jre002

Sorry about your issues. I still think it is the tires, which is strange because Michelins are usually well made. I only had this problem once personally with a set of Falkens on my old car. The car pulled pretty badly and lost it's luxury feel. Ironically, I exchanged them for the OEM Michelins to correct the problem. After that, I never used any other tires on that car besides the Michelins.

This happens more often than you think.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I'm going to start with the easiest question to answer first...

on your wheels, the only way to help is to get a tech that is being extra careful and not in a hurry. Two other small tips are to clean the duckhead (the plastic piece that is responsible for mounting and dismounting the tire), and to use a nylon sock on the bar that he uses to pry the tire off... any damage that is going to be done will be during the dismount process...

The Lexus tech is very correct, seldom do things get better when it comes to a tire pull. However, typically they don't get much worse either...

Cross camber is within specification, however, some vehicles are more sensitive to this than others. Yours may be one. I would compare ride height from side to side. Being that the SAI and IA are good, as I previously mentioned, I wouldn't say anything was bent. The difference in camber could be because of a slightly sagging spring on the left front. I really wish I had access to an alignment machine right now so I could look up and confirm there were no camber adjustments for those cars. I do have an idea however. Try calling NAPA. Ask them for camber adjustment kits for the front of your car. They do not show them online, but they have a book you might be able to walk in and look at called NA08 or NA09 (Napa Alignment 2008, etc). This book has every part Napa makes for correcting alignment issues, and most cars have something listed for them. This may be your ticket...

Caster is not going to cause your issue, as there is very very little. Same as camber though, getting it fixed might be enough to fix your issue.

Pilot Sport PS2's are awesome tires, but they will not last nearly as long as the A/S's, and they definitely have no all season ability. They do perform quite nicely in the rain, however.

Best of luck to ya... lemme know what Napa says...

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I was told by a tire manufacturer upper level tech support guy that they figure it's somewhere in the realm of 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 tires built, and that higher performance tires typically had a higher instance of "reported" tire pull... because not all pulling tires are reported (some may end up on the rear of a car and wear too much for warranty before being rotated to the front where they then cause a pull, and those don't get accounted for), it's impossible to come up with a true estimate, but he had been there long enough and had enough data to support those estimates, although they are quite varied...

so, for every set of tires sold, you have somewhere between a 1 in 250 and 1 in 2,500 chance of having a radial tire pull...

GS2006

Thanks,
Tried to call but they are all closed. I will give one a call tomorrow. They have some kits on line which seems to be just a bolt, nut and washers. However, only Lexus cars found are:
• ES 250
• ES 300
• ES 330
• ES 350
• RX 300
• RX 330
• RX 350
• RX 400h
http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S...Dn=0&Dk=1&Dp=3

I’m leaning toward either getting the PS2 or just living with it.

GS2006

Before this, I have had two radial pulls. One on this car that showed up on rotation new and on a new set of cheep tires for an old truck. I guess I'm lucky.

As for these tires, I leaning more toward a tire spec or process than a normal radial pull defect. Looking around, there seems to more reports. I suspect this does not bother some people so they do not notice it.


Apparently Lexus is/was using Goodyear for some of their OEM tires for other vehicles. He told me they were having all kinds of pulling and vibration issues/complaints.

GS2006

Called Napa. I could hear him flipping though pages. They have no kits for 2006 GS. He said try Lexus..

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Damn, sorry man...

It wouldn't hurt to try the other set of tires though... might be enough to get rid of your issue....

I wish someone else would chime in and say either yes or no that there is camber adjustment in the front...

maybe PM RTIS250... he seems to have good knowledge on these cars as well...

GS2006

That would be would great. I started a thread about this and here is the responses I got:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...eel-drive.html

thanks

GS2006

Quick question. Since it is not real bad, would runing more pressure on one side help? If so which side (I was thinking passenger side) and how much before it has effect on tire wear?
thanks
has 33-34 cold now.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

lower pressure = higher rolling resistance, higher pressure = lower rolling resistance

if it is pulling to the right, theoretically, you should lower pressure on the left, or raise pressure on the right, or both...

no clue what it will do to tire wear though... I assume it would accelerate it, but have no data as to how much...

GS2006

I tried 37psi on right 34psi left cold.
At lower speed it seems to have more effect. Highway speed not as much. I’m surprised how sensitive the car is to the pressure difference. Still drifts slightly.

GS2006

As it was pointed out earlier in this thread, MB got tired of debugging the prior generation of this tire:

TSB P-40_10-43 - Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Tires Not Approved
On January 16, 2004 Mercedes Benz issues a Star Bulletin to all their dealers as follows:
________________________________________
SUBJECT: All Passenger Models
Michelin Pilot Sports A/S Tires

Please be advised that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (all season) is not an approved (nor certified) Mercedes-Benz tire for any Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicle. Use of the above mentioned tire can cause vehicle tracking issues which MBUSA will not attempt to correct. MBUSA will not perform warranty wheel alignments on any subject vehicle which has any non-approved wheel/tire packages installed.
_______________________________________


then in June

Michelin ³Mercedes-Benz & Michelin Pilot Sport A/S² Technical Bulletin dated June, 2004. covers the slight modifications Michelin has made to selected sizes of the Pilot Sport A/S tire line to allow them to better complement medium and large sedans.

While the Pilot Sport A/S modifications are unlikely to change MBUSA¹s policy of not covering the costs associated with the diagnosis and correction of drivability problems of vehicles equipped with non-OE tires under warranty, test results have made Michelin very confident they have eliminated the cause of the subtle drifting experienced on a limited number of vehicles.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This TSB specifically singles out Michelin Pilot A/S. Then later widens to all non-OE tires. They state Michelin took action to resolve the issue, however I would not be surprised it has come back around in at least the 3rd Gen GS in low profile 18”s.

If I switch to the PS2s, I sure hope I do not encounter this again.

jane12

Had bought a new ford ranger and out of the lot it pulled to the left, a lot. Took it back for 2 years and they gave it an alignment and would give it back. Tires worn out after 10,000 miles. New tires and it was perfect. Bad tires happen.

GS2006

Mitsuguy,
Looking at DT site and the PS2, they have a smaller resolution of this picture.
I almost laughed but not funny. Notice the rim. This is the type of damage seen from removal I'm talking about.

GS2006

Mitsuguy,
When you had the drifting issues with the older A/S tires on the MB cars, did going to another tire resolve the customers pulling/drifting issues?

Talked to the DT tech. They called Michelin and set up most of the particulars and he ordered the tires from Houston. It will take a week to get to the northern part of Texas. Lexus is confident the tires are the issue. DT hopes they are right but does not think it is the case. I sure hope the asymmetric Pilot PS2 tire resolves the issue. Not near the tread life though. Been a frustrating experience but so far everyone involved has been very helpful. Must not be that big of a demand for the generic PS2 in this large city.

Talked to the DT guy and described the concerns about the mounting and he asked were the area was located. He then new it was the dismounting. Said they would take the necessary precautions.

Thanks.