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Inner Tyre Ware!


chrisyg
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Hi everyone! I had two new front tyres fitted 5k miles ago because the previous ones had worn the very inner edge out. It's right on the corner and 80% of the tyre still looked new. The tyre fitter said it would be the tracking, he fitted the two fronts and did the tracking. The new tyres he has fitted have done the exactly the same thing?? Is it still incorrectly tracked or something more sinister? I'm not running big wheels just the standard 17s with 205 50 rubber. The car is still on standard suspension and has not been lowered. I do however have an increasingly loud knocking noise from the front end somewhere which I've put down to a worn ball joint/s or anti roll bar bushes. Could the knocking noise be in someway related to the tyre ware? I wouldn't have thought so but any help/suggestions would great! The suspension really let's the is300 down in my opinion and mine is clearly seen better days. I am planning a major refitt including shocks/springs and anti roll bars front and rear. I will go for Eibach or Tein stuff which should transform the car.

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Hi.

Basically in a nut shell... The factory geometry settings suggested by Lexus for the 1st generation IS are wrong! They will result in inner front tyre wear. it's very common and covered extensively in this forum.

WIM (wheels in motion) went about re writing the geometry settings and got it right. Have a look here.

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/tyres-wheels-lexus.php

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Thanks guys, not just me then! When I get the suspension done I guess it's a trip up too Wheels In Motion. Just realised that I spelt 'ware' instead of 'wear' at the start of thread, slightly embarrassing for my first few posts!

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as people said above ^

your tracking is the main issue. lexus is known for inner tyre wear as the settings are wrong from the company.

you could try the tyre pressures at 35 instead of lexus 33 psi.

if your knocking noise comes out to be the bottom ball joint then have that replaced then do the tracking correctly.

also you might want to stick with stock tyre size for a 17'' rim.

hope this helps :glare:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi.

Basically in a nut shell... The factory geometry settings suggested by Lexus for the 1st generation IS are wrong! They will result in inner front tyre wear. it's very common and covered extensively in this forum.

WIM (wheels in motion) went about re writing the geometry settings and got it right. Have a look here.

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/tyres-wheels-lexus.php

Hey Chris. Didnt you post the WIM settings not long ago? if so could I print this out and take it somewhere local you think? Had my wheel off today to paint calipers and noticed mine is suffering this too, im thinking to switch the tyres to prevent further wear for now

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No Pete I didn't post the WIM settings, wouldn't do that. These settings need to be applied on a hunter 4 wheel laser alighnment machine.

No point changing tyres before getting the geometry done, new tyres will just wear on the inside too, even if not noticeable to the naked eye. WIM have a few outlets nationwide under black boots with the hunter laser alighnment machines. Go to one of them and they'll apply the WIM settings.

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No Pete I didn't post the WIM settings, wouldn't do that. These settings need to be applied on a hunter 4 wheel laser alighnment machine.

No point changing tyres before getting the geometry done, new tyres will just wear on the inside too, even if not noticeable to the naked eye. WIM have a few outlets nationwide under black boots with the hunter laser alighnment machines. Go to one of them and they'll apply the WIM settings.

oh i see. Thanks. Btw meant switch around front tyres temporally to even out the wear
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  • 1 month later...

Assuming all your suspension components are all ok then having the tracking done by wim will fix the problem of the inner tyre wear on new tyres however don't think that having it done on your old tyres will get you more life out of them, tyres once worn in a certain way tend to continue to wear the same way till knackered. So in short , wear your tyres out - buy new and get the wheel alignment/tracking done at the same time

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  • 3 months later...

Hi

I have something similar - 4 or 5mm in middle but 1.0 on inner!

So now I need new tyres and also Lexus are wanting £99 for four wheel alignment - are we saying that they are going to apply incorrect settings again?

Thanks.

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Yes, if Lexus do it then your tyres will continue to wear on the inside edge. The other factor that causes severe inner wear such as yours is the lower control arm bushes (caster bushes)

The rubber perishes and the bush is useless. For me on my 200 to solve the inner tyre wear I had to replace these bushes and get an alignment done by WIM

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Kwik fit do not have 4 wheel laser alighnment machines. They have basic tracking machines.

