Anybody tried new bushings for premature tyre wear?

[Nateeeeee]

Hi!

I've been doing a lot of reading up on the IS300h and so far I'm getting more convinced on potentially getting one, the only thing turning me off on them is the premature tyre wear reports.

So far almost all MOT result (I know those aren't too reliable) checks I see will have some sort of tyre wear notice, which kind of freaks me out given MOTs are done annually. I'm not keen on buying new tyres almost every year I own it.

While reading up on this specific issue I found this article: https://motoiq.com/fixing-rapid-front-tire-wear-on-the-lexus-is-with-figs-engineering/

The article cites these bushings: https://shopfigs.com/v5/SUSPENSION-CHASSIS/BUSHINGS_BEARINGS/cat-is-bushings/L1025

Seems like a fairly common issue, anybody tried this solution? Also did you get the Figs? It's in the US so I'd have to import them, anybody know of an alternative that offer similar quality and results?

Possibly a stupid question, if I do use it does it need to be declared on insurance? Sorry, never was interested nor modified a car in my life so never had to cross this bridge but if these bushings potentially make the car better I'd be willing to.

Edit:

More digging got me positive feedback on the RC F bushings too as an alternative to the Figs / RR Racing they said if I'd just want to drastically improve the tyre wear.

48075-24010
48076-24010

[wharfhouse]

58 minutes ago, Nateeeeee said:

Hi!

I've been doing a lot of reading up on the IS300h and so far I'm getting more convinced on potentially getting one, the only thing turning me off on them is the premature tyre wear reports.

So far almost all MOT result (I know those aren't too reliable) checks I see will have some sort of tyre wear notice, which kind of freaks me out given MOTs are done annually. I'm not keen on buying new tyres almost every year I own it.

While reading up on this specific issue I found this article: https://motoiq.com/fixing-rapid-front-tire-wear-on-the-lexus-is-with-figs-engineering/

The article cites these bushings: https://shopfigs.com/v5/SUSPENSION-CHASSIS/BUSHINGS_BEARINGS/cat-is-bushings/L1025

Seems like a fairly common issue, anybody tried this solution? Also did you get the Figs? It's in the US so I'd have to import them, anybody know of an alternative that offer similar quality and results?

Possibly a stupid question, if I do use it does it need to be declared on insurance? Sorry, never was interested nor modified a car in my life so never had to cross this bridge but if these bushings potentially make the car better I'd be willing to.

Edit:

More digging got me positive feedback on the RC F bushings too as an alternative to the Figs / RR Racing they said if I'd just want to drastically improve the tyre wear.

48075-24010
48076-24010

To put things into perspective - I have run my 2014 IS 300h from when it was two years old until today (so for 8 years now) and in that time taken it from 40k miles to 152K miles. Without fail, the front tyres have always lasted 40k miles and the rears 20k miles. There has always been some inner edge wear front and rear but not excessive and when I replaced the tyres they were always  around 3mm tread in the centre even through the inside edges were a bit less, as I understand it that is normal geometry for the car. Some people have changed the bushings on here and so I'm sure they will come in to let you know how much difference it made. But overall, tyre wear is not excessive on the IS 300h - if it is then there is an alignment problem that needs sorting first and that will be 80% of the issue with changing bushes 20% difference at most.

[Nateeeeee]

10 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

To put things into perspective - I have run my 2014 IS 300h from when it was two years old until today (so for 8 years now) and in that time taken it from 40k miles to 152K miles. Without fail, the front tyres have always lasted 40k miles and the rears 20k miles. There has always been some inner edge wear front and rear but not excessive and when I replaced the tyres they were always  around 3mm tread in the centre even through the inside edges were a bit less, as I understand it that is normal geometry for the car. Some people have changed the bushings on here and so I'm sure they will come in to let you know how much difference it made. But overall, tyre wear is not excessive on the IS 300h - if it is then there is an alignment problem that needs sorting first and that will be 80% of the issue with changing bushes 20% difference at most.

Sounds reasonable, that does ease my worries about it.

If I do get the car I did budget on refreshing all the tyres as soon as I can even if the ones that come with the purchase still has some good life left on them, it's just something my dad taught me when buying used cars. Once I actually have the car, and get tyres  I should be able to monitor the situation and act accordingly. I'll heed your advise and check alignment first if ever I do see excessive wear.

The RC F bushes aren't too expensive though so if ever I do notice excessive wear and plan for an alignment I might just go with it prior the alignment might as well do it if it's cheap enough and people offer positive feedback with the swap.

Cheers mate you've been answering all my question on here! Thanks so much!

[wharfhouse]

4 minutes ago, Nateeeeee said:

Sounds reasonable, that does ease my worries about it.

If I do get the car I did budget on refreshing all the tyres as soon as I can even if the ones that come with the purchase still has some good life left on them, it's just something my dad taught me when buying used cars. Once I actually have the car, and get tyres  I should be able to monitor the situation and act accordingly. I'll heed your advise and check alignment first if ever I do see excessive wear.

The RC F bushes aren't too expensive though so if ever I do notice excessive wear and plan for an alignment I might just go with it prior the alignment might as well do it if it's cheap enough and people offer positive feedback with the swap.

Cheers mate you've been answering all my question on here! Thanks so much!

Just to add that my car is on standard 17" rims - if you get an F-Sport (or Premier) they have 18" rims and so tyres may not have quite the same mileage as I'm getting.

[Nateeeeee]

20 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Just to add that my car is on standard 17" rims - if you get an F-Sport (or Premier) they have 18" rims and so tyres may not have quite the same mileage as I'm getting.

No I'm not going for the F-sport nor Premier, I don't need much. It says 17s on the ad.

Actually now that I see your profile, I'm eying exactly the same model and year haha!

[wharfhouse]

26 minutes ago, Nateeeeee said:

No I'm not going for the F-sport nor Premier, I don't need much. It says 17s on the ad.

Actually now that I see your profile, I'm eying exactly the same model and year haha!

The OEM tyres on my car were Yokohama Bluearth E51A that I found perfectly adequate across a range of conditions and so I've continued to have these fitted at again each renewal - I get these fitted at my local Lexus dealer as they are always cheaper than anywhere else around me. 

[Nateeeeee]

20 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

The OEM tyres on my car were Yokohama Bluearth E51A that I found perfectly adequate across a range of conditions and so I've continued to have these fitted at again each renewal - I get these fitted at my local Lexus dealer as they are always cheaper than anywhere else around me. 

Cheers I'll keep that in mind!

[Mr_Groundhog]

Hello and welcome. This was mentioned here before, check this video, there you can see the part numbers and everything in these two links:

 

 

[googsy]

On a positive note the 17inch tyres seem to be very reasonable even for the premium brands. The 18s are more expensive as you need 2 different sizes . The rears being wider are much more expensive than the fronts.