Tire Selection Needed For An '03 Ls430

[nc211]

The tire guy at Sams Club said they will not put a tire on a car that is rated less than specified, didn't ask why.

Because if you have a car capable of going 140mph, and decide one day to find out and wreck, and the investigators realize it wasn't just your own stupidity that killed you, it was your tires that blew out at 120mph due to the lower-then-the-car-can-go speed ratings on them....guess who's gonna get sued....

[SRK]

If your tires blow out at 120mph ain't nobody gonna be concerned with where you bought them or why.....they'll be concerned that you were doing 120mph in a 60 zone. And the judge will rule accordingly....

I'm not on board with any suggestion that tire speed ratings are all that important. I had S rated tires on my 427 Cobra replica that I built. For the short blasts to 125 mph I did regularly they were just fine. The speed rating is for CONTINUOUS speeds, and refers to carcass temperature rise over time - a long time....

I stopped buying my tires at Costco because some 17 year old girl was trying to tell my about speed ratings, and refused to allow me to install H rated instead of V rated. Damn kids.....

[Will B.]

Sam's Club put H rated MXV4's on my '04 LS430 earlier this week no questions asked.

[LEXIRX330]

If your tires blow out at 120mph ain't nobody gonna be concerned with where you bought them or why.....they'll be concerned that you were doing 120mph in a 60 zone. And the judge will rule accordingly....

SRK. You are right the person driving the car should not be doing 120 in a 60.

But there is no way you can assume that a judge or jury will not find a company liable for installing a tire that is the wrong rating for a specific car or truck. Sams Club would only install the proper rated tires on my previous C class. The companies such as Wal-Mart, Sams Club...etc have a policy not to install a tire on a car or truck that is not the same rating as the manufacture recommends because they are worried about law suits...Why else would they have a policy like this???

[PilotguyPA28]

Sam's would only install what their book said was the correct tire for a particular vehicle. I had to convience the manager that, all else the same, a higher speed rating was actually better than a lower one. I finally got him to sell me the higher rated tire.

[SW03ES]

Those are T rated aren't they? The Avid Touring S? I wouldn't put a T rated tire on the LS.

I live in the country, not like driving in your traffic, not sure I understand the ratings so maybe you can educate me a little. I know the T rating is good for over 100Mph and I'll not see that number. Is there some other reason to get the V rated that is recommended for the LS. The tire guy at Sams Club said they will not put a tire on a car that is rated less than specified, didn't ask why.

Speed ratings do not just dictate what speeds the vehicle can be driven at. The higher the speed rating, the stiffer the sidewalls and more robust the tire's internal construction. The suspension geometry of an LS430 is designed around an H rated tire. What could happen? Who knows but by the time you know what the effect was...it has already happened.

IMHO...most modern cars aren't designed to be driven on S or T rated tires.