Flat Tire

[TonyWilliams]

At 12,000 miles, the front fires aren't wearing well. Yes, they were rotated at 7500 miles:

 

[TomT]

Interesting since I don't see any signs, in that picture, of feathering, cupping or other symptoms that would seem to indicate alignment or suspension problems... Camber would show up a little differently I should think... It would likely be a good idea to have Nissan check the alignment anyway though as this would be under warranty. Do you corner aggressively?

I'm becoming less and less impressed with these tires as time and anecdotal evidence builds... I have an appointment next week for Bridgestone to inspect mine for the chunking I'm seeing that started at about 7,500... I wonder if the fact that they are made from recycled materials plays in to the problems... Interestingly, the Ecopia EP100 tires are not.

At 12,000 miles, the front fires aren't wearing well. Yes, they were rotated at 7500 miles

 

[stanley]

Tony, it looks like there may be a front end alignment problem

 

[DaveEV]

Tony, it looks like there may be a front end alignment problem

+1 - do both the fronts look the same? What about the rears?

 

[TonyWilliams]

The rears look fine. Both fronts are the same. I might take the tires off and reverse them.

I corner as fast and smoothly as I can, to require the least amount of braking and acceleration out of the turns. But, I'm not driving differently than the first 7500 miles, when the rear tires were on the front.

 

[TomT]

I can't see the inside of the tire in the picture. Is it worn in the same fashion? Are both fronts worn pretty much the same?

The rears look fine. Both fronts are the same. I might take the tires off and reverse them.
I corner as fast and smoothly as I can, to require the least amount of braking and acceleration out of the turns. But, I'm not driving differently than the first 7500 miles, when the rear tires were on the front.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Insides are not as bad, but noticeable.

 

[TomT]

Well, if it was cornering, I'd expect the outside edges to be worse... Is there any feathering along the lateral edges of the worn area which might indicate a toe-in problem?

Insides are not as bad, but noticeable.

 

[laalan]

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6543" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AS noted in thread above, my LEAF with 4000 miles and my other LEAF with 3,000 miles and the dealer demo with 4,000 miles had the same outside wear issue. They put it on the alignment rack and the specs were dead on.

I have a feeling this isn't an isolated incident.

 

[TomT]

Nor, apparently, is my tire chunking problem...

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6543

AS noted in thread above, my LEAF with 4000 miles and my other LEAF with 3,000 miles and the dealer demo with 4,000 miles had the same outside wear issue. They put it on the alignment rack and the specs were dead on.

I have a feeling this isn't an isolated incident.

 

[DarkStar]

For the ones with wear issues, what PSI are you running? Tony's picture seems to indicate an under-inflated situation, but only if the inside edge matches the outside edge (can't tell from the picture).

I've been running 44 PSI (checking almost every week) for the last 13,200 miles and my tires are wearing perfectly even across the whole tread (rotated at 8,000 miles).

 

[TickTock]

For the ones with wear issues, what PSI are you running? Tony's picture seems to indicate an under-inflated situation, but only if the inside edge matches the outside edge (can't tell from the picture).

I've been running 44 PSI (checking almost every week) for the last 13,200 miles and my tires are wearing perfectly even across the whole tread (rotated at 8,000 miles).

When I took my Leaf in for the 7500 mile rotation my tires were inflated to 40psi. When I got the car back, the paperwork had written very large across it "Set Tire Pressure to 36psi!!!". 36psi was underlined three times. LOL. I promptly reinflated to 40.

 

[LEAFer]

When I took my Leaf in for the 7500 mile rotation my tires were inflated to 40psi. When I got the car back, the paperwork had written very large across it "Set Tire Pressure to 36psi!!!". 36psi was underlined three times. LOL. I promptly reinflated to 40.

Before re-inflating to your prefered pressure, did you check if/what they actually set it to ? ( Paperwork is paperwork; but not an indicator of reality )

 

[cwerdna]

For some reason, I can't send this without an error message, but for those who want to know where to find Altima spare wheels in San Diego, drive the LEAF down to the Mexican border. Be sure and bring something to protect the interior of your car from a dirty spare tire.

From a google maps search, "junk yards near Otay Mesa", you'll get lots of choices.

Happy hunting. Don't pay too much and RAISE the prices for everybody behind you !!!!

I'm way late to the thread, but as a tangent, I'd imagine that junkyards near SD would carry spares because some cars are opened up or torn apart because they're found to be smuggling drugs in all sorts of areas and cavities.

I posted about a Borders Wars ep showing an Altima being torn apart at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=475270" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. In fact, the one I saw being torn apart was an 02 or newer Altima. (MY 02 marked the beginning of a new generation that was huge redesign and improvement over previous Altimas.)

 

[Valdemar]

When I took my Leaf in for the 7500 mile rotation my tires were inflated to 40psi. When I got the car back, the paperwork had written very large across it "Set Tire Pressure to 36psi!!!". 36psi was underlined three times. LOL. I promptly reinflated to 40.

Mine were at 40 when I took delivery. Not sure if that's how they come from the factory or dealer had a broken gauge. I left them like that.

 

[LEAFfan]

Before I drove off, I asked the dealer to put '41' in them since that's 5 above the car's recommended pressure, and they did. I check 'em once a month.

 

[smkettner]

Does anyone have the lug nut torque specification from the service manual?
I had a flat fixed and I just do not trust the tire guys to look it up.

 

[DaveEV]

Does anyone have the lug nut torque specification from the service manual?
I had a flat fixed and I just do not trust the tire guys to look it up.

80 ft/lbs. It's on the wiki, too: Wheels, Tires

 

[Rat]

I have had no problem with my tires, and I've taken them on some pretty bad roads and onto unpaved shoulders with lots of debris a couple of times. However, I was recently in a focus group with 3 other Leaf owners and two of them have had 2 flat tires in the first 3-6 mos. of ownership. I'm not sure what this means, but when mine go, I'm likely to replace them with something sturdier and with a softer ride. I can afford to lose a little range.