Toyota Repair: 1997 Toyota Correla stiring wheel vibrates when exceeding 70 miles per hour, problem occured, tire noise

Question
Hi Ted:


My question is that my 1997 toyota correla vibrates when I go beyond 70 miles per hour.  The car itself seems to shake as well.  When going below 60 miles per hour, I don't feel much except that there is a pumping sound like - pump pump pump.  I was told to put in new tires and that should take care of the problem.  It still have not gone away.  This problem occured after I drove the car from California to Maryland.  Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Shawn

Answer
It sounds like the tires are the problem, they were driven in an out of balance condition for too long and the result is that flat spots form on the tread, my advice is to replace the tires if the tread is low, if the tread wear is not excessive and the tires are still usable have them balanced, this will stop the shaking but not the tire noise.