[Spike]

Yes, I have

Has anyone taken the vehicle to Costco for mileage warrienty.

 

[Act162this]

Has anyone taken the vehicle to Costco for mileage warrienty.

yup. our van ate hydroedges for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. i think most i got out of a set was around 20k miles before it got down to near the wear bars on a couple of the tires (fronts, i think).

they could've gone for a bit further, but in the rainy season, i didn't want to chance it so went back to pick up a new set.

didn't expect them to honor the mileage thing since i was changing out early (before they were all down to the wear bars) but costco (at least the one i go to) was nice enough to prorate them at the time instead of having me come back when they were all completely bald.

 

[Cornelius]

I had the same problem. I had one directional tires: Goodyear Triple Tread Assurance tires and they always worn on the outside before wearing the middle out. But I found out the solution........... add more air! I took it to a tire shop and nobody could figure why they wear the outside first. A friend suggested adding more air and it worked. The ride is a little more bumpy but....... the tire last longer and guess what........ better gas mileage!

 

[lawrence co]

How much did they prorate you back. If you dont mind telling.

yup. our van ate hydroedges for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. i think most i got out of a set was around 20k miles before it got down to near the wear bars on a couple of the tires (fronts, i think).

they could've gone for a bit further, but in the rainy season, i didn't want to chance it so went back to pick up a new set.

didn't expect them to honor the mileage thing since i was changing out early (before they were all down to the wear bars) but costco (at least the one i go to) was nice enough to prorate them at the time instead of having me come back when they were all completely bald.

 

[pcflctnh]

My 2005 Sienna XLE with 215/65r-16 and just over 86,000 miles is almost due for the 4th set of tires, Dunlop's original, then Michelin's now Sumitomo's, 86,000 divided by 3 =28,666 average. I decided I will try Michelin's 225/70r-16 LTX M/S2 and got a quote from Sears and probably will have them installed within a month. Sam's Club price is a little less but the tire manager told me that it's against Sam's policy to install any tire size that's not on the door plate even though the LTX tires are rated higher all around, higher speed rating, higher load rating, higher tread wear, & higher heat rating. Seems crazy to me that Sam's has this policy. After I get them and put some miles on them I come back to this forum with a report. 12/13/14 I have about 5 months and 5-6000 miles on them and I will be having a balance & rotation done next week and they still look like new. The speedometer now is more accurate with these tires. The van handles and rides better than ever.

 

[wag]

The Sienna tire wear issue has been discussed in detail. Many owners have experimented with this and come up with the following advice...
1. The van is too heavy for Toyota's 35 psi tire pressure recommendation. Anyone reading this should increase their tire pressure to 40-44 psi in front and 38-42 psi in the rear on FWD models (40-44 psi and the same, front and rear, on AWD models) if you want to get reasonably good tire wear. The van also gets better gas mileage and handles/brakes noticeably better at these tire pressures. The cost is a SLIGHTLY stiffer ride, but not objectionable.
2. The Sienna is front heavy and will wear-out front tires twice as fast as rear tires. YOU NEED TO ROTATE THE TIRES if you want to get reasonably long life out of a set. This needs to be done at a minimum of every 5000 miles and a maximum of 10000 miles.

I keep my tires at 40 front and 38 rear, rotate them every 6500 to 7000 miles, and get the van aligned when I buy a new set of tires. I have not gotten less than 45k miles out of a set and I got 59k miles out of a set of Michelin Primacys.

 

[thanwu]

Agree. I will change the tires (06 XLE) again after my long trip this week. This will be the fourth sets (including OEM tires). I had two sets Michelin Radials and will get the defend next time. My first set Radial last for 25k miles, the second set last 40k (I paid more attention to the tire pressure). I will inflate the tire to 38psi when I get the defenders. I am sure it will be more bumper ride!

The Sienna tire wear issue has been discussed in detail. Many owners have experimented with this and come up with the following advice...
1. The van is too heavy for Toyota's 35 psi tire pressure recommendation. Anyone reading this should increase their tire pressure to 40-44 psi in front and 38-42 psi in the rear on FWD models (40-44 psi and the same, front and rear, on AWD models) if you want to get reasonably good tire wear. The van also gets better gas mileage and handles/brakes noticeably better at these tire pressures. The cost is a SLIGHTLY stiffer ride, but not objectionable.
2. The Sienna is front heavy and will wear-out front tires twice as fast as rear tires. YOU NEED TO ROTATE THE TIRES if you want to get reasonably long life out of a set. This needs to be done at a minimum of every 5000 miles and a maximum of 10000 miles.

I keep my tires at 40 front and 38 rear, rotate them every 6500 to 7000 miles, and get the van aligned when I buy a new set of tires. I have not gotten less than 45k miles out of a set and I got 59k miles out of a set of Michelin Primacys.

