raott

Can someone educate me on the wear of low profile tires.

I have a 2016 IS300 F Sport. In the fall, I was told by the dealership that I need to replace my front tires, and did so with the OEM Bridgestones. I think I had about 30k on them, so that seemed about right. Nothing was said about the rear tires on that visit or the next visit. Two visits later, the advisor told me I had no tread on my rear tires and had to replace them ASAP (again, nothing had been said on the prior visit). He told me he did not have the Bridgestones in stock for the rear tire, and my only choice was to drive around town and find some, or to replace all four tires with a different brand, telling me the brand had to be the same on the front and back. I couldn't find the Bridgestones anywhere so I ended up going back to the dealership and buying four new tires (Michelins). I kept the Bridgestones that were on the front and they are sitting in my garage.

The Michelins are about 13k miles old and began making a noise a couple of weeks ago. It almost sounds like a flat tire, but there is no corresponding vibration. I took the car into the shop and was told both front tires needed to be replaced. The service sheet says "both front tires severely feathered and worn" and that was causing the noise. This advisor said I only needed to replace the front, and offered me a deal on a different brand. I told him a previous advisor told me I had to keep the same brands on the front and back, he acted surprised and told me that was untrue.

So my questions are:
1) I've looked at the front tires but don't have a lot of experience with low profile tires. But these do NOT look worn at all. There seems to be plenty of tread. What should I be looking for to see if they are "feathered and severely worn"? I've pretty much lost faith in the advice I'm getting at the dealership.

2) Can I mix brands and have a different brand on the front vs the back?

3) Is 13k about right? I know there is a warning that they may need to be replaced at 15K, but these tires simply appear to have plenty of tread to my untrained eye and the Bridgestones seemed to last a much more reasonable amount.

Thanks!

ssmoked

Taking your car to the dealership for new tires is like burning money. Find a local tire shop and you will save at least 25%

As long the front and rear axle has the same tire (side to side), its fine. Never put different brands or age on the same axle as every tire has different tractions and could cause lose control in rain or heavy acceleration.

Take a few pictures of the tire, and post it here and we will judge it honestly.

for the IS models, you will have negative camber wear on the front tires. Where the inner tires wear out much faster than outside edge. It's normal

raott

Ok, thank you. I did turn the tires so I could get a better look and it does appear the inner part is much more worn that the middle or outer part. I will take a picture later today and post it.

Mike200T

When was the last time the vehicle had a 4 wheel alignment? The IS has camber from the factory but it can worsen over 40K miles. When they installed the 4 Michelins, did they do an alignment? If they didn't do an alignment, they set you up for failure. Also, which Michelins did they sell you?

You want to look at the UTQG rating of the tire. The higher the number, the longer the life you'll get out of the tire. Very soft sporty tires will have ratings in the 100's. Typically All-Season tires have 400+ rating. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 which are a Max Summer tire only have a rating of 220 while the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ which are an All-Season tire has a rating of 500.

Here is some good information on understanding tire rating and how it relates to tread wear ... https://www.kaltire.com/utqg-ratings/

specONE

iTrader: (3)

Camber will not change over time. There is no camber adjustment from factory.
You probably mean Toe. Toe is what can go off from factory over time due to rough roads such as potholes and jumping up/off curbs

Sasnuke

Realistically you hit enough stuff over time (pot holes, speed bumps, curbs) there is potential to throw any of the alignment angles out of spec.
You could say the toe is maybe the easiest to throw out of range, but really they are all fair game.
The AWD does have camber adjustment on the front, and all models have toe adjustment on the front and rear.
Technically you can adjust caster on the front as Lexus sells several different lower control arms for the front that have different caster angles built into them. Not necessarily the easiest to install though.

EZZ

Always always always get alignment with new tires. I tend to get mine done every 10k mikes as some of the roads near my house develop big pot holes. An alignment is cheaper than ruining a set of PSS.

1Louder

I know this is an old-school suggestion, but stick a penny (head up) in your tread at it's most worn point. If the tread depth is equal to or greater than the top of Lincoln's head, you are OK. Equal to or less, time to replace. I've gone by that for years/decades. Of course if you have any kind of unusual wear get that looked into.

This is my first summer-tire experience and I'm ditching them for all-seasons at the end of the summer. I get a solid 40-50K wear out of a good high-performance all season.