Just some quick questions - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

redtigerrocks · 01-14-2010, 10:59 PM

I have a 94 Camry V6 with around 170k miles and I just had some questions about minor issues:
-Ive been recently having some wobbling in the steering wheel at low speeds (under 35-40 MPH) and my service place said i had choppy tires. is choppy tires uneven wear of the tires?
-My tires currently have 5/32 left on the treads and I know I probably should change them around 3/32 or else it wont pass state inspection. Does anyone know , speaking with mostly city driving and occasional once a week highway driving, how many more miles my tires will last? I've put around 20k miles on them.
-Service guy told me my valve cover gasket was leaking oil but ive been checking my oil often and haven't seen a drop in oil level. Should I be concerned still?

***96paseo*** · 01-15-2010, 12:17 AM

If your shop is telling you the tires are "choppy", you may want to look at getting service at another shop. Thats a very poor term only the shop should attempt to define. Honestly, choppy?

Sounds like he spent too much time on the high seas. Cupped and/or uneven tire wear is usually related to either lack of tire rotation or bad suspension parts/alignment. Get new tires ASAP. 1/8" isn't much and your wet road handling is probably suffering at this point.

stingraycamry1996 · 01-15-2010, 12:19 AM

Hi redtigerrocks

i'm no pro this is just my opinion here.

i think by choppy tires he means you have a tire with a broken steel belt which causes the tire to deform and not be perfectly round making you car vibrate. seeing as their's not much life left on these tires i'd get 4 new ones plus when installing tires they have to balance them so if the vibration was coming from an unbalanced rim you'd have it solved.

as for the valve cover leaking, if the oil level is not dropping i wouldn't touch it but definetly check your oil level once a week or so.

bdy0003 · 01-15-2010, 01:29 AM

You may have uneven tires; if your fingers brush up on the treds, its not always even. I had this happen to my car. While I didnt really have whobbling, you could hear pulsations/vibrations from speeds 25mph-55mph, and then the frequency became too fast for me to pick up. Changing the tires made the difference and while you're at it, you might want to change your struts as they can cause this tire damage.

As for your valve cover gasket, change it anyways. You can probably do it in under an hour with no problems.