 

[Skemcin]

Having done all this research and also irritated with the accelerated wear on our 08 LE FWD, I think I'm going to try something I did on my Subaru and put a set of 215/65-16 General Grabber AT - yep all terrain tires. I can get them at a good price, less than most all season that people are talking about. They are a little heavier but do have a little more tread depth than most all season tires. At this point, the only alternative I'm considering is an all season, the Dunlop Signature II. Having done all terrains (not mud terrain) tires before and for the last 4 years on my Subaru, you really can't tell too much of a difference at highway speeds - definitely no nobby/loud tire sounds.

Interested in hearing anyone's feedback/opinion.

 

[valpofan]

Have a 2007 Sienna LE with 125k on it. It ate through the original Dunlops in 35k and the second set of Dunlops were replaced at 35k later. I wasn't happy with the Dunlops so I switched and put a set of Michelin Harmony on with an 80k warranty. These were better tires and with consistent rotations every 5-6k, I was able to put 55k on them before they were at 3/32nds and performed poorly in the first snow of the season. With that treaddepth, I wasn't expecting good snow traction, but it was worse than I was willing to tolerate. So at 125k I have a new set of Uniroyal Tiger Paw touring tires with a 70k warranty. Never bought a set of Uniroyals on any vehicle before, but I wasn't willing to pay for Michelin's again, so it's a bit of an "experiment". So far the Uniroyals are good in wet conditions - but haven't had it out in snow yet. The Uniroyals are quieter than the Michelin Harmony, which is nice. Going to keep the tire pressure a little higher (38psi) as mentioned on previous posts in this thread and see how the treadwear lasts on this set. If the long term traction is good and the treadwear gives me 50k out of them, I'll consider this experiment a success.
UPDATE: FEB 2015 - We've had some good snow accumulation through January, and I am pleased with how they handle in snow. They are comparable to the Michelin Harmony tire when that set was new - and a vast improvement over them when worn down. I have some confidence slogging through the snow again! With nearly 2000 miles of the set I like them - but do notice a hit in fuel economy. Tyically I got 21 mpg on the old tires. Now I am only getting 20 mpg. Seems like that might be one of the trade-offs with these Uniroyals.

 

[CooperTriplets]

I've got a 2009 Sienna LE and I'm just rolling past 70,000 miles. My Sienna went through the OEM tires in approximately 32,000 miles which according to the dealer was on the high end as most people replace theirs between 25,000 to 28,000. I don't remember what the stock tires were, but I wasn't going to stick with them. I put a set of Goodyear Fuel Assurance tires on and they have lasted until now. Unfortunately, the outer edges are getting more worn even with consistent rotations every 5K and maintaining 35 psi. So the plan after reading everyone else's posts it to get a new set, do an alignment and run at 40 psi. I think the reality of owning a Sienna is replacing tires every 2-3 years depending on your driving habits. I am going to stick with the Goodyear, just haven't decided between the Assurance or Fuel Assurance.

 

[pcflctnh]

If you change to the 225/70r-16 light truck tires and run them at 40psi you might get better tread life mileage on them, the Sienna is just too heavy for passenger tires.

 

[supra129]

Interesting, I may give SUV/AT tires a try the next time I have to replace my tires. So far I have 27k miles on two year old Michelin Defender XTs with 7/32 tread depth remaining. I rotate every 5-7k and have even wear. I pump the tires to 38psi. I doubt I will hit the 90K that the Defenders are rated for.

I would be interested to hear if others have put SUV/AT tires on their vans and their experiences. Looking online at Discount Tire a Michelin LTX M/S tires (70k miles warranty) cost $149 each in the size 225/70/16 while the stock size Defenders run $126 each. The bigger tires would fill the wheel wells better.

 

[supra129]

My 2005 Sienna XLE with 215/65r-16 and just over 86,000 miles is almost due for the 4th set of tires, Dunlop's original, then Michelin's now Sumitomo's, 86,000 divided by 3 =28,666 average. I decided I will try Michelin's 225/70r-16 LTX M/S2 and got a quote from Sears and probably will have them installed within a month. Sam's Club price is a little less but the tire manager told me that it's against Sam's policy to install any tire size that's not on the door plate even though the LTX tires are rated higher all around, higher speed rating, higher load rating, higher tread wear, & higher heat rating. Seems crazy to me that Sam's has this policy. After I get them and put some miles on them I come back to this forum with a report. 12/13/14 I have about 5 months and 5-6000 miles on them and I will be having a balance & rotation done next week and they still look like new. The speedometer now is more accurate with these tires. The van handles and rides better than ever.[/Q

That's great! What effect has it been on your miles per gallon?

