Hi guys, I have a 2005 g35 coupe with sport suspension.

So, a little back story, I got new tires not even a year ago and took my car to the tire shop not too long ago and the guy told me I have wear on the inside of my back tires but my front tires were fine. After doing some forum reading, I've noticed other people are having these tire wear issues with their g35's and how Infiniti has the camber set fairly negative already. On top of this tire wear issue, I'm getting Tein Street Basis Z Coilovers here soon and had a few questions with all this..

Is the negative camber in the back wheels giving me this tire wear issue? If so, would I be able to set it to 0 camber or anything close to that with stock components? When I get my coilovers installed, I'm only planning on lowering it a couple inches to lessen the gap a little bit, nothing crazy. In that case will a camber kit be necessary or can it be adjusted with stock camber?

tl;dr: I'm already having inner tire wear issues and planning on getting new coilovers installed to lower the car a few inches(mainly interested in handling not how low it sits). Will a camber kit be necessary or can I adjust it enough with stock camber?
I don't really have the $$ at the time to get a camber kit but enough for coilovers which is why I'm holding off on the coilovers..

Apologize if this is posted in the wrong section, this is my first post
Thanks in advance for any helpful comments!

 

First I would have the alignment done again and see how much of a correction they need to make, you may have some worn components that are pushing the alignment out of spec.

Yes inner rear wear is likely caused by the factory camber AND the way you drive This car can hold a corner very well for a reason, it's alignment was designed more on the performance end of the spectrum without sacrificing TOO MUCH longevity of the tires.

If you're trying to completely close the wheel well gap then you will definitely need some camber adjustment, bolts only if you're lucky which isn't too expensive. I'm dropped 25mm (not quite 1") and did not require any aftermarket camber adjustment but I'm absolutely maxed for what adjustability there is.

 

Before you spend your $$ on coilovers find an independent brake/alignment shop in your neighborhood to reevaluate the reason for your tire wear! Factory settings won't allow for the kind of wear you describe. It's impossible to lower our G35's without having installed a camber kit both front and rear without going thru tires. Once you've located/fixed the reason for the current wear issues buy and install the coilovers and camber kit at the same time, your tires will thank you.
Gary

 

if you have tire wear on the rear inside, your rear toe is off. put that car on an alignment rack and you will see. I will repeat this as many times as it is necessary, accelerated tire wear is NOT caused by camber. TOE is what is ripping through all your rubber. I have had 20000+ miles and 3 track days clocked on my set of Continental ExtremeContact DW's and still have 3/32nds on the innermost tread blocks. having negative camber will cause your inner tread to wear more than the outer tread, however it does NOT make things wear FASTER ie. burning through a set of tires in 10000 miles.

Here is my current alignment since you are looking to purchase the same suspension as what I am currently on. Keep in mind this alignment is not OEM spec. This works very well for track and on the touge.

Front
Camber: -2.5 degrees (you need adjustable upper control arm to get this)
Caster: Non-adjustable
Toe: -0.05" (toe out)

Rear
Camber: -2.5 degrees (no camber arm, just SPC 72055 eccentric bolt)
Toe: 0 (spc 72055 eccentric bolt as well)

please be aware that the toe-out in front is not for everyone, you might want to zero front toe if you are unsure.

 

Factory front toe spec is 1 mm IN, or 0.04� in.

Why do you do toe OUT?

REAR toe spec is 2.8mm or 0.110� in.

 

OP mentioned he wanted to improve the way his car turns. just a smidge of toe out on the front wheels will sharpen turn-in and the car reacts much faster to steering input. factory specs a little bit of toe-in because toe-in adds stability(safety) while sacrificing vehicle response. i stated that the alignment setup is not OEM spec, it is what I personally run and the car turns very well with this alignment.

 

Are you suggesting for me to check if my toe is set at OEM spec or will putting the toe to 0 like you have it on your car be more beneficial (tire preservation wise, not handling)
Factory front toe: 1 to 0 ????
Factory rear toe: 2.8 to 0 ????

Basically, I will be installing the Tein's so i'm wanting what's best to save the tires and if I'm able to get some better handling out of it as well if it is not sacrificing too much tire wear

 

For your case, the most simple solution would be to put the suspension on, drive around until it settles and then align to OEM spec with whatever arms/bolts it might require depending on your ride height.

if you really want to go the extra mile for tire life preservation, then zeroing toe will give you the longest tire life. as urban engineer said, factory alignment specs have a little bit of toe-in for stability and safety purposes, but it does not help with prolonging tire life. your tire wear currently is likely caused by a toe adjustment being severely off, so you are literally scrubbing rubber off as your drive.

From the picture below, just imagine the car moving forward with the tires not pointing straight. This pic is exaggerated, but that is what's happening when your toe settings are completely effed.

 

Many thanks for the help!

Speaking for front tires,
toe-in = better stability at high speeds, sacrifice cornering/responsiveness
toe-out = better response&cornering, sacrifice high speed stability

how would this work for the rear tires toe though?

would it be a good idea to set rear tires toe to 0 instead of factory 2.8?

 

same concept applies for the rear wheels. toe in adds stability, toe out will rotate the car more while turning. do not run any toe-out in the rear, you will go sideways unless you know exactly what you're doing.

"would it be a good idea..." is a pretty loaded question and it really is for you to answer. the more toe in you use, the less life you will have on the tires. OEM spec is 0.11" toe in. maybe you can go 0.05" and see how you like it.

 

This.

If you think about the fact that you're essentially creating extreme toe while turning (one tire in, one out), having a bit of toe out will make your car feel more like you're going in a straight line while turning. I wouldn't suggest this, for your daily driver tho. Not unless you are experienced and drive a lot of windy roads. Your steering can snap in either direction much more easily; you're constantly "steering" and correcting your track.

OP, you definitely will need a camber kit front and back and toe bolts in the back. You don't want to set them at 0 camber tho. The camber adjustment on a rack is really just guess work for the dynamic alignment. Dynamic camber being what your car is doing at 55mph. For a great daily driver, I do -1.8 degrees in back and -1 degrees up front. This pretty much covers all bases short or circle tracking. I can carve hills pretty swiftly but also have very even tire wear.

 

Dude, there is no way this is a track car. Stick to stock specs.

 

Actually, that's the beauty of the G: it's anything you want it to be. This is why I get so annoyed when people call it "slow" or mediocre in anyway. Nissan worked very hard to give us the perfect "platform" car. Front engine, RWD, near perfect weight distribution, plenty of room under the hood if you wanna increase power (whether it's adding FI, or swapping for a V8) and a COed of .28 (with aero kit). This is the perfect track car actually, but I wouldn't set it up like a track car for the street.

 

What would you recommend the toe to be set at for the back tires? Should I keep it at factory settings 2.8, or lower it down any ( 2005 g35 alignment sheet http://psedog.com/cars/fsm/g35/coupe...fwd.pdf#page=6 )

Also, what effects would it have going from 2.8 to 0 for example?

 

Lots more understeer. You can die. Haha mine is 0.07 front and 0.32 rear.. my ***** floppy af tho. I'm definitely hanging on more around fast turns. My front tires are also 40mm more narrow than the rear tho. Hard to say exactly what yer gonna get. I would get a lifetime alignment and start experimenting.