I recently traded in my 2001 Camry for a 2001 ES300. The car seemed to
handled real nice but I noticed that 3 of the tires were worn so we went out
and bought 3 Michelin Energy tires (205-60/16 v91) that Lexus suggested. We
bought them from Discount Tires here in Denver. Now I notice that it is
a little harder to handle than before I got the new tires. I am wondering
if underinflation or overinflation would cause this problem. I know this is
vague but does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
A new Lexus owner
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Congrat on the new car.
Yes, it could cause the problem. Are they inflated properly? The tire shops
typically overinflate. If you don’t already have one, buy a tire gauge and
keep it in the glove box. Checking tires once/month is the best thing you
can do for your cars handling, fuel mileage, and safety.
I’m curious why you’d replace three and not four. If you have one heavily
worn tire and three brand new ones, this ccould also cause odd handling,
especially if the worn tire isn’t compatible with the other three. The
general rule of thumb is always replace all the tires on an axle, but
preferrably replace all at the same time. That’s the main reason to rotate
tires – have them wear out equally so you can buy four new ones without
throwing away good rubber.
- Mark
Thanks Mark. I had 3 tires that were really worn and one looked like it
had been the spare. So I took the spare out which was new, and bought 2 new
Michelin Energy tires with are the ones that came with the car originally.
I think they put the two new tires on the back. And put the spare from the
trunk and put it up from with the tire that was there already. Maybe I
should go back to Discount and have them put the two new ones on the front
and move the front ones to the back.
Russ
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> Maybe I
> should go back to Discount and have them put the two new ones on the front
> and move the front ones to the back.
Worth a try. But if the spare was unused and was the same tire as the one
ones, then you shouldn’t have any problems.
What is the handling issue? What is it doing?
- Mark
When I would drive down the interstate before the new tires. I could just
place my hand on the steering wheel and it would stay on the road. Now, it
seems I have to go a little right and left as I drive. You know what it
feels like? I had a 2001 Camry and got Yokohama tires put on instead of
Michelins. When I drove away they seemed like I had to control them more as
I drove. When I went back to the tire store, they said that is true of
those tires because they are performance tires and those type of tires do
that. The new tires feel a little like that, not much. Maybe it isn’t that
big a deal. It still handles nice.
–
Russ
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> When I would drive down the interstate before the new tires. I could just
> place my hand on the steering wheel and it would stay on the road. Now,
it
> seems I have to go a little right and left as I drive.
Yes, a higher performance tire is more responsive and may tend to require
more frequent steering corrections. They’ll also tend to follow rain
grooves and deflect a little more on bumps. But it shouldn’t require a
great deal of effort. If the change is dramatic, I’d suspect an issue –
possibly an alignment problem.
If you have one of your original tires (the spare) combined with three new
tires that differ very much in handling, this could also contribute.
I assume all four are exactly the same size, right?
- Mark
Yep, all Michelin 205/60-16. I may have an idea what it may be. The two
tires on the back were balanced and I think the spare that they took out of
the trunk wasn’t so I am going back there this afternoon and have them
balance the front two tires. Thanks for all the help.
—
Russ
Russ’s Signature Page
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I went to Stevinson Lexus here in Colorado and told them my problem with the
tires that were on there and they reimbursed me for the two new Michelin’s
that I had bought.
Kudos to them but still having some problems with the User Car sales.
Oh…well.
–
Russ d:-}