A full geometry/alignment on a 4 wheel laser alignment system which calculates your toe angle, caster angle and camber angles and SAI index will cost you over £100 and kwik fit do not offer this service mate.

Those hunter machines are serious £££££'s to buy and are more rare than common in this country.

You won't notice the inner tyre wear if your bushes are good for at least 10,000 miles maybe more

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Well the tracking I had done at kwik fit was shocking and when up on the ramps they didn't put on any laser reading devices onto the 4 wheels so how could they measure the angles? No print out if my alignment showing before and after angles and how they were calculated. I've been into kwik fit about this. You do not offer this service and the baffled looks I recieve when I go into a branch of kwik fit and ask about geometry confirms this.

I'll stand by the fact that no kwik fit in the country has a hunter hawk eye 811 pro laser alignment system that Tony down at WIM has.

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/wheels-alignment.php

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/tyres-wheels-lexus.php

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Tbh I didnt't realise there was different types of hunter alignment I just knew there was laser for the front (we use in tyre plus centres) and hunter (which is used in most kwik fits now).. Looking at the hunter site looks like we have the hawk eye elite http://www.hunter.com/alignment/hawkeye_elite/index.cfm looks exactly the same as the one in work just different colours.

Which kwik fit did you go to? As Ive only just started there about a month ago and during my induction they were very insistant on customer service and such so surprised you hot that sort of treatment :/.. Either way Im not saying kwik fit does a better job was purely wandering.. Was actually thinking of getting my front alignment checked by WIM when i need new front tyres

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Sorry if I came across a bit of a nob head mate, had a few last night :whistling:

Yeah they won't do a full geometry to the standards they will down in WIM simply because they don't have the technology, know how or expertise.

I'm sure the machines are hunter but not the one Tony has and if they do have the same machine them they are not using it properly or to it's full potential. As I said I watched him do it and no laser detectors put on the wheels, he had no idea what I was talking about when it came to angles. All he did was adjust the toe (tracking) no correlation between camber, caster and he had no idea what the SAI angle was and when I asked for a print out if the angles before and after he said "how can I do that"

Well if he was using a hunter hawk eye system properly (and this wasn't a hawk eye, no way) then the machine would take the image of how the car is set up (using the lasers) and then he is meant to adjust to within specs using the laser read out in the computer screen. But it looked like he was just straightening up the front wheels by adjusting the toe, but a proper alignment isn't done just on the front wheels, the back are just as important if not more so.

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That's alright bud.. Which kwik fit did you go to?.. sounds like the idiot didn't know what he was doing.. in the centres I've been in the supervisors had to watch me to make sure I was doing it all correctly and then had to get it checked by them.. Hopefully I'll be getting signed off on it soon :).

The process I've been taught is:

1) sort the computer out

2) mount sensors

3) push car onto plates

4) install brake depressor

5) turn wheels as indicated

6) make sure steering wheel is straight then lock into place

7) computer will pop up with all the angles

8) adjust as needed

9) tighten up and printout the before and afters

So I don't know how this guy was taught but sounds horribly wrong

But I can see your in Somerset so if you need any tyres fitting or other things then drop me a message as I work in Bridgwater/Taunton :)

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It was Bath mate, and they told me that for laser alignment I'd have to go elsewhere as kwik fit only offer "basic front end" tracking. I tried to argue that there's no such thing as a front alignment as if the rears are out it doesn't matter what you do the front it'll never track straight and true. This is when I got the baffled looks and I just left and drove the next day a 250 mile round trip to WIM. I'll never go anywhere else now to tell you the truth. The effort Tony put in to re write the geometry settings for the 1st gen IS is remarkable and the service those guys offer is second to none. They never make you feel like you are hassling them (as I felt in kwik fit) and they are more than happy to get the car up, tweak it a little, test drive it, get it back up and tweek some more Ect till it's perfect. And I've never had a car handle it feel so good as my old IS200 after getting it WIM'd.

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