A quick recap:

- I caught black ice while pulling away from a stop light (5-10 mph, tops).

- I slid into the curb, backed up, and drove away.

- Car was pulling to the right on my ride home, but besides some slight curb rash, it didn't look like any damage was done.

I took it to the "alignment specialist" on my way to work the next day, and had them align it, as well as look the car over for any damage. They aligned the steering wheel straight, and said they didn't find any damage.

I drove it home and didn't really notice anything bad. The next day however, I got on the highway to go to work. From 40 MPH on, I noticed a vibration and strange thumping sound. The noise got noticeably worse when I went faster than 50 MPH. The strange part is, when I turn the wheel right (exit ramp, rounded corner, etc.), the vibrations almost disappear. When I turn the wheel left for the same reasons, it is noticeably worse.

Do you think this could possibly an issue with them not properly adjusting the toe or camber on the front right wheel (the one I hit with the curb)? I called them, and they said everything was done properly. I never got a printout of the alignment configuration, so I can't confirm that it was done correctly. Any suggestions? Should I take it somewhere else and spend another $80 knowing it will get done right?

The part that frustrates me the most is the fact that I have summer RFT on my car, which I never knew because the dealer told me all S's came with all-season tires. I obviously wouldn't have driven this in a Wisconsin winter had I known this was the case.

The car only has 9,500 miles on it (2012), and I was working with a dealership to trade it in for a Subaru BRZ. Now I have to worry about figuring this out before I can proceed with the deal.

I appreciate any help. Thanks!

~ Billy

 

Have them take the wheel that got hit and check for balance ( a weight may have fallen off) or a bent rim.

 

That's kind of what I thought at first, but would the vibration go away when I turn the wheel to the right? I assume an unbalanced wheel will give vibrations no matter which way I'm pointing it, no?

 

+1

 

I'll bet if you jack that corner up and spin the wheel you'll see it wobble a lot or a little. If it does, check out this website for a shop near you, they do great work by appointment and do the job while you wait. Doesn't take long either. I watched him work and it was amazing.

http://www.mobilewheelrepair.com/index.html

 

I dropped the car off at a different place this morning. They took the wheel off, and it was off by 1.5 ounces. Grand total for the service - $6....

Thanks for the help! Hopefully this fixed it.

 

Just picked the car. It does not seem as severe as it was, but the vibration is still there. Now, I did drive the car with the unbalanced tire for 75-100 miles. May it take some time for the tire to resettle, or is it something else?

Thanks again,

Billy

 

Ok... So I called back the original place I went to. The guy did mention when I picked it up that he thought I damaged the wheel bearing. Do the symptoms sound like they relate to that being the cause?

 

These cars have tight, accurate suspensions, so any sort of issue will manifest itself easily. I've chased these issues in the past... Turning introduces different loads on your suspension and can increase or decrease the vibration.

You could have:

Damaged tie rod end
Damaged CV joint
Bent rim
Damaged control arm
Damaged steering rack
Bulge or damaged cords in tire
All or some of the above.

I'd make sure that rim and tire assembly is spinning true. It may balance out, but still not be 100% round. Have a good tire shop spin that wheel and tire on a good balancer (like a Hunter GSP9700) to insure there is no runout...a good machine and trained operator will find the runout quickly if there is any.

Visually inspecting suspension components sometimes is not enough. You've got to wiggle and test stuff for "play" or looseness.

I've been down this road of vibration. It can be tough finding the offending component.

 

Another place I talked too said it sounded more like a damaged tire and/or rim than anything else. In order to eliminate some possibilities, my buddy and I are going to rotate the front and rear tire tonight to see if it changes at all. What really stinks about all of this is that I planned on trading it in sometime in March. Now I have to figure this out so I don't kill the trade-in value.

 

I agree that moving that wheel that was damaged to the back is good to see if the vibration changes.

Don't feel bad on buying a car with summer only tires on it. I did the same thing when I picked up my '13 in Appleton. I even inspected the tires on the car I bought and didn't know the Continentals were summer only Grand Touring type tires until I got the car home and did some checking and comparing on The Tire Rack's site. The dealer made things right, but my car was ordered for dealer stock without someone checking the "all season" tire option code.

 

when my wife had a similar mishap with an Audi 4000 some 30 years ago I ended up replacing darn near everything on that corner. The bearing was bad, the entire strut was bent, control arm ... cost $1500 back then!

This can be an insurance issue . . .

 

OK, so they have determined that it is in fact the front passenger wheel bearing. I've had 2 shops confirm this now. The problem is, where do you find one for a 2012 MCS? No places seem to have them according to both shops.

The last place that looked at it said if I could find one they'd put it on for an hour of shop labor, which is only $70. Any idea where I can get one? I really just need to get this fixed because the car I want will be at the dealership in the second week of March, and I have to get this fixed first.

Thanks for all the advise up to this point. I've been pretty stressed out over this for the past week, so hopefully this is the end of it.

Billy

 

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RIGHT-SPINDL...d86a43&vxp=mtr

 

last time I checked

you can't buy just the wheel bearing for a MINI

you've got to replace the entire HUB - the bearing is sealed.

The hub replacement is pretty straight forward but the part is more $$ then a bearing would be.

 

http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...b_bushing.html
They are in the vendor directory.

 

Is the hub assembly for 2007 - 2013 all the same?

 

The description says it fits any model from R50 to R59 so yes it will fit the R56.

 

I bought a wheel bearing, and it will be here early next week. The mechanic called me back and mentioned that I would need to get a wheel bearing from a dealership (I bought a Timken) because their is an ABS ring or something like that built into the bearing. Does that make sense? He said it was only true for 2010 and up. Anyone know anything about this?