Alright guys so about 2 months back i was crusing down the diamond lane and noticed that my exit was coming up but I couldnt get into the right hand lane where I needed to so I threw it down a gear and TOOK OFF , gaining, gaining, KERPLUMP! What in gods name was THAT!? I look back and see like this 4 inch tall cement flector thing and now my car is making a vibrating noise at 55mph and around 74mph, you can hear and really feel it in the steering wheel. So i get home and inspect for damage....I find my rim has a nice bing bend in it so hoping that is the only thing wrong I replace the rim and about half of the vibration goes away. Now it is only around 60mph and only when my wheel is even ever soo slightly pointing left. If I make a right turn, smooth as butter, if I make a left, heavy vibration. Any idea what I could have done? Control arm? Anyone else have this problem. Any help will be great.

-Spence

 

You didn't get it alined after that or take it to your dealer?

 

Aligned yes, dealer kept blaming it on my tires because they are lazy as*e*! If they were to find a bent control arm or something I would have to pay for it anyways...I would rather try to find the problem myself then pay them the $130/hr to look at it....I was just hoping someone else has had an experience like this.

 

does your car drive straight when you let your hand off the wheel? or does it pull to one side?

I have bent a rim before(not on a mini) from hitting a deep pothole and experienced a vibration similar to the one you described. But the vibration was occuring because the wheel was no longer in balance.

I have also bent a lower control arm (not on a mini) and experienced the car pulling to one side.

I would suggest taking it to get an alignment and see what they say. This is how I found out for sure that my LCA was bent. They were under there trying to align my car and found the fault.

good luck

EDIT: i must of been writing while you explained what you did already.

 

I see sorry my mistake, yea i don't blame you i would be doing the same thing.

 

Honestly it might pull like --- that much to the left side....but not horrible. The vibration is VERY noticeable.....I had it aligned twice at the dealership because that was the other reason they kept blaming it on so I got 2 free alignments but they never saw anything. They probably weren't looking though either. I'm really stuck, I hate seeing my car not drive PERFECT....its a weird vibration too...it'll come and then gooo and them coooome and thennn go. Its really hard to describe other than just saying FLIPPIN' annoying...I might just have to end up breakin' out the wallet to get this fixed right, if its control arms I wouldn't mind upgrading to some nice ones anyways

 

try swapping the front and rear tires on that side. if you notice a change the problem could still be that tire / rim set. if so have the tire removed and inspected and chech for torn plys .

 

I had a similar experience when I lost a wheel ballance weight. It would come and go too. If the dealership says it is alligned take it into a tire shop and have them ballance the two front wheels or try swappign them with the rear as mentioned above.

 

Agree Chocolate. Sounds like a balance issue, not alignment. Try rotating the wheels as someone else suggested. If that changes it or stops it get them balanced, If not the diagnosis just got a lot harder and more expensive...

 

I had the same situation with a difference.. 2 airbags opened: )

 

The wheels were just balanced about a month ago at Costco...I had them rotated and balanced but your saying actually put the opposite tires on the oppsite rims and see if it makes a difference?

-Spence

 

It's possible the impact knocked a wheel weight off. That would throw the wheels off balance again (Or if you didn't get the wheel re-balanced when you had the old tire put on the new rim...)

 

no . the side that impacted the pot hole; take a jack to the front pad . this will raise that side of the car allowing you to swap the front with the back on that side. you want to keep the same direction going. if the problem moves to the back then you've got a tire or rim problem.

 

It might also have damaged the hub assembly in some way - if the vibration comes and then goes, I doubt it's a wheel weight. Of course, I've been wrong before!

 

Also check the strut tops - must have mushroomed or broke it (very common here in Jersey). That would be alignment more then Vibration. For Vibration like you are experiencing it would be anything that is spinning, not a control arm.

 

Alright well today I rotated the front to the back and the back to the front and well.....nothing changed. I'm thinking it might be something a little more serious then just a balance issue or alignment. Im gonna go cry

-Spence

 

Good luck. I feel for you, but my recent problem was just the wheel. Last night I hit a tank trap of a pot-hole. Killed a wheel, but I had a spare wheel from the prior owner.

 

Same here...just lost two rims and a tire to a pothole/ditch in the middle of I-40/55 :impatient . The rims were rotated when the new tires were put on and I still notice a slight shimmy. I had noticed that the steering wheel is slightly off center...maybe only .25". I didn't notice the shimmy until I let go of the steering wheel the other day. I have my second service coming up soon. Hopefully they can figure out what happened.

 

that's textbook description of wheel bearing. just a thought. Other possiblilty is broken belt in the tire, but they should be less noticable when you swap front to rear.

 

check your control arms also for any obvious cracks in the paint indicating a bent arm.

 

Wheel bearing huh? Well how can I check if thats it or not. Im not sure about the tire tread/belt either, thats a possibility. I'm going to put it up on jack stands tomorrow and dedicate my whole day to finding "something" that could be wrong. I also have a loose exhaust clamp that needs tending

-Spence

 

i hit a hole pretty badly a while back and a big ole bump apeared on my tire;but on the out side. you maybe got one on the inside. but wait.....you swapped front to rear with no change so forget all this dribble and carry on.

 

Typically, to check wheel bearings you lift the car, put one hand on the top of the wheel and the other on the bottom and see if it wobbles (push in with one had while pulling out with the other, alternating). If there is a lot of play your bearing needs to be replaced.

 

he left us hangin'..... i hate that.

 

Sorry guys, tried the wheel jiggly idea and it was firm as a rock. When I got under there I couldn't really see any signs of bends or anything that may have broken. I did find my loose exhaust clamp though w00t! Does anyone know of any MINI guys in PHX that I dont, I'm a noobie to the town so I don't really know whats around. Any more ideas, please keep them coming.

-Spence