LexBrett

The past year I have been running two sets of tires. Winter and summer. It's getting really annoying changing tires a couple times a year, especially since I don't have a garage.

My Pirelli Sotozero have been wonderful but one terrible thing I noticed when I was under the car the other day- the rear tires are eaten all the way to the threads after only a few months. I did have coilovers installed, and I'm thinking that I should have had an alignment.

The drivers side is especially worn all the way to the threads. I'm going to call Tirerack tomorrow and ask about the warranty, but I never filled out the warranty form so I may be screwed.

I put my summer tires on today and was really disappointed. The Michelins are very worn and due to the wear run terrible. My chrome wheels also reduce the ride quality and handling.

So I'm faced with a dilemma. Should I buy new summer tires and put them on my light wheels that I was running in the winter? OR should I just start over and run a full time all season time?
I also could just run the Pirelli winter tires full time, They are wonderful, even in summer.

I see on tirerack that the PURECONTACT WITH ECOPLUS TECHNOLOGY have the higjest rating for All Season Grand Touring. What do you all think?

So frustrated... tips and suggestions welcomed...

Here is the link to the Tire Rack ratings:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...dClar=Standard

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...alot of the members have their personal opinions/preferences on different tires & other mods concerning the Sc. I'm running Michelin A/S sports on my Sc & haven't had an issue & really like them. Before you invest in any tire, you should really address the alignment issue.I went through some rear tires in less than a year,because i was unaware of the same problem that you have.I bought 2 used tires with a good amount of thread,then had the car aligned. After a few months of driving & not noticing any extra wear on the inside of the tires,then I purchased new ones....so far the wear seems to be pretty even now

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

PURECONTACT WITH ECOPLUS TECHNOLOGY I have had these tires for about a year now and they are wearing very good. I had most of the camber taken out of the back and originally my thrust angle was way off. This from a CPO car. Thanks Lexus. They do generate a bit more noise than a summer tire, but it is not at all annoying. I got this set from Firestone. They matched the Tirerack price and I prefer to buy locally if I can.

LexBrett

How do I address the camber issue? I get alignments 4 or 5 times a year and thought that addressed the issue

LexBrett

And I wanted to say thank you for responding...I know I could have just used the search button to research tires, but I really needed some morale support from CL friends :-)

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I can only say what it is on my car. Car is stock except Tourmaline wheels. My rear camber is about -1.0 degree and the thrust angle is 0.05 degrees. Toe is about 0.1. Front is about -0.4 and -0,9 with toe at about -0.06. I know when I got the car from Lexus (three years old and CPO) it went through a set of tires very quickly. I do not have the data from what the specs were 4 years ago before the first alignment. I only got about 18K form my first set. I got 45K from the Conti DWS first generation and I put the Purecontact on this time. The DWS tires were worn perfectly.

NAmVet68

Not all shops (or dealerships) will reset your camber to anything other than factory specs. For some reason, Lexus set the camber from the factory so that it causes excessive tire wear on the inner surfaces.

If you take the car to an independent alignment shop that will use the specs you give them (preferably one that does laser alignment), and tell them to use these camber specs when they do the alignment instead of factory specs and you should be golden. Your tires should wear much more evenly without any negative side effects (other than the steering feeling a bit lighter):

front +0.05 toe and - 0.85 camber.
rear +0.15 toe and -1.25 camber.

BTW ...unless you hit a lot of potholes or bash a curb, you shouldn't really need an alignment that often. You should be able to go for years without one.

Good luck....

LexBrett

Wow thanks I had no idea!!

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I agree, you should not need an alignment very often. My 2005 Subaru Outback has never been aligned. It has 117K miles and tires wear perfectly. Have you modified the suspension in any way? If you have, all bets are off.

fj40ih8mud

I have had an issue with inside tire wear. Just went through and replaced all the bushings, but really cannot imagine this was the issue.

I had it aligned again (lifetime alignment was purchased -- praise lord....) and got under with a paint pen to make sure I can tell if it moves again.

mandyfig

NAmVet68,

I am set to get some new rubber tomorrow. The settings you have recommended how did you come up with it?

I would like to use them.

Thanks in advance.

Mandy

NAmVet68

I replied to your PM, but I got the specs from another CL member (sorry, can't remember who) who posted them a while back who had gone 10,000+ plus miles with perfectly even wear, so I had mine set up that way about six months ago, and my inner-tire wear problems went away as well.

I just had a new set of Falkens installed a few weeks ago (and new wheels over the weekend), so I'm starting afresh ... but I'm anticipating the same even tire wear.

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

Those specs came from me. I pulled my 3/23/2010 invoice when I got the first set of Conti extremcontact DWS tires mounted and those are the exact specs. I remember posting them years ago. The factory had -2.3 degrees camber in the right rear and I got inner tire wear also. The left rear was -1.60. This is too much camber. With it set a -1.25 I have gone about 55K miles and no wear problems.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

I use the Conti. Extrem contact DWS Tire. to me a great tire.
Aligm
Left front Camber -0.9 Right front Camber -0.2
Caster
Left 8.6 Right 9.1
Toe
Left 0.09 Right 0.09
Rear Camber Left -1.7 Right -1.4
Toe Left 0.09 Right 0.09
Rotate very 5,000

mohrd

iTrader: (3)

I will +1 the Conti Extreme Contact DWS. Great all season tire I previously ran on my Jag.