dozvette

I am a long time owner but new to the forum. I hope someone can help. I have an 02 SC430 which I understand is notorious for eating the inside of the tires. I have had my alignment checked twice in the last 12 months and it is set according to spec. I did have a bent wheel which I replaced. While the car was on the rack, they called me to look under it. I expected the tire on the bent wheel to be chopped up. Unfortunately, it was no worse than the other 3. All 4 tires are chopped up on the inside in under 7000 miles. My last tires only lasted about 10-12k with same issue. The insides are cupping while the outside gets very little wear. Is this because the standard spec is too "aggressive"? Is there an alternate spec which is lower performance and more tire friendly?

joeyb

What kind of tires are you using?

dozvette

My latest set are Falken.

Yes

it's from the camber. the wheels are slightly tilted, putting more pressure on the inside of the tires. i've seen camber correction kits. but i'm not sure if anyone here has installed one.

JohnnyCake

The "Car Doctor" syndicated newspaper column had this very complaint yesterday. Here's the link and quote:


Dear Car Doctor:
I own a 2003 Lexus 430 SC. I have ruined two sets of tires because of extreme wear on the inside third of the tires. I had an alignment by the dealer but I think the alignment specs from the manufacturer are not right. Lexus Customer Satisfaction said they're fine. The dealer said that all 430 SC models wear extremely on the inside and even showed me other cars with the same condition. I love the car but do not want to replace the Run Flat tires because of this condition. Please help.

-Tom

Dear Tom: Tire wear on the inside usually is from a negative camber. This is when the top of the tire is facing to the inside of the car and the bottom is facing outward. If you see a scuffing to the wear, this indicates a toe adjustment problem. Check with a local front-end shop for their opinion. In some cases, to adjust the camber requires modification to the upper strut mount (camber bolt kit).

lexusscturbo

iTrader: (12)

Try Caster..If the camber looks good..Are you lowered?

fotch

Just had an alignment done at Firestone, can anyone explain these numbers to me? Will these new measurements correct the excessive inside wear? The RF's I replaced had 34,000 miles on them, the right front was the worse, you could see the belts on the inside. I signed up for the lifetime program, do I need to tell them to set it up to different parameters when I take it back in six month or doesn't it work that way? I also noticed the PS tires were more worn than the DS and that the measurements are different from side to side, why is that? Hope someone can help me out here

intdiamond

iTrader: (2)

You still have negative camber, and without a correction kit it cannot be adjusted more/less than the factory setting. There are many threads here that discuss this issue, if you do a search. Your toe adjustments are better now, which may lessen the severity of your tire-wear somewhat.

VVTiBob

I found this to be a helpful link for understanding the terminology. http://www.familycar.com/Alignment.htm

There are four areas of concern regarding tire wear: Inflation, alignment, worn out suspension parts and worn out shocks.

IMHO if you got 34K out of a set of tires on an SC you're well ahead. When I bought mine, I was warned the tires only last about 20-25K and to religiously rotate every 5K.

Inside wear patterns usually means too much negative camber. But there are other factors, mentioned above, that may affect tire wear. One not mentioned is lowering ride height. Changes in riding height will affect camber and toe so if springs are replaced or torsion bars are adjusted, then the wheel alignment must be checked.

Hope this helps.

fotch

Thanks Diamond and Bob

jasone36

I have a 2002 and was also recently told that the "toe" on the front tires is slanted in, meaning the front tires have more pressure on the inside, but an eye-ball inspection of the front tires (which are newer) doesn't show uneven wear, yet at least. I'll have to get them rotated at my next service, I think.

jasone36

I found an interesting discussion on this topic on the Lexus Owners Club site:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...howtopic=40609

The first post on that site is quite useful.