[XLR I FL]

I have a 04 XLR -- 15,900 miles. Running tire pressure 34-35 pounds hot. My average speed according to the dash is 33 mph. So there hasn't been much "putting my foot in it".

FRONT TIRES --The front tires are worn bald on the INSIDE tread only on both front tires. Since it hasn't been wrecked or in the shop for any other front end stuff, my experience tells me that the suspension must have settled OR that the caster camber was set up incorrectly at the factory.

REAR TIRES -- The rear tires are bald. the INSIDE tread seems to be the area with the most remaining. BUT these tires should "Go Flat" REAL SOON. In my assessment.

The only things I can think of that MAY be contributors are;
1. The recall on the positraction plates sticking.
2. The suspension not being stiff enough.
3. The compound being too soft.

Now I know I will hear about the "lead foot" and other stuff BUT I am interested in the group experience with their tires --so far. I haven't seen any other posts about this subject yet.

My understanding is that the tire life is 40k miles or am I wrong?

I am trying to post some pictures of each tire.

I am trying to gain some more insight before I go into the dealer and "do battle" since I am not predisposed to pay for all 4 tires being replaced at $485 each.

Ideas or insight ?

 

[1_XLR]

I've been running Perelli A/S Sports which I belive are a fairly soft compound tire
My experience has been a very even wear both front and back.
At 26k miles I have already replaced the rears and am close to needing fronts, so I have watched them closely....and I do have a lead foot.
I also have NOT had issues with the posi traction sticking


BTW: I'll sell 4 slightly used stock tires for $400. send a PM if interested

 

[upstate]

My car with 11,500 had to have both rears replaced. The passenger side could of gone a little more but the drivers rear was shot. I have never done a burn out. I do notice with slight accelleration from a stand still making a turn the inside tire typically chirps. I seem to notice this on the drivers side more. Front tires still OK at 14,000. Whats the info on the possy recall, this is the first I heard.

 

[BUDSVET]

I wore my first set out at 20k and my second set was shot at 37k so I traded my 04 for a 05. I am a lead foot, my 05 now has 10k miles on it and I believe I will get at least 15-18k. :jester :flag :nopity

 

[Caly]

I have more miles on my Corvette (same frame). Alignment must be done on all 4 wheels; factory alignment is generally not that good and a rear mis-alignment will cause wear on the front tires.

I had center wear on the rear also, but attributed that to the wider tires the Corvette runs on the rear. On the new tires, i run 28 rear 30 front cold for that reason. Strangely enough, when warm they are both at 34.

Don't know how much of that transfers to the XRL, but spend 80 bucks on a good alignment.

 

[aviator]

Miles and miles of smiles...

I wore my first set out at 20k and my second set was shot at 37k so I traded my 04 for a 05. I am a lead foot, my 05 now has 10k miles on it and I believe I will get at least 15-18k. :jester :flag :nopity

Yeah, BUDSVET is our mileage champ. If you get 20K miles on your tires, that will probably be average. An expectation of 40K is not reasonable.

Buy 1_XLR's tires and get another 15K if you like the stock look.

Or, buy some ultra cool 19 in wheels and Pirelli run flats.

 

[XLR I FL]

What has been your experience regarding cost on the stock tires?

I agree there will be a full alignment fornt and rear done.


Regards

 

[BUDSVET]

Not quite the same frame as vette, XLR is 1" longer. I don't think I will get any better milage with Z06-C6 when it arrives, I have three on order at various locations with deposits, should get one before xmas. :jester :flag :flag
Oh, not keeping all three, just one, :boxing

 

[bumbleent]

I have 25,500 miles on my original tires and have begun to consider replacements with another brand. It appears that the only run-flat is the Michelin original. Has anyone gone to non run-flat tires?

 

[harrysxlr]

I have 25,500 miles on my original tires and have begun to consider replacements with another brand. It appears that the only run-flat is the Michelin original. Has anyone gone to non run-flat tires?

Hi bumbleent,
I still have my first ones on but I will replace mine with Pireli Run Flats in the size 255/45 18. This size also fit our wheels, see TIRERACK.
These Pireli will be available when the new STS V is coming out, because that`s the tire size of the front tires on the STS V.
I think they make the hole car look alot better.

Hans

 

[Guest]

Yes I have

Yes I have,
Had to go to Pirelli non flats to fit my 20" Foose rims, there a bit wider than the run flats, but haven't had one bit of trouble after traveling across the US without a spare. My spare is ON-STAR. 15,000+ and have plenty of tread on rear and like new on front.

I have 25,500 miles on my original tires and have begun to consider replacements with another brand. It appears that the only run-flat is the Michelin original. Has anyone gone to non run-flat tires?

 

[XLR I FL]

Tires -- The Solution

Well I am sure everybody has been staying awake at night waiting to see what happened at the dealer with my tire problem.

Yesterday morning I drove in to the dealer. I used some advice an old friend shared with me -- "Don't tell the dealer what or how to fix something just tell them what is wrong."

I SAID: " 15,920 miles and the tires are bald and make driving the car unsafe.

THE DEALER SAID: "Let me check with the factory."

THE FACTORY SAID: "REPLACE THEM ALL FOR FREE!!" "However The customer will need to pay for the alignment ($60.00) and agree to bring the car in every 5k miles so the tires can be rotated from now on."

I SAID: I guess that's a good deal. (HA, HA)!!

