2002 SE Suspension

[lewie49]

I recently bought a 2002 Camry SE V6. The car test drove beautifully and is Toyota Certified. The dealer put 4 new Sumitomo HTR 4T tires on it. They are T rated but ride smoothly and quietly. The car's suspension was very nice, with some road feel but no harshness and very quiet at freeway speeds. That changed this week. On Monday, I had a blowout in my left rear tire. I was on a freeway exit ramp doing around 40. The car fishtailed briefly and then straightened out. I was able to fill the tire and have it hold until I could get it patched a few hours later. The following day I noticed a significant change in the ride of the car. The front end seemed to be almost mildly bouncing on even relatively smooth street or freeway roads at any speed. Bumps were much more pronounced than they had been the day before. I have been feeling like I'm on a kiddies roller coaster when I drive. The bouncing sensation can be felt up through the driver's seat and on the steering wheel somewhat. My dealer is going to have his shop foreman (who owns a Camry SE himself) out for a test ride tomorrow so we'll see. What I fear is that he will come back and say that this is "norma", leaving me with a very unpleasant car to drive. Any thoughts would be appreaciated.

[EKam]

If the car is bouncing, you should check your struts for leakage.

[lewie49]

Here's the latest:
I brought the car into Toyota at 30,100 miles for service the week after the blowout. We agreed to do a 15000 mile service to cover anything which Toyota Certification didn't. I had mentioned the suspension issue and the shop foreman, himself a Camry SE owner, took the car out for a test drive. He did notice a bouncing sensation coming form the rear left side. The suspension was "checked" and deemed normal and the tires were rotated and balanced. The repaired tire was now on the front left. When I picked up the car, I was told that, with the rotation, there was now a mild bounce in the front, possibly caused by a minor structural problem with the patched tire. I was told to drive it for a few days and advise them of any problems. I took the car into the best tire dealer in town and they checked the patched tire on their GPS-9700 unit. The tire was structurally perfect but was 2oz out of balance. They then checked the other 3 tries and found them to be 1.5oz, 1oz and .25oz out of balance. Using the 9700, all tires were brought into perfect balance. I was not happy with my Toyota dealer since balancing was part of the service just done. The ride of the car is better but still seems overly active. There is still a mild bouncing on even relatively smooth roads and a lengthy ride can be very fatiguing. I'm not sure what the best approach to this problem should be, hammer the dealer vs. having the suspension checked by a professional shop. I really do not want to spend out of pocket and know that the SE's suspension is a bit harder but the car's current ride is not acceptable and I'm beginning to wonder if I got stuck. I had an 2000 Altima SE with a "sport" suspension prior to the Camry and it felt nothing like this.

[89SV21]

the blowout could've messed up your alignment. camry alignment goes out really easy and can definitely contribute to the bouncing and crappy road feel. my gen2's alignment goes out constantly and i don't hit any curbs or animals. when the alignment is out the ride is noticably bouncier. once i fix it its fine. i'd recommend getting it checked. blowouts frickin suck.

[gaak]

get a set of Tokico blues and a set of Eibach springs and you'll firm that ride up a hell of a lot....

[wujo]

i have a 2003 camry se. i threw on eibach springs and some 18s. rides pretty well and firm.

[VVT-i Owns]

Well I always thought the SE Suspension was bouncy and sometimes uncomfortable to ride in for a long time.

I don't know about your car, but the ones with the Aluminum rims, the Factory uses wheel weights that lie on the inner surface of the rim instead of the lip.

But that shouldn't matter since you had them rebalanced, try putting on the spare tire to see if the bounce is there.

[lewie49]

Thanks for all of the info. I did get one suggestion in the Camry news group about the tires themselves. The premise is that T rated tires on a Camry SE that came with V rateds Toyos originally may be part of the problem. The difference in quality and performance characteristics between Ts and Vs could be an issue with the SE's "sport" suspension. Since the dealer gave me 4 new tires when I bought the car, I was in no position to demand V ratings. Could this be a factor? Would the drop from V to T make that kind of difference and would H rated tires (130mph) be adequate as opposed to V rated. Thanks.