A 5th wheel for 3500 lbs??? I’ve seen people towing 7,000lb campers with 200s. The tow capacity is much higher than 3500 lbs.
So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us)
- Thread starter chriscosta416
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I had the LTX on the 2004 LX for a time and they're no where near as competent in the winter as the AT3W that is on it now.
M1911 was being sarcastic. It was a silly question.
Oops! It’s been a long day..haha.
The sarcasm went over your head.
Picked up the Michelin Defenders I referenced above from another LC200 owner. They had less than 5,000 miles on them and looked new. He sold them to me for what Discount offered him, which I thought was fair. Compared to the worn out Toyo ATs I had these are night and day when it comes to ride quality and noise. Even my daughter noticed that it was quieter when driving. I haven’t noticed any MPG improvement yet, but my daily routine is about 1/2 city and 1/2 interstate…MPG seems to be the same as it was before after 1 week. But so far I like them.
Nice new rubber! Where did you get the rear spacer? What’s your measurement from the hub to the top of the wheel arch? TIA
Rear spacers came from Cruiser Teq.
Measurements from hub centerline to wheel arch, with Toyota OE front spacers and 15mm rear spacers, unloaded, with third row seats in, are as follows:
Left Front and Right Front: 20 1/2"
Left Rear and Right Rear: 21 1/2"
I hope this helps!
I completed another long road trip on these tires. With proper pressure (38 psi), the tire is just fine handling wise, including more aggressive high speed highway driving and cornering (I know it is a truck.... but it handles well for what it is).
That's good - the RCTIP for those ISO-Metric 285/65R18/XL 116T tires on your LC200 is 38psi F/R.
Just in case you were curious.
HTH
Thanks!!
Is it the same for the LX?
Ordered a set of four 285/50/20 XL Defender LTX M/S2 tires. Just a hair under $1800 CAD out the door at the local Costco. Tires should arrive and be installed in the next 2 weeks or so.
Strangely Costco's site said these are not compatible with the 2014 LX, despite it being the stock size, and a higher load rating than what the vehicle came with from the factory. Hopefully I won't have to argue this with Costco's tire folks when the time comes...
My wheels still have OEM Lexus tire pressure sensors. Given they're now 11 years old, should I look into any sort of rebuilds or battery replacements?
Strangely Costco's site said these are not compatible with the 2014 LX, despite it being the stock size, and a higher load rating than what the vehicle came with from the factory. Hopefully I won't have to argue this with Costco's tire folks when the time comes...
My wheels still have OEM Lexus tire pressure sensors. Given they're now 11 years old, should I look into any sort of rebuilds or battery replacements?
At 11 years they will start falling one by one very soon. There’s no rebuilding, they just have to be replaced. I’m surprised you’ve made it this long. I’ve never proactively replaced them, but 10 year old vehicles will need them all replaced.
I'm surprised, too, but they seem to be going strong.
I bought Autel sensors for my winter wheels, and they started failing one by one at around the 4.5-5 year mark.
They say they aren’t compatible due to the speed rating. Some locations won’t care, others wont mount them.
That’s why I avoid Costco, in spite of the great prices. Even if my local one will mount them, when I’m on a big trip I don’t want to depend on that Costco also agreeing to mount a tire their corporate overlords say they shouldn’t.
Autel just can’t compare to what Toyota puts into these vehicles. If you don’t want to pay official pricing you can source Denso sensors which are reboxed Pacific Industry, which is who makes them for Toyota. Don’t buy them on Amazon, fakes are a thing. Generally rockauto can be trusted, but note that there were a few model changes and not all are compatible with all years. You’ll need to do your research. Also the tire shop can struggle to activate and program these.. but they are easily the highest quality available.
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Noted on the TPMS sensors - thanks for that tip. I did just order another set of Autel sensors for these wheels - I don't have Techstream setup anymore and don't want to bother with that right now, nor do I want to pay Lexus/Toyota to program these new sensors into my LX. I'll clone the IDs of the existing sensors into the new ones and replace them in ~5 years again.
For the tire compatibility... the ones I ordered are 116H rated ("high speed"), and that's 210kph. What rating did the LX/200 originally come with? I don't think there's a speed limit higher than 120kph anywhere in Canada, so I can't imagine that being an issue... but who knows.
// edit: Grok says the 2014 LX570 came with Michelin Latitude Tour HP 111V tires in Canada. A lower weight-carrying capacity, but higher speed, to 240kph. Although it also mentioned that the LX is electronically limited to 210kph. (I've yet to test that out myself.)
Even if the vehicle can't come close to the rated speed, generally tire shops will squirm about installing a tire rated for less weight or speed than the stock tire.