Hey there..I am a fairly new PROUD owner of a 2004 G35 coupe and when I bought it, was told front tires are cupping. I had alignment done but was told it was the best they could do since alignment is out due to play in both inner tie rod ends. Told by Infiniti dealer need tie rod ends replaced, new front tires and alignment to correct it. That's fine...but when I checked out tire replacement cost, looks like I have 245/45 ZR18's 100w on both the front and back instead of 225/45R18's 91w on the front and 245's on the back.

So...my question is...does anyone know if having 245's on the front would have caused the play in tie rod ends? If I just have the ends replaced and leave 245's on the front, am I going to be in trouble again?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Don't see how it would, but you also might try posting in the Coupe section or General tech:

https://g35driver.com/forums/general...questions-189/

I also see Deane and Colin are here and may be able to offer some better advice.

 

Congrats on the new car Beach Girl and thanks for the intro Wayne.

The larger tires will place slightly more stress on all of the front end parts but not enough to be significant IMHO. You've left out an important point which is your mileage but most likely it's just natural wear you're seeing. The tires will cup when too much toe is used. Get the shop to adjust to the lower end of OE specs. The coupes need alignments every 6-8k kms.

This is something else you should be aware of. Running the same size tires f&r changes the ability of the stability system to operate properly and the staggered set up the car is designed for. In an emergency or slippery conditions your car may not handle as safely as it could. Your set up now varies the F&R by about 2.7% which is within (but on the high end) of the generally accepted 3% differential from OE specs.

 

"The coupes need alignments every 6-8k kms."

Is this true? Or just the recommended? If so, should i take it to the stealership or just a normal shop?

 

I'm quoting my stealer. In my personal experience this is true though. My car is lowered 1/2" but I have not found this made any difference to the service intervals.

When I spell out how I want it set up I can avoid the cupping and as frequent trips for alignments.

 

Hey RBull...thanks for that info. I bought the car with these tires/wheels so didn't realize the same size on front and back until now. I have 104k on it so perhaps regular wear and tear as far as tie rod ends go. So, I'm at a bit of a loss as to whether to replace the fronts with same size as what's on it (245) or I guess I'd need to buy new rims too if I decided on 225?

 

No problem.

Are the rims OE or aftermarket? In any case you should not have to replace them as long as they are 8-9" wide. I agree it's probably regular wear and tear. I don't think you should have to run out and replace the tires/wheels unless you want to spend the money. You could sell the front 245's or save them for an extra rear set. The rears normally only last 1/2 -3/4 of the kms as the fronts anyhow. Alternatively you could up size the rears to get to the OE stagger difference. Eg. 265 45 18 rears would get you back to OE differential. You would have to consider the look and availability of that size.

G/L

 

Not sure if they are OE or aftermarket. How would I tell? According to the dealer, the rears are in good shape and the cupping is quite bad so maybe after replacing rods I may invest in tires. BTW...interesting that the dealer wants $294/tire and I can get them from TireRack for under $100. Big difference so may order them up and have the dealer put them on. If the rims will work for the 225, I may do that instead of 245's. Anyway, thanks a bunch for the info.

 

If they look like this they're original equipment- 8" wide x 18". that's extremely cheap for tires. What are you buying?

https://g35driver.com/forums/canada/...n-session.html

 

Could be these ones: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=(Y)&minLoad=S

They're pretty decent for the price if all you're doing is regular daily driving.

 

Congrats, Beach girl.....great ride you have there.

I'd want to confirm that the 'tie rod ends' are bad......Not likely they are unless due to serious abuse or mileage.....

Coupes are susceptible to 'end link' wear, tho, causing further issues with alignment, and as RBull (Deane) says, have the alignment check occasionally to keep things in order there too.

Cheers
Colin.

 

Yeah....I had someone else tell me they worked for Infiniti for years and never replaced a single tie rod end on the G's so to get a second opinion. Car has 104K km...so I'm going to get a second opinion and not from the Infiniti dealer. Thanks very much all !!!