Uneven rear tyre wear

[Gediredi]

Dear fellow Lexus owners.

I have had a Lexus IS300h for 4 years and recently (about 16 months ago) an ES300h.

Both cars I have had problems with strange uneven tyre wear on the rear tyres!

On my IS it developed a strange drumming / droning noise. Several passengers commented that they thought a wheel bearing was going. I took it to my local Lexus dealer who (after denying they could hear anything)  diagnosed uneven tyre wear across the tread of one of the rear tyres - nothing wrong with the suspension or wheel alignment. Sure enough when the tyres were changed the noise went away.

I just put it down to a quirk of that particular car.

Now, on my ES (done about 25000 miles) the same noise has returned!

This time I took it to a garage who did some insurance work on the car earlier this year and acted dumb.

They also told me this car had uneven tyre wear across the tread of the rear offside tyre, which results in this noise.

They also took it to a tyre specialist who confirmed it.

I asked for possible causes and they shrugged their shoulders, suggested tyre inflation incorrect (I am rather anal about tyre pressures.. so.. no!).

Also suggested a faulty tyre! (They are the Lexus supplied Michelins).

I am a 53 year old Director and not given to "drifting" my Lexus around! I prefer to waft along gently, as you should in a Lexus.

Anyone else have this problem? Not someting I have experienced with other cars, two in a row sounds ...odd.

 

[m4rkw]

I ran into this on a previous vehicle after setting them religiously to the pressure on the door placard only to find I had wear on the outer edges and garages were telling me my tyres were under-inflated.

See this article: http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/61

Although possibly not so relevant for such a new car, if the excess wear is on the outer edges of the tyre then you might try adding a bit more. The door placard / owners manual pressure is the *minimum* and air machines at petrol stations probably aren't 100% accurate.

[Gediredi]

Sorry I probably didnt explain well enough. The wear shows as uneven wear across the tread rather than at the edges. if you run your hand across the tread from outside to in you can feel some parts are higher than others as you move from outside to in, almost like the tyres are ridged, its not like the outer edges or inner edges are worn due to under or over inflation really.

 

[royoftherovers]

22 minutes ago, Gediredi said:

Sorry I probably didnt explain well enough. The wear shows as uneven wear across the tread rather than at the edges. if you run your hand across the tread from outside to in you can feel some parts are higher than others as you move from outside to in, almost like the tyres are ridged, its not like the outer edges or inner edges are worn due to under or over inflation really.

 

Ged, how do you negotiate speed bumps ?

[Gediredi]

40 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Ged, how do you negotiate speed bumps ?

Now thats a good question. The way the roads are theres no way to get to and from my house without going over several speed bumps. Some of which are quite savage! Some are the small pillow type.

I have been told speed bumps can play havoc with wheel alignment etc.

[royoftherovers]

54 minutes ago, Gediredi said:

Now thats a good question. The way the roads are theres no way to get to and from my house without going over several speed bumps. Some of which are quite savage! Some are the small pillow type.

I have been told speed bumps can play havoc with wheel alignment etc.

And play havoc with tyres too !

Are you able to change your route to avoid or minimise their effect ?

[Gediredi]

Sadly no, there are 2 routes that both merge into one road that leads into my part of the estate. Both routes have plenty of speed bumps. No choice but to go over speed bumps to get to and from my house.

[royoftherovers]

8 hours ago, Gediredi said:

Sadly no, there are 2 routes that both merge into one road that leads into my part of the estate. Both routes have plenty of speed bumps. No choice but to go over speed bumps to get to and from my house.

If possible, do not straddle speed bumps. but drive over them with one front wheel over the centre and the other on the flat.