I have irregular wear on the inside tire, one in the front and one in the back. I have a Lexus IS250 so tires cannot be rotated due to larger tire size in back. I've been told that I need to replace all 4 tires instead of just the two that are not wearing well and then get an alignment with the 4 tires. Do I really need 4 new tires and an alignment? What is done with the two good tires and should I keep at least one of them for a spare?
4 Answers
I know it's stupid questions...As a woman, I'm not mechanically knowledgeable. Thank you for any answers you could help me with. I got laid off from my job so trying to be economical. Thanks!
I recently replaced my tires and my rims. The rims were cutting into the tires due to corrosion. Unfortunately, this is a common issue w/ the IS. Keep the same size and save the $ by buying cheaper rims, but invest more in the tires. It will be worth it. And I also recommend All Season tires.
If you want to keep the stock rims, I disagree with the approach of investing more in tires. The IS has an issue with front inner tire wear and will wear through the front tires quickly, so there's no point in buying the most expensive tires. Due to the suspension design of the IS, front inner tire wear is just a fact of life. You could replace the front lower control arm bushings with firmer aftermarket ones, such as the RR Racing USRS, to mitigate this issue, but it will still happen to a lesser degree. My advice is to just get a new set of matching tires and replace the fronts and rears as needed. You don't have to replace all four every single time, strictly speaking, but personally, I probably would.
Have a 2014 is250. First set of tires had a blow out with cords exposed on the inside edge of all 4 tires with 25k miles in December 2018. Getting ready to replace the fronts again with 23k on this set, wires showing only on the inside edge of every tire. The middle and outside edges could go another 20k miles with plenty of tread. The car eats tires from the inside edge.