Tyre Wear

[swager]

Hi Guys,

sorry its me again and my constant fight with Lexus,before I go to war with Lexus Bristol I would welcome you thoughts on the following.My RX300 SE-L 2003 has covered 13k approx and the front near side tyre is shot ,the outside egde has feathered out and the offside front is not far behind.Had two new tyres fitted today and had the front and back chamber and tracking checked.All ok and with in tolerance,so do all you guys only get 13k out of your front boots .As I am looking to change up to a 400h what sort of milage can I exspect to get out of a front set of tyres.

cheers

Swager

[chips229]

Hi,

Seems like a common problem with most if not all the lexus range

One of the bosses at work has a RX300 and its only a couple of years old and has the same problem with outside wear on the n/s/f dont think shes getting as many miles as you from the tyres...Maybe try a little more pressure in the fronts..

cheers chips..

[fergy]

When I got my service last month I happened to ask about tyres..and expected lifetime. Guy said anything from 12k miles is "normal"...said the tyres were a soft compound to give max grip with low noise (starnge as the 2 never normally go together).

If that is the case, 12k miles being "normal" think I'll invest in a set of michelin...they always last much better, father in law went through bridgestones in 10k on his Mazda 6 estate and he drives sooooo slowly it is annoying...

Anyone tried different makes ?

[Tony-Bones]

Hi Guys,

sorry its me again and my constant fight with Lexus,before I go to war with Lexus Bristol I would welcome you thoughts on the following.My RX300 SE-L 2003 has covered 13k approx and the front near side tyre is shot ,the outside egde has feathered out and the offside front is not far behind.Had two new tyres fitted today and had the front and back chamber and tracking checked.All ok and with in tolerance,so do all you guys only get 13k out of your front boots .As I am looking to change up to a 400h what sort of milage can I exspect to get out of a front set of tyres.

cheers

Swager

The wear is not normal!.... from the Geometry test done did you receive a print out?

[swager]

Hi Guys,

sorry its me again and my constant fight with Lexus,before I go to war with Lexus Bristol I would welcome you thoughts on the following.My RX300 SE-L 2003 has covered 13k approx and the front near side tyre is shot ,the outside egde has feathered out and the offside front is not far behind.Had two new tyres fitted today and had the front and back chamber and tracking checked.All ok and with in tolerance,so do all you guys only get 13k out of your front boots .As I am looking to change up to a 400h what sort of milage can I exspect to get out of a front set of tyres.

cheers

Swager

The wear is not normal!.... from the Geometry test done did you receive a print out?

[/quote

No as the guy who did it said no adjustment was needed,he also said he does work for Lexus and said that the tolerances were ok.I think you are correct in saying that its not correct that the tyres should wear like this as 2/3 rds of the tyre are well within limits.

thanks for you comments.

Swager

Swager

[Tony-Bones]

Hi Guys,

sorry its me again and my constant fight with Lexus,before I go to war with Lexus Bristol I would welcome you thoughts on the following.My RX300 SE-L 2003 has covered 13k approx and the front near side tyre is shot ,the outside egde has feathered out and the offside front is not far behind.Had two new tyres fitted today and had the front and back chamber and tracking checked.All ok and with in tolerance,so do all you guys only get 13k out of your front boots .As I am looking to change up to a 400h what sort of milage can I exspect to get out of a front set of tyres.

cheers

Swager

The wear is not normal!.... from the Geometry test done did you receive a print out?

[/quote

No as the guy who did it said no adjustment was needed,he also said he does work for Lexus and said that the tolerances were ok.I think you are correct in saying that its not correct that the tyres should wear like this as 2/3 rds of the tyre are well within limits.

thanks for you comments.

Swager

Swager

Stay wise.... the 'tolerance' means nothing.. you can have one wheel at one extreme and the partner wheel at the other extreme.... both within tolerance.... see my point :winky:

[L11NEO]

Hi Guys,

Ive just had my annual service with 20K on the clock On my RH300 and have been told ive only got another 1000 miles or so before changing the front tyres.so im going to get 21k out of them

I drive 50% mway 50% urban.

How can there be such a big difference?

Could it be the quality control of the tyre compound?

Does anyone know if i put a different make on the front and leave the originals on the back will this affect stability?

