TraceZ

Hello,

I have a 2011 IS250 AWD that I purchased last year with 19k miles on it. The selling dealer had just put a cheap set of new tires on it, some "Primwell" brand I've never encountered prior.

This is my second 2011 IS250 AWD, as my first was totaled out and taken by the insurance company. I immediately noted this new to me lower mileage car did not drive as nice and quiet as the prior car. I attributed this to the cheap tires but as time went on I began to suspect maybe a wheel bearing was making noise? Or is it just the cheap tires? The car does go strait down the road

Fast forward one year. The car now has 31K on it and I've noticed that the front left tire has no tread left at all on its inside edge. It is worn evenly and smooth, all the way around the edge with no cupping. The outermost tread block is completely gone.
I took the car in to a shop to have the alignment checked and it was entirely in spec with the exception of the front right being .08 toe when the factory spec is up to .07. The shop also took the car for a test drive. The shop manager told me that he wouldn't spend the money to get it aligned for that small of a toe change and that he does not think that could cause abnormal tire wear. Also, overall toe was in-spec. He then tried to sell me tires, claiming the wear and noise I'm experiencing is all just because the tires are low quality. I've never heard of a tire wearing like this just because it's a cheap tire and have a hard time believing what he is saying. My opinion is that a toe issue is at play, but the shop says otherwise.

I'd like to get a set of top quality tires for this car but am hesitant to do that prior to figuring out this issue.
Does the forum have any wisdom on this?

Thanks!
Tracy

primavera

Several members were able to correct the problem with the new lower control arm bushings.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ushings-3.html

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

@TraceZ
Your intuition is spot on. Although the tires are cheap, they are not the cause of the wear. As for the tech and his opinion, he is missing part of the equation. Just because it has a specification, alignment with reference to tire wear must include how the car is used. If you drove all freeway miles one could tailor the the alignment to get the best wear on long runs. If however, you do a lot of short trips, one can tailor the alignment to this type of usage.

All of that aside, minor changes in toe coupled with the correct tire pressure for the way you use the vehicle can help tire life dramatically. If it were mine I would do the following:

Replace the the front lower control arm bushings (LCA) with firmer ones (from a sportier Lexus), post the alignment data if you have. We may want to zero the toe or toe it in to reduce inner wear. You WANT the tech to see the tire wear the way it is now. You do not want to wait to see the new tires worn unless they are unsafe.

Let us know if you want the part numbers for the LCA. I did it to mine and set the toe proper so there is no inner tire wear.

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

The right tire is normal? It seems that the alignment is off or something else is wrong. The IS is known to have inner wear on the front, but it wears evenly on both tires to around 20K. I found that keeping the tires inflated helps a lot with it -- I keep it inflate a little more than normal at 37 front and 38 rear.

Better tires will help with noise. Primewell is a low budget brand.

Zmon

iTrader: (2)

Can def confirm they wear on the inside of the front tires as I'm going through this now with a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3+'s that have 40k on them, had an alignment done when I had new rears put on last year and had it aligned to factory specs instead of having the aligner zero out the toe as much as possible. Insides aren't completely worn down yet, but they're getting replaced in the next month anyways. Some stiffer LCAs (RC-F's, or even IS-F's?) would def fix that.

TraceZ

I took the car to a second alignment shop last week. I was wrong on the wear being only on the left front tire, it is indeed on both front tires, just a little worse on the left side.

The shop again inspected the suspension and performed an alignment check. It is in spec, and there are no detectable worn components.
They recommended I take the car to the Lexus dealer and have them look at it.

Based on what I'm seeing here I see a better direction.
1) Have the toe set to 0 instead of the factory spec.
2) Rotate the tires front to rear during this next test period
3) Air the tires to 37 front and 38 rear
4) Observe the front tires for reoccurring wear
5) If wear continues, upgrade the front LCA bushings, get another alignment and observe again

Look like a plan?

TraceZ

More info:

How I drive the car...
I am an enthusiast with a small collection of cars that I at times like to drive in a more spirited manner. I have taken HPDE classes and have driven at Road America.

This Lexus is my commuter car.
My drive to work is 20 minutes, 10 minutes in city, and 10 minutes on traffic clogged country highway. There are a couple round-abouts that I get to take sometimes with a little gusto depending on traffic.
There are some corners I enjoy keeping a brisk pace around, again depending on traffic.

MikeFig82

iTrader: (13)

For my AWD I had the Mom, and Pop tech do my alignment.
It ended being Camber .01, and Toe to 0. My tires wear pretty decent if I rotate them every oil change. He tried to get 0 on the Camber, but it would always move back, and forth. I told him I'm good with it.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

You need to post the As Left Alignment values. Yes, it is likely that a zero toe helps but what if it's at zero now?

Yes, a little more air pressure keep the fronts from rounding the edges but that doesn't mean you need to increase the rear.

What are the actual current toe and camber values?

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

That's what I would do before doing more. If you want better drivability and less noise, you should put in better tires when these worn out.