Bottled Water

i hav a bone stock 04 i drive on the interstate every day. and i cant part with it because of the tire feathering! i bought my Z in feb 06 and since then i hav had nissan replace the front tires 3 times...........and im ready for another set after only 41,341 miles. this is soo messed up i dont want to sell my car because ill just loose money and i got my Z with a very cushy monthly payment (291 monthly) at the age of 19. but i cant be paying for 4 sets of tires(front) a year after the warranty is done with! i recently looked into trading in for an 06 but after all said and done my payments will be 410 a month! so what suspention parts do i need to fix the tire feather problem? i know nissan wont fix it so i have to. this is such crap.

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

It needs to be aligned properly. That is the only fix that we had done to our cars by Nissan.

The alignment needs to be checked annually to make sure it stays in spec.

Axel

iTrader: (1)

+1 on the alignment. Have a pro shop do it vice Nissan.

Bottled Water

thats all? why doesnt nissan align my car? wtf........

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

Here's the long story.....

Nissan first issued a TBS for the 03 Zs regarding the feathering problem. It basically had the dealers do a front end alighment to make sure the toe was properly set. My 04 Z started showing signs of the feathering so the dealer aligned it. About 6 months later, my front end started showing signs of feathering again. About that time, the second TSB was released to include the 04 cars. The only real change in the "fix" was to require the dealers to get their alignment machines calibrated. Without a recent calibration certificate, the dealer wouldn't be reimbursed for the service and tire swap. I brought mine in and sure enough my alignment was way out. This was the same machine that six months earlier the front end was aligned to "in spec". That second alignment for me was a "permanent" fix.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago. After almost two years, I started noticing some of the signs of feathering. I took my Z to a top-notch shop and got to spend some time with their mechanic working on my car. The factory specs call for 0.08º of toe-in. Mine measured 0.24º/0.46º of TOE-OUT, the exact cause of the original feathering problem. I will now be getting an annual alignment to make sure my Z stays aligned.

My advice to you and anybody else is get a good alignment at least once a year.


To answer your original question - Nissan did align the car. It may not have been accurate. It may not have lasted long.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

If your questions are not answered here

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance-and-repair/15758-tire-feathering-fyi.html

then there is no answer.

CroatianG35

I would recomend an alignemt atleast every 6 months, low profile tires, lowered suspensions and bumpy roads... your alignment will probly be out of specifications before the end of the month in my experience. Also most people fail to check their air pressure regularly, i would suggest atleast every two weeks. I have also found that increasing the tire pressure over what OEM specifications call for has improved the wear of my tires as well as lasting alot longer. I personally run 40psi cold in my tires.

JunkStory

You'd think that the 06 would be trouble free, but there are problems with the 06's transmission and oil consumption.

simonfencer

Definitely check tire pressure on a regular basis.

I would recommend investing in a small compressor or a high quality bicycle pump so that you can add a bit of air before you even leave your driveway.

If you get a decent bike pump it won't take that many strokes to put air in low profile tires, now my 285/75's on my truck are another story. Going from 50 to 55 psi on four of those beasts is a real workout when done by hand.

An easy way to see if your tires are wearing unevenly is to take a piece of chalk and draw a line across the tire thread. Then drive for a bit and see if the line is worn evenly off the thread.

Spike100

I agree with what Dave says. I have a 2003 Performance model and experienced the tire-feathering problem. My dealer did an alignment and installed new front tires (replaced the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040's with new ones), only to have the problem re-occur. As Dave explains, this was probably due to a faulty calibration on the dealer's alignment equipment. A second alignment seemed to fix the problem. But... I'm not sure.

So... after all this, I installed Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's 245/40-18 on the front. Of course I was watching for unusual tire wear (the Goodyears are very expensive). I also had almost new OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040's the dealer installed under warranty/recall to correct the feathering problem. Over the next few months I swapped the fronts (the aftermarket Goodyears and the OEM Bridgestones) and did two more alignment checks at the dealership.

Guess what? The OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040's had a minor amount of feathering (even with my diligent checks of alignment and paying to correct this problem), while the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's had NO feathering.

Of course my experience is not statistically significant since this is one car running only two different tires over a short period/range (<12,000 miles). The only noticeable differences are the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 has a fairly stiff sidewall while the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 has a soft sidewall and a very different tread design. The Bridgestones continue to "feather," and the Goodyears do not. I'm not sure what this means (you will draw your own conclusions).

--Spike