Cheers

AlanL

[chips229]

Hi,

Dont think its really down to how hard or soft the tyres are more to do with the Geometry as tony says.

I took a car in to have the Geometry checked (not my current car) and they said it was within tolerance,think the place i went didnt want to get there hands dirty and adjust it,just happy to take there pricely inspection price easy money for them.

chips.

[sendz]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

[swager]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

Hi Sendz,

hmmmmmm you are correct about tread pattern on edge of tyres ,dont know about running increased tyre pressures .I will be talking to Lexus Bristol tomorrow regarding tyre wear and all the various issues that I have with our RX ,as I have had the geomentry check it will be yet another fight with Lexus.Just to let you guys know what is not right with my used out of the box Rx to date and to be sorted

1 bag of of nails under dash

2 drivers seat memory settings not repeating

3 un even tyre wear

4 section of rear screen heater not working.

5 drivers seat rattle/knock when breaking.

6 poor cold starting

7 rear boot cover rattle

cheers

Swager

[Tony-Bones]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

Hi Sendz,

hmmmmmm you are correct about tread pattern on edge of tyres ,dont know about running increased tyre pressures .I will be talking to Lexus Bristol tomorrow regarding tyre wear and all the various issues that I have with our RX ,as I have had the geomentry check it will be yet another fight with Lexus.Just to let you guys know what is not right with my used out of the box Rx to date and to be sorted

1 bag of of nails under dash

2 drivers seat memory settings not repeating

3 un even tyre wear

4 section of rear screen heater not working.

5 drivers seat rattle/knock when breaking.

6 poor cold starting

7 rear boot cover rattle

cheers

Swager

Other than that all ok then!.... distressing read. When you have the Geo measured insist on a printout and let us have a look..... oh and within the geo you need the 'Primary and 'Secondary' angles measured!

[shoggy]

39000 mls loads of tread left

And i do drive it hard

Got a nail puncture last week ATS repaired and said aleast another 10k before need to change.

Shame its on full maintenance or do they put special tyres on when its at there expense.

[Ifo_Seeker]

39000 mls loads of tread left

And i do drive it hard

Got a nail puncture last week ATS repaired and said aleast another 10k before need to change.

Shame its on full maintenance or do they put special tyres on when its at there expense.

Shoggy

What pressure are you using and what else (besides perhaps good tracking etc) do you think is contributing to such good return ?

Just like some others here I am at around 8k miles and my front outer edges are looking very low on thread. It has been checked out by Lexus twice and given the ok.

Tony

[Ifo_Seeker]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

Hi Sendz,

hmmmmmm you are correct about tread pattern on edge of tyres ,dont know about running increased tyre pressures .I will be talking to Lexus Bristol tomorrow regarding tyre wear and all the various issues that I have with our RX ,as I have had the geomentry check it will be yet another fight with Lexus.Just to let you guys know what is not right with my used out of the box Rx to date and to be sorted

1 bag of of nails under dash

2 drivers seat memory settings not repeating

3 un even tyre wear

4 section of rear screen heater not working.

5 drivers seat rattle/knock when breaking.

6 poor cold starting

7 rear boot cover rattle

cheers

Swager

Swager

How did you get along with the dealer on the tyre issue ?

Tony

[swager]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

Hi Sendz,

hmmmmmm you are correct about tread pattern on edge of tyres ,dont know about running increased tyre pressures .I will be talking to Lexus Bristol tomorrow regarding tyre wear and all the various issues that I have with our RX ,as I have had the geomentry check it will be yet another fight with Lexus.Just to let you guys know what is not right with my used out of the box Rx to date and to be sorted

1 bag of of nails under dash

2 drivers seat memory settings not repeating

3 un even tyre wear

4 section of rear screen heater not working.

5 drivers seat rattle/knock when breaking.

6 poor cold starting

7 rear boot cover rattle

cheers

Swager

Swager

How did you get along with the dealer on the tyre issue ?

Tony

Hi Tony,

not to good,I had to replace front tyres before I got the car in for the various faults I have.

comments from dealership are as follows

1 between 10k-15k is average for this type of car and Lexus will only warrenty 10k on tyres or one year.rear tyres ok -super track comments were that rear were showing signs of feathering on outer edges.

2 electric memory on seats will not repeat over a period of time because of the type of motor /wire used

3 bag of nails still under dash.

