #1: Don’t trust that the job was done right even if the proper equipment was used. Verify the alignment first hand by requesting data sheet.

Experience #2: Even after alignment changes from negative toe to positive toe (this is what the latest tsb calls for) I am still experiencing some feathering. Prolonged driving on CURVY roads tends to reduce the “tire roar” whereas prolong STRAIGHT highway driving tends to promote the “tire roar”. I know this first hand from my own experience. Others have observed this as well.

Lesson #2: Degree of tire feathering depends on driving style.

Experience #3: Nissan claims tire wear is very sensitive to alignment on the Z.

Lesson #3: Take ownership in fixing the alignment.

I now have 15k miles on the original tires with about 8-10k left. I will be getting another alignment soon. I’m thinking about 0.1 degrees total toe instead on 0.2 degrees total toe because too much toe-in will cause feathering on outside tread blocks whereas too much toe-out will cause feathering on inside tread blocks.

My opinion is that you are observing reoccurring feathering because the alignment may be off and because of your driving routine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming you and I’m not sticking up for Nissan. I’m just stating what I think might be happening.

 

If your hypothesis is correct about the aggressive driving I bet it (the aggressive driving) is causing the car to go out of alignment. The car either one or has both a. and b. below:

a. Too strict of a tolerance for alignment that the car can not maintain while aggressively driving.

b. Cant remember what I was going to type here Watching the OSU vs. OSU game. GO BUCKS!!! If your hypothesis is correct about the aggressive driving I bet it (the aggressive driving) is causing the car to go out of alignment. The car either one or has both a. and b. below:

a. Too strict of a tolerance for alignment that the car can not maintain while aggressively driving.

b. Cant remember what I was going to type here Watching the OSU vs. OSU game. GO BUCKS!!! Sorry!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by VandyZ
Like I said before, nissan will fix the issue and in some cases give you new front tires. After that you need to have your alignment checked and/or adjusted at regular intervals. Q
UOTE]
Sounds like Vandy Z is a nissan rep. I'm sure we are all wrong and this ONE person is right. If you people think nissan is going to do the right thing then I got some prime swamp land for you to buy.