I just picked up my 2004 Sienna LE on Friday. So far I love it.
However, I just noticed this afternoon a rip on the passenger front
tire. It is towards the outside wall of the tire, and resembles an
upside down "Y" (sort of). It is deep enough to see some of the
fibers of the tires coming through. However, the tire does not seem
to be leaking air.

Obviously I need to replace this ASAP. The deal was closed today
(Sunday) but I drove by a Sears and they looked it over. They think I
hit a nail or piece of metal that caught the edge and ripped it open.
I guess anything is possible - but I have been super carefully with it
this weekend (total mileage just hit 100). I know you can't "avoid" a
nail in the road, but I did not hit any pot holes, curbs, etc. Also,
Sears did not have any 2004 Dunlop tires in stock or even available
for order - too new they said. I thought I could at least get pricing
from them before seeing what the Toyota dealer was going to charge me
:(

I guess the likelihood is I ran over something. But I wonder if maybe
it was like that when I picked it up on Friday? I looked closely at
the body, but did not really look over the tires. Also, depending on
how the wheel is positioned, it is impossible to notice when it is at
the bottom of the wheel. I am hoping maybe it is a defect but
something tells me I got screwed on the road (maybe literally).

I will be visiting the dealer tomorrow morning. I am hoping that
since it is so new (3 days) they will cut me a break and sell it at
cost, or better. But I think they will tell me I am SOL.

Anyone replace a 16" 2004 Sienna tire yet? It is a Dunlop SP 4000 T
A/S (P125/6516). Any idea how much one would cost? I can't find one
on-line. Do you think the dealer might give me a break or laugh in my
face. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

No computer components were harmed during the creation of this post,
however several billion electrons were abused to ensure its safe delivery.

check out www.tirerack.com for pricing and info. I would expect them to
give you a free tire since it hardly has any mileage on it.

"Blade" <blade@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:5mtenvgc436u4vdt9q10l2s9t0457nstd2@4ax.com...

Well, I went to Toyota this morning and it turns out it was a
manufacturer's defect on the tire (tread ripped from the inside out).
They replaced it free of charge, although I had to wait almost 2 hours
just for the tire to come in from their supplier. The only thing that
bothers me now is that they balanced it and now I have a small weight
on the rim of the new tire - where all 3 of the other factory
installed tires do not. Not a big deal but I do notice it on the new
16" rims and it annoys me... :(

Why don't the dealers "static balance" the tires so the weights are on
the inside of the rims?


On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 00:18:01 GMT, Blade <blade@nospam.net> wrote:



"No computer components were harmed during the creation of this post,
however several billion electrons were abused to ensure its safe delivery."

I noticed my neighbors new Mazda 6 has the weights on the inside of the
rim, kinda takes the look of new rims away. I don't have any on my LE8
either, but I've never
noticed if there were any on the inside.


"Blade" <blade@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:i0qgnvk2fhbunp8iqutlct9de60m7mskkd@4ax.com...


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kj@ca.org wrote:

Tires are no longer statically balanced because when your tire is
"static" it doesn't matter if your tire is balanced or not. If it is
not moving, it is not going to shake!

If the tire/rim assembly has weights on the outside, it is because it
needs them there! Best balance is attained when the assembly is
balanced around the circumference and about the mid-line. The wider the
rim, the more important this is.

The "best" balance is done on the vehicle, where everything that rotates
is balanced together. This is very difficult to do.


Dan

The alternative to balancing the tires on the vehicle is a road forced
variation balancing system made by Hunter. This unit puts a roller like
unit on the tire to simulate weight on the tire and calculates the weights
needed in up to 8 zones.


"Dan Gates" <dgates@kellerengineering.com> wrote in message
news:hOCcnW8VmOmA5uWiU-KYvw@magma.ca...

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 17:13:37 GMT, someone who calls themselves Blade
<blade@nospam.net> wrote:

Because they get a better overall balance if they put the weight out
on the edges of the rims, where it corrects side-to-side imbalances in
the tires and rims also. Notice that the machine's solution readout
usually shows two different weight sizes at two different angular
spots on each side of the rim - tires can be heavier on one side, not
just one spot in the center of the tread, they are all hand-built.

You can ask the tire buster to try putting tape weights on the
centerline of the rim in an attempt to get away without any clip-on
weights on the outer rim, but they'll probably have to charge extra
for the added labor, he'll be messing with it for a while... And you
may get a tire that isn't quite balanced and gets squirrely at certain
resonant speeds.

--<< Bruce >>--
--
Bruce L. Bergman, POB 394, Woodland Hills CA 91365, USA
Electrician, Westend Electric (#726700) Agoura, CA

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