highmiles

THE BAD PART:

When I had my 5K service I had noticed that my car tracked straight but that the steering wheel was slightly turned to the right. I asked for an Alignment check and my Dealer corrected the steering wheel problem.

At about 9K I started getting some excessive noise from my tires. When I went in for my 10K service I asked that they balance the tires but did not mention the extra noise. At 12K the noise became too irritating to ignore so I went back to the dealer and complained about the noise. One of the Techs drove it, came back, felt the inside of the tires as said that my tires had "cupped" due to an Alignment problem. They corrected the Alignment but the tire damage was done. The noise and ride only got worse. Thought I was going to have to start taking a bus to get away from the noise.

We started exploring replacement tires. My dealer found a set of Bridgestone Turanza Run Flats (a new model) and we ordered them. Got them replace and so far so good. I just picked up my car today so I have only driven it 20 miles. I will let you know what I think of these new tires. I have raved before about Turanzas on my 98GS so my expectations are high.

THE GOOD PART:

My dealer gave me 50% credit for my Yokohama with 13K miles on them. I am pleased and know that it is my fault for not taking my car to the dealer as soon as I started hearing any noise. In my defense clearly my car and me don't sit still very often so I kept putting it off.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

If you have a GS430 with Yokohama Run Flat get the Alignment checked at your next (or first in most cases) 5K service. Don't wait like I did and ruin your tires.

BRAKING P.S.

Since my dealer changed my front rotors my braking has improved dramatically. None of the initial "grabby" feel. My brakes feel a lot like my 98GS did.

GS300Rich

It sounds like you have a real stand-up dealership there that really prides itself on customer service. That is a great way to keep the customers coming back. Too bad all lexus dealers arent like that.

How many miles do you drive in a week?

LS4fun

Your CL name is quite fitting....highmiles....

chuckb

just curious-why did you buy runflats again?

doug_999

I've got the same thing on my 03 - mine is a thump thump noise and my alignment has been perfect since day one (no pull, no steering wheel issues). The dealer has offered nothing other than "you need new tires". Car has 26K on it and over half the miles have been on the snow tires.

chuckb

hey doug-I know you've been fighting that forever. are you sure you don't have a bent rim?

doug_999

It's possible. Or maybe a flatspot on the wheel. It is most pronouced when decellerating and coming to a stop. When they told me it was the tires last year I thought "I'll put my snows on and show them" - but sure enough it went away with the snows on*. I had forgotten about it until I put my regular rims and tires back on.

*with my snows, I've got a thumping noise out of the REAR wheels - thus my other issue. I think my car hates me.

highmiles

When I bought my car it came with Run Flats and I wasn't given any tire options. As far as the replacement set goes my dealer said it might be difficult to change to regular tires as my Low Pressure light would always be on without the sensors. I'll give these Bridgestones a try before giving up on Run Flats. I clearly have plenty of opportunity to try different tires as I buy a new set every 9-12 months.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

This is just one my my dumb questions, but why would you have to remove the low pressure sensors from the rim (As I usnderstand it is a specail valve stem) to install regular radial tires? I know many others that run tire pressure sensors with regular tires. They are a must for run flats, but also can be used on normal tires as well. The Acura RL uses 4 wheel independent real time pressure warning system (Displays the actual tire pressure of each tire) with regular tires.

lexuslover

you can have regular tires w/ the low pressure sensors. i have them on my Yokohama OEM tires/wheels. they work very well; i got a nail in the sidewall already and the sensor came on every time it lost too much pressure (i pumped it up twice).

yes, the sensors are part of the valve stem. i switched to chrome rims when i did the flat tire swap. the sensors make it a bit trickier, but most shops know how to do it. i have not had any problems w/ the sensors on the SC or GS after doing a wheel and/or tire swap. to my understanding, sometimes if you get different size wheels that can't accommodate the stems you might have a problem.