No, you're not. You are correct. As you stated, the Lexus pattern uses a 3 tire rotation scheme on the right side and a 2 tire scheme on the left. Tires on the left side will have more miles. For hypothetical 45k tires (5000 miles per rotation ) the 2 left side tires would have 45k miles each and 3 right side tires would have 30k miles each. For what I see as the correct rotation, the Discount Tire, Tire Rack, and BFG recommended patterns are all in agreement. That's what I'll be using.
Life of stock tires?
- Thread starter cilles
- Start date
I swapped my AT-III for AT4W at 12K miles. My math expected ~25K/maybe 30K absolute maximum service life from the factory tires.
I very much was impressed by the quietness and ride of the factory tires and absolutely am of the opinion Lexus had them optimized for nice ride and to be quiet at the expense of longevity. Good trade for an OEM in my mind.
My AT4W are C-Load and LT and transmit small impacts much more noticeably and are moderately louder. Yes, I did have an alignment done with the new tires.
I very much was impressed by the quietness and ride of the factory tires and absolutely am of the opinion Lexus had them optimized for nice ride and to be quiet at the expense of longevity. Good trade for an OEM in my mind.
My AT4W are C-Load and LT and transmit small impacts much more noticeably and are moderately louder. Yes, I did have an alignment done with the new tires.
Yes, Lexus's pattern is definitely weird and results in uneven wear.
Ever since my Jeep days, I've always done a simple clockwise 5-tire rotation. My thinking is that they'll eventually all even out any way, and the benefit from the simplified instruction seems to outweigh the maybe slight advantage of either the Discount Tire or BFG recommended pattern.
What do you guys think?
Doesn’t really matter where you add the spare in or which tire becomes the spare. Just do it the same way every time and they will all end up with the same wear.
I will say the above mentioned 3 on one side and two on the other makes no sense to me as I’ve always crossed one set, either forward or backward depending on FWD or RWD.
I will say the above mentioned 3 on one side and two on the other makes no sense to me as I’ve always crossed one set, either forward or backward depending on FWD or RWD.
I think the factory OEM tires are likely not going to last 50k miles, and more likely 30-40k miles. I'm generalizing, but thinking this for a Prem/Prem+, Lux/Lux+.
That being so, if you do a four tire rotation instead of five, and when it's 30-40k miles and time for new tires you decide to use brand X, then you have one remaining OEM tire, your spare, that is brand Y. There are a few advantages in this: 1) You purchase, and pay to install and to balance, four instead of five tires, (saving app. $300-$400). 2) Your rotations in the first 30-40k miles take slightly less labor and time, with a slightly offset by the 5k and 10 mile rotation being no cost to you. 3) You get even wear on four tires, which is questionable if will be noticeable in ride quality (e.g., you're cruising along an interstate highway are you going to notice one tire has 5k or 10k more miles on it than the other three tires?).
The only disadvantage I see in the above, when you're on the 2nd set of tires, is if or when you have to use the spare, say a nail in a tire, damaged sidewall, damaged rim etc., them you're driving on three tires of brand X, and one tire of brand Y (your one remaining OEM tire). This is probably the one situation where you will notice the difference in ride or handling. Even so this may be a temporary situation until you get to a BFG/GY/Firestone/Discount Tire store and get the damaged tire fixed. Or the damaged rim replaced.
I'll be curious to read what others think.
Just had my first KO3 5-tire rotation at Discount Tire. Double checked with sales guy to see if they follow the 5-tire rotation recommendation on their website. They do not. Not sure what they use but really didn't care. I had to show him the schematic on their own website. Checked after rotation and it was done correctly. So I guess don't assume they follow their own recommendation.
I removed the spare before taking to the store and threw it in the back. Put back underneath at home. Also, I had previously removed the hubcap from the wheel that became the spare so they didn't have to pop and replace anything. I'm in the process of covering/removing Lexus logos. Sorry that both of these don't really help you out,
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