Russ0054

I fought the problem for three years and the fix turned out to be putting the original tires back on. The Potenza 030's wear out fast, ride hard and are noisey, but they seem to be the only tires that don't shimmy. I think it's because they have a really stiff sidewall.

Nope. Too many problems that can't be fixed which are just plain stupid engineering on the part of Lexus. Wheel shimmy...just read the forums! Creaking/rattling dash. Bad tire wear on the inside of rear tires. Low idle. Smelly air conditioner. Poor ride with stock tires. I have thrown tons of money at these issues and all are still present. I'll give Audi or Infiniti a try. Lexus does some things better than anyone, but engineering isn't one of them.

The rear tires on my 02 GS430 are wearing very badly on the inside. Lexus dealer has done a 4 wheel alignment two different times, but the problem remains. This has happened to two different sets of tires over a period of four years. The dealer says "it's normal"..... ya right! I have read that other people have experienced this problem as well. Anyone been able to come up with a solution???

Did you have the alignment done at a Lexus dealer or elsewhere?

Any chance of getting the specifics (page 2) from that Alldata bulletin?

Still waiting for more info on the "laser" alignment. Just bought a set of Potenza 030's (OEM) and will be putting them on when my Khumos are dead.

Please provide more specific information regarding the "laser" alignment and what specs (caster, camber, toe in) were affected. In other words, what did you change?

Don't mess with offset on the front. Doing so will screw up the alignment and cause the car to tramline and wear tires like crazy! Rear shouldn't be a problem except changing offset puts additional strain on the wheel bearings.

Seems that tons of people are having the same problem with steering wheel vibration. Check some of the posts in the tires and wheels section for some advice on how to solve. I have the same issue with my 2002 GS430. The shaking started when I replaced the OEM tires. I have been trying to get rid of shaking ever since. It seems that the vibration was reduced (not eliminated) when I got the front end aligned by my Lexus dealer. I read that airing the tires to 40 lbs would help, which it did, but the car rides like a stage coach. Seems to me that the vibration is worse somes times than others based on the temp outside. The problem was totally absent when the OEM Potenzas were on the car and those tires have very stiff sidewalls. I am starting to believe that the softer sidewalls on t he tires I bought are contributing to the problem. By the way - I have had the current tires balanced several times and the problem persists. I think I will go back to the Potenzas when i have to get new tires. I must say that I am very disappointed that Lexus hasn't designed this problem out of their GS models.

Now there's something you don't see every day - a tire dealer that refuses to sell the tires he sells???? Must have graduated from Stanford's MBA program!

It doesn't matter what tire brand is being discussed, there is always someone who has a horror story to tell. The Khumo brand seems to be a reasonable compromise between super expensive/great handling/hard riding and moderately expensive/good handling/reasonable riding. That's why they make so many different tires - it's an inexact science.

The " front-to-back only" mandate is old school - hasn't been an issue for years. The front-to-back only routine doesn't allow for correction of a radial tire pull (very common) and won't allow tires that are significantly feathered on the edges to be corrected. I have been rotating side-to-side for years without any negative effects at all. Unless tire manufacturer expressly "prohibits" side-to-side rotation, take advantage of the benefits.

I have a set of Khumo ASX's on my gs430. I have about 15k on them and they seem to be doing very well so far. The Khumos are reasonably quiet, smooth riding and are much cheaper than many other brands. The only drawback is a slight reduction in handling (turn-in, crisp direction changes of direction, etc.). They are a bunch better than the Potenzas that were on t he car when I got it.

"Pulling" one way or the other, especially on a brand new car is frequently a radial tire pull. Have someone rotate the front tires from side to side and if the pull either switches to the opposite direction or removes the "pull" you experienced before, it's the tires not the alignment. If the "pull" remains the same, have the dealer do a four wheel alignment.