1st & 2nd Generation (1983–1986 & 1987-1991)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1983-1986 & 1987-1991.
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
..... with NEW tires.....still mounted on the FREE 1990 Camry wagon!!
A friend of mine at work was telling me about this '90 Camry wagon. It was just a spare car to him. He loaned it to another buddy who drove it a few days, and told him about this terrible noise coming from the front end. We talked about it, and it was presumed that it needed a new half-shaft. He didn't want to deal with it, so asked me if I wanted the car for free. Of course I did, especially after finding out it had basketweaves on it. I drove it about 8 miles home, with this gawd-awful noise from the driver's side front. Seemed to go away during braking and acceleration. The first order of business was removing the locking lug nuts, which he didn't have the special tool for (McGuard type). I hammered an appropriate sized socket onto them and they came off easily.
I remove the front tire, brake caliper, and rotor, only to find NOTHING that merits the kind of noise coming from the front.
Confused, I put things back together without the wheel locks. I put 2 of the shouldered lug nuts on it with their spacer/washers, and lightly snug them down. I grab the tire, and it's still loose. Then I realized that the lug nuts were bottoming out on the rotor. I put an extra spacer under each lug nut. I kick the rear wheel and it's loose also . The wheel lock was the only nut that was actually holding the wheel tight against the rotor & drum on the driver's side. The pass. side had the appropriate 2 spacers on the lug nuts. Evidently, the locking nut loosened up and let the wheel rattle. It all made perfect sense after I thought about it. Many tire places have 2 people working on a vehicle. The guy working on the passenger side was aware of the 2 spacers per nut, while the guy working on the driver's side was probably wondering where all the "extra" spacers came from.
Put the basketweaves with new Goodyear VIVA tires on my camry, and it drives really smooth. Didn't see any apparent damage to the wheels. The wagon is in overall pretty good condition, although it has 364k miles on it. Needless to say, it doesn't drive quite as tight as my camry with 55k on it. It's not bad though, doesn't smoke at all. Don't even get a puff of smoke on start-up. The wagon looked really great with those wheels on it. Now it's just sort of plain looking.
Told my buddy what was wrong with the car. I felt bad because he gave it to me based on the assumption that it needed a major repair and so I offered it back to him (minus the basketweaves, of course ), but he didn't want it.
Nice, the basketweaves really sharpen the look of your camry!
Now all you need to do is update your sig
Thanks man! I definately like the improvement over the $10 Wal-Mart covers that the wagon is now "sporting".
Actually I was going to wash the car and get a good sig pic, but you can see the crappy day we had today, so I didn't bother.
Kingdom: It's not BAD shape, but it's not really the shining gem it looks like in the pic either.
The seats are surprisingly in great conditon with no tears or even wear marks. Same with the carpet. The instrument panel at the top has a couple of cracks, couple of cigarette burns on the console, and there is just a bit of rust on the passenger side fore and aft of the wheel opening. Just got back from a short trip into town with it, and it drives quite well, considering it's mileage.
Holy crap, for the price you can't complain! I honestly haven't seen a gen2 in these parts with rear wheel wells in that kind of shape for years. Just grind-off what little rust it has (no doubt on the passenger side from all the salt puddles along the curbs) and keep it mint.
Nice score!!! I'm jealous.
__________________ 1990 5spd V6 Camry (Still kicking at 393,000km) 1991 Celica GTS -- Pappa needs a 3SGTE...and AWD for all this friggin' snow
Honda my A$$, you just can't kill a Yota...
It seems nice how pictures of cars sometime make them look 'better' then they are. Good in a way I suppose if your trying to take a nice picture and bad if your looking to buy from a picture. The rust looks quite minimal, I can't see it from the outside.
LOL! I *ALMOST* did leave them on the wagon because they looked so sweet on there. If my wife starts driving my '91 to keep miles off her G6 lease, that means I'll either drive the Ram truck or the wagon. And at 2X the MPG of the Ram, I'll drive the wagon. But at least I will know where to get the basketweaves, and I won't have to go far.
kingdom: you can't see the rust because I took the pic from the "good" side. The only rust is on the passenger side.
I've looked at some cars that looked GREAT from the pics online, but were real turds in person. One was a rare Baja edition S-10 pickup. Looked so nice online, but I wouldn't have driven it home if it was free.
nuron: chin up, buddy! I'll give you my $10 Wal-Mart wheelcovers if you want them.
Bah! I wish I could get a Yota--ANY Yota for free...the only freebies around here are domestics. I have neither the time nor the interest in learning their set-ups to fix 'em, so I'm SOL.
I noticed yesterday at work that some asshole customer has removed ONE of the basketweaves on my parts Camry (I work at a scrap yard). What the hell am I supposed to do with THREE?!?!?!?!? *sigh*
__________________ 1990 5spd V6 Camry (Still kicking at 393,000km) 1991 Celica GTS -- Pappa needs a 3SGTE...and AWD for all this friggin' snow
Honda my A$$, you just can't kill a Yota...
HomeGrown, are there two versions of the basketweaves? I went to the yard today and saw three that still has the honeycomb pattern except with some little black lugnut-looking things on the face of it for decoration? Any clue? Those three were going for $75...I woulda went for them but the fourth wheel would have been very hard to find since I havent seen those around. Besides, it's three wheels!
No idea if there are 2 versions or not.... these look identical to the others I've seen around, but I'll definately look closer next time I see them. Mine don't have the black "fake" lugnut caps like you're describing, just the real lugnuts and some plastic centercap.
I would certainly think you could put 195s on them, but probably not much bigger than that. I was noticing that the 185s come awful close to the strut in the back (probably the front, too). I'm always one to really push the envelope with regards to tire size. I'd probably even try 205s on it. Most tire places I've dealt with will at least give it a try if they don't know for sure one way or the other. I'm sure someone on here knows what max size will fit the stock rims. I've seen it discussed a time or two.
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1990 5spd V6 Camry (Still kicking at 393,000km) 1991 Celica GTS -- Pappa needs a 3SGTE...and AWD for all this friggin' snow
Now I'll be the only basketweave prober around here hahaha
.....thats right... 
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