4 rear screen heater not covered under warrenty as some sort of chemical has been used to clean the screen and damaged part of the heating elements.(i dont clean the car, Lexus Bristol wash it every two weeks)

5 cold starting ok

so I am one unhappy Lexus owner and to top it all I was offered 20500k in px for a IS250 eight months after paying top book of some 29500k .ut very much looks like its time for a move after having to fight to get the brakes sorted and having to have a new rear diff and drive shafts fitted.

going away to kick the cat now

cheers

swager

[Ifo_Seeker]

Get the tyres swapped fronts to rears at every service (10k/1 year) and set the pressures at 36psi. Depending on driving styles should last 40-60k. The tyres that come as standard (dunlop/bridgestone) have aprrox 2mm less tread on the edges than on the centre from new!!. I hope this helps.

Hi Sendz,

hmmmmmm you are correct about tread pattern on edge of tyres ,dont know about running increased tyre pressures .I will be talking to Lexus Bristol tomorrow regarding tyre wear and all the various issues that I have with our RX ,as I have had the geomentry check it will be yet another fight with Lexus.Just to let you guys know what is not right with my used out of the box Rx to date and to be sorted

1 bag of of nails under dash

2 drivers seat memory settings not repeating

3 un even tyre wear

4 section of rear screen heater not working.

5 drivers seat rattle/knock when breaking.

6 poor cold starting

7 rear boot cover rattle

cheers

Swager

Swager

How did you get along with the dealer on the tyre issue ?

Tony

Hi Tony,

not to good,I had to replace front tyres before I got the car in for the various faults I have.

comments from dealership are as follows

1 between 10k-15k is average for this type of car and Lexus will only warrenty 10k on tyres or one year.rear tyres ok -super track comments were that rear were showing signs of feathering on outer edges.

2 electric memory on seats will not repeat over a period of time because of the type of motor /wire used

3 bag of nails still under dash.

4 rear screen heater not covered under warrenty as some sort of chemical has been used to clean the screen and damaged part of the heating elements.(i dont clean the car, Lexus Bristol wash it every two weeks)

5 cold starting ok

so I am one unhappy Lexus owner and to top it all I was offered 20500k in px for a IS250 eight months after paying top book of some 29500k .ut very much looks like its time for a move after having to fight to get the brakes sorted and having to have a new rear diff and drive shafts fitted.

going away to kick the cat now

cheers

swager

Swager

Sorry to hear that you have not had much joy - I have a showdown coming up soon with my dealer on the tyres issue - 8.5 k and both fronts have hardly any thread on the outsides, despite 2 full track checks by the dealer.

Thanks for sharing your results.

Tony

[Tony-Bones]

A word of advice with this Geometry lark.... The Dealer will not confess any problems so don't expect it.... What you do need is the Geometry report. This is not in dispute and if displayed here we/ i can find the true reason why the tyres are wearing.

[GlynnB]

Just had my 3 year service @ 18,500 miles. Rear tyres reading 7mm fronts 6mm so no issue there.

Still not happy with gearbox and torque converter lock up clunk though.

[RxMike]

Hello all

I have comented on this topic elsewhere, but thought I would add my two penneth again.

Have had my Rx300 se-l from new. It is now just over two years old and has covered 17,800 miles.

From new the steering wheel on the car was always slightly to the left of centre when driving in a straight line.

In March the car went to the dealer for a number of warrenty issues to be rectified, and I also asked them to re-centre the steering wheel as the offset was starting to anoy me. (Although straight line tracking was not a problem).

At this point, the car had covered about 16,000 miles, and the nearside front tyre was showing heavy wear to its outer edge, (in fact it is totally bald), which I put down to some extent on corning on roundabouts. It is worth noting that the offside front had little to no wear on its outer edge at this point. This car is NOT driven hard.

Since the warrenty work was carried out, and the stereing wheel alignment was re-centred, the vehicle has covered nearly 2,000 additional miles.

Now the offside front is showing heavy signs of wear to its outer edge and is in fact bald, just like the nearside front, and all this wear in less than 2,000 miles since adjustment.

The vehicle is still running on its original boots, and all are in the same position as when the car was delivered, I have not rotated them.

The rear tyres are in remarkably good condition with even wear accross the tread and no feathering to the edges at all.

