so i clipped a tree branch pretty hard last weekend, nothing catastrophic looking from the outside but ever since then motor 3 has this weird wobble when i spin it up. like you can feel it through the frame if you hold it, and in betaflight the motor noise graph looks way messier on that one compared to the others.

the prop was bent so i swapped that obviously but it didnt fix it. bell looks okay visually, no obvious cracks on the arm. im wondering if maybe the motor shaft got slightly bent or if theres something going on with the bearing. ive pulled motors before but never really inspected one for shaft damage ? is there a good way to check without just buying a replacement and swapping it?

running 2306 2450kv motors on a 5inch if that matters. the frame is a dead cat style so the arms are a bit longer than typical which makes me more worried about stress on the mount points too

shaft bend is actually pretty common after a hard hit even when it looks fine. easiest check is just pull the motor off the arm and spin the bell slowly by hand with your finger resting lightly against the outside edge ? if theres a bend youll feel or see a wobble pretty clearly, maybe a half mm or so of runout. bearings will feel gritty or notchy if thats the issue, totally different sensation. honestly though if youre seeing it in the motor noise tab in betaflight and the prop swap didnt fix it, 90% chance its the motor shaft or the bearing took a hit. these motors arent worth trying to rebuild unless youre really into that kind of thing, just grab a replacement and be done with it.

also worth checking where the motor mounts to the arm ? ive had crashes where the arm mount holes got slightly elongated and the motor was sitting at a tiny angle. wouldnt cause massive wobble necessarily but combined with anything else it adds up. i usually run a straight edge across the arm to see if theres any twist too after anything harder than a soft grass landing honestly