Any recourse? bought car with potentially unsafe repair

[shouldbworking]

Bought it from a dealer a week ago - yes, I should have noticed it when I was checking over the car, but I'm afraid I simply didn't notice it even whilst checking the brake discs for wear, out cleaning it for the first time today and spotted it.







Looks to me like the heads of the wheel nuts have sheared off and rather than drilling them out and retapping the hubs they have just put nuts onto the remains of the sheared nuts. I've done about 300 miles and not noticed any problems - does this qualify as properly unsafe? I guess ill have to remove the nuts and see just how much thread they are on.

Edited by shouldbworking on Sunday 25th July 17:09

[HellDiver]

shouldbworking said:

does this qualify as properly unsafe?

Ford obviously supply big long studs just for the fun of it. Of course 1mm of thread is fine for holding your wheels on.

But, in this universe, it's very unsafe. I wouldn't trust those to hold the car off the driveway.

[shouldbworking]

All of the 'repaired' bolts airgunned up to the nines, no chance of shifting them to see just how much thread there is / isn't

Edit : found a bigger stick. Each of them has about 2cm of thread holding it on, which alleviates my concerns somewhat - definately no chance of them just popping off, and given the length of thread actually I'm left wondering if these are a case of someone drilling out the hub and then placing in a stud rather than a sheared wheel bolt.

Edited by shouldbworking on Sunday 25th July 17:41

[v8will]

shouldbworking said:

All of the 'repaired' bolts airgunned up to the nines, no chance of shifting them to see just how much thread there is / isn't

Nip down to a local tyre fitter and get them air gunned off. From memory a minimum of 6 turns of thread engagement is required for M12x1.5 wheel bolts/studs, anything less than that and you need to get it sorted out.

[Fish981]

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

[shouldbworking]

Fish981 said:

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

heres hoping

[Deva Link]

shouldbworking said:

Bought it from a dealer a week ago

......

I guess ill have to remove the nuts and see just how much thread they are on.

What kind of dealer - why not take it back there and get them to sort it?

If the car could be considered to be unroadworthy, then the dealer is committing a criminal offence (supplying vehicles in an unroadworthy condition).

Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 25th July 18:10

[dilbert]

Is this like an escort with sierra wheels?

The hole centres used to be the same, but the bigger wheels were designed for nuts, the smaller ones for bolts. The tapered seat in the wheel forced you to use the right type.

If you wanted to put big wheels on a small car, you'd have to have short lengths of studding screwed into the hubs, with a wheel nut on the end.

You have to get the sizes right, so it might be unsafe. The holes in those nuts seem really deep.

Anyway, I ran an Orion with XR4x4 wheels for five years without a problem. When I got the car I didn't know. But when I replaced a tyre, it became apparent it had been bodged. I just bought some high tensile studding and finished it to size in the lathe. I think I used Loctite to glue the high tensile studding into the nuts.

In the end I had a complete set of these really massive wheel bolts made of studding and nuts.

Edited by dilbert on Sunday 25th July 18:15

[shouldbworking]

Fish981 said:

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

And a quick google suggests this is actually the case. Pardon my jumping to conclusions.. although they are 18mm where the rest of the ones on the car are 19. Oh well.

[Fish981]

shouldbworking said:

Fish981 said:

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

And a quick google suggests this is actually the case. Pardon my jumping to conclusions.. although they are 18mm where the rest of the ones on the car are 19. Oh well.

It's the cover that gives you the extra 1mm. There's gazillions of nuts on ebay or carry an 18mm socket with you in case of punctures.

[Cost Captain]

dilbert said:

Is this like an escort with sierra wheels?

pretty sure its a focus with focus wheels

[Starfighter]

2 turns on any thread is not enough for it to take full load. Add to that the thread being corroded then yes I would say that it is in a dangerous condition.

Any dealer supply this would be hard pushed to justify selling the car in that condition. Get them to fis it or have it fixed and charge them for it.

[Deva Link]

Fish981 said:

shouldbworking said:

Fish981 said:

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

And a quick google suggests this is actually the case. Pardon my jumping to conclusions.. although they are 18mm where the rest of the ones on the car are 19. Oh well.

It's the cover that gives you the extra 1mm. There's gazillions of nuts on ebay or carry an 18mm socket with you in case of punctures.

The cosmetic cover would surely add more than 1mm? That would mean it would have to be 1/2mm thick on each side, and anyway, on cars I've had with these covers they had to be removed before using a wheelbrace.

[Fish981]

Deva Link said:

Fish981 said:

shouldbworking said:

Fish981 said:

They're probably just normal wheel nuts with the cosmetic cover missing.

And a quick google suggests this is actually the case. Pardon my jumping to conclusions.. although they are 18mm where the rest of the ones on the car are 19. Oh well.

It's the cover that gives you the extra 1mm. There's gazillions of nuts on ebay or carry an 18mm socket with you in case of punctures.

The cosmetic cover would surely add more than 1mm? That would mean it would have to be 1/2mm thick on each side, and anyway, on cars I've had with these covers they had to be removed before using a wheelbrace.

In the normal course of events they should never come off, rust on the nut and ill-fitting wheel braces can ruin them though.

[TallPaul]

Not that its really relevant here, but wheel studs are almost never screwed into the hubs, they are a splined interferance fit. You hammer them in from the inside.