Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

My father used my car to go to the airport 6 weeks ago and when pulling out of the ticket counter, he nicked the front right wheel and tire on a curb at 5 mph leading to very minor damage to the rim and 2 inch of little rubber to come off. Upon returning the car to me, I noticed that the car steering had some funny vibration sensation but I could not see the steering oscillate. I got the rim and tire rebalanced and inspected and had all 4 tires rotated and balance and I still get a small RANDOM vibration depending on what road I am on. I had to get a 4WD alignment done due to pulling to the right when braking which was fine before nicking the curb.

On a same stretch of road, I will feel a tingly vibration through the steering and then it will go away after few minutes. I am blown away because the car rides smooth overall and steering is straight but theres some weird sensation of road feeling that I can feel at times when even on a smooth tarmac or cement road. The dealer did not test drive the car properly on certain roads I asked them to and they reply that it drives fine and it could be due to cupping of tires.

What do you guys think is wrong??? The vibration is very slight and changes over the road condition and goes away on some roads and is not speed sensitive, so tire balancing is ruled out. I hope it is not a damage to the control arm, bushing, ball joint. I want to know before taking it in and driving the mechanic with me next time. I feel small road irregularities that were before unnoticed on the same road that I always drive on. The car has only 23,000 miles on it.

Please help me out and give suggestions. Thanks and Have a Happy New Years!

lexuslover

did they check your wheel at the time of rebalancing? maybe there is a small crack or it's out of round

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, Discount tire checked the wheel 2 times and rebalanced it using the best Hunter road force to see for any damage, cupping, out of round, and its all perfect.

I hear that if even nicking a curb with a 18 inch wheel can cause a lower ball joint bent or tie rod damage that can be sensed on groovy roads, but I am not sure what to believe.

The car used to ride smooth as glass on all the highways and city roads and now it feels that something is shaking in the steering system or is loose leading to different kinds of sensation and slight vibration on certain roads while near smooth on others, but its inconsistence now.

I8ABMR

Ive had at least 6 sets of tires through discount tire and they have never ever been able to get the tire balance 100% perfect no matter how many times I take it back. even on new wheels. Im going to try the dealership

Jace7

at discount tire, they have to use a special wheel plate to attach to the wheel before balancing....
did they do this before hand or just balance without it?

Before when I took my GX there, they balanced it 4 times, and still bouncy ride, then one guy was like, hmmm maybe this car needs this special plate they put on for balancing.....
yupperz, it sure did. After they balanced it with the plate temporarily installed, it balanced perfectly.
Just ask and see.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

The problem I am having has to do with something in the steering rack or in the ball joint or control arm bushing since small irregularities or rough surfaces of the road is felt through the steering that should not even be there. The tires and wheels are running smooth and in balance since the vibration goes away most of the time. The vibration is a ticklish tingly sensation and not an oscillation of the steering wheel. I am taking the car in on Wed to show them on the test drive what I am feeling on certain roads, since the tires are only 15,000 miles on them and they were always fine and balanced fine by discount tire with no problem so that is ruled out

AlBoston

I just realized your car is AWD. If he hit the curb with enough force it may have caused damage to the drive shafts/CV joints. I know people that have hit curbs with their front wheels in an FWD car and they damaged their transmission.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Yikes Alboston because I had a gut feeling that I must of damage one of the right CV joint leading to small cyclic soft vibration and odd feelings when coasting. I read that if the CV joint is few degrees off it will cause imbalance between the engine transmission and axle leading to small vibration.

BUT, even with a 5 mph coasting from a stop can do that kind of damage??? My father just narrowly touched and scraped a bit of the wheel. I feel that a damage like this should be unacceptable from such a small bump, I may be wrong

AlBoston

any update on what happened?

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I've been told that curbing a wheel can also cause a ball bearing problem.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Well,
I had all my wheels balanced and road force balance on the best Hunter 9700 GPS at the Lexus Dealership and they found 2 tires out of round and causing static vibration on certain roads. This is why my vibration was a bit more worse after rotating and balancing the wheels after the small bump on the curb.

With the 4 new tires Bridgestone Potena Pole Position All Season that I got from Discount Tire to replace my other tires that were defective under the certificate of free replacement, the car is very smooth and quiet, HOWEVER I felt vibration Only in the steering wheel at high speed that is more on tarmac highways rather than cement type highways. I got the new tires and wheels rebalance and road force test to corret the imbalance, but its still there.

Vibration is not as even bad as before with the other tires after hitting the curb, but even with the new tires and 2 proper balancing and road force test, its still vibrate slightly in the steering wheel on smooth highways!!!!

I am taking my car back the 4th time to the dealer to double check everything and check other things that are not tire or wheel related.

It was such a small rub of the wheel and tire to the curb and 2-3mph, so it can't really damage something big.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Do you mean wheel bearing??

I don't hear any noise, just slight vibration. Even when turning on highways, the vibration is still consistent and no noise.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

Yes, wheel bearing. Check it. Are these stock wheels?

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Yep,
Stock wheels.

I had 1 defective wheel bearing replaced in the front last year in March and it made a sound along with vibration when turning to 1 side on highway. It was a hoo hoo sound.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Hey all,

Thanks for keeping this post quite alive in a way.

Today I took the car to the dealer, and we discussed what was going on and why I was still getting vibration in the steering wheel with the new tires. I have 1 out of round rim that was force matched with the new tire and placed in the back of the car, and kept thinking why would that wheel in the rear of my still cause vibration in my steering wheel at 50-80 mph. The service mechanic told me its due to harmonic vibration since the car is an AWD, the out of round rim deforms more over time and causes vibration to be sent down the 4WD system to my steering wheel that will make me think I have something wrong with the front 2 tires. So, I decided that even after all this balancing and force variation on the new tires and getting rid of my old tires (which somehow managed to suppress the out of round rim vibration for 10-12,000 miles after hitting the curb in the back last winter due to ice. So, I will be getting a new rim to replace that out of round rim in the rear right of my car.

Will Keep you posted.