Toyota Highlander Tires and Wheels
The original equipment (OEM) tires on the Highlander are just as cheap/bad as other OEM vehicle tires. I had Michelin Cross Terrains installed on my previous Highlanders. They were great! My current Highlander has Goodyear Fortera TRIPLE Tred tires.
These are the BEST tires that I've ever owned. Quiet, very responsive, and have preformed great in rain and snow. They're also a 60K mile tire. Expensive, but well worth the money.
These are the BEST tires that I've ever owned. Quiet, very responsive, and have preformed great in rain and snow. They're also a 60K mile tire. Expensive, but well worth the money.
0
Comments
So tell me did you replace the tires when they were new?
Usually I am not up to that, buying 2 sets of tires when I get a new vehicle.
Do you get any trade in value when trading in near new tires?
I do remember olden days when I bought a Toyota (80s) there would be several manufacturers/types of tires on the available new Toyotas. And I would make that a requirement before I signed on the bottom line. i.e. I want that car but with those tires.........................
a. Take any tire rebates plus the OEM trade-in discount.
b. Get a premium tire that provides exceeds "more than minimum" requirements.
c. Get the road hazard, free rotations, life-time balance on a 60K to 80K mile tire.
d. Provide the safest, most comfortable ride possible.
Edmunds and Tirerack are excellent sources of info on which tires are best. It's amazing how different the same vehicle will perform on different tires. Look at that small tire patch that contacts the pavement (or lack of pavement due to rain, snow, mud, etc...).
How's it go? You can pay me now or you can pay me later. IMO - A few hundred dollar investment in premium quality tires is well worth the safety and improved ride.
Which usally doesn't take too long what with the cheap tires that come on the new vehicles.
It is too bad that you can't get the dealer to put on the tires you want when you pay 30k or so for a new vehicle.
I replaced the origican TOYO tryes on my Luger a few weeks ago. I was never happy with thier performance, particuallry lateral stability on turns. The Stability Contorl warning chime would often warn of slippage, een at very low cornering speeds, such as in car park ramps.
I researched and fitted Yokohama Gelonder G051 which are a good comrpomise for primarily bitumen use with small off road component. Substantially beeter performance all around but very noticable in improved lateral stability.
No change in noise characterisics or other downside that I can see. Cost about AUD1040 (about USD 780) to replace all four tyres.
One thing to check with the Highlander (Kluger) is all four wheels shoulod be aligned at the same time. They can slip out of alignment if vehicel has been used on rough surfcaes for lengthy periods.
Cheers
Graham
b. Did you have it undercoated? if so, check to see if any undercoat is on the drive shaft. It seems that an un-balance drive sahft would cause issue prior to 70-MPH, but who really knows.
c. If no undercoat, it could be a slight imbalance to drive shaft or or other drive assemblies...
I wish I could help more.
Best of luck!
Any ideas where to find lowering kits for these cars?
The kits are sold on automotive sites. Try someplace like Motortrend.com or their magazine, they are usually advertised in the back pages.
On a side note, if you were driving slower in general you wouldn't need to worry so much about speeds in corners. And you would get even better gas mileage driving slower.
Personally I have never known anyone to "lower" a Highlander. Usually people buy Highlanders because they like being higher up in the air for visibility etc.
After driving for a while I find that my LR brake rotor is hotter than my RR. If I drive a long time, not using my brake at all, the RL rotor is still warm. I pulled the calper and all is well with the slider. The PBR pads seemed very tight in the braket, so I filed them down on the ends and side of the tabs to losen them. This helped but the rotor is still warm. The pads are still pretty tight in the fixed part of the caliper. Does anyone know how lose the pads should be? I always thought they should be rather lose. What I don't understand is that the RR pads are just a tight as the left. Why would the left side brakes be dragging and not the right?
I have now run about 10000km on the Geolanders and am impressed. Slight increase in road noise over standard Toyo but dramatically improved grip, both on road and off. handling is much improved under slippery conditions.
Most impressive is the offroad performance. I took my Kluger into very steep mountain country with serious rock scrambles on some trails. No slip and perfect control throoughout.
No obvious wear yet.
Cheers
Graham
The Goodyears are a piece of Cow Dung...I wouldn't put them on. They are not well made and just don't last.
The Yokie are stiffer sidewalls better handling and cornering, but are you really driving the HL as a sports car?
The Michelin's are the best in my not so humble opinion. Current set is at 55K miles and I will be replacing them for summer driving season next week. Sure they cost a bit more but quality always wins out, especially when the family is in the car.
I haven't experienced the Yoko's, but read on these boards that people are happy with them. Having owned Michelin Cross terrain tires on a 2001 HL for 55K miles and a 2002 Tundra for 30K miles, I have the following comment. They're much better than OEM, but aren't good enough. They begin quiet, but begin to get noisy around 25K miles.
A top rated tire at Tire Rack is the Goodyear Triple Tread (Forterra Triple Tread on SUV and Assurance Triple Tread on cars). The GY Triple Tread tires on my 2006 HL have about 15K miles. They are the best tires that I've ever owned. Great snow/rain traction, braking, smooth ride, and quiet on the highway. (However, there is some road/tire noise at speeds below 40MPH.) I have them on the HL, the G6, and will soon replace the Michelin Hydro Edge tires on our 4WD Matrix. My neighbor has them on his Avalon and his 4Runner and he also shares my experience with these tires.
I don't switch tires over summer/winter so the miles I mentioned are true miles for each tire brand. (Also, I don't work for or have any financial interest in Goodyear.)
I went to Sam's Club last week and they balanced the tires twice now since I bought the tires from them 2 months ago, but I still get the steering wheel vibration especially at 70-75. Sam's Club says that the rim is to blame, not the tire because the rim is defective and when that the problem is from normal everyday driving and hitting pot holes, etc..... My old tires didn't have any steering wheel vibration issues at highway speeds at all though. Should I go back to them a 3rd time and ask for a manager or go to the dealer to have them check everything out?
Anyway the OE tires -- Michelin Energy LX4 -- claim to be better for mileage. I've never had any problems so I'd be inclined to get the same tires if I hadn't stumbled across this thread. The price appears to be the same between the two. So, anyway, any comments regarding gas mileage & Fortera?
Thanks.
They rotate between front and rear on the same side of the vehicle. Another great thing about switching out the OEM tires is that tire rotations on these tires are free. You can also spend a few extra $$$ per tire to get the lifetime balance and road hazard. It's about $4 per tire, as I recall. The rotations help increase the life of the tire and provide more even wear.
<<<<<<<<<<
Ok. How about spare tire, should it be left or right?
Thanks,
I replaced them with Yokohama Geolandars which now have 40,000 miles on them. I've only rotated the four tires, not the spare on this set. They still have lots of tread left and will probably go another 20,000 miles. Interestingly, I did see about a 2mpg drop in fuel mileage with the Yokos; something that Consumer Reports and others noted. I guess it does make a difference. The Yokos are good tires. Excellent in the rain and fair in the snow.
My $0.02.
Or anybody else knows about the warranty program on Toyo tire.
Thanks.
i do have access to sam's and costco warehouse clubs..
maybe i shouldn,t have tires rotated in the future if "cupping" may become a problem???? i do want as smooth a ride as is possible.