New vibe after pothole...

Took a bad one at pretty good speed. Enough to knock a center cap on right rear wheel off. Wheels/tires balanced today. Alignment tomorrow, can't but help notice a vibe now, after balance. . Went through everything today, and could see anything that was bent, etc. Hoping tomorrow takes care of it. Any concern for bent axle in back?? Thoughts ?? Diagnostics?? Thanks!!

 

Doubt the axle was bent,tire might screwed. Broken belt in tire,but you would think that might have showed up on the balancing.

 

If an alignment doesn't fix it, I would take it to a place such as firestone that can do road force balancing. Are the vibes only occurring at specific speeds?

 

Rotate the tires and see if the vibration moves (or swap the wheel that took the hit with the spare and see if it goes away)

 

Swapped a different set of tires on from a friend's fj, smooth on his, not on mine, just to rule out tire related. Will update after alingmemt today.

 

I did this same thing on mine and even though it would align in the "green" it ended up bending something as well. I would suggest that you have them set it up on the alignment rack and have them print out the diagnostic angles along with the other stuff. The diagnostics angles are: SAI and Included Angle. This is normally part of their software if on the Hunter machines and there should be no additional charge. Post a good copy of the complete alignment sheet, incl. front, rear, and these diagnostic angles and let's at least see if somethin' might be bent, or at least hopefully rule it out.

 

Also when putting tires back on hand tighten lugs nuts and then properly torque them.

 

Tires on by this method. Will get those printouts.. it just seems something else is off... Will report back.

 

Are you saying that the vibration went away in your truck when driving with your friend's tires on?

 

Sorry, clarity, still there with a well know balanced set.

 

I'm thinking axel or even knocked a u joint out a bit. We shall see!!

 

We'll alignment was needed, was way off vibe still there.. this tire shop I really trust said good old carrier bearing looks suspect. They unfortunately don't touch drivetrain. I thought it was looking sort of low hanging.. will through a camera up there to get a look, but might be a week or so until I can get this taken care of. Just light driving around town for the time being.

 

Jack up the rear axle, put jack stands under the axle. Set it on the jack stands. Make sure it's not pointed towards the garage. Have a helper start it and put it in drive while you watch to see if the wheel wobbles. If it does, the axle shaft is bent.

 

Will further diagnose after a little trip with the wife!!

 

OP you said in the opening post that the hit was enough to knock out a wheel center cap. Maybe enough to also throw a weight as well? I have had that happen a time or two.

 

Yeah, but swapping known good wheels, and the vibe was still there. Alignment helped, but something else is off. Either a ujoint or carrier bearing.

 

What kind of wheels do you have? Steelies can bend/warp (yeah, I know you tried a different set of wheels/tires).

Also, check your brakes. I had a stuck caliper that was driving me nuts for a while- the symptom was vibrations... The pot hole could’ve jolted the brakes around a bit, make sure they’re operating as they should.

Check too for bent front end components. Yes it might have aligned but it could be f’ed up.