Abnormal Tread Wear On One Tire

[mkla]

Hoping to get some input on this. My '05 ES330 has about 24,000 miles on it. I just noticed that the front passenger tire is worn almost to the tread wear indicator on the outside of the tire (the remainder of the tire seems to be wearing fine). All of the other tires are wearing evenly and have significant tread left (as I would expect at only 24,000). Tires are Toyo, car doesn't pull either direction, and my wife mostly drives it and she doesn't drive it hard. Tires have been rotated every 5,000 and are always properly inflated.

Took it to the dealer today since it's still under warranty and after their "inspection" they stated "No abnormal wear at this time." That seems like BS to me -- I've never had a tire wear unevenly, so the fact that one tire is wearing on the outside seems abnormal. As an aside, the service rep stated they checked the alignment and said it was normal. He then said that if I wanted to have it re-aligned, I'd have to come back since their alignment machine was broken. I asked them how they checked the alignment, and he said that it was a visual inspection under the car.

So here are my questions:

1) Has anybody had uneven tread wear like this and considered it "normal"

2) Can you "visually" check that the alignment is normal, or does it need to be electronically analyzed

I'm planning on taking it to another dealer in the area to see if they give me the same song and dance. If so, I'm going to have Evans Tires look at it when I get my tires rotated in about 1,000 miles (I usually take it there for rotation). Any recommendations / thoughts / etc would be helpful.

[RX in NC]

So their "visual inspection" causes them to conclude that your alignment is fine, huh?

What a bunch of clowns. No visual inspection can determine your exact alignment specs. You need to challenge them on this and make them do a computerized alignment inspection for you once they get their lazy asses in gear and get their alignment system repaired and functional. Inexcusable.

It sounds to me as if you do have an alignment issue, especially since the problem involves outside treadwear on just one of your front tires. Most front-wheel-drive vehicles cause harsher treadwear on the front tires compared to the rear, but if your alignment is in spec then your front tires should be wearing rather evenly in much the same pattern. This obviously isn't happening. Does your wife routinely hit curbs when she is parking, especially that front passenger-side tire?

[mkla]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Put a call into the service manager & their alignment machine is back up so will get the alignment checked -- I'll let you know what comes of it. And no, my wife has not jumped any curbs (or so she claims...) :whistles:

[SW03ES]

The dealer is full of it. Like RX said you can't check the alignment on the car without an operating alignment machine, hence why its not economical to "check" the alignment you've just got to do an alignment, because the car has to be put up on the machine anyways.

Its got to be a camber problem on that wheel.

Does the dealer do all your scheduled maintenance? If they do I might put some pressure on them to at least help me with the cost of replacement tires to fix this wear issue. As a part of the 5k $150 Lexus service they're supposed to change the oil and filter, rotate and balance the tires, and inspect the tires for any ususual wear and report the need for alignment service. In my experience FWD cars need to be aligned in the front end more often than RWD cars, and I've had to get mine aligned at least every 25k miles or so. In each case the dealer has shown me evidence of very early wear signs so that we did the alignment in time to save the tires. If your tire is down to the bars on the outside edge, I wouldn't feel safe with my wife driving that car in the rain until at least the front tires, and preferrably all 4 (I hate replacing only two tires) are replaced.

[mkla]

No - I don't take it to the dealer for maintenance (and this is the exact reason why -- in addition to the rediculous cost). I do most of the maintenance (filters, etc) myself, using toyota / lexus parts during the warranty period (just in case) -- tires and brakes I take to my mechanic. I do check the tire wear periodically and it was on my last "inspection" that I noticed the abnormal wear. My plan is actually just to pop the spare into the rotation once the alignment issue is done with -- I realize this is not ideal given that it will have more tread than the others, but I'll probably be replacing the tires by fall time (the next time it'll rain in San Diego) anyways. The tires are the stock Toyo J33s which from what I've read elsewhere are aweful tires..... I just want the issue resolved before I plop down a big chunk 'o change on a new set of tires. Alignment will be tomorrow.