even but uneven tire wear

[Judge]

since the day I bought my (1998 Camry CE V6) car 12/98 my car has been chewing through the tires - initially I was told that the error was that my dealer gave me General tires that were not supposed to be on V6 car, so while doing the x-over and then front to back rotation the issue was hidden a bit. However since I went to unidirectional 225/45/R17 on 17x7 rims with 40mm offset (with concentric hub rings) with increased pressure to 36 psi - I am noticing that only the inside of the tread is worn (both front and back), as well as small but noticable vibration between 65-70 mph (once I go over no vibration). I have had allignment done number of times, especially after purchasing new tires.

I have had it with lumpy wheels and loud ride on the streets of SF and highway 101 to SJ - brutal roads for the ride. Now I am ready to buy new wheels (16") and tires and would like to get a recommendation from the NATION on what would be the best:
wheel size (16x6.5 or 16x7)
offset for each width
tire size 215 or 205

and anything else you think I should do once I do the replacement - I assume doing allignment

thanks

[Eye8Pussies]

did you check your suspension parts before doing the alignments? i.e. a loose tie rod would make an alignment basically useless

[Judge]

the allignment was done every time by the Toyota dealership - I never asked them to check specific parts (I just assumed that they would know what to do...)

[jhbhatia]

Your not alone! Among my experiences with celica's, ES's, Cressida's...i know our gen4 camry eats up tires quickly as well. I get close to two years (20K miles) on any kind of set i get. Which isn't bad, but compared to the same tire on my ES, i can get close to 40K miles. I do my alignments every 3-4 months (lifetime warranty), the car is only dealer-maintained. I think its just the way gen4's are

[JMSinMD]

Gen 4's should be like every other Generation. Toyota didn't design Camry to have a certain 'characteristic.' There is something wrong with your vehicle's suspension. I've had 18" tires with no treadwear warranty last 40,000 miles. Jon.

[jhbhatia]

Originally Posted by JMSinMD

Toyota didn't design Camry to have a certain 'characteristic.' There is something wrong with your vehicle's suspension.

In theory i want to agree with you, you are correct. No mechanic, no dealership tech, not even the master tech can figure out why. They tell me to buy better tires and or stop peeling out of traffic! I do buy great tires & wifee drives it like a boat...but its because we use our camry only for city driving, a tire is pretty much eaten in two years it takes us to reach 12-20K miles. On my solara (our highway car), i've got easy 65K miles on my last pair..so its where you drive too thats a crusial aspect.

[Waghle]

only wear in the middle? doesn't that mean you have too much pressure in there?

since you are going through tires so quickly, you might as well try lowering the PSI. and see if the wear is slower than 'normal'