Hi everyone was wondering if you can shed some light on my tire situation. Have an 07 GS350, with 75k. I bought the car used and it came with some really horribly tires ( which the dealer told me was supposed to have been stock until i realized AFTER that they were not). Anyway i bought a set of Conti Extreme DWS. Works awesome for about a year. Somehow I blew the 2 tires on the passager side while driving. I replaced them with another pair of conti. Now the car tends to drift toward the passanger side and the steering is soo loose, Car does not seem to want to stay straight especially on windy days. Since i had the car though the steering always seemed slightly loose, but now its worse. Lexus did an alighment checked the tire and rims, said nothing is wrong. Took it too Sears to double check alighment with a print out. They said it is perfect. Not sure what is the problem, and its getting me worried. Driving is drive me nuts lol. Anyone experienced this or know what can be the problem? Thanks in advance.

 

It's because the two tires you replace on the passanger side are new. You should put the two new tires on the same axel. Either front left and right or rear left and right.

 

Sorry I forgot to mention, that was done already by Lexus. The new ones were swapped to the rear and it was still the same. Then they swapped them to the front and it's still the same.

 

Steering is so loose because it's an electric steeering.
Normal in strong wind.
What is the front tires' pressure? Increase them to 37/38 psi to see if that helps.

 

No decrease pressure for heavier steering. I suggest using 32-33 psi and just get used to it.

 

I had all sorts of problems with those tires. Got toyos and never looked back. Stopped my tracking issues, rougher ride and loudness. Hope they last more than 12000 miles and solve the balancing madness I had.

 

when Lexus swapped the tires did they make sure that if they were directional that they are facing the right way?

 

Maybe check the tie rods.

 

I'm no tire expert so I won't say anything. j/k

did any of them (lexus & sears) check the suspension?

 

Yes they did note that the tires were directional. Thanks for the suggestion about the tie rods and suspension. I'll have those checked by Lexus. If it happens to be one of the two, would that be very costly?

 

The stiffer the tire side wall, the straighter the car goes.
It works for me.

 

I would check Tie Rods, Bearings, Ball Joints. Possibly Control arms, but I doubt it.
Lift it up, check for obvious play. Also broken belts inside the tire that can not be seen will give all sorts of problems. But since you have new tires I doubt that is it.

I live in NYC and yes grooves on highway could very noticeable. But my DWS tires track well. I can not complain.

 

I think the tire fix is too easy, especially when your dealing with loose steering. I cant see how changing tires would tighten your steering any. Sounds like its something on the steering column. This coming from a non mechanic type, but trying to use logical thinking.

Hope they find the fix soon.

 

Thanks guys, took the car to lexus. They said that there is too much play in a sway bar bracket. They replaced the bracket. The car now drive as good as new now.