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Guys, I wanted to get your input on my tire wear. Pics are LF and RF tires. as you can see, inner tread is wearing slightly faster than outside. Tires need replacement, but I wanted your thoughts on this uneven wear...is it a sign of needed front suspension work?.
Thanks in advance,
John
Unfortunately, this is very common with the 3GS. How many miles did you get out of the tires? My A/S 3's only lasted 26k before the tire compound broke down (Michelin had a couple bad years with this model). The inside of each tire was a bit worn, however. Definitely do an alignment, regardless.
I understand there is no camber adjustment on these cars.
Could you compensate by adding just a bit more toe in angle?
Or - is there any such thing as a performance oriented camber setting strut mount?
I have an older BMW 535i with that added - to increase camber, but you could use it to decrease camber instead.
Unfortunately, this is very common with the 3GS. How many miles did you get out of the tires? My A/S 3's only lasted 26k before the tire compound broke down (Michelin had a couple bad years with this model). The inside of each tire was a bit worn, however. Definitely do an alignment, regardless.
I put a cheap set on after I bought the car from CarMax. Brand is Ironman :-) The tires actually weren't all that bad considering they were only $80 a piece. I will check my records tonight to see how many miles I got on them..
Unfortunately, this is very common with the 3GS. How many miles did you get out of the tires? My A/S 3's only lasted 26k before the tire compound broke down (Michelin had a couple bad years with this model). The inside of each tire was a bit worn, however. Definitely do an alignment, regardless.
Yes I was a service advisor for some time and I remember GS300 and 400 were hard on front tires. I don't corner hard so I was surprised to see the inner wear. I agree the camber settings play a part. I also realize the front suspension settings allow the car to handle so well. I bought the car for the way it drives, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Just wanted to make sure a tie rod or stabilizer wasn't wearing out.
Actually the tire contact patch tends to flatten out when pushed into the corners as the body rolls. The outer tire under load rolls with the body. The inner may go more negative but it's loading is reduced thus its wear is too.
The wear looks good. As suggested, take the current toe value and decrease it, (toe in) to reduce inner wear. Honestly it looks like you managed the pressure well the only other thing might be to bump it 1/2 PSI in the front only to reduce edge scuffing.
The ISX are doing the same thing. Toe and pressure being the greater tire killers than negative camber. As Found mine was toed out nearly 1/4" and in 5000mi you could see the inside being eating. I set it to zero for now to see how it does.
Yours likely needs a 1/16" of toe in and then just watch the edges. Adjust toe for wear even if tech tells you that number is out of spec. Make sense?
I just rotated the tires on my 99 GS300, so I got a close look at the tire wear pattern, which I had been ignoring for way too long.<br /><br />One thing had been bothering me just a little, ever since the current tires were new, and got aligned to within spec.<br />The car handled nicely in most respects, but it tended to wander just slightly on center. Barely detectable, but there, if you paid attention.<br />I figured maybe it was something a little loose in the rear suspension, as I had just rebuilt the front end.<br />Couldn't be the tires, right? New. Well, maybe these tires just aren't great at precision, I thought. They're a soft quiet riding tire.<br />Couldn't be the alignment, right? Done.<br /><br />Well, the front inside edges were tapered off. More gradually then the OP photos show above. Fairly even across 1/3 to 1/2 the treadwidth.<br />Rear tires were flat and even, and noticeably less worn than the front.<br />Together with the other clue of wandering on center - the possibility presented itself that maybe the toe angle had actually been slightly outward all along, in spite of what the alignment shop's numbers showed.<br /><br />So, I adjusted the toe angle inward, about as small a change as you can do.<br />1/12 of a turn on each side. From the flat of the nut to the next point (6 sides on a nut).<br />Math says it's 0.1 degrees total, 0.05 each side. That amounts to 1/4 of the allowable spec range of 0.4 degrees.<br />Spec is +0.05 to -0.35 degrees total toe angle, so they allow a slight toe out.<br /><br />It did the trick. Tracks straight now. No slight wander on center. Probably could have doubled the change without issues.<br />I'm betting the fronts will wear flat now.<br /><br />Cheers
The main issue is toe, not camber, and its because of the rear bushing on the front lower control arm. It is extremely soft and even with a good alignment setup the car will experience a good toe deflection when braking/acceleration and during times of heavy suspension compression/rebound. The link below is a way to make this problem nearly non existent, coupled with a front toe setting of +0.03-0.05 (toe in). Steering response and feeling is greatly improved also.
The main issue is toe, not camber, and its because of the rear bushing on the front lower control arm. It is extremely soft and even with a good alignment setup the car will experience a good toe deflection when braking/acceleration and during times of heavy suspension compression/rebound. The link below is a way to make this problem nearly non existent, coupled with a front toe setting of +0.03-0.05 (toe in). Steering response and feeling is greatly improved also.
I agree that bushing is a failure point on the front suspension, but the factory bushing is so cheap to replace. I would go against putting any polyurethane bushings on a daily driven car, unless you dont mind squeaks
Oem replacement is an option, but considering that tire wear starts as early as 20k miles, seems somewhat expensive and redundent to replace the same bushing over and over again with a part you know is prone to failure. I've been using poly bushings on cars for many years and have only had squeaking issues with one company of the many used. If greased and installed properly, squeaking isn't a real issue. Worst case scenario, I wouldnt mind regressing a bushing every year or two, versus replacing tires and new oem bushings that will begin to fail again shortly.
Had the same problem; was getting 15k miles out of a new set of tires. Also, lower control arm bushings were gone. A local mechanic suggested replacing shocks since the car had 110k miles (had been getting serviced exclusively at Lexus dealership and this was never mentioned. Following shock replacement and bushing replacement because the weak shocks destroyed them, no inside tire wear. PS, if you have an awd, as I did, Lexus doesn’t make a replacement lower control arm bushing; you have to purchase the entire LCA just to replace the bushing (that might have changed and perhaps someone makes a legit aftermarket bushing). The only place I could find a replacement was eBay. Nine years and 25k miles later (I don’t drive much), those bushings are still good.
I do not drive my 2006 GS430 with 42K miles often and was wondering if age alone can cause a need to replace tires. Current tires have been on for 8 years and in that span, I have driven the car under 10K miles. Tread has not changed much from new but I was wondering about drying out. No cracks are present... Hankook ventus S1 noble2 all season are the current tires.
Not trying to steal this thread but after reading all the posts I started thinking about tire age...
I do not drive my 2006 GS430 with 42K miles often and was wondering if age alone can cause a need to replace tires. Current tires have been on for 8 years and in that span, I have driven the car under 10K miles. Tread has not changed much from new but I was wondering about drying out. No cracks are present... Hankook ventus S1 noble2 all season are the current tires.
Not trying to steal this thread but after reading all the posts I started thinking about tire age...
Yes of course, tires have a life span and it all depends on the climate that you are in. Hot climate tires will dry rot quicker, Cold not so much. But the overall ride will change as older tires will run harsher. I would swap out to a new set of rubber, especially if you plan on doing highway speeds, it would be dangerous as the tires can split on you.
I will be checking into a new set of tires on Tuesday. Leaning towards General RT43's because I have had them on other cars and they have always performed well in all types of weather.
09-18-17, 05:14 AM
Tire Wear Analysis