 

[Drcoffee]

So lets discuss why the tires are not lasting very long.

If your tires are wearing out, check your suspension parts. These vans have a front lower control arm with a bushing that wears out. The rear bushing is a big rubber doughnut and when it fails it allows the toe setting to move all over the place. If you need to replace it, I have found a polyurethane set on ebay that can be pressed in. When mine fail, thats the way I plan to go.



How do I know about this? My Lexus IS300 has the same setup and it chewed up my tires inner edge way too quickly. I pressed out the torn rubber OEM bushing and pressed in the new poly bushings. The toe setting is rock solid now. The poly bushings did not stiffen my suspension at all. It just keeps the lower control arm from shifting rearward upon braking which is when the tires are being worn down unevenly. This is magnified because the van is front wheel drive. When you brake, the inner edge wears quicker. When you accelerate, the outer edge wears quicker. Net result, your tires last half as long.

Even if your bushing is not torn, it maybe too soft to retain the alignment setting while driving.

here is the link to how the IS300 bushing is replaced. http://my.is/forums/f221/diy-front-2-lower-control-arm-414502/

the part number is Superpro SPF3173K. The sienna vans share this bushing with the Camry believe it or not. Price $150

http://figsengineering.blogspot.com/2012/12/diy-replacing-front-2-caster-arm.html

FIGs parts are made by Superpro in Australia.

Attachment 28081

 

[JohnnyJ]

I am on my second set of Michelin Defenders, rated at 90,000 tread life miles on my 2006 XLE. I got 39,000 on the first set. I also have a 2009 Camry LE and it uses the same size tires as the van, with the van weighing about 1,000 pounds more. Seeing that, I assume the extra weight on the same sized tire as the Camry is one reason they wear out so quickly. I did not ask for any adjustment for the lower tread life because I figured it wasn't the tire's fault. We have our vehicles serviced regularly and they watch suspension wear, etc. as part of the regular oil change check-up every 3,000 miles or so. Both vehicles handle and drive well. The Camry Michelin Defenders are wearing like they should. The van's are wearing out more quickly like the first set did. I chose the Defenders because of their better traction throughout the life of the tire, according to the tire testing magazines. Both vehicles run well and require so little maintenance, that I can forgive the poor tire wear on the Sienna in exchange for all the things it does so well. I just had the brakes changed for the first time at 137,000 miles as an example.

 

[Skeet33]

So lets discuss why the tires are not lasting very long.

If your tires are wearing out, check your suspension parts. These vans have a front lower control arm with a bushing that wears out. The rear bushing is a big rubber doughnut and when it fails it allows the toe setting to move all over the place.

How do I know about this? My Lexus IS300 has the same setup and it chewed up my tires inner edge way too quickly. I pressed out the torn rubber OEM bushing and pressed in the new poly bushings. The toe setting is rock solid now. The poly bushings did not stiffen my suspension at all. It just keeps the lower control arm from shifting rearward upon braking which is when the tires are being worn down unevenly. This is magnified because the van is front wheel drive. When you brake, the inner edge wears quicker. When you accelerate, the outer edge wears quicker. Net result, your tires last half as long.

Even if your bushing is not torn, it maybe too soft to retain the alignment setting while driving.

Responding to an old thread here, but thank you for that explanation. I think that's exactly what's going on with my 2006 LE. Tires wear quicker than I think they should, mostly on the inner and outer edges. At times my steering "wanders" just a tiny bit, but steering response is tight enough that I don't think it's in the steering or tie rods. All the linkages feel pretty tight, but with the suspension hanging down (on jack stands) the rear of the lower control arm looks like this:

Not completely torn, but definitely separating somewhat.

I see that the control arm bushing can be purchased by itself, or included if you buy the whole control arm. How hard is the bushing (and it's steel sleeve) to remove and reinstall in the existing control arm??

 

[whatsitsname]

Responding to an old thread here, but thank you for that explanation. I think that's exactly what's going on with my 2006 LE. Tires wear quicker than I think they should, mostly on the inner and outer edges. At times my steering "wanders" just a tiny bit, but steering response is tight enough that I don't think it's in the steering or tie rods. All the linkages feel pretty tight, but with the suspension hanging down (on jack stands) the rear of the lower control arm looks like this:
View attachment 48552
Not completely torn, but definitely separating somewhat.

I see that the control arm bushing can be purchased by itself, or included if you buy the whole control arm. How hard is the bushing (and it's steel sleeve) to remove and reinstall in the existing control arm??

Not worth it to bother with aftermarket bushings as they don't last long. Just get factory oem and be done with it. They aren't that pricey. A little less than $200 each side if you look around.