A&Q about 350Z
Q:
The innermost band of tread on the front tires of my Z has worn down more than the rest of the tire ( Driver's side wear is worse than the passenger side ). Does this tire wear description fit the wear pattern seen with feathering ?
Thanks.
A:
no, the wearing pattern needs to be uneven, its more scalloped or bumpy looking than just worn down
A:
What you describe is just negative camber. Feathering is more of an unnatural wear of the tires, plus you'll hear it before you see it.
19[TT]91
My TT beauty is gone.
2[00]2 Honda 954RR
Suzuki 1200 S; sportscar eater
19[I4]94 Integra GSR Sedan
Long live the Z...
aka SAHTT
A:
If you normally have your radio volume at 19, with tire feathering you won't even be able to hear it at less than 29.
A:
how about wanting to have a conversation with your wife/girlfriend? Having the radio at 19+ prevents this and so does the feathering roar so that's not a solution.
A:
It will be so emabarassing that you will not want passengers with you in the car. In that case, Nissan should have just made the Z a one seater.
A:
Call 10 different dealers and see how many of them respond with "WTF is tire feathering?". Did you know that I did that very thing 6 months ago and not one of them admitted to knowing what it was? Even now, half of them will blame you for the issue
A:
for once I agree with you zness.... go figure....
A:
"for once I agree with you zness.... go figure...."
Honestly, guys. I joke around here alot, but I'm glad to see that some people are starting to wake up and smell the coffee. I also had the most irritating rattle from the hatch and some jerkoff Nissan mechanic said that it doesn't matter because I "bought this car to take off ramps at double the speed limit". Plus, I was told to "turn the radio up and drown it out". WTF? I would accept that answer if I bought a $7k used car, but certainly not when I spend $30k on a new one.
A:
"Does this tire wear description fit the wear pattern seen with feathering?"
Tire feathering is best described as a sound. For an actual simulation, take out all of your money from your wallet, place it into a nearby toilet, then flush. Repeat monthly for the maximum effect. That is the best description I can think of at this time.
A:
well now, lots of penn&teller stuff going around here today.
feathering may START as an uneven wear pattern, but i can guarantee you that if you actually drive the next 11000 miles with it, the tire will look EXACTLY like what sptbiz said... the inner edge will be completely worn down around the inside.
"What you describe is just negative camber. Feathering is more of an unnatural wear of the tires, plus you'll hear it before you see it."
so, maybe, just maybe, nissan is right about the cause of the feathering. maybe, just maybe, the armchair automobile engineers in this forum don't know squat.
maybe.
2003 350Z LeMans Sunset Track with Nav
No mods
Post Edited (Apr 19, 2:03pm)
A:
It's interesting to see how many people would return a $30 shirt to a department store if it was defective, but they would never even think the same way with a $30k automobile. The shirt can't kill you either, nor can it cost much to maintain. Just a thought...
A:
Sorry.
Post Edited (Apr 19, 6:37pm)
A:
Date: Apr 19, 2:02pm
well now, lots of penn&teller stuff going around here today.
feathering may START as an uneven wear pattern, but i can guarantee you that if you actually drive the next 11000 miles with it, the tire will look EXACTLY like what sptbiz said... the inner edge will be completely worn down around the inside.
//////////////////
The simplest way that I can describe the appearance of the inner tread of my front tires is as follows. The grooves or hash marks of the inner tread on the driver's side are worn down almost to smooth. On the passenger's side tire the grooves or hash marks are better but still shallow compared to the rest of that tire. The inner tread on both tires appear to have an alternating wear pattern in which one groove is badly worn, the next groove not as bad, the next groove badly worn, the next not as bad, etc.
I have an appointment with a Nissan dealer tomorrow.
A:
I took my car to the dealer because the innermost band of tread on the front tires of my Z has also worn down pretty bad. Of course I had a printout of the feathering TSB and,yes, this was the first time the dealer had seen it.
The dealer looked at my tires and concluded that it wasn't feathering but a screwed up alignment. They said that "out of goodwill" they would honor the percentage breakdown indicated in the TSB since they had peformed all three previous alignments. I will end up paying 30% of the tire's price (~ 120.00) since I'm at 23,400 miles. I don't know what to make of this but I'll end up paying what I was expecting to pay anyways.
I'll take pics so you can see what my tires look like now and post later when I get home. You can tell me if this is feathering or not.
Pic Link: http://www.paragonwest.com:8090/350zmods/tire.jpg
Thanks-
Post Edited (Apr 19, 9:00pm)
A:
I would say that you got 23K miles out of your tires which is pretty good. As far as paying $120 for new tires, that's a bargain!
A:
I currently have just under 18,000 miles on my stock tires and got them rotated at 13,000. Looks like I have at least another 5,000 to 7,000 on them still. So I don't consider my suspension to be too bad at all, plus I don't have to turn up my radio like a lot of people are discussing here. Maybe some cars are worse than others because I for one am not blind to these problems, but then again, this is a car, a machine that is bound to have some flaws.
Maybe if I had to replace the tires at every 7K like some are mentioning on here I'd be pissed too...but for someone like ZNESS who wasn't happy with his car, selling it to get rid of his headaches, but is still here on this forum after he bough a BMW having verbal battles with anyone who doesn't have quite the problems with our Z's than his is in a word...annoying.
ZNESS, obviously you are going to read this and come back with some comment that will be meant to ingite more back and forth dialogue, but if you really want to inform as many people who are considering buying a new Z not to due to what you percieve as a huge problem (as you have claimed to)...why don't you do so and leave it at that. Why purposely try to piss other people off be trying to sound like you got a superior car...a 3 series is an entry luxury car, and our Z's are not a entry level lux car...so it's apples and oranges. The G35 coupe is a car to compare to your BMW, so why don't you go and compare you car to that?
Sometimes you provide valid points, but 98% of your posts are stupid. Again I know you'll probably cut and paste some portion of my post and reply with something and I or someone else will reply to you...but c'mon...I won't say get a life because that is stupid too, but why not act like a grown up and leave the 350Z enthusiast that are having fun and getting enjoyment out of our Z's alone from all your Z bashing? If we're stuck with a crappy car...then fine...let us be and let's not have you sitting on your high chair quick to point out the car's flaws. Why don't you go out and enjoy your BMW and spend quality time on the BMW boards telling that forum how great, wonderful, non glass streaking, non rattling, non tire feathering, non whatever you don't or didn't like about the 350Z?
If you note someone asking whether to buy or not buy a 350Z, why not just post all the headaches you went through with your car to try to pursuade them not to buy, but leave it at that?
-2003 350Z Enthusiast Stage 0
-1971 Datsun 521 Inline 4
-1970 Datsun 510 w/KA24DE
-1991 Honda CRX HF
(62 HP and 50 MPG BEAST!!!)
Post Edited (Apr 20, 4:32pm)
A:
Cheers MAG!
I couldn't have said it better.
My Z has some flaws. However, I still enjoy driving it everyday.
I wish I lived further from my job sometimes because my enjoyment ends too soon!
-Zanioed '03 Le Mans Sunset Touring Coupe w/ Nav.
A:
Very true. I would never sell this baby for a tire issue. It's waaayy too much fun.