Lexlooter

Hello fellow 2jz enthusiasts. Im a noob here stumped by a problem I've just came across today and would greatly aprecciate any insight from any of you Lexus gods. As im driving today, i can hear what sounds to be something either scraping or what the sound of something sticky on my drivers side rear tire....kinda like if syrup was on the tire and as it rolled it made noise usually at lower speeds.
Now, as i park to examine for any mishaps i notice that the sidewall of the stock tire looks as if someone took a dremel and scribed all around the lettering of the tires in a perfect circle all around the tire. Where the tire size is located, the michelin mans face is begining to be scraped off as well as the rest of the lettering( obvious tire grooving in constant radius pattern). Mind that it's happening on both sides of the same tire, same funky wear pattern. Im truly stumped and DO NOT want to go to a shop to be upsold parts and labor i dont need. Im pretty mechanical and do most basic maintenace myself.
would any of you Lex gods have a clue as to what migh be wrong? Under/over inflated? I dont see any thing that would scrape in such manner as i examined closely. Any help would be greatly appreciated & thanks in advance.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

First off, welcome. A little more details would help us help you. Is the said tire truly stock? If so, what size? Aftermarket rim? Aftermarket suspension? wheel spacers? etc.

Lexlooter

Hey Jadu, thanks for the response & thanks.
Yes sir, im running completely stock. No spacers no drop no after market wheels. My tire size is at 215-45-17 all around & might i add tires are new. I'm truly stumped as im running 43-45 psi which is under the max allocated (51 psi) so no under inflation. I've checked for obvious worn suspension components and everything seems just right and in place. Both sides of the outer sidewall are grooving smack dab in the middle of the tire where the lettering is. I have not a clue
thanks for the reply.

avs20

iTrader: (2)

Get us some pics of the tire and the wheel well. That will help tremendously..

Lexlooter

Grooving is not as noticable in pictures as it is in person. However, grooving in radius is there. Id hate to slowly develop sidewall damage on these little tires and be prone to a blowout at highway speeds.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

I came across an article where someone had a similar issue and it happened to be the rear bumper tab, where the rear bumper attaches to the car, it is in back of the rear wheel well. As for the inner side wall, that's got me stumped. You can also grab a few friends as load the rear of the car and inspect the rear tires to see where it could be hitting.

Lexlooter

Hey Jadu, i appreciate you sticking with me throughout my entire post. However, i have the final update as to what caused such scuffing on both inner & outer sidewall of the is300. Apparently the tire at some point in it's lifetime was driven on little air or was possibly driven while flat. Last night as i crawled under the Lex to inspect for further grooving on the sidewalls i came across a bubble on the inner sidewall which immediately told me not to drive on this tire any more. Come today February 21 2017, headed to a local tire center for a thorough inspection of the pneumatic and voila!, the inside of the darn tire was filled with a WHOLE LOT of rubber shreds and ripped linning on the inner sidewall.
wish i could of taken photos but i didn't.
Lesson leaened: check your tire pressure religiously especially on lower profile tires. The tire on the outside looked basically new! with the exception of the grooving. However the inside was an accident waiting to happen; a time bomb literally.
Tire pressure shall be checked weekly now, epecially on these little tires.
Thanks once again Jadu for your responses.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

^^^ no prob. Im glad you were able to investigate the issue and find the root cause