mattds

Hi there,
I recently purchased a 2009 es in good condition, the tires were quite old and loud and the car pulled to one side.
I purchased some primacy's and they are great, however the pulling/poor alignment was still there, i then took it back to the dealership and they rotated the tires which actually helped with the pulling but then there was a slight vibration from about 100-130, by 140 it's gone, but i seldome drive that fast....
I then had the tires re-balanced and the alignment done again, the vibration perhaps lessened but i can still feel it...

any suggestions...

garsarno

Sounds like a slightly out of round tire or slightly damaged wheel.

MadMark

I'd go where you bought the tires and have them drive/inspect it. It definitely could be an out of round tire. Unless you've curbed and bent a wheel, I doubt it's that. They should inspect wheels for visual problems before mounting tires. I was told by a tire salesman that the tires that meet the highest standards all go to manufacturing plants to be put on new cars (which makes sense, you want a new car to drive perfect), and the reject tires are basically what we buy at tire shops. Most of them are fine, they just didn't meet the standards of the car manufacturer. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. What I do know is that I once bought a set of tires off of tire rack and they were out of round and vibrated as you described. Could be just one bad tire and doing the rotation they've moved it to the opposite corner of the vehicle so you're not feeling it as much.

mattds

madmark - you are right, i knew a guy who was an engineer at Goodyear and he said they have about 4 different grades...the best go to the factory (as you said) then the 2nd best go to the dealerships, then larger retailers then wholesalers who sell to smaller shops... i bought mine at a large toyota dealer...

garsarno

WOW. I also heard that the car manufacturers new car tires have a few 32 / inch shaved off to save $$.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

Never heard such a thing. And I managed a Tire Shop in my youth. Do you really think tire manufacturers would actually allow their Name branded tires to be substandard (rejects, as you call them) to be sold to the public? In most cases Replacement tires are really the car owners first choice at brand and model of tire they run on their vehicles. Most new car buyers take whatever is installed on the vehicle. Not me, however.

The worst set of tires I have ever owned were OEM on a new GMC Truck that I bought in '06. One of them blew, and another had a leak that couldn't be repaired. I junked those General Americraps with about 8K miles on them. My last Silverado came with the same brand of tire, General. General's customer service was pure crap. The first week I had that truck, I sold the wheels and tires and replaced the tires with Michelins.

And also, there are many brands and lines of tires out there that are not OEM, do you think manufacturer's branded OEM tires would allow themselves to be compared to non-OEM branded tires?

The tires on my ISF, Bridgestone, are used as OEM on some cars. Some of their lines of tires are junk - ex. the Turanza used as OEM on the ES. Some are excellent. My tires are the S-04 Pole Position, are not used by any manufacturer as OEM, but they are great highly rated HiPo tire. BTW, the Michelin S8 that Lexus uses is only a mid pack tire, not the best choice for a replacement tire. The best choices for replacement tires on the ES are, I believe, non OEM tires.

Auto Manufacturers for mainstream vehicles (no HiPo vehicles) buy their tires to meet the following criteria - Price, Low rolling resistance, Initial ride quality.

I really don't know where this kind of false information comes from

End of Rant

But, the OPs problem sounds like a bad tire. If the pulling problem follows the tire than it's a bad tire. Either out of round, separated belts, or some other defect.

Lou

iceblast

How much did you have to spend doing all this? My lexus dealer says they won't warranty any alignment (not 20K or 3 months etc.). Toyota dealer refuses to work on any lexus, WTF! It's only wheels...

I am looking for another reputable chain or dealers which warranty their stuff. Nothing worse than having to drop $130+ needlessly.

kewl

Find a tire shop that can do a road force balance...that will tell you which tire (or wheel) is bad. Remember you can balance a triangle...the road force balance, which isn't the normal balance routine, is how you match wheels to tires, and/or find out which or both are not round.