I have checked the pressures and all were ok at 36 psi. I have let them down in the last 24 hours to 32 psi which is the recommended pressure on the door pillar.

When the car was delivered, the tyre pressures were in the order of 56 psi! I reckon this was an error on the part of who ever checked the inflation before delivery and they simply miss read the pressure gauge!

What is concerning me is that there is still a relative amount of 'meat' on the front tyres, but the edges will be down to canvas before the rest of the tyre is worn out.

I was reliably informed by a lead Lexus mechanic that there in no camber adjustment that can be made to the Rx300 Se-l front strut geometry.....in essence it is fixed as a funtion of the air strut design.

I am wondering if it is a combination of heavy loads to the front tyres (it is a very heavy vehicle) and or the Dunlop tyres that are fitted from new simply are suseptable to this type of wear being that there is less tread in the outer edge anyway.

I will obviously need to fit new tyres soon, and I intend to swap the rears to the front and place new boots on the rear, but I am not going to replace them with the same Dunlop tyres in the hope that a different quality make may be able to prevent the excessive wear to the edges that I am currently suffering from.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions about this issue I would be garteful for you input

Thanks in advance

RxMike

ps still waiting for a fix to the dreaded 'lurch'.

[Tony-Bones]

The camber is adjustable through the two lower pinch bolts on the strut. After all this trauma have you still not received a geometry printout?

[RxMike]

The camber is adjustable through the two lower pinch bolts on the strut. After all this trauma have you still not received a geometry printout?

That's really interesting and thanks for the info. I intend to call my dealer in the next few days and will put this to them as it obviously would seem that this is a camber issue. I don't wish to ruin a new set of tyres and so am going to ask that this problem is looked at.

Regards

RxMike

[Tony-Bones]

The camber is adjustable through the two lower pinch bolts on the strut. After all this trauma have you still not received a geometry printout?

That's really interesting and thanks for the info. I intend to call my dealer in the next few days and will put this to them as it obviously would seem that this is a camber issue. I don't wish to ruin a new set of tyres and so am going to ask that this problem is looked at.

Regards

RxMike

Despite the available adjustments it's unlikely the problem is camber?..... That's why i wish you had a full geometry report available to be scrutinized..... Blind i feel the problem is castor or toot, both relating to the turning radii.

Wear on the outer would result in a deliberate pull if the camber was positive.... A low castor also would pull if the position was disportionate to the partner but with more generosity. The castor and toot can only be measured by a full geometry... At some point someone needs to act regarding your problem albeit the Dealer or yourself!

[shoggy]

39000 mls loads of tread left

And i do drive it hard

Got a nail puncture last week ATS repaired and said aleast another 10k before need to change.

Shame its on full maintenance or do they put special tyres on when its at there expense.

19.41pm 30/08/06

as per previous statement

tyres still perfect @ 48000

Give up ! they must be special tyres on Lease scheme

If i knew how to post a picture i would

[aido]

Blimey now that's impressive!!

What brand of tyres are they that you have on there?

[RxMike]

Hi Guys,

sorry its me again and my constant fight with Lexus,before I go to war with Lexus Bristol I would welcome you thoughts on the following.My RX300 SE-L 2003 has covered 13k approx and the front near side tyre is shot ,the outside egde has feathered out and the offside front is not far behind.Had two new tyres fitted today and had the front and back chamber and tracking checked.All ok and with in tolerance,so do all you guys only get 13k out of your front boots .As I am looking to change up to a 400h what sort of milage can I exspect to get out of a front set of tyres.

cheers

Swager

Well my rx 300 sel is up for sale at the minute, but it has 19,700 miles on it and is still running the original set of Dunlops fitted from new.

The fronts are totally bald on the outer edges, the nearside more so than the off side. The rest of the footprint at the front still has a bit of 'meat' left on them evenenly spread accross the tread pattern.

The alignment has been checked three times by different specialists, but Lexus have told me they feel anything above 12,000 is good, 14,000 and they usually have to come off, so 19,000 is testament to how we drive the car......so they tell me!

I have looked at other second hand Rx's on the forecourt and to be honest they all show signs of wear to the outer edges on the fronts, so I guess they do tend to 'scrub' the fronts somewhat.

Regards

Rx Mike