Tracking and tyre wear IS300h

[Maxz]

As you can tell, have worked through a number of issues since purchasing my IS in May, hence the glut of posts. More advice this time. If you buy a used IS check the MOT history online for any fails in relation to tyres and/or you spot uneven wear, paying special attention to the inner tyre rim/edge, especially on the rears. IS by design have slight -ve camber and casters are not adjustable. This makes keeping tracking aligned all the more important so you don't chew through tyres at an excessive rate. In my case I intended to have the tracking checked anyway, as the dealer themselves conducted the tyre fail MOT, replaced the tyres but had not fixed the tracking. Per the Hunter laser alignment results posted, tracking was well out and 3 wheels had to be adjusted (cost £50 or up to around £70 for all four wheels). I'm now happy the current tyres are less likely to meet the same fate and will have the tracking checked at least annually. Handling at high speed also improved post adjustment.

[ganzoom]

Unless you notice odd tyre wear or have hit something why would you routinely check alignment?

I've NEVER had tracking checked on any car I've owned in 20 years of driving. Nor have I ever seen abnormal uneven tyre wear, our current IS is still on orignal factory tyres at 27k, you should get 30k+ per set on a IS300H.

[200h]

it doesn't take much to knock the geometery out

speed bumps and pot holes are the favourite for doing this

i have my car checked using the hunter system

i know its not at everyones favourite place

but kwikfit will check and adjust all four wheels 8 times

over a 2 year period for a one off payment of £130

if lexus checked your geometry twice it would cost more than the £130

[Maxz]

2 hours ago, ganzoom said:

Unless you notice odd tyre wear or have hit something why would you routinely check alignment?

I've NEVER had tracking checked on any car I've owned in 20 years of driving. Nor have I ever seen abnormal uneven tyre wear, our current IS is still on orignal factory tyres at 27k, you should get 30k+ per set on a IS300H.

Hi ganzoom,

Sounds like you may have owned your IS from new and you are are good careful driver. My advice is more for those buying a used vehicle, that may not have been so well looked after. In my example, that MOT fail for dangerous tyre fails is at 15k miles on a 15 plate car. If a previous owner has abused the vehicle or neglected tracking and/or tyres, from my experience it was worthwhile checking and rectifying the mis-alignment. From my experience the dealer did not check or rectify this prior to resale, so can be a worthwhile check.

[NemesisUK]

I thought alignment/tracking was done routinely at annual service? Certainly was on my RC.

[Mr_Groundhog]

Have any of you come across this inner tyre wear issue?

I had a look at my rear tyres in particular and the rear camber looks excessive, so I'm thinking of finding a good garage (my favourite mythological animal) where they'd tweak the camber and possibly the toe. If you know good places in the south, by all means let us know

At the very least I'm gonna go for an alignment at my local kwickfit to check the current state of things.... 🤨

...and has anyone addressed it by replacing the lower front arm bushings? I came across this thread in a different forum (sorry for posting the link, it is an American one anyway 🙂 )  what do you think about the info in there? 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-3rd-gen-2014-present/940025-all-about-lexus-is-premature-inner-tire-wear.html

[wharfhouse]

1 hour ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Have any of you come across this inner tyre wear issue?

I had a look at my rear tyres in particular and the rear camber looks excessive, so I'm thinking of finding a good garage (my favourite mythological animal) where they'd tweak the camber and possibly the toe. If you know good places in the south, by all means let us know

At the very least I'm gonna go for an alignment at my local kwickfit to check the current state of things.... 🤨

...and has anyone addressed it by replacing the lower front arm bushings? I came across this thread in a different forum (sorry for posting the link, it is an American one anyway 🙂 )  what do you think about the info in there? 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-3rd-gen-2014-present/940025-all-about-lexus-is-premature-inner-tire-wear.html

I don't have any major issues with uneven tyre wear and mines a 2014 reg with 126k miles (17" wheels). I bought the car at 2 years old and 40k miles - not sure if any adjustment had been made in that 2 years (though I doubt it) and I haven't done anything in all the time I've had it. I always get 20k miles out of the rear tyres and 40k miles out of the fronts. The inner edges do wear a little quicker than the rest of the tyre but I replace them when there is about 3mm left front and rear across most of the tyre. Stock setup does appear to wear the inner edges a little bit faster but should not be excessive before the rest of the tyre is close to replacement anyway.

A couple of years ago I did ask Lexus to do an alignment and was happy to pay for it (as it hadn't to my knowledge been done since the car was new) and to my surprise they said why? The tyre wear all looks fine. So I left it at that... 

[Maxz]

I went for a harder compound tyres (Nexen N'Fera) to slow the rate of wear, and so far have lasted well, without resorting to more major modifications to suspension bushes or setup.

[cadman2k]

How quickly was the "wear" developing on your tyres (sounds like after only a few thousand miles) and what was the tyre brand?

Interesting on the harder compound N'Fera, do you think this will sacrifice any comfort?

I have used these tyres and checking records they were all at about 5.7mm after 10k miles with no issues as you have encountered so if that is anything to go by then they should work well for you.

Have you noticed any change in comfort/ride quality or is it not noticeable 

[Mr_Groundhog]

On 9/29/2019 at 2:38 PM, NemesisUK said:

I thought alignment/tracking was done routinely at annual service? Certainly was on my RC.

I asked and apparently what they do is a "visual" inspection. And if it needs correcting, the you'd pay that separately.

In other words: lazy.

[NemesisUK]

21 minutes ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

I asked and apparently what they do is a "visual" inspection. And if it needs correcting, the you'd pay that separately.

