m30svx

Don't really know why it was toeing-out like that. My sc430 was bought six months old and 6000 miles as an ex-demo from a Lexus dealer. At some time it must have hit a kerb or something. It had always felt a bit strange on the steering. The good news is that it's great now. Still trying to find some tyres that might give some better protection to those alloys. I'm terrified of kerbing them.

My SC430 was beginning to get unpleasant to drive on motorways - it was decidedly vague in the straight ahead position and felt as though it was wandering from side to side. On checking the tyres, they were visibly worn on the inside edges - so it was pretty obvious to me that the tracking was toeing out. The first check I had done said that the tracking was OK, but I didn't really believe it. So I had it checked on a laser four wheel alignment bit of kit and it showed that one front wheel was toeing out by 1.5mm. It was then adjusted to give the correct toe-in (0-0.6mm per side) and hey presto! it now drives like a dream. It just sits there on the road without needing continual adjustment. It feels much sharper on the steering. Just thought this might be interesting.

More to the point - what tyres can I buy that have a sidewall protector bead or buffer so that the tyre hits the kerb, not my alloys?? On my 245/40zr18 Dunlop 2030s on my SC430 the tyre only protrudes 3mm out from the alloys. I have tried a Dunlop 9000 with supposed sidewall protectors but they were no better than the 2030s. Any advice would be welcomed - my three previous postings have had no replies whatsover!

I've just bought four of the star style chrome centre caps to replace the boring round ones on my SC430. They were on Ebay, listed as LEXUS SC430 STAR CHROME CENTERCAPS - 2004 by OEMRIMS INC of ANAHEIM. CA 92806. They were $40 each plus shipping. The ebay listing said that they did not ship to the UK, and at first they ignored my emails. Then I emailed them again and said "Come on - we helped you out in Iraq" and they saw the funny side and agreed to send them by Fedex which was a whopping $130 !! but they arrived two days later. They put the value down as $50 so there was no VAT to pay on receipt. They look fantastic - I'm really pleased. All I need to do now is to get some tyres with the largest possible sidewall buffers so that I don't bash the alloys every time I go anywhere near a kerb.