[tecboy]

Hit pothole with front drivers side wheel. Suspension bottomed out and hard enough it almost knocked my radar detector off its mount. Developed vibration after that. Particularly 20-40 but weird thing is faster i go, the vibration diminishes. Tire holding air, steering wheel does not pull or shake. I took to tire shop and they put on their balancer. Visual inspection showed nothing. Balance was fine which should mean not bend rim or failed tire. They used a floor jack to raise the front driver side only. After they put wheel back on and i drove it home, it took a while for me to feel any vibration at all. And the weird thing is that the vibration level has dropped dramatically. Only time i really notice is in the 25-35 range and mostly when slowing down (letting car naturally slow down and not using the brake)..letting off gas around 30-35 and letting car slow down on its own...But it doesnt do this all the time. Vibration is not 100% consistent at any level. I have not taken car back on highway or found a newly paved road to test but i did get up briefly to about 65 on a local SR. Any ideas? Has to be something suspension related but what has me baffled is the randomness and lack of a consistent pattern.

[crosive]

could be a vibration that only road force can find. my car still has stock tires, no burnouts, occasional hard corner, and they can't put 2 of the tires back in spec. this gives me a slight pulsing vibration about 65-85, but it's better than it was before the road force balancing.

before the balancing, it was constant, would not go away. now it's just occasional and seems to come and go with tire heat, way better than it was, but I still notice it if I try and feel it.

[VinnAY]

When you hit that hard somethign is definitely damaged add in a low pro tire and it's worse. Id most certainly go with bent rim and I dont think a balance is going to show that in and of itself. Id be surprised to if the sidewall isn't bubbled. You describe a hard hit and bent rims and sidewall damage have all happened to me in that kind of impact.

[Nsxmatt]

Originally Posted by crosive

could be a vibration that only road force can find.

This. Sounds like a slipped or broke belt in the tire and you'll only find it when a road force is done on the tire. A normal balance won't show it. Could also be a failed wheel bearing. Hitting something hard enough can flat spot a ball bearing and cause random vibrations. A quick way to tell is swap the tire to the other side and see if it moves.

[tecboy]

tire shop took the wheel off and visually inspected it....they put on balance machine and it was fine....shop told me the vibration i am experiencing would def show up in visual inspection and the balance machine ...company i bought the wheels from told me that a check on a balancer would def show a bent rim...


as i said above....after they jacked car up and removed/reinstalled tire/rim....the symptoms were gone until i drove the car for about 10 minutes....then they came back....but not as bad as before...and not all the time....thats what has me baffled....something bent or sidewall bubbled....would be all the time....friend mentioned that i could have damaged the valving in the strut....which may explain the inconsistency in symptoms...i am going to take car out over weekend and also gauge the smoothness of road to symptoms i feel...

[Nsxmatt]

Originally Posted by tecboy

tire shop took the wheel off and visually inspected it....they put on balance machine and it was fine....shop told me the vibration i am experiencing would def show up in visual inspection and the balance machine ...company i bought the wheels from told me that a check on a balancer would def show a bent rim...


as i said above....after they jacked car up and removed/reinstalled tire/rim....the symptoms were gone until i drove the car for about 10 minutes....then they came back....but not as bad as before...and not all the time....thats what has me baffled....something bent or sidewall bubbled....would be all the time....friend mentioned that i could have damaged the valving in the strut....which may explain the inconsistency in symptoms...i am going to take car out over weekend and also gauge the smoothness of road to symptoms i feel...

Ok well good luck to you then. People are offering help like you asked but I think you have it set in your mind what is wrong.

[tecboy]

Originally Posted by Nsxmatt

Ok well good luck to you then. People are offering help like you asked but I think you have it set in your mind what is wrong.

I have not decided in my mind what is wrong ...i was responding to 2 posts above mentioning bent rim or bubbled sidewall...you posted your response while i was type my response to Vinnay..i am open to any ideas what people may think may be wrong...it has me baffled the randomness of the vibration now...something bends or breaks i would think the problem would be there all the time...not come and go...

[Nsxmatt]

Originally Posted by tecboy

I have not decided in my mind what is wrong ...i was responding to 2 posts above mentioning bent rim or bubbled sidewall...you posted your response while i was type my response to Vinnay..i am open to any ideas what people may think may be wrong...it has me baffled the randomness of the vibration now...something bends or breaks i would think the problem would be there all the time...not come and go...

A bad tire does not automatically equal a bubble or anything visual. A slipped belt or other issue would only be noticeable by using a road force machine. An normal balance will not show it. When you're dealing with vibrations they can come and go based on the frequency of the vibration. Once you hit that frequency it will start and continue till you hit a bump or a drastic speed change. Like I said, moving the wheel and tire to the other side is a easy way to diagnose before going and having more work done.

[VinnAY]

Lugs properly torqued and in a crisscross pattern?

[7WSM]

You are going to have to call around to see which place has a machine that can do road force balancing. Normal tire shops normally will not have these machines. I don't know how many times I have seen where a person brings a car that has been balanced down the street NTB, Discount Tire, or what have you and it turns out they have a bad tire since our machine can do road force and detect a bad tire.

[ctrlz]

How many miles on the front tires? If they are getting close to end of life you might pull the trigger a little early and spring for a new pair.
I think the bent rim would affect balancing.
My thinking is replacing the tires would pretty much eliminate tires and wheels as source of the vibration.
I don't think a bad bearing would show up as this kind of speed-dependent vibration. I think you would get noise and notice the problem more with turning.
A hidden delamination following a pothole strike is a definite possibility. It may be easier to just change the tires than try to detect the problem.

[tecboy]

a little over 10k miles....

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by tecboy

a little over 10k miles....

Do you have a separate winter set you could swap out?
Sounds like you may have aftermarket rims, and I was wondering if you kept the factory ones for winter.

[Nsxmatt]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

I don't think a bad bearing would show up as this kind of speed-dependent vibration. I think you would get noise and notice the problem more with turning.

Hitting a pothole can make a flat spot on a couple of balls of the bearing and since they can rotate in any direction it can first come across as a random vibration till it causes the whole bearing to wear and fail, which then you'd notice a noise and more so in a turn.