Damage to front wheel carrier- advice

[Baked_bean]

Hi All,

I was having a nightmare removing a seized track rod end and ended up having to use an angle grinder to remove the nut. The problem is I rather embarrassingly made slight contact with the Wheel carrier and have grinded the very top of the carrier. Is this a major problem and am I likely to fail an MOT for this? It is a scuff to the very top of the carrier and I will replace it but can't face sorting it all before the MOT retest date.

The car in question is a 996 911.

[GreenV8S]

By wheel carrier, are you referring to the hub, or the upright, or something else?

The safety impact of grinding it would depend how much stress that area of the part is under and whether the grinding left any stress raisers. Maybe a picture would make that clearer.

[Baked_bean]

Thanks for the quick response.

It is the below part, it’s a cast item and the damage is where the trackrod end attaches.

I will sort a photo first thing tomorrow.

[Evoluzione]

It's a hub upright and you're a moron.

[Baked_bean]

Evoluzione said:

It's a hub upright and you're a moron.

It’s definitely called a wheel carrier on the parts catalogues I have looked in. Thanks for your input, not my proudest moment but we all make mistakes.

[hman]

Ive done similar - angle grinding a nut off a track rod end I slipped and made a tiny nick in the lower arm which I thought nothing of.

Days later driving around a roundabout the car started to pull to the left and counter steering made no difference, stopped the car and the lower arm had started to pull apart (like 80% gone!!). parked up and got a recovery truck home.

This was a pressed steel lower arm so not a cast / machined aluminim part - but I wouldnt take the chance twice.

[Evoluzione]

Baked_bean said:

It’s definitely called a wheel carrier on the parts catalogues I have looked in. Thanks for your input, not my proudest moment but we all make mistakes.

Hit UK google with both terms and see what comes up on your screen.
This is a UK based forum so i've given you a British reply. If you go around the World (stopping off at the USA) you'll see car parts called all kinds of different names. Your car originated in Germany hence why the part has a weird name.

Car parts (especially on a high end car like a Porsche) are carefully designed by computer to have strength where needed and metal taken away where it isn't. There is little in the way of excess material. With the caveat that we haven't seen what you've done yet it would still be difficult to ascertain whether you've breached the strength of the upright or not.

[t400ble]

Same as a boxster, and cheap enough if you are bothered about it
The caliper bolts love to snap on these as well

[Baked_bean]

I understand that, I was on the design 911 parts pages and it is referred to as a carrier. Either way that is not the point i was interested in.

I am going to replace this upright(!) anyway before I use the car properly but would rather get the car MOT’d then have time to sort the car out properly rather than rush, it will spend most of the winter in my garage.

The photo is below, any advice is welcome.

[Jazoli]

Baked_bean said:

I understand that, I was on the design 911 parts pages and it is referred to as a carrier. Either way that is not the point i was interested in.

I am going to replace this upright(!) anyway before I use the car properly but would rather get the car MOT’d then have time to sort the car out properly rather than rush, it will spend most of the winter in my garage.

The photo is below, any advice is welcome.

There is absolutely nothing to worry about there in my opinion, it is a substantial cast part and its integrity will not have been compromised at all.

[LennyM1984]

That is a lot less damage than I was expecting. If it were my car, I wouldn't have given that much thought (although would be p1ssed off with myself for catching it).

[E-bmw]

^^^^ Wot 'e (they) said.

Not a problem.

[steveo3002]

i wouldnt worry about it

[Baked_bean]

Thanks guys, makes me feel better in the short term. I was really annoyed at myself yesterday, never had that happen before and ended up worrying.

[Megaflow]

Same as the others said, that is absolutely fine. I was expecting much more damage, because trying to cut a track rod end off accurately is very difficult, that is about as accurately as you could ever hope to be.

[Captain Answer]

You've taken 1/2 mm off the surface of the bevel, wouldn't worry about it in terms of replacement, most I might do would be spray/paint some Hammerite or similar

[Evoluzione]

I agree, It doesn't look like a highly stressed part of the component, but then i'm just a bloke on the internet.
I'm unsure where an MOT guy would stand with that.
You could finish it off with a file, sandpaper to smooth it (to remove stress raisers) and rub some dirt in to hide it.

[Little Pete]

Evoluzione said:

I agree, It doesn't look like a highly stressed part of the component, but then i'm just a bloke on the internet.
I'm unsure where an MOT guy would stand with that.
You could finish it off with a file, sandpaper to smooth it (to remove stress raisers) and rub some dirt in to hide it.

It wouldn't concern me from a MOT point of view.

[Skyedriver]

Evoluzione said:

I agree, It doesn't look like a highly stressed part of the component, but then i'm just a bloke on the internet.
I'm unsure where an MOT guy would stand with that.
You could finish it off with a file, sandpaper to smooth it (to remove stress raisers) and rub some dirt in to hide it.

^^This^^
the important part is the last stage
and a bit of grease to protect any rusty brake pipes as an MoT tester once suggested.....

[rustednut]

Skyedriver said:

Evoluzione said:

I agree, It doesn't look like a highly stressed part of the component, but then i'm just a bloke on the internet.
I'm unsure where an MOT guy would stand with that.
You could finish it off with a file, sandpaper to smooth it (to remove stress raisers) and rub some dirt in to hide it.

^^This^^
the important part is the last stage
and a bit of grease to protect any rusty brake pipes as an MoT tester once suggested.....

Poor advice,

The idea of covering brake pipes with grease is to prevent rust, possibly after removing surface rust, but definitely not to hide it. Who gains from hiding it ?

Same with the hub carrier rub it down by all means and if it is likely to rust then paint or protect it. But otherwise keep it on show so that you can see and assess any issues.