I managed to find the time (and energy to move my lazy ######) to Discount Tire today, and it was determine that I have a bent wheel.
So, my wheel is BENT?! CRAP... Is there an easy DIY method to fix/repair this? Or should I be looking at new wheels? How can I independently verify that the wheel is bent? (This is because the technician that worked on my car didn't seem to know what he was doing. I didn't observe him actually LOOKING at the "faulty" wheel--and he said he placed in on the rear right when it was really on the front right)
Also, if I'm into new wheels, are there any suggestions?
Sizes are 185/65/14. But I'm honestly not looking forward to spending money on new wheels...
Did you post this issue on the Toyota Nation forums? If that was you, you said before that when Discount Tire rotated the tires, they rotated the entire wheel assembly-- they didn't dismount the tires. So, a bent wheel doesn't make sense at all, as the air loss should stay with the wheel assembly and therefore move around the vehicle.
The only other thing it could be, then, is that if the hub itself is bent, and attaching a wheel to it temporarily distorts it enough to break the bead slightly -- but surely that would cause the steering wheel to shake or vibrate at the very least.
You should probably find a different place to examine this issue, or determine if they are rotating the tires by dismounting them and ensuring that the wheels themselves don't change positions.