Lx450 Wandering At Highway Speeds

bonknhead · November 12, 2004

I posted this on another board, but I thought I'd post here to a different audience. I just started having a problem with highway "wandering" after upgrading my wheels and tires on my '97 LX450. Handling at lower speeds is much better than before though. The wheels I have on it now are 20x9 Devino Mallets with 295/50-20 Falken STZ04 tires. Previous tires were 265-75-16 Toyos on MHT wheels, 16x8. I had a 4-wheel alignment by a competent shop too.

My LX is affected mostly by the rutted, grooved highways here in Oregon (caused by the fools that think they need studded tires *every* October to March for the 1-2" of snow we might get). I brought the tire pressure down from 35psi to 32psi with no improvement. Anyone ever have any similar issues after upgrading their tires/wheels?

dougjohn2 · November 12, 2004

Reducing tire pressure will make the tires want to follow the imperfections in the road more than if the pressure is higher. However, higher tire pressure will likely give you a stiffer ride.

Some tires are better than others when it comes to how they handle the grooves in the roads.

With the wheel/tires you have on, you're still at the same general size as stock, so it's the that you increased overall size that's causing this. I think it's the tire.

EnDLesS · November 12, 2004

With the 20x9 ur handling suppose to be good n grip better.

I have 23x11 with 305/30/23 Pirelli Asimmetrico 50psi max pressure but i just filled with the 42psi air in all 4.

From what i've heard Toyo & Falken are cheap but not good tire/materials.

bartkat · November 12, 2004

I posted this on another board, but I thought I'd post here to a different audience. I just started having a problem with highway "wandering" after upgrading my wheels and tires on my '97 LX450. Handling at lower speeds is much better than before though. The wheels I have on it now are 20x9 Devino Mallets with 295/50-20 Falken STZ04 tires. Previous tires were 265-75-16 Toyos on MHT wheels, 16x8. I had a 4-wheel alignment by a competent shop too.
My LX is affected mostly by the rutted, grooved highways here in Oregon (caused by the fools that think they need studded tires *every* October to March for the 1-2" of snow we might get). I brought the tire pressure down from 35psi to 32psi with no improvement. Anyone ever have any similar issues after upgrading their tires/wheels?

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That's called nibbling, tending to follow road imperfections. Some tires are worse than others. Some ulltra high performance tres will be worse than standard tires. When you went to 20" wheels, your sidewalls got stiffer, and that's also going to lead to more nibbling. You've also probably increased unsprung weight with those monster tires, and that's going to affect handling as well.

bonknhead · November 12, 2004

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Yeah, I know that the treadwidth is wider than what I had previously - the 265/75-16s I had on before have a treadwidth of 7.9", the stock Michelins LTX 275/70-16 have one of 8.2", and the new Falkens have one of 10.1" - almost 2" wider.

EnDlesS, I don't know about Falken being such a cheap tire, expecially the STZ04s. Reviews I've read rave about them, and they weren't cheap in price. They were also the only 295/50-20s that I liked - the only other tire mfr that make that size was Nitto, and I'm not a Nitto fan. Falken's STZ01 came in the same size, but I wanted a better all-season tire.

I'll try adding some more air to the tires - maybe up to 38psi, which is 3psi higher than what the tire shop put in. I'll let you know how it turns out.