In other words: lazy.

Not sure how anyone can "visually" check the geometry! 

I had printouts from the checks my dealer did. I understood that should any adjustments be required that would be an extra charge.

[VFR]

11 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Not sure how anyone can "visually" check the geometry! 

I had printouts from the checks my dealer did. I understood that should any adjustments be required that would be an extra charge.

I guess by visually checking tyre wear ?

[NemesisUK]

8 hours ago, VFR said:

I guess by visually checking tyre wear ?

Possibly but there are many other factors that can cause uneven tyre wear, lots of roundabouts, speed cushions etc. The rear tyres on the RC wear on the inner edges but that is normal and known to the techs but could mask suspension issues?

[VFR]

2 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Possibly but there are many other factors that can cause uneven tyre wear, lots of roundabouts, speed cushions etc. The rear tyres on the RC wear on the inner edges but that is normal and known to the techs but could mask suspension issues?

Of course & goes without saying, so visually checking tyre wear will likely show up any issues.

[Mr_Groundhog]

On 1/6/2023 at 8:42 AM, VFR said:

Of course & goes without saying, so visually checking tyre wear will likely show up any issues.

I want to think that's what they meant with "we visually inspect", which is exactly what I was told via email upon asking.
I have sourced in the meantime the lower front arm bushings of the Lexus GS-F and currently looking for a good garage that would fit them + wheel align... to be continued!

[Mr_Groundhog]

@Maxz would you perchance have the torque diagrams for the IS300h (the front suspension arm) so I can hand them over to the garage when they replace the bushings?  🙂 It isn't a Lexus dealership so I'm not sure they'll have them.

[Maxz]

12 hours ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

@Maxz would you perchance have the torque diagrams for the IS300h (the front suspension arm) so I can hand them over to the garage when they replace the bushings?  🙂 It isn't a Lexus dealership so I'm not sure they'll have them.

Not sure if my service material covers your vehicle model (you have a 18 plate?). There is no date range specified for the upper arm so I've attached and for the lower arm there is a date range as below only, so I've selected oct 2016 onwards (but does that go far enough....?).

[Mr_Groundhog]

Thanks a lot @Maxz ! Where do you get these from?

They seem different from the ones this guy has in his vid but they both must come from some legit source (apprear at 08:08)

 

[Maxz]

8 hours ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Thanks a lot @Maxz ! Where do you get these from?

They seem different from the ones this guy has in his vid but they both must come from some legit source (apprear at 08:08)

 

Mine from the original Lexus/Toyota subscription service / online tech resource but mine not updated for a number of years as I only need my '15 plate covered. As stated you might want to find something more recent and validated for an '18 plate.

[Mr_Groundhog]

Right so I finally got the bushings from Japan and I had them installed this morning!

I have to say the car's front feels a bit more connected to the ground on roundabouts and when braking. It isn't draatic but the steering feels somewhat better (and it isn't psicosomatic). I have also requested to run a tiny bit of toe in in the front. The only bad news is that the rear camber isn't adjustable so I will have to live with that imbalance (should I worry?)

I have also noticed that the transmission & arms tend to rust: is this normal for all of you too? It's not that I'm looking for reasons to worry but ideally I would like to keep this car for a long time and I can be a bit obsessive about care sometimes. 🙂

[agent_dess]

I had tracking done this time.
Actually 1st time getting done on the Lexus for me and i had the IS250 for 9 years.

Anyway so for the IS300h the rear tyre was showing inner wear on both tyres, also i need new front ball-joint so they said it made sense to do the tracking after that work as carried out.  I also stuck new tyres on the car the night before the repair work was due.

But here is the before and after:

[Mr_Groundhog]

34 minutes ago, agent_dess said:

I had tracking done this time.
Actually 1st time getting done on the Lexus for me and i had the IS250 for 9 years.

Anyway so for the IS300h the rear tyre was showing inner wear on both tyres, also i need new front ball-joint so they said it made sense to do the tracking after that work as carried out.  I also stuck new tyres on the car the night before the repair work was due.

But here is the before and after:

Is this a 300H ? wow so if you have 1 to 1.5 in neg camber in the back, then for me to have 2 degrees plus in the rear, it must have been a pretty hard hit or a really bad pothole before i bought the car 😐

Does anyone know a good rear camber kit to fit to the IS300h that does not break the bank?

[agent_dess]

1 hour ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Is this a 300H ? wow so if you have 1 to 1.5 in neg camber in the back, then for me to have 2 degrees plus in the rear, it must have been a pretty hard hit or a really bad pothole before i bought the car 😐

Does anyone know a good rear camber kit to fit to the IS300h that does not break the bank?

Yep this is for the IS 300H.
Tracking was done by Lexus.

[Mr_Groundhog]

Does anyone know if an imbalance in the wheel alignment (in a way is a sign of damage, no?) is warranty claim material? Lexus warranty or seller's warranty (I got the car from a Mazda dealer)

[wharfhouse]

9 minutes ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

Does anyone know if an imbalance in the wheel alignment (in a way is a sign of damage, no?) is warranty claim material? Lexus warranty or seller's warranty (I got the car from a Mazda dealer)

I can't see it being a Lexus warranty issue unless a component failed or was at fault and needed replacing and fell within the manufacturers warranty or extended warranty terms. If there was accident damage you might have some recourse with the Mazda selling dealer if you asked and it wasn't declared but maybe a hard one to prove if only alignment and nothing damaged) especially if you've had the car a while. They might pay for the alignment if was done close to when the car was purchased.