Lexus LX570 alignment problem & tires wear unevenly, please help!

[KennyTH]

Hi all,

So my dad bought a used 08 Lexus LX570 last year with only 50K miles on it. After we bought the car, we brought it into the shop to get the brake pads replaced. Somehow while doing the brake job, the cv boot busted out and there was grease leak everywhere. They agreed to replace the cv boots both inner and outer for us and do the alignment.

After getting everything replaced and aligned, the steering wheel was off and they told me they couldn’t align this car correctly. So I took it to the Toyota dealership (note that we are about 2 hours away from the nearest Lexus dealership otherwise we would bring it to Lexus). At Toyota dealership, they told the toe camber of this car was negative ( I don’t remember exactly what they said because I’m not familiar with cars) and they have corrected this issue by realignment. After that, the steering wheel is dead center and a car drives as it should.

Recently, my dad notices that the front tires inner were extensively wear out compare to the outer. So we took it in a ToyotaDealership for oil change and have them take a look. Since the state inspection is coming up and we decided to do this as well. The car passed emission test but failed the state inspection since they told me the front tires inner wear out to the secondary rubber and it’s not safe to pass the inspection. Note that the rear tires are perfectly fine and wear out evenly. After checking everything, the toyota dealership told us the reason for this is the toe camber were off again and redo the alignment. They also rotated the rear tires up front to see if this problem still occurs.

About 3 weeks later, I climbed under the car and see that the front tires now starting to wear unevenly so I’m starting to think that this is not the alignment issue. I have attached the pictures of both front and rear tires right now. We don’t care about these tires since we’re going to replace them anyway but we don’t want the new set to wear unevenly like this one. The first pic is the front tires and the second is the rear tires.


Sorry for the long post but I’m just tryig to explain my situation thoroughly so anyone has experienced this issue in the past can easily help us out.

Alignment specs after I got the inner and outer axle boots replaced:

The most recent one that I did less than a month ago:

 

[TeCKis300]

Do you have the alignment printouts? If so, take a picture and post them.

That said, they're doing an alignment, but something is obviously still wrong. For the edges to wear this aggressively, it usually has to be a bad toe issue (tires not pointing straight). Or they are compensating for some other alignment related issue like the thrust angle (rear axle not square to the car). Another possibility is that the tires are deflecting under load because of a shot suspension link (i.e. rubber bushing). Yet another is that the wheel bearing at that position is shot (or is it both front tires?), or the axle stub was never installed right causing that wheel to wander.

I suspect it's one of the last two. These cars have super beefy suspension, and the alignment doesn't just drift for no reason. Ask Toyota to check the bushings at that corner of the vehicle. And ask them if there's any play at the wheel.

 

[UCrazyKid]

I agree with everything TeCK said above. We need to know what settings they are aligning too (from the printout). I’d say too much toe in (camber will not cause that much wear). And more likely a bad lower control arm bushing that allows too much deflection in the suspension under braking. This is a problem in other Lexus vehicles as well (my 2008 ISF). You may want to try a custom alignment or suspension shop as they are often much better at trouble shooting than dealers that just make sure the printouts are “in the green”.
Good luck.

Also, from those pictures, the tires look pretty worn out anyway and would need replacing in my climate (Midwest/snow). Also don’t replace with the same crappy tires (Dunlop) that came new on the vehicle. They are terrible.

 

[KennyTH]

I will stop by the dealership today to get the alignment printout. I think the previous owner replaced these tires about 20k miles ago. They are michelin but we’re thinking about switching to different brand since my dad always had good luck with goodyear and he wants to stick with that brand. Got a quote from tire shop for a set of 4 including mount & balance for about $650 OTD and they told me it’s a goodyear eagle or something I can’t remember correctly. Is it good tires?

 

[lxid]

My used LX came with brand new goodyear eagles installed by the dealer. I swapped them out pretty quick. From my understanding they are one of the lowest cost 20" tire available so a lot of people end up with them. I wouldn't consider it a great tire based on my experience and reviews around the web. I went to ridge grapplers and have been thrilled with them on and offroad with about 10k miles so far.

