hit left front wheel, alignments done - still vibration....what can i check? (1 Viewer)

[mattds]

HI All, during a recent snowy day i slid moderately hard into a curb with my front left wheel. the angle of my wheel and the curb were mostly parelle so the tire did not absorb any of the impact. This was hard enough to push the lower Control arm right up against the sub frame...meaning the little alighment tab was flattened out. I had an alignment and the mechanic was nice enough to bend the tab back and weld in some reinforcements. The wheel is also...slightly damaged...i will get it re-balanced later today. It looks like curbrash...but because of the way it hit i wonder if the wheel it self is bent.

However i still have a slight sound/vibration, especially when i accelerate. What else can i check?

Thanks!

 

[jmanscotch]

HI All, during a recent snowy day i slid moderately hard into a curb with my front left wheel. the angle of my wheel and the curb were mostly parelle so the tire did not absorb any of the impact. This was hard enough to push the lower Control arm right up against the sub frame...meaning the little alighment tab was flattened out. I had an alignment and the mechanic was nice enough to bend the tab back and weld in some reinforcements. The wheel is also...slightly damaged...i will get it re-balanced later today. It looks like curbrash...but because of the way it hit i wonder if the wheel it self is bent.

However i still have a slight sound/vibration, especially when i accelerate. What else can i check?

Thanks!

My experience in such scenarios says you'll likely need a new wheel bearing, sooner or later, so the slight noise could be that and the vibration could be the bent wheel or bearing. I'd also check the axle shaft to see if it absorbed some of the impact.

Try jacking up the front of the GX and rotate the wheel on the impact corner manually and take a closer look for where grinding/sounds are coming from. You could also watch the wheel turn and likely see an out of true wheel wobble even at that slow rotational speed.

Also inspect all the the strut mounting points. If it shifted the LCA over, it very likely tweaked that strut assembly in it's mounts.

Last winter my wife egged me on to drift her AWD RAV4 in the neighborhood around our house. I sent it into a corner a little too hot and nailed a curb dead squared off on the wheel at 15-20 MPH. Good fun, still haven't lived that down from her. Fixed a few friends vehicles that have done this same thing too and it's ALWAYS a wheel bearing killer eventually, usually a wheel/tire, sometimes a brake rotor bends and axle and strut issues.

 

[mattds]

Yep...the wheel is bent...so ill take that in tomorrow. I think you are right...either the bearing of the axle/cv joint....as I can only feel the vibration under power.

(For what its worth...off power its still smooth as glass...).

 

[sneakypete2]

Get the wheel checked first. in most cases the wheel takes the brunt of the damage. If it's the wheel, a shop with the proper equipment is your best bet to fix the issue.... Make sure your shop has a hunter road force balancer. Otherwise you will be shopping for a replacement wheel.
If the wheel checks out (I doubt it would survive unscathed), then follow jmanscotch's suggestions.

 

[maingear]

If your spare is the same, make the bent wheel ride as the spare for now.

 

[trexoffroad]

I hit front tire on my FJ on a dirt bank of the wash when off rpacing. after alignment, I had a wobble. (Best I can describe) Turned out to be the inner tie rod on the side I hit. Might check that if all else fails.

 

[mattds]

HI All, so i put back on my stock wheels with a road force balance, and had an alignment. And i still some vibration under power...but ONLY under power? Any thoughts? Could the CV be getting a little loose? (that CV had gone without a boot for a little...and anothe time it also lost the clamp...so i'm not sure how much grease is in there...). I don't think it's the tie rod or that would result in a vibration all the time.

It does feel like a unbalanced wheel...but the wheels were balanced at a good shop and i saw them all balance out perfectly. (and again it's only under power)

thanks!

 

[r2m]

If it's a wheel you would feel the vibration regardless if you were under power or not. It would happen at certain speeds whether you are accelerating, coasting or braking.
And if you don't have your CV covered, yeah, that could be the issue, either the CV or half shaft.

 

[maingear]

Check to see if a u-joint is going out. Also push and pull on the top of the tires to seenif the wheel bearings are good. if you dont weight over 200lbs, get someone who is to check.

 

[mattds]

oh i sould have added that i replaced the bearing and it improved quite a bit...

when you say the U joint...you mean the CV joint? From what i know there are only U joints in the drive shafts?

 

[r2m]

Actually, I'm not sure if the GX uses CV's or birfield joints?

Marlin Crawler.com > Axle Upgrades > Birfield and Marfield Information

 

[maingear]

Transfercase to drive shafts to diff. Vibration under power as well as clicking when shifting from D to R and back can be U-joints.

 

[mattds]

so i thought before i start crawling under the truck i'd check to see if the tires were still balanced...and sure enough they were off - one was WAY off. I don't know how this happens...but i guess it does. So in conclude, hitting the curb sent the alignment completely off, bent the wheel at the hub, tore off the alignment tabs, and cost the bearing....and possibly the CV joint is going...but not so much that i have to replace it.

 

[jmanscotch]

So after the last wheel balance you’re no longer getting vibration under acceleration?

 

[sneakypete2]

so i thought before i start crawling under the truck i'd check to see if the tires were still balanced...and sure enough they were off - one was WAY off. I don't know how this happens...but i guess it does. So in conclude, hitting the curb sent the alignment completely off, bent the wheel at the hub, tore off the alignment tabs, and cost the bearing....and possibly the CV joint is going...but not so much that i have to replace it.

So you balanced the wheels/tires after hitting the curb, but it has come out of balance again on its own?

 

[mattds]

Yes. Do you have any insight into why this would happen? it's a new wheels which has no bends and i had an alignment done (however that was with the bent wheel...so it's not perfect...but functionally it's fine).

The initial hit was hard enough to bend the alignent tabs back and shove the arm all the way into the frame....i had to bend the tabs back and put some weld behind them to reinforce them.

 

[r2m]

Did you throw a balance weight?

 

[sneakypete2]

Yes. Do you have any insight into why this would happen? it's a new wheels which has no bends and i had an alignment done (however that was with the bent wheel...so it's not perfect...but functionally it's fine).

The initial hit was hard enough to bend the alignent tabs back and shove the arm all the way into the frame....i had to bend the tabs back and put some weld behind them to reinforce them.

FYI: Wheels (and tires) are balanced. The suspension gets an alignment. Your posts are somewhat contradictory, but it sounds like after you hit the curb you tried to get your wheels balanced to compensate for the bent wheel. But you still have vibrations when accelerating.

This is what I would do if I were in your situation:
1. Check alignment - you bent the alignment tabs, so the alignment should at least be checked
2. Get wheels balanced
3. Mechanic or technician with experience should tell you if the damaged wheel can be balanced. Otherwise you will need to replace the wheel
4. Replace CV since it was been unprotected for unspecified period of time

 

[mattds]

FYI: Wheels (and tires) are balanced. The suspension gets an alignment. Your posts are somewhat contradictory, but it sounds like after you hit the curb you tried to get your wheels balanced to compensate for the bent wheel. But you still have vibrations when accelerating.

This is what I would do if I were in your situation:
1. Check alignment - you bent the alignment tabs, so the alignment should at least be checked
2. Get wheels balanced
3. Mechanic or technician with experience should tell you if the damaged wheel can be balanced. Otherwise you will need to replace the wheel
4. Replace CV since it was been unprotected for unspecified period of time

Hi, sorry for the confusion.

I've done all those things with the exception of the cv...so I will do that at some point soon.

(My wheel was bent when I did the alignment....I think that caused some confusion in my posts)