I took my 350 to Nissan as I was having a lot of road noise. As suspected the dealer told my that I was having the infamous tire feathering issue. To resolve this I though that all I would need to do was to have an alignment done. However, my dealer is telling me that I need new tires as they have been damaged by the feathering. My question is, does the feathering destroy the tires, or would just an alignment correct the problem.

 

You need the alignment to correct the feathering.

You need new tires if you want the noise to stop.

 

this is probably the MOST discussed topic on the forums.

 

Yep and one of the oldest.

 

It has been discussed a lot...

A correct alignment repairs the problem and protects your tires from additional damage. I say “correct alignment” since not all dealers seem capable of doing the alignment. If your tires are badly worn on the outside thread, they might need replacement. Nissan has been replacing OEM tires with new ones and not charging for this.

--Spike

 

Yes, feathering does destroy your tires. The longer it goes, the greater the damage to tires.

 

Not anymore. Check the TSB for the in service date. Most 03 and 04s are already out of this warranty period.

 

The TSB describes guidelines for the dealer. The threat of a class action suit is what made Nissan acknowledge the problem. If someone is experiencing this, they can still get it fixed.

--Spike

 

Well good luck with the class action suit. You'll probably have to get in line with all the other ones that were filed. I'm willing to bet money that most dealerships will not honor the tire replacement past the in service date period mentioned in the TSB.

Edit: And I don't know why everybody, including myself, are still talking and responding to this thread. I normally don't say this too often but the OP really need to search because this thread is

 

^^
I think you are probably right. My dealer refused to replace my front tires. I had to go directly to Nissan to plead my case, but I did get new fronts.

--Spike

 

Read the mother of all feathering threads: https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance-and-repair/15758-tire-feathering-fyi.html.

 

FYI, to fix feathering, and this has been done many times, you can flip the tires and run them backwards and this will correct and fix the tires and instantly make them quiet again.

 

Interesting… I never thought of trying this.

My understanding is that tire manufacturers recommend not reversing the direction of a tire once it has been run. This might be an old “rule” that is not relevant for modern tires. I really don’t know.

--Spike

 

I've read any number of times that the Z tires are directional & can not be safely reversed.

 

Actually, some do recommend flipping them and per Michelin that I contacted, there is no danger in flipping the tires backwards. But the traction might go down a little. Per others on G35driver they said there is no difference. There was a topic recently on g35driver about this.

 

Directional tires can be reversed. That is a false assumption.

 

http://g35driver.com/forums/showthre...ire+feathering

 

Please note that the author in the above thread admits wet weather traction is compromised.

Also, there is no authoratative source mentioned in the thread; nothing but people's opinions.

When I see a manufacture's representative state you can reverse direction on their tires, and I have that manufacturer's tires on my car, i'll think about flipping the tires. Until then, not a chance.

We see too many people killed and cars wrecked on here without people following half butt advice.

 

Michelin and another manufacture also said it can be done. If you actually read the thread.

 

Post the actual responses of Michelin and other manufacturer on this thread.