Very Weird Problem With My 2000 Solara SLE V6! HELP!

[SunnySolara]

They use adhesive wheel balancing weights on alloy wheels.

Static Balance:
Also known as "bubble balancing" uses a fairly inexpensive machine to balance the wheel/tire assembly at rest using a bubble level as an indicator. This technique takes some operator skill to perform good balancing as you need to carefully split the balancing weights on the inside and outside of the wheel to avoid dynamic imbalance.
Dynamic Balance:
Also known as "spin balancing" can be done either on or off the vehicle. The majority of tires are probably balanced on computerized spin balancers.

There are several types of balancing weight that can be used, depending on the application. The most common weight is a clip-on lead weight attached to the lip of the rim. As mentioned above, clip-on weights on the outside of the rim are prone to being scraped off in the rocks. They also may not be suitable for certain alloy wheels. Adhesive backed weights are another option and have the advantage that they can be placed in the center of the wheel, if needed. But once again, they are prone to being scraped off in mud, snow and sand.

[Sn88pyBQ]

Hmmm... I don't know what's wrong with my car. I did hit a huge pothole a few days before this happened! What could the pothole I hit damage other than the tire which I had to replace? Could that damage the strut or other stuff? Hmm... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

[Sn88pyBQ]

I'll get my car checked out tomorrow. Really wanna fix this damn problem and start enjoying my car like before. Gosh I hate problems with my car. sucks....

[DDH1313]

You hit a pothole the day before it started.... I am guessing you bent the rim. Try to swap it with the spare and see if it fixes the problem. If it does... cheap rims on ebay - etc. Good luck

[Sn88pyBQ]

Doesn't seem like any of my rims are bent but I did notice something out of place. My driver side front is higher than my pass side. You know what I mean? The area between the tire and the fender is. There is a bigger gap on the driver side than my pass side. What could be with?

[sunrise_solara]

You may have blown a strut...I hit a pothole, no, a shellhole in New Orleans, and it collapsed the strut. Got it replaced for nothing by my friendly Toyota dealer

[Sn88pyBQ]

Someone tell me what does a strut do and how would I know if they are blown? How much would it be to replace them?

Friendly Toyota dealer? Never heard of one.....

[DDH1313]

the strut is a dampener that keeps your car from feeling like it is riding on springs (which it is). It is in the center of the spring and looks similar to a hydraulic. I dont think it would be considered a hydraulic though since it uses gas.... anyway. As far as telling if its broken, I dont know. I have never hit anything hard enough to break any suspension parts and I have hit things very hard. If there is more clearance now on the side that you hit I would maybe take off that tire and look over the entire suspension system to see what might be visably damaged.

[Mandarinsolara]

i had this same problem
i flatspotted my rear tires from doing a few donuts behind publix one night with the E-brake on
at slow speeds it was soooo noticeable, and sometimes kinda bad at highway speeds
anyways i got them rotated front to back and they still were flatspotted bad so i did a couple burnouts to get them smoothed off again lol, im so stupid

[jazzlara]

What's a wheel weight?

small percised weighted lead that is attached to the inside of your wheel where it needs more weight. after they put it on the balancing machine, they find out how out of wack it is and place weights where the wheel needs it.

Im betting they messed up when alligning it. did you go to toyota? mechanics are morons in most cases. take it back and have them redo it.
could be a tie rod????

[SunnySolara]

I finally took my car on the highway. Toyota did the high speed wheel balance and all 4 wheels were out of balance. They used the smallest wheel weights but it's fine now. They did it for 30 minutes labor. I also switched to synthetic engine oil at the time. They even washed the car. It's smooth sailing now.