I HAVE A 2004 AND THEY ARE GIVING ME FREE TIRES....

 

My front and rear tires are garbage I only have 5k on my 03Z. The dealer swapped my tires on the front wheels and chewed my front wheels all up. I wanted them replaced, but they insisted in sending them to a body shop for repairs. What a joke. The wheels are darker in the front now.

 

To all 04 owners. I'm seeing feathering ... not just the inner most part of the tire but also the outter most part. My question is will they just replace the tires or will they replace ALL parts causing the alignment issue?

Also who has it the worst...what did you have replaced. I'd like a list so I can make sure the dealer checks those items.

Thanks.

 

I have a 2004. NNA wants to replace my front tires. I have not called them back because I am suing them.

I have been told many many times by Nissan that there 'is no fix for this issue because it is normal.' Hence my lawsuit...

 

hmm.. haven't received any notice.. curious.. to those who did get it, what is the build date on your Z? (you can find it on the driver side door sill)

 

I have a 2003 Touring Automatic. Nissan replaced the front tires at approx. 9500 miles. I now have 14800 miles on the car which is 5300 miles on the new tires. I also had a four wheel alignment done, at my dealers expense, at a private firm. I am showing little or no signs of wear as yet. I am taking car into private shop in the morning for an alignment check and to look at the tires. I thought I noticed a small amount of feathering on the inside of the left front tire but I cant seem to find it anymore, Ill repost tommorrow and let you guys know what I found out at the tire shop.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by s9am_me
hmm.. haven't received any notice.. curious.. to those who did get it, what is the build date on your Z? (you can find it on the driver side door sill) [/QUOTE

I called Nissan North America and they said they were still in the process of mailing out the notices. Seems to me they are taking a simple thing like mailing notices and turning it into something hard. Either that or they are hoping only those that hear about the letter call and ask for one. Im probably just being paranoid but NNA hasnt been quick enough or open enough about this problem as far as Im concerned. Also in my last post I said that I thought I saw feathering on the inside of my left front tire. I made a mistake its on the outside of the left front tire where I though I saw feathering.

 

I have not heard anything about replacing the control arm. I took my car into the dealer and they realigned with new front tires, but didn't say anything about the control arm. Can you provide more specifics.
Thanks

 

Build date: 6-03

 

actually i just got mines today... gonna get it serviced sometime in the summer. just in case anyone is wondering.. my build date is 9/02 and VIN xx3565

 

Feathering on *both* edges indicates under-inflation.
Make sure your tire pressure is 35 PSI cold before thinking
you have an alignment issue. The alignment problem everyone
complains about (toe-out) causes feathering only on the inner
edges of the front tires.

 

Incorrect. Shoulder cupping on both edges of a 350Z front tire indicates that your alignment shop got the total toe set to 2mm just like Nissan specified. Too much toe in; cupping on outside. Too much toe out; cupping on inside. Total toe just right; cupping on both sides. But only within a very narrow range. It is when you reach this point that Nissan will tell you it is normal and no longer covered under the TSB(s). "Feathering" due to an excessive toe condition runs across the tire not around it. There is no toe setting on the 350Z that will yeild no shoulder cupping. It is a just a matter of degree. There IS a range (0-2mm total toe) that will yeild no feathering and that is the range spec'd out by the engineers who designed the car. All this busness about improper alignment is just a waste of time.

 

???

 

I am just saying that after two years, the least we can do is get the nomenclature correct. The term "feathering", as used in the tire industry, refers to an excessive toe condition, in or out, that feathers the tires across the tread blocks. The problem with the 350Z, which Nissan has never identified by name, is shoulder cupping. It can be changed by messing around with the front toe settings but it cannot be eliminated. My tires cupped mostly on the inside tread blocks at 0mm total toe. Since Nissan changed to total toe to 2mm, my front tires cup on both the inner and outer edges. I therefore conclude that there is no toe setting which will yield no shoulder cupping. You can change which side(s) of the tire you see it on. You can perhaps slow it down a bit. But you cannot eliminate it and you cannot eliminate because it is not a toe problem. Want to see a toe problem? Set your front toe, in or out to 3mm. You will see your tires start to "feather" across the tread blocks parallel to the axis of rotation within a couple of hundred miles. That is feathering.

 

Ok, cupping is a different problem from feathering. As you say, it is not an alignment issue. Cupping is usually a tire balance issue. It can also be caused by ill chosen spring and damper rates for a given unsprung mass, and/or by other unwanted vehicle resonances. It is excerbated by use of tires with soft tread compounds and/or sidewall flexure rates that unfavorably react to the suspension resonances of the vehicle.

Tire aspect ratio plays a large role in determining whether sidewall flexure contributes to the problem. In other words, changes in sidewall height and stiffness raise or lower the resonance frequency in much the same way as the vehicle's springs and dampers do. In general, a taller sidewall will reduce the odds of hitting a resonance which will produce cupping. So Nissan's use of low tire profiles on relatively large wheels could be excerbating the problem.

Tire pressure plays an important role in how the cupping will appear on the face of the tire. Under-inflated tires will cup on the shoulders. Over-inflated tires will cup in the center. The cupping pattern may be different at different inflation pressures too. That's because tire pressure changes sidewall flexure rates, so the repeating pattern around the tire's circumference will be different.

 

OK, makes sense. So it sounds like there could be two different problems: feathering and cupping.

 

Why, then, would this porblem occur on each model having three differnt tire size /rim (weight) combinations?

 

Tire characteristics are only one possible factor. Since the problem seems to be occurring with different rim sizes, different tire brands, and different unsprung weights, that seems to say the resonance is some other vehicle resonance. It would be interesting to know if people who have changed their springs/shocks are also seeing this problem.

Hmmm, on second thought, do we really know that all the different wheel sizes and tire brands are giving us this problem? Also, are we seeing this problem on roadsters and coupes, or just on coupes? The roadsters are sufficiently different that a number of possible causes could be eliminated if they're not having the problem.