2007 LR3 HSE. I only have 55k miles on it but have gone through 3 sets of tires already. The original tires were Bridgestone (I think). The next tires I got were Hankook, and then Pirelli. They all lasted for about the same 18k miles and now I need another set. Is this normal? Is anyone else experiencing this situation?

 

Are they wearing evenly or more on the edges?

 

Street tires vs AT (Apples and oranges), but I got 36K miles from a set of General AT2s and 32K from a set of Goodyear duratracs. Im terrible about rotating them - probably cause they are so stinking heavy and getting two wheels off the ground is a real pain.

I have the dealer do an alignment with each new set of tires. Also do an alignment each fall after offroading season. Alignments are one of the few things best left to a good dealership service dept. Dont waste your money (and tires) anywhere else.

 

Agree with all said here about alignments. I ran a set of Michelin Synchrones for ~70,000 miles (that's a conservative estimate). I switched them out during off-roading "season" with Goodyear MT/Rs which makes the mileage estimate less obvious. Regardless, the moral of the story is that alignment is vital on this vehicle and the brand of tires makes a difference.

 

If they are wearing evenly, but just wearing out too fast, you might just need a different type of tire. I think the stock speed rating is V, which is WAY to fast to be driving an LR3 in my opinion. V rated tire usually have pretty low tread life (though not always) and you could probably go down to an H rated tire, or lower, and get a much better wearing tread compound.

The issue is that many tire places these days will only let you put the same speed rating because of liability issues. In this case, this giant brick isn't going 149 mph anyway, so it's a silly argument.

 

The larger issue is the weight and the load rating, NOT the speed rating. This vehicle is probably in the top 90% weight of all SUVs ever put into full production and tire companies are not going to engineer products for 10% market share; especially when that 10% is "rich" (lolz, I wish!!!)

SUVs are only going to shed weight - this will probably go into the books as one of the heaviest SUVs ever - though for good reason; the integrated-body-frame design is the heart and soul of the LR3 (and 1st gen range rover sport) and gives it a character that I really love, especially when towing.

Anyways - this weight needs to be respected, and LR only initially certified (I think) two tires for the LR3 due to lateral load which could hypothetically be placed on the tires (offroad, with two diagonal wheels off the ground - over 3,500lbs PER TIRE at GVWR!!!!) ie. more than the weight of an average large car PER TIRE in offroad situations.

Accelerating / decelerating a vehicle with this mass also imposes significant forces on the tires (thus out horrible fuel economy and dismal brake life.. not a coincidence!) which is really harsh compared to a normal vehicle. Probably exponentially so, especially in stop/go traffic!

Anyways, tires fitting those approved load and sidewall ratings seem to do well with wear also - if kept in alignment and with healthy bushings/tie rods etc.

 

Good points Estor! I hadn't thought about the cross axle 2 wheel weight. Glad that I have LT version of the Duratracs (Load Range:E). I have seen a couple LR3 wearing the wrong version!

 

Have to rebuild wife's suspension and new tires, I was figuring E rated since gvw on door is 7100# ouch

Specific brands? Just doing all season

 

The stock load rating is "XL" and is just over 2400lbs in this size. XL means "extra load" and is achieved by inflating the tire over the normal pressures. Just stay away from the stock goodyear wrangler HP.