Dear Tom and Ray:

My Toyota Camry with 90,000 miles is the best car I've ever owned. But it cannot be balanced. Numerous attempts have been for naught. The guy at the tire place who tried to balance it suggested that the General Hydro 2000 tires that are on the car might be the problem. They have a deep aqua channel and he suggested that the belts in the tires with such radical tread designs could become uncentered and render the tire unbalanceable. What do you think? -- Guy

Ray: I haven't had any personal experience with General Hydro 2000 tires, but a balancing problem certainly could be caused by bad wheels or tires.

Tom: It's easy to find out using the old scientific method. I assume you feel some sort of wobble or vibration in the steering wheel, and that your mechanic has eliminated all the real dangerous stuff and narrowed it down to a balancing problem.

Ray: So the first thing to do is try swapping the front and back wheels. Put the front ones on the back and the back ones on the front. A bad tire is much more noticeable in front, where it gets telegraphed through the steering column.

Ray: If you swap the wheels and the problem goes away, then you know one of those two (now) rear wheels are the culprit. Then you can swap one at a time back to the front and figure out whether it's the tire or the wheel and replace whichever one needs replacing.

Tom: If you swap the wheels and the wobble doesn't go away, then you have to go to Wobble Experiment, Stage Two. It's unlikely that you have four bad tires, but you have to eliminate that possibility.

Ray: So make a deal with the guy at the tire place. He wants to sell tires, right? Tell him you'll try a new set of tires, and if they solve your problem, you'll buy them. But if they don't solve the problem, he'll have to take them back at no charge.

Tom: If the wobble continues with four new tires, then you move on to Wobble Experiment, Stage Three (this is the stage at which you apply for funding from the National Institutes of Health). Next, you're going to have to try replacing the axles. This is best done by a dealer, with whom you can make a deal like the one you made with the tire guy.

Ray: Have him replace one axle at a time, with the understanding that you'll only buy the axle if it solves the problem (you'll have to pay for the labor in this case regardless because it's considerable).

Tom: And if it's not a bad axle, then either we or the scientific method has failed you, Guy. So try writing to an automotive creationist and see how that goes.

* * *

Tom: Is warming up your car actually BAD for it? Does slamming the door really make a difference to the life of your car? Should you "save the brakes" by shifting into a lower gear to help you slow down?

Ray: You'll learn the surprising answers to all of these questions, and more, in our new pamphlet called "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It.'

Tom: It's our guide to making your car last forever.

Ray: Become an instant know-it-all. Order your copy by sending $3 and a stamped (55 cents), self-addressed, No.10 envelope to Ruin No.1, PO Box 6420, Riverton, NJ 08077-6420.

Tom and Ray lead you step by step through the process of finding and buying a reliable used car in their pamphlet How to Buy a Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know. To order, To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1997 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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