Hello all;

I recently moved my Coupe Brembo's to my Sedan and had to move the 18" stock coupe wheels to clear the brakes. However, the front alignment now seems off.

It is doing what my Coupe factory specs would do with the inner tires dragging and causing the serious "road" noise and excessive tire wear issue the coupes and 350Zs were having with the factory alignment specs that did not have enough toe in (I believe... its been a few years since I dealt with that issue)

The Sedan has 80K+ miles before the rim swap and has never had a tire alignment issues. I was using a 18 x 8 wheel with factory offsets so it wouldn't clear the brembos. The Coupe wheels have more offset to them than my older wheels.

So in short, does anyone know if the G35 Coupe wheels with the different offset (to clear Brembos) would create such a dramatic alignment issue?

And also if you have any specs you can post for alignment numbers that work and correct the tire noise/wear issue (inner tire edge)? I was thinking of using my Coupe Alignment specs?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

Are you lowered?

 

Opps, sorry forgot to mention that.

No the car is stock height Daily Driver. Stock Sports Suspension from Factory. Very stock car. Just the Brembos and the Coupe wheels now to clear the brembos.

From the wheels I had before the brembos, the only thing that changed was the offset. Both wheels were 18" x 8".

Visually you can see the coupe wheels are closer to the outer fender lip (wider stance) & of course clears the brakes.

Was thinking of toeing the front wheels in like we had to do for the Coupes/350Z of the same year (factory specs were off if you recall). Just trying to get some real world numbers that work if someone has had this problem.

Thanks.

 

Also, I forgot to clarify. The inner front tires are feathering. The car tracks straight and it isn't the normal inner camber wear you get from lowering. Its the feathering that is destroying tires and making a lot of noise. Before the swap, a front set of tires would go 30-40K miles with no noise. Now I don't think I will get 10K miles and it is very annoying with the feathering noise.

 

This could be an alignment issue or you have lower control arms that are going out and causing the car to toe out more then moving.

 

I put money on your lower control arm inner bushings. They wear out and when they do they'll take out your tires in a matter of days.

Get the SPL bushings and replace those bushings. DO a search, I did a little write up of the SPL bushings when I installed mine.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only with this problem. I have an 03 sedan and all suspension bushings are fine and the car holds an alignment with no issues. My car never had tire feathering problems until I went with wider tires and a 1" 350Z front spring drop. On my OEM 17X7 5 spoke rims, I ran Avon MS550 215/55R17 tires which while being OEM size, were about .5 inches wider than the OEM Turanza EL42s. After I did the tires and drop (same time), the tires were exhibiting feathering within 6K miles. At the 10K, the tires roared badly at speeds below 45mph and were really bad when slowing down from 30mph. The tires also created an annoying and constant vibration because of the feathering. At higher speeds, it was more bearable. I dealt with the issues until the tires wore out at 20K miles.

I had done some research on this issue and as we know, many 350Z and some G coupes have this tire feathering issue. Nissan has no real fix for it, but I had read Nissan had suggested pulling the toe inwards to max toe-in which was 0.16". That seemed like it would only make the issue worse. They then changed their stance, issued a TSB that basically said check the alignment and then install newly designed Bridgestones that are designed to handle the feathering.

About 3 years ago, I bought a set of 18X8 rims with a 42mm offset and 235/45 PZero Neros (asymetrical pattern). I set the front alignment at 0.16" (toe-in). Within 6K miles, the tires were exhibiting the feathering issue again. I started rotating the fronts (side to side) every 2.5K miles to knock the feathering down. That seemed to help a little, but doesn't fix the issue. I'd cross rotate every 2.5K miles and then kick the tires to the back for 5K. So far, I've got 18K miles on the PZeros and they have gotten louder and louder. One because of the feathering, two because they're getting worn out.

In the winter, I now run asymetrical 215/55 Falken tires on the OEM 17s. The Falkens are a bit narrower than the prior MS550s and they have about 6K miles on them and are hardly showing signs of feathering. I think you're probably right that offset and tire width are probably the culprit. When my PZeros wear out, I'm setting the front toe back to around 0.6" and I'm doing 225/45R18 in the front and 245/40R18 out back. I hope the narrower tires will survive a bit better. I've just accepted that the car has front tiee feathering issues. If I knew there was a suspension part causing the issue, I'd replace it, but all bushing are still solid and I would have thought Nissan would have issued a TSB for a suspension part, not just replacing the tires.

 

I'll have my local shop go through it again. Nothing looked worn or damaged and it literally started a week after I did the brake/wheel swap. Almost thinking of putting everything back the way it was now.

The car is still under factory warranty. If you think it is a bushing issue, I wonder if they will bother me b/c I have coupe parts installed.

My shop says there must be another alignment "number" that is not the factory spec like the feathering issue we had in 350z and G35 coupes when they first were released and how the toeing in more than factory spec fixed the issue.

Thanks for your suggestions I will look into it

Anyone have done this same swap with this issue arising?

 

Dave,

Your issue is spot on with mine. I have the stock g35Coupe wheels and don't remember the offset on hand.

My coupe had the same issue with aftermarket wheels and tires (bigger/wider) but was corrected with a toe in between .09" and .1" in the fronts. the tires wear perfectly and is quiet now.

I was thinking of setting the sedan to .05 this time. I set the sedan on the last set of tires the same as coupe and was thinking if this is too much and causing "feathering" the other direction of being toe'd in too much.

Another ironic thing about your posts is the tire choice. I am running the same Pzero tire that I complain to friends of being the most expensive "loud" tire around... though I follow up with it being the alignment issue to correct.

Let's keep close track of what works with each other's car. I was hoping someone had a fix with a perfect number as my coupe took some methodical adjustments but works like a dream now with quiet, straight wearing tires.

I am not having any rear issues on my Sedan. Just the fronts. Is your car feathering in the fronts, rears, or both?