Thanks for the tip on Mastro Subaru. I went there today. I can't believe how cheap they are. Nobody can touch that price. My lowest quote was $79 and my highest was around $120.

The Subaru tech found that the jackasses who put my tires on 9 months ago at Tire Kingdom put the 7.5" rims on the right side and the 8" rims on the left side. Yes, I know. Brutal. He also found a possible source for the sound and vibration in my car - a very slightly bent wheel. Finally, he informed me that all four of my tires are shot, basically down to the wear bars, and ended up just moving the two best tires up front.

Anyway, that's a good service department. I recommend it. Thanks for the advice.

 

All this time you have been handicapping yourself!

 

That's really ignorant for a shop to put both 8" rims on one side.
Maybe it helped you with right hand turns.
You were still pretty quick with the handicap. I'm scared now.

Thanks for the Mastro information. I would not have thought of them.

 

no problem, glad you guys are happy with 'em!

 

LOL, Yeah right! I dont' think I'll gain the second or two I typically finish behind Muddy.

 

People have gotten rid of that problem on 350zs by simply changing out the tire/rim combo to an aftermarket choice. Some have gone as far as changing the suspension setup. This will make sure it never happens again but ive heard very good things on the tire/rim alone.

find another shop, $80 is a ripoff.

 

I do a lot of lurking at 350z forums. There is no known cure for tire feathering. Even Nissan service departments don't have the answer. If you have a 03 or 04, and they agree that your car feathers tires, they will easily replace your tires with the OEM size and brand for free. They will also align the car for free. However, the car will more often than not keep chewing up tires. To Nissan North America and Nissan dealers, this is the resolution. To many 03 and 04 owners it's a deep sore spot which has resulted in a big class action lawsuit.

There are a few folks, I've read, who have installed aftermarket hardware which allows you to adjust camber, and say that they have licked the problem. Confirmation / validation of this is sketchy. Note: You can't adjust front camber on a stock 350z.

The final solution to my problem: I bought 4 new wheels and tires which came from a "Track" model Z. I expect it to chew up these tires, but Nissan will replace them since they are OEM size. My only question: Can I still run in B Stock? The wheels ARE stock wheels from a Track model, but they are not the same dimensions, and they're 6 pounds lighter. It would seem ludicrous if I had to go to BSP because of this.

 

Unfortunately if they're not the same width and offset (within 1/4"), they're not legal for stock class.

Seems pretty silly if you're running street tires, I know. But that's how the rules are written.

You could probably run BS with those wheels locally and not worry about protests. Or you could try to do a "package" conversion and upgrade your Z with all the special bits from the Track model.

 

i once did a used car inspection on a 350z it needed tires and had a bad cup feather problem like you mentiond.. i decided to call nissan and speak with the foreman he explained to me that there is a service bulliten out with corrected alignment specs to cure this problem.... and he explained to me that everyone with a hunter alignment rack had the wrong specs .. this was about a year ago when i did this and dont remember exactly what the different specs were but id call and find out .. .. and for your original question is the offset of the wheels different? if not go for it .. the footprint of the tire should be really close to the same

 

Okay, I might be stupid, but what are the differences...?