 

[TeCKis300]

I will stop by the dealership today to get the alignment printout. I think the previous owner replaced these tires about 20k miles ago. They are michelin but we’re thinking about switching to different brand since my dad always had good luck with goodyear and he wants to stick with that brand. Got a quote from tire shop for a set of 4 including mount & balance for about $650 OTD and they told me it’s a goodyear eagle or something I can’t remember correctly. Is it good tires?

Michelin tires as a brand, are cream of the crop tires. Yes, there are other brands that make better niche tires, but Goodyear is in no way going to be a better tire than a Michelin.

There is something going on in your alignment/suspension. Another brand of tire is not going to fix this.

 

[davido06]

That kind of inner tire wear is caused by toe out in the front. Either they didn't properly align it, or you have a bad tie rod (inner or outer) or a bad control arm bushing causing the toe out. My guess is something may have gotten left loose when the axle was removed. Make sure the dealer or alignment shop provides you with a printout showing the current alignment.

 

[KennyTH]

I just uploaded the pics of my last 2 alignments. First 2 pics are right after I got the inner and outer axle boots replaced. The last pic is the most recent one that I did less than a month ago

 

[davido06]

The most recent one indicates that there was toe out in the front, but it doesn't show the corrections or current measurements. I don't know why they would give you that.

 

[KennyTH]

That’s all they gave me when I stopped by this morning.

 

[davido06]

I would kindly ask them to realign it with a print showing before and after numbers. As a shop owner that does alignments, I don't understand why a shop would give you an incomplete print out. In fact, I don't even know how they managed to print it that way without obstructing the sensors. If they refuse, I would find another shop.

 

[chilibit]

Chalk the tires. Drive in a straight line and see what the genie says.

 

[KennyTH]

I’ll stop by again tomorrow to see if they could give me a full printout. If not, I might just make a trip to Lexus to see what’s going on.

 

[TeCKis300]

I can tell you that the rear right toe is most definitely off. Latest reading shows -0.22*. Your second tire pic, which looks like the rear right position shows that with bad inner tire wear. As a solid rear axle, not much they can do to adjust that I don't think.

Actually, the whole rear axle thrust angle doesn't look great. Perhaps one of the rear axle trailing arms are bent.

Can't tell your current front end alignment, but from the "after" sheet, looks fine. It was definitely bad "before", which is why the front tire shows the wear it has. Has the vehicle ever been in an accident?

 

[KennyTH]

We bought this car from the original owner. She babied this car and when we got it, it only had 50k miles. I don’t think it has been in an accident before. I ran a carfax and have a shop check everything prior and they said everything is fine. Just so you know that I have rotated the bad tires to the back and before the rotation, the rear tires wear evenly. Now with the rear tires being moved up front, it begins to show the inner wear just like the others in less than a month.

 

[KennyTH]

I just got back from the Lexus dealership this morning. They told me there was a problem with alignment and they did another alignment for me. This is the alignment sheet they gave me!

 

[davido06]

That should be much better. It's still strange as the front toe shoes toe in, not to out. Maybe when the other shop tried to fix it, they toed it in too much. Either way, just monitor future tire wear. Everything else on the alignment looks good. The rear toe isn't a big deal. Mine is even worse.

 

[Fasternfaster]

Can someone explain how a live axle can have camber and toe that is not 0°? If one side is out the other must be in the same amount. I dont get it.

 

[TeCKis300]

Can someone explain how a live axle can have camber and toe that is not 0°? If one side is out the other must be in the same amount. I dont get it.

It's manufactured with that geometry built in. Some live axles can be further "aligned" by applying force with large hydraulic fixtures meant to do this.

 

[Fasternfaster]

It's manufactured with that geometry built in. Some live axles can be further "aligned" by applying force with large hydraulic fixtures meant to do this.

So you mean the rear axle shafts themselves are not in line left to right by design? And the axle as a whole has an engineered bend? This would have to be part of the diff housing then too right? If it is true, it's the first time I ever heard of it.