3 wheels on my wagon!
Discussion
My friend bought a very nice looking 350i Friday before last.
This Saturday she drove up from Cornwall to see me and, at about 80MPH, on the M4, in the rain she felt a bump and was overtaken by her nearside rear wheel, and hub!
Luckily she kept her head and coasted the car from the middle lane to the hard shoulder.
Miraculously there is no damage to the car, however, the wheel and hub have disappeared completely!
The end of the drive shaft has stripped threads and spline!
Does anybody have any ideas as to how this may have happened?
The car is now at a mechanic but we need some info regarding exactly what shaft (the outer part from UJ to wheel hub) is needed, and where we may locate one.
Any offers?
This Saturday she drove up from Cornwall to see me and, at about 80MPH, on the M4, in the rain she felt a bump and was overtaken by her nearside rear wheel, and hub!
Luckily she kept her head and coasted the car from the middle lane to the hard shoulder.
Miraculously there is no damage to the car, however, the wheel and hub have disappeared completely!
The end of the drive shaft has stripped threads and spline!
Does anybody have any ideas as to how this may have happened?
The car is now at a mechanic but we need some info regarding exactly what shaft (the outer part from UJ to wheel hub) is needed, and where we may locate one.
Any offers?
Very lucky your friend is still alive !
Crikey Karl, that's a bloody nightmare, glad she's ok. 
That's called the rear stub axle, and they are getting a bit rare. I managed to keep a couple of them where they had to be replaced because the UJ bearing cups had been ground away at, if you get desperate get in touch. The bearing cup end will need reconditioning (welding in new metal then drilling out) but otherwise they should be good.
The usual cause for his in the past was that the hub nut hadn't been split-pinned, and over time gets loose, droops off, then the hub and wheel come off with it.
However, this failure sounds different. It's very unusual for the spline to get fully stripped although if the hub had got quite loose and it was only engaging a small portion of the spline, this could have god stripped under braking.
It might be that the hub nut had been over-torqued, damaging the thread, then gradually the rest broke up.
It's a good feature of the wedge that the suspension's so hard, if you lose a rear wheel it's still relatively stable. I once had a blowout on the motorway and it was only 'cos someone flashed my that I realised!
The usual cause for his in the past was that the hub nut hadn't been split-pinned, and over time gets loose, droops off, then the hub and wheel come off with it.
However, this failure sounds different. It's very unusual for the spline to get fully stripped although if the hub had got quite loose and it was only engaging a small portion of the spline, this could have god stripped under braking.
It might be that the hub nut had been over-torqued, damaging the thread, then gradually the rest broke up.
It's a good feature of the wedge that the suspension's so hard, if you lose a rear wheel it's still relatively stable. I once had a blowout on the motorway and it was only 'cos someone flashed my that I realised!
Exact same thing happened to my car a couple of years back.
I managed to get her over to the hard shoulder too (was doing warp speed)...also very impressed with the 3 wheeler handling.
The wheel landed in a bush and was undamaged.
Like yours, the splines were stripped, probably through the wheel riding partly on them for a while.
I claimed on the insurance, and RTracing kindly got both sides including A frames and dampers replaced with new.
Next insurance renewal I wasn't penalised !
Now I regularly check my nuts.
I managed to get her over to the hard shoulder too (was doing warp speed)...also very impressed with the 3 wheeler handling.
The wheel landed in a bush and was undamaged.
Like yours, the splines were stripped, probably through the wheel riding partly on them for a while.
I claimed on the insurance, and RTracing kindly got both sides including A frames and dampers replaced with new.
Next insurance renewal I wasn't penalised !
Now I regularly check my nuts.
Glad no one was hurt. The driveshaft threads are not handed so the N/S wheel is always trying to undo the nut. You need to make sure a new nut is used with threadlock and slpit pinned. Some say you shouldn't drill the nut & shaft as it weakens the shaft. This can be the case if you keep drilling new holes but it is possible to fit a new nut and line up the holes before you drill the new nut.
Best bet for the parts is from a breakers. There are a few cars being broken in the classified ads. Cheers Steve.
Best bet for the parts is from a breakers. There are a few cars being broken in the classified ads. Cheers Steve.
rev-erend said:
Sounds like a luck escape. Glad your friend survived without incident.
Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
Whole rear-end has been stripped apart and checked now, report not good. Mechanic says it looks like "a bad diy bodge job!"Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
I think I will be trying to contact the guy she just bought it from!
Poledriver said:
rev-erend said:
Sounds like a luck escape. Glad your friend survived without incident.
Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
Whole rear-end has been stripped apart and checked now, report not good. Mechanic says it looks like "a bad diy bodge job!"Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
I think I will be trying to contact the guy she just bought it from!
Glad she is ok and that she's not put off driving a Wedge.
Scary experience!
Poledriver said:
rev-erend said:
Sounds like a luck escape. Glad your friend survived without incident.
Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
I think I will be trying to contact the guy she just bought it from!Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
SEvans said:
This can be the case if you keep drilling new holes but it is possible to fit a new nut and line up the holes before you drill the new nut.
This is what I do - in fact I have filed a small groove at the end of each driveshaft parallel with the drilled hole. Then it's easy to line up the drill to drill a hole through the nut after it's been put on.I've just fitted a new bearing to my n/s wheel but haven't drilled it yet - I want it to bed in for a few miles first, then re-torque the nut, and pin it.
Waynester said:
Poledriver said:
rev-erend said:
Sounds like a luck escape. Glad your friend survived without incident.
Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
Whole rear-end has been stripped apart and checked now, report not good. Mechanic says it looks like "a bad diy bodge job!"Guess someone should check the car over throughly - who knows what else is wrong if that happened.
Does not sounds like a very road worthy car - as that should not happen.
I think I will be trying to contact the guy she just bought it from!
Glad she is ok and that she's not put off driving a Wedge.
Scary experience!
I'm going to be checking my hubs as number one priority when mine comes off the road this winter!
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