For a 1989 Toyota Camry. The front tires are fully inflated to the correct PSI, but by looking at the tires they look like there is a bulge on the bottom. I’m thiking to myself those tires can’t have a slow leak in them.
As I’m driving the car the handing feels a little bumpy on the driver side than the passenger’s side. Could the cause pertain to the wheel bearings, the tires itself, or the steering/suspension?
I forgot, I inflated the tires to the reccomended pressure, front: 26, rear: 28
Tires, when properly loaded and inflated, are goping to have 3 characteristics:
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The part of the tire that is in contact with the ground will not be round - it will be flat
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There will be a significant amount of area around the ground contact point of the tire that is distorted due to the area of contact.
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This distortion will result in a bulge in the sidewalls immediately around the area of contact.
And the “bumpiness” - probably shocks - but remember we are talking about an 18 year old car. It is not going to ride like a new car.
If they don’t look/feel correct to you, bring them to a tire shop and have them checked, they can also take a look at you suspension to make sure there is nothing loose.
Agree with the other posters. In addition, sometimes tires madse with little quality control develop lumps because the differing hardness of the rubber in different areas. I had a set of Korean made “Marshall” brand tires a few years ago, and although they wore well, I ended up throwing them away because they were impossible to balance. Starting out round, they wore to egg-shape over a period of time. The recent spate of bad Chinese tires were actually dangerous.
Good luck!
Are you sure that’s right? FWD cars typically require the higher of the two pressure to be on the front tires rather than the rear. Double check.
As mentioned by CapriRacer, any inflated tire is going to have a bit of a bulge on the bottom. Radial ply tires (the vast majority of what’s sold today) have more flexible sidewalls than the old bias ply tires, and bulge more noticeably. When your tires are properly inflated, the amount of bulging should be the same between left and right sides, and close between front and rear. Of course, you have the same make and model tires on the left and right of each axle, and at least similar tires front and rear? And yes, every day I see morons driving along with one or more tires down probably 10-15 psi, with the rims close to cutting through the treads, and all they can do is bitch about the price of gas!
As for the bumpy feel at one corner, it’s possible that you have a failing tire (tread separation). Have it looked at promptly. Is this bumpiness an “up and down” rather than a side-to-side shimmy? Is it present when not braking, but just cruising along in a straight line? Does the rate of “bump” go up with your speedometer reading, and not only with engine revs? If you answered “yes” to these questions, it could well be a bad tire.