BRIEF HISTORY: Apparantly when he car was coming out in 2003, there was some consternation about having wider tires on the rear. Which would have prevented any rotation. What happend is that the factory decided to have the same sizes front and rear at the last moment. SO the owner instruction book and the maintenance reminder software didn't get updated to send out notices to us to bring the cars in every 5k miles for tire rotation service.

MY UNDERSTANDING is that in addition to the forms I signed at the dealership this morning I will receive a formal letter advising me that I need to do this from now on. As for the rest of the owners I don't know if you will receive letters or not.

They agree with everyone here that the normal life for the tire -- rotated or not is 20k (+-) miles depending on your driving habits. SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY !!

OH YEA -- They loaned me a new 06 CTS too (10 miles on it).

FOR THE CURIOUS --

1. The sales price thru the dealer for 4 tires is $1,600. Mounting balancing and alignment is extra.

2. The useful life for these tires is 20k(+-) as I mentioned earlier.

3. The alignment was dead on. I talked with the mechanic that aligned the car and got a print out of the Before and After specs.

I'll "fat finger" the details in a response if anybody is interested.


The CTS-V has the same tires I am told and the same problem.


STAND BY: Your Pirelli's being 20 " would provide longer life. I'll bet you get 25 -30k on them. AND YES I may just do the same thing on my XLR-V that you did (FOOSE and 20" rims). In the meantime I am hoping that I can avoid buying another set of these before then.


I SURE HOPE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION HELPS!! I DO APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK MAYBE WE NEED TO MAKE A "STICKEY" FOR TIRES

REGARDS

 

[aviator]

Gracias

The info you've provided is spot on. many thanks. :thumbs

I'm also gratified to hear that GM and your dealer went the extra mile to do the right thing.

As an aside, I asked my dealer to rotate the tires at the last service. They apparently did not get the word, because they told me that they could not rotate them. :glol

Once again, this forum proves to be a far more valuable resource than my GM dealer (who has actually exceeded my expectations).

Y'all (that's Texan for all of you) are the greatest. (I think Dadonator would say "youse guys").

 

[upstate]

My local Dunn Tire store. Our factory original tires $350 each out the door price plus sales tax.

 

[Caly]

Direct replacement tires at TireRack on-line are $234.00 each. Linky. Usually if you take a printed quote from them to Discount Tire, they will get close enough to compare with the shipping and mounting by buying on-line.

You should also be aware that Michelin Zero Pressure (runflat) tires come with a free 24 month road hazard warrenty that is pretty good. I had a sidewall separation on the Vette that the tire store called an "Impact Separation" and were going to charge me to fix it. I pointed out the warrantee and they realized they were losing a lot of money because they hadn't been doing that before. Got it fixed for free instead of a $80 pro-rated charge.

 

[XLR I FL]

Tires --more Educating Information

After the mounting and balancing was done at the dealer I guess I was extra sensitive about the tire proessure in my new freebees. So I kept checking the pressure at the dash and with a guage. The onboard guages seemed to be off and weren't registering like I thought they should. So back I went to the dealer.

It seems that the 2004 XLR's and some early 2005's have a reed switch in the tire pressure Sensor. When you change the tires or have other tire pressure problems like a flat. The sensors nned to be reset.

It takes about 2 minutes and the instrument looks like a magnet. They put it over the tire stem and it resets the signal with the onboard cvomputer in the car while the car is in ACC mode. NEAT!!!

Apparantly if the sensors have been changed out to 05 or later sensors this process is not needed.

IMAGINE THAT!!

OH YEA -- The tire pressure should be 32 cold and 35 hot all around.

 

[Ed and Sandra]

XLR I Fl,

Glad to read things have gone well for you with respect to your tires.

Why do you say the cold pressure should be 32psi? The Tire and Loading information label on the driver's door pillar of our 2005 XLR indicates it should be 30psi. Just curious if yours shows something different.

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra

 

[harrysxlr]

XLR I Fl,

Glad to read things have gone well for you with respect to your tires.

Why do you say the cold pressure should be 32psi? The Tire and Loading information label on the driver's door pillar of our 2005 XLR indicates it should be 30psi. Just curious if yours shows something different.

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra

Hi Ed & Sandra,
you are right, the owners manual says 30 psi but this depends on country or how fast the car is been driven.
If you go top speed not over 100 mph (160 kph) the 30 psi is all you need but if you used to go a lot faster (on german autobahns) a higher pressure (like 34 psi) is much better. 34 psi that`s what my dealer recomments for my XLR.

Hans

 

[1_XLR]

It seems that the 2004 XLR's and some early 2005's have a reed switch in the tire pressure Sensor. When you change the tires or have other tire pressure problems like a flat. The sensors nned to be reset.

It takes about 2 minutes and the instrument looks like a magnet. They put it over the tire stem and it resets the signal with the onboard cvomputer in the car while the car is in ACC mode. NEAT!!!

.

you can actually use a common magnet and it's easy to do.
ACC mode...place magnet over the left front valve stem,the horn will beep....go next to the right front, horn beeps, .....right rear, horn beep......left rear, horn will beep twice if done correctly....done

 

[bumbleent]

I just hit 28,000 on the odometer and my original tires are about worn out. I told my tire shop I was going to wait until they went flat before putting new ones on. Either that or cold rainy weather. He ordered me new Michelins and has them in his shop. I never rotated the originals but they seem to have worn uniformly. Of course,I don't have an autbahn to travel.

Bumbleent