2006 Camry Wheel Questions

[cashcrazy]

I have owned the car since new and I have always had a problem keeping the wheels/tires balanced. I am running Michelin tires that are fairly new. I am starting to think I have a bad wheel. I have never hit anything or had a wreck. I can have the tires rotated and the shake will go away until the next rotate. Well the shake is back and I am confident the problem is with one of the front two wheels. I have tried everything to eliminate this, short of selling the car. It currently has 50k. Some of the things I have done trying to eliminate the problem:

New Michelin tires
new rotors/pads
front end alignment
numerous rotates/balances
Something the dealer called a force balance (x2)

It has been in and out of the dealer since about 15k trying to get this fixed. Now to the questions... Is the wheel on the spare tire the same size as the other wheels? If so I am going to try swap wheels with one on the front. I have 15" factory steel wheels. What are the size/bolt pattern for these? I am going to pick up a used steel wheel on ebay so I can have two different wheels on the front, so I will know if it is a wheel issue. I have already spend hundreds trying to solve this and this is the last $$ I am going to throw at it.

[Kycamrymaker]

The spare tire is a "doughnut" economy tire, so no it's not the same as what you have on the car. You can probably pick one up at the local Salvage yard for about $25-$50 for the same size you have already in a steel wheel to test it out. Does the vibration move from front to back when you have them rotated or does it stay in the front only? If with rotations, it moves from front to back or vice versa, then I'd venture to say its the wheels, if not then its something else.

[LE05]

Originally Posted by Kycamrymaker

The spare tire is a "doughnut" economy tire, so no it's not the same as what you have on the car. You can probably pick one up at the local Salvage yard for about $25-$50 for the same size you have already in a steel wheel to test it out. Does the vibration move from front to back when you have them rotated or does it stay in the front only? If with rotations, it moves from front to back or vice versa, then I'd venture to say its the wheels, if not then its something else.

^ op has an 06 which is gen 5.5, not a gen 6. Gen 5.5 has full size spares.

cashcrazy - I'd go ahead and try the swapping the spare with one of the fronts. since you have factory steels, it's the same size. your steel wheels are 15" x 6.5", 5 x 114.3mm bolt pattern ... if you wanted to get a cheap one on ebay, or check out tirerack.

[cashcrazy]

The vibrations go away when the tires are on the rear. The shake with the factory goodyears was major. It is minor with the Michelins. I am not sure of the line, but I told them I wanted the best tire that would keep balance. The only thing I have not replaced is the wheels at this point. If it's not this, then that leaves the hubs and CV axles. The dealer claimed the force balance would detect a bad wheel. Not sure if the balance machine is the same as a wheel with the weight of the car running 70mph. I am going to run the spare on my weekend road trip and see if that changes anything. If not I'll move the spare to the other side. If there is still no change......Honda here I come. Thanks for the info!!

[Donald E. George]

Take it to a recommended alignment shop with a quality alignment machine and balancer. I currently have Michelins on my 2004 and have had no balance problems.

[cashcrazy]

Originally Posted by Donald E. George

Take it to a recommended alignment shop with a quality alignment machine and balancer. I currently have Michelins on my 2004 and have had no balance problems.

Been there, done that at the dealer.

[Robert1820]

You definitely have a tire or wheel problem. I deal with stuff like this all the time at work. I would chuck each front wheel on the balancer. Then spin it by hand and watch for out of roundness in the tire. One (or both) will not be very round. Now, after marking the valve stem position on the tire, dismount the offending tire(s) and put just the wheel(s) on the balancer and spin by hand. Eliminate any bent/crooked wheels... your spare wheel might be useful now. If the wheels are ok, re-mount the tires with the valve marks 180 degrees from their original position. this will often improve roundness. Now, with known good wheels, check the roundness of the tires. It is unlikely to have an out of round Michelin, but it does happen.