BatKing

Hi,

I have been on 19" for exactly 2 years. my tire spec are Front: 245/35/19 Rear: 275/30/19. the tires only have about 15k miles on them. but all four tires had same problem. the inner side wall has curves like waves. or bubbles? I don't know how to say it. but here are the links to the pictures I took when I was changing oil today. (mods, I can't upload pictures. it keep saying invalid image)

Pictures to my tires

As you can see in the pictures. the tire still have tons of thread left as it only has 15K miles on it. I am planning change tires soon as you can see the tire is almost dead. but I have to find out why this is happening. I have Tein CS coil over. and that is the only mod along with the 19" wheels and tires. Wheels are Rays wheels that require hub rings and tires are Dunlop Lemans LM702

Also not only the inner side wall has all those waves curves, also the most inner threads are wearing unevenly. Like up and down and up in the direaction of front and rear(not left and right uneven due to bad camber). which makes my car viberates during 60 mph to 70mhp on the free way

All four tires has the same problem. the pictures I take is the worst one but the others are not much better. Anyone has any idea why this is happening? I don't want to spend another 1K on tires and end up the same a year later.

PS: all tires was mount at American Tires Co with Hunter machines.

redgs4

Did your tires look like this when they were first mounted? Have you ever had the tires removed and remounted? I'm wondering whether these are just bad tires or perhaps they were damaged during the mounting process.

Regarding the inner tread, It's hard to tell from your picture - but my old S03's had begun to cup and as a result were also very loud. Under 40 PSI you could not see the uneven wear but once the tires were removed you could see a wave-like wear on the inner portion of the tread. This comes from the tires being toe'd inward or outward too much.

Picture from the inner sidewall and cupped tread.

BatKing

Yea, the tires inner thread looks exactly like this, also the inner side wall is like this as you can see in the pictures. Even @ 38 PSI, it still look like this. the tires were brand new when it was mounted. If it was bad, how come all 4 has the same problem? Or this is the LM 702's problem? I know there are few people who are running LM 702 as they usually come as a package if you order JDM wheels directly from Japan.

If it was the tires, then I can just buy a set a new tires and consider myself unlucky. but I am just affraid this is due to my suspensions or other problem. I have done the alignment twice. Once after the Tein CS was installed and once after I put on the 19". I did have a little bit negative camber as our GS don't have a camber kit and I was told I am still in spec ( I lowerd to 2 finger tips). Is everyone who lowered their car need to change tires every 15k miles? Or just my problem is this BIG and why?

The Tein CS is still running good. No strange sound or any other sounds I can hear when passing bumpers. and it is still firm. won't bounce back and forth more than once if I push the car downward.

redgs4

Ok, so the tread problem is cupping and that can be corrected during alignment.

I don't have a good explanation for the inner sidewall issue. I have to ask again - did you get a good look at the inner sidewalls soon after they were originally mounted? It's hard to imagine that type of damage/deformation occurring as a result of normal wear and tear.

Are you located in Norcal?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I wouldn't expect more than 20K out of high performance tires on 19" rims on a car lowered with coilovers. My verdict, your situation is basically not that unusual.

BatKing

Yes, I did look at the inner sidewall right after the tires were mounted. They were perfect. and in fact I only bring the wheels and tires to the shop to get the tires installed and balanced. then I put on the wheels to my car in my homes garage. my first 5k miles on those tires were smooth like on silk. but the inner thread uneven were starting to appear after 5k miles. and the inner sidewall's curves became obvious after 10k. which American Tires Co won't even do the re-balance due to the curves.

BatKing

So what you mean is for all of us with coil over and 19" + rims. Our tires usually are done with damage like this other than threads gone. Maybe I should just going back to 17". after all it was for the look and I am not the one who is looking when I was driving. all i get is unconfort vibration and tire noise after 5k. My wife hates to ride in my car. and all my co-workers consider I am nut when riding in my car to lunch.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Sad but true. It is hit and miss with tires, driving habits, road conditions, alignment, ...

There was a whole thread on this awhile back:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-2nd-gen-1998-2005/23235-inside-wear-on-front-tires.html

BatKing

but isn't that thread is about unever theard wear due to bad camber?

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Yes and when you are on larger wheels and lowered, camber (alignment) would be an issue.
This is only one of a number of potential reasons,. I just wanted to point out that inside tire wear has been an on going problem for awhile now.

blueGS400

cupping is a possibility, but from the pics u took it looks to me like u have broken belts on the inner sidewall, broken belts will also cause the bubbles on the sidewall,,,,,,,,,,,i sale tires and rims for a living and to me it appears that u have broken belts, when u dismount the tire u should know becuase there will be a pile or ground up rubber in the tire, hope this helps

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

My experience with 17s, 18s, and now 19s on the car is 15-20K is it for performance tires. Granted different people have different driving habits, but most of mine is slow in the city stuff with the occasional 'twisty'. I don't do burnouts from lights either.

The coilovers mean you're not going to have perfect alignments so that contributes to inner tire wear too.

As far as comfort, vibration and tire noise, my experience says get hubcentric rims, get high speed on car balance, don't expect tires above 10k to be quiet (although my dunlop sp9000's have been terrific - now at about 14k), keep the damper settings high/soft (EDFC is fabulous) most of the time, keep the tire pressure fairly high (38 perhaps) and expect some vibration when the tires are very cold. Anything else will probably yield poor results one way or another.

At this point I expect if you get some new tires and the balance and alignment you will think you're in a new car and fall in love again.

merlin70

bitkahuna,

can you recommend anyone in the atlanta area who does a good on-car balance? I am getting some vibration on stock 17's on the highway.

Thanks!

morris

iTrader: (2)

I'm pretty sure that Butler tire does an on car balance but they are extremely expensive, once was enough for me.

BatKing

Sorry if this is a dump question. What is on-car balance? is that different to 4 wheel alignment and tire balance when the tires are being mounted?