Mike_TX

SWB with only 3800 miles, and today I noticed some "stairstep" wear on one of my front tires because of the way the sun was hitting it. Checked the other tires, and it seems to be both fronts. It appears to be just the outermost tread row.

It's the kind of wear you can see at certain angles because it casts little shadows beside each of the tread blocks. And if I run my hand gently over it, the tread blocks are smooth in one direction and rough in the other direction. IOW, if I run my hand over the driver's side tread surface, it is smooth going counter-clockwise but it "snags" my fingertips going clockwise. The passenger side is just the opposite, since it corresponds to the direction the wheels roll.

So I guess I"m wondering if this is something peculiar to the LS, or if my car came out of alignment.

If any of you think about it, try holding your fingers together and running them both directions around your front tire on the tread surface. If you feel some snags going one direction, let me know.

I'll be discussing this with the dealer at my first service in a week or so, but I want to go in armed.

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Craig B

Have your alignment and tire balance checked. My car doesn't look or feel like that...

Craig

Mike_TX

Thanks, Craig - I definitely will. The car doesn't have any vibration in the wheel and doesn't pull or anything, but I don't want it to get out of hand.

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Nospinzone

Definitely out of alignment.

350Dave

Have the front end and alignment checked. It might be a good idea to rotate your front tires side to side. Sometimes when they roll the opposite direction they will clean up the irregular wear, if not too far gone...

OBI_agent

^
+1....Alignment setting is a must.

Mike_TX

Thanks, gents. I was going to have my first oil change done in about 2 weeks, but I think I'll move it up and get this looked at, too.

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way2late

350Dave, the owner's manual recommends keeping tires on same side of car when rotating.

Mike_TX

Yeah, I wouldn't criss-cross 'em, but I may have them put the fronts on the back so the unusual wear doesn't continue.

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onepointon

Tire rotation is usually included in your 5,000 mile service (or any oil change service for that matter). When you take it in for service, the front tires will be rotated to the rear of the vehicle, and stay on the same side.

I would mention the cupping to the service writer and let them know your concern for tire wear. There is a 1 year / 20,000 mile warranty for your alignment. Im going to guess its going to be under warranty for an alignment, which is probably your problem, as stated. Also, how is your tire pressure? It is recommended at 33psi. Anything higher or lower could technically contribute to this, although, most likely is alignment.

Mike_TX

I'm keeping it at 33, or as close as possible considering the weather/temp changes. I have a compressor and keep a close eye on my tires. In fact, I keep the TPMS display as my "default" view (as I mentioned somewhere else, I'm **** about tire pressure)

Thanks again for the tips.

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Mike_TX

Okay - finally got the LS back. They kept it overnight because I had them look at a couple of other minor things while they had it.

Bottom line is that the alignment was indeed out of whack. They had a detailed printout in the paperwork, and I think it was toe-in or something that was off. In any case, they re-did it and rotated the tires.

If the aberrant wear doesn't correct itself, and shortens the life of those two tires, I'm not above going back to them a year from now and requesting a couple of new tires!

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garyr

My rears were out at 7,500. They did a four wheel alignment and fixed it. My rear tires were scuffing.

You should be fine with the tires now that the alignment was done, they will correct themselves and wear ok.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

if you have outside wear, it's very possible that you have too much toe in, causing the "feathering" wear you experience on the outside. glad that they fixed it

Mike_TX

Here's the paperwork on my alignment. (Ignore the "'07" at the top, they apparently use the same specs for the '08.)

I'm a little puzzled that a couple of the numbers are still "in the red" after the alignment (SAI and Cross SAI, whatever that is. ). But it was toe and total toe that was most out of spec.

Onepointon - can you tell me why the SAI numbers are still red after the alignment?

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