Its an 04 coupe that eats front tires for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Inside 2 inches weird heel toe wear pattern that cause the dreaded 4x4 roar at low speeds.

The first set of tires I lived with it until I could take no more. Put new tires on front + a 4 wheel alignment and two oil changes later I can already hear it coming back... I just put new tires on the back last week.

I have done extensive research and found that it is a common problem with the 350Z, and somewhat common with the 03-04 G coupes due to the front end setup and no camber adjustment.

My questions:

Who has successfully rid their car of this issue and how? Front end Adjustable camber kits? If so which one and what was the camber set too? Did the setting affect handling drastically?

Has anyone had their front tires trued (an older practice of cutting he rubber to make it flat again.

I am thinking of taking these tires and putting them on the rear of my supra and burning the rubber down until flat again, is this plausible or has it been done? If nothing else it would be fun.....

 

you have a supra? nice....

 

After you went thru your first set of tires replaced them with new tires and
had the alignment done what did the guy doing the alignment have to say?
Did he show you any figures as to how far off you were to factory specs?
If the alignment person knows his job he can tell you why your tires are
wearing on the inside two inches, and how to fix it! Is your G lowered?
Chances are very good you'll need the adjustable a-arms for the frontend,
how are the backs wearing?
Gary

 

Gary he did show me the print out, it was only out by just a hair. They put it back to the revised specs from infinity. Its completley stock, not lowered. The guy at Mr Tire said hes saw the same pattern on almost all 350Z and quite a few early model G coupes.

Rears are wearing fine just needed more tread (no strange pattern)

 

First off, what kind of wheels and tires do you have? Are you dropped? And if so, how much? Inside wear is usually because of camber issues, but it could be because of excessive toe.

http://www.procarcare.com/includes/c...dtirewear.html
Can you identify the type of wear you're getting with these examples?

BTW, just because your alignment is within specs, it doesn't mean it's a good alignment. Keep in mind that when you put a load on the suspension, the specs will change. You usually want a bit more toe in because when you get in, the wheels will toe and camber out, and you really want the front toe to be at 0 when you get in the car.

 

your car is FWD at heart u just dont know =]

 

had the same issue with mine (04 coupe) took it to the dealer and was told there was nothing they could do
about 2 months ago i bought new tires with rims and lowered the car on eibach pro kit springs and no problem as of yet checked the tires recently and they look like normal wear

 

Dofu - if you don’t know what I'm talking about, then you likely have not experienced it or have not heard of this and may not be able help, I am not trying to be a dick I just would like to get input from someone who has dealt with the problem (occurred mostly on 03-04 coupes, and almost all 350Z’s, Google it and you’ll find there is even a lawsuit against Nissan for the 350z because of this issue).

tire wear - this link explains my problem to the T. http://www.lasercannon.com/Newz/feathering.htm

As I previously stated the car is not lowered, its all stock. Stock 18” wheels, tires are Kumho ectsa but there were different tires before that did the same thing. Tires are not the problem. Wheels are not the problem.

The alignment was done correctly. It was out of spec but just barely, and they put it back to factory specs, it still ate my tires.

"BTW, just because your alignment is within specs, it doesn't mean it's a good alignment. Keep in mind that when you put a load on the suspension, the specs will change. You usually want a bit more toe in because when you get in, the wheels will toe and camber out, and you really want the front toe to be at 0 when you get in the car."

I appreciate the info but this is why I took it to a professional, I was hoping they would have an inside track on info like this.

I do appreciate your input.

Now, who has had this problem and successfully fixed it?

 

2004v35, thanks for the input.

what are your wheel specs (width diameter offset), how much drop, and how many miles on your tires after this change?

 

Keep in mind what I told you about what happens when you put a load on your suspension (ie: get in the car).

What confuses me about your alignment is that you should have more toe in on the driver's side than the passenger side unless you always drive around with a passenger about the same weight as you. When you get in the car, you are putting more load on the driver's side than anywhere else, so the driver's side will get more toe out than anywhere else.

And since your car is stock, you just have a bit of inside feathering, which is from too much toe out. You need to put more positive toe on your alignment to keep your wheels from toeing out when you get in the car and start driving. Tell your alignment shop to get in touch with Jim Berry of SPC (or whomever took his place) to get their guys some real training to learn how to do a proper alignment, not just one that fits the specs. If they didn't ask for the driver's weight and compensate for it, you didn't get a real, professional alignment.

I don't ever get an alignment to factory specs simply because those specs suck. And no, I don't have issues with feathering anymore unless I hit a bump and knock my suspension out of alignment. So keep in mind that over time, your alignment most likely will change and so it needs to be redone often.

The next time you ask a question, info like what I was asking for helps us point you in the right direction. Otherwise, you might get plenty of solutions, none of them wrong, but all fixes to different issues. If you were dropped, the problem could be a completely different issue.

As for road noise, the tire's size, brand and model will help too.

BTW, don't be mad at me for asking questions when you don't understand what's going on with your car. I'm only trying to help and you've already started making assumptions. You can keep searching, but unless there is something broken, what I've told you is the only fix for this problem.

 

dofu, I am not mad, I dont know what gave you that impression. Now you have made an assumption...

I posted the wrong link up above (yes, I fail) please read this and maybe you will understand that the problem might not be the toe or alignment as you have suggested. Also an 04 coupe owner up above stated he had the same problem and the dealer said no fix.... would they not know about more toe in or a way to fix it if it were an alignment issue?

thanks again

 

It's the same as everybody else... the alignment is the only fix. That guy in your link thinks something is broken, and if he was getting cupping, he just might be right. But I'm willing to bet his car is just like everybody else's with too much toe.

Let's put it this way... this guy is running .06 degrees of toe on the driver's side, .07 on the passenger side. I have about 1 degree of toe to get no toe when I'm in the car driving. So that means when this guy gets in the car and starts moving, his wheels toe out to about .04 degrees or so... and he'll still get feathering with his new alignment.

 

rim size are 19x9.5 front and 19x10.5 rear (maybe 19x10 not sure rh j5 rims)
lowered 1"
approx. 5000 miles
on bf goodrich run flats tires

hope this helps

 

thanks. I dont know if I will resort to this yet or not, I think i'll wait until you have 10,000 and check back

 

One of my husbands employees just received $150.00 as a result of a class action suit for his 2004 350Z because of uneven tire wear and noise. Just a suggestion but have you looked on the 350Z board for a TSB and seen if it also applies to the G35's? He asked me if I got any paperwork in the mail but since I have an 06 I don't have tire issues...oil consumption yes, tires-no. Maybe the guys over there have some type of fix you can try on your car also. Good luck.
Lisa