2000 Corolla Le Wheel Vibration

OEM wheels or aftermarket? How old are the tires?

Yeah, I'd look to get the wheel rebalanced. Make sure the shop has one of the fancier Hunter GPS9700 Road Force balance machines. Static and unloaded dynamic balance is one thing - but without understanding the radial force vibrations, a perfectly balance wheel in an older machine with a 0.030" runout offset, will run like a wheel with as much as 1.5oz imbalance at speed.

OEM wheels or aftermarket? How old are the tires?

 

Yeah, I'd look to get the wheel rebalanced. Make sure the shop has one of the fancier Hunter GPS9700 Road Force balance machines. Static and unloaded dynamic balance is one thing - but without understanding the radial force vibrations, a perfectly balance wheel in an older machine with a 0.030" runout offset, will run like a wheel with as much as 1.5oz imbalance at speed.

Wheels are original. Tires are just over four years old and 41K miles (Douglas Xtra-Trac from Wal-Mart). No significant issues such as cupping, but maybe some uneven wear possible. I just spent $266.50 for the axle and alignment. Tires aren't feasible right this moment, but I will replace them as soon as possible. Perhaps a good tire replacement and regular balance/rotation would help?

*bump*

Regular balance and tire rotation will help with tire wear, but not necessarily help with vibration issues.

Do you know exactly how old the tires are? Not just when they were installed, but by their manufacture date. Look for the DOT stamp. If the tire was made after 2000, it will have a 4-digit numeric code at the end of the DOT serial. If made prior to 2000, it will be a 3-digit numeric code.

ex.

After 2000:

DOT ABCD EFGH 1204

Where - "1204" breaks down manufactured in the 12th week in the year 2004

Before 2000:

DOT ABCD EFGH 128

Where - "128" breaks down manufactured in the 12th week in the year 1998

If the tire is more than 10 years old, no matter how much tread there is or how it looks, scrap the tire - it is literally a ticking time bomb. When they get to 4-5 years old, even with a good amount of tread, they can develop a significant vibration issue. Personally, I would not run a tire that is 6 years old from the DOT stamp. As you can't tell if the tire is good or bad just by inspecting it - you have to cut it apart, destroying the tire, to know for sure.

At this point, possible that your only alternative is to replace the tires, to "cure" the vibration issues. Tire balance may help with the high speed vibration, but it is only a matter of time before even that will not help.

The plan is not to take it long distances which would likely involve interstate driving of 65+ mph until tires are replaced anyhow, which will be a while. My longest regular drive is about 30 miles to one of my jobs 2 or 3 times a week, and that is on regular highway at no more than 55-60 for the most part. I really don't feel much at those speeds. My service from the other day did help that alot.

The timestamp on the tires was 1806, which puts it about a month and a half before install on my Corolla, so just over 4 years old.

Just as an aside, when I had my inspection a couple weeks ago, the tech recommended Goodyear Integrity tires for the Corolla. Those tires are not well loved here, lol.

Yeah, not a stellar tire compared to others out there - but lasts a decent amount of time and gets good fuel economy.