Toyota: 2001 Toyota Camry wheel, toyota camry, passenger tire

Question
I have a 2001 Toyota Camry XL, 4 cylinder engine.  When I go over bridges or places where there is an echo I can hear a tire turning (going whump, whump).  The tires are at the right pressure, the front end does need alignment but I was waiting to find out what could be causing the whumping.  I cannot figure out which tire is causing the sound.  Please get me started in what to look for.  Thanks, JoAnn

Answer
Well, I took a while to think about it.  If I were in that situation, I'd try to isolate the cause.  Now, have you had any jobs done lately to you car?  Something with brakes or tires involved?  Sometimes, LAZY technicians tend to not tighten down the nuts on the tire properly.  Both by insufficient pressure or if they failed to use the "star pattern" in bolt the tire back up.  So, if you believe the sound is in the front, you could take off both tires and have them put on properly (pressure and star pattern).  

As well, routine tire rotation not being followed will cause noises.  The tires are "rotated" around the car so that by the end of the tire's life, it will have been at all four points, giving good, even wear and thus getting your money's worth out of expensive tires.  Your manual should have a "tire rotation" section in which it explains how Toyota would prefer you to switch tires around but my personal preference is a modified "Z" pattern in which the front driver tire moves to the passenger side, the passenger tire to the back left and the back left tire to the back right and the back right tire makes the long trip up to the front driver.  

Another thing that could cause that is "bald spot".  Now, you have a Camry XL which should have come with ABS but I guess its worth mentioning.  What happens is under hard braking (emergency braking) people with no ABS or malfunctioning ABS tend to "lock up" the tires when braking hard.  In essence they just slide to a stop because the front tires do not spin at all, as opposed to having ABS which prevents the tires from locking up under hard braking and give you added control to be able to steer to avoid a collision.  What happens it causes the tire to have a flat area on an otherwise round tire.  

Are you tires worn?  You can do the penny test in which you stick a penny between the tire's treads with Lincoln's head toward the tire and his neck visible.  If you can see his head(let's say that means from his eyes on up to the top of his head), even barely, you have worn tires.  The more you see, the worse the wear on the tire.  There's also a chalk test in which you can see if your tires are properly setup because it shows if your tires are wearing incorrectly due to unbalanced tires, underinflation, or overinflation.

As well, I had a similar deal in which I heard a clicking for two days and it just drove me crazy.  When I finally had the time, I had my brother isolate which tire made the sound and came to find out that a rock was wedged right in between the treads and was causing the clicking.  Sometimes it'll happen with a nail that's stuck or shards of glass that get stuck.  

Finally and I do apologize if I'm long-winded in my reply! I just want you to get the most out of your investment.  Well, outside of the alignment you feel the Camry needs, are there any other issues?  Vibration in the steering wheel?  Bouncy ride over bumps?  Drifts to one side from softly to violently (meaning that the steering wheel jerks to one side the moment you let it go, under speed)?

Well, I hope this helps and if not, please feel free to write me back.