5 stud stupidity
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Discussion

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
A little rant here about some of the assembly operators where I work as a Manufacturing Engineer.

In a workforce of about 200 I have spotted 3 car in the past 6 months with only 4 studs in each of their wheels.

Now, I have taken the trouble to find out the owner and tell them this highly dangerous fault on thier car.

The reaction has been indifference in all cases. None of them have takenm my concern seriously, even when I tell them about my mate who was hit at 80 MPH on the Motorway by a wheel in the centre carriage way (was he hit or did he hit it?)

That must be why I spent my day designing POKE YOKE which is the Japanese for Mistake Proofing, but a better translation would be IDIOT proofing.

THESE people are IDIOTS ? Or am I missing something and only 4 studs is fine ???

I put this thread in the law section because I fail to see how the cars would pass an MOT.

oldsoak

5,618 posts

233 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
My wheels can only accommodate 4 studs each...would you have me drill and tap a few more holes?
confused

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
oldsoak said:
My wheels can only accommodate 4 studs each...would you have me drill and tap a few more holes?
confused
Mine too.


Would you drive around with only 3 bolts ?

SplatSpeed

7,491 posts

282 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
the troble with idiot proofing is two fold

1 it fights natural selection
2 they develop a better idiot to get around it

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
SplatSpeed said:
the troble with idiot proofing is two fold

1 it fights natural selection
2 they develop a better idiot to get around it
I'm wondering if this should be a standard interview question.

If the previous owner of a car, failed to fit one of the wheel bolts would you :

a) Not worry, the wheel is still on
b) Buy it but get a new bolt asap
c) Walk away on the grounds that the owner is a feckless knob.

Our current selection process : Can you start Monday ?

scissorhands83

4,129 posts

266 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
im sure my car only has 3 stud wheels!!!

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
scissorhands83 said:
im sure my car only has 3 stud wheels!!!
is it french ? AX or 106.

Run with one stud you'll be fine !!!

gozomark

167 posts

259 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
jacko lah said:
I put this thread in the law section because I fail to see how the cars would pass an MOT.
why would it fail if it was designed with only 4, or am I missing something ?

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
gozomark said:
jacko lah said:
I put this thread in the law section because I fail to see how the cars would pass an MOT.
why would it fail if it was designed with only 4, or am I missing something ?
I'm assuming that if there are 5 holes with a PCD of 110 mm and only 4 of they are fitted with bolts then the stress on the other 4 is higher than designed. and as the front disk is usually held in place with the wheel bolts and the holdinmg force is then not equal around the disk there may be implications in terms of early failure.

Or maybe I'm just pessimistic ?

My car has 4 holes on PCD of 100 mm and 4 bolts on each wheel. If there were 5 holes I'd have 5 bolts.

Andy Zarse

10,870 posts

278 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
If any of these cars are ever used for the purposes of the employer's business, and if there's an accident due to say a wheel coming off, the employer may be held responsible. Sounds mad but that's the law. On that basis I think you have grounds to tell them to fix their cars.

Alternatively advise the BiB?

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
Andy Zarse said:
If any of these cars are ever used for the purposes of the employer's business, and if there's an accident due to say a wheel coming off, the employer may be held responsible. Sounds mad but that's the law. On that basis I think you have grounds to tell them to fix their cars.

Alternatively advise the BiB?
They are assembly or test operators. They'd not be allowed to use own car on business and would need to show accounts dept their licence before using a pool car.

I'm not about to inform BIB, but it would be nice to know that at some time in the future the car would fail an MOT.

twister

1,593 posts

267 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
I think what the OP is concerned about are people driving around in cars with missing wheel *nuts*, as opposed to wheels designed for a certain number of studs as the opening post seems to suggest...

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
twister said:
I think what the OP is concerned about are people driving around in cars with missing wheel *nuts*, as opposed to wheels designed for a certain number of studs as the opening post seems to suggest...
It was clear to me that's what I meant. Thanks.

LeoSayer

7,844 posts

275 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
I can imagine their indifference, the same sort you get when you point out under-inflated tyres or tyres with no tread left.

I do check the tyres on my cars fairly frequently, but never make a point of looking at the studs - and I would have to make a point as they are deeply embedded in the wheel so I'd have to get very close the wheel.

It would be very easy for someone to sabotage a car by removing the bolts, I only have one locking bolt per wheel.

jacko lah

Original Poster:

3,297 posts

280 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
LeoSayer said:
I can imagine their indifference, the same sort you get when you point out tyres with no tread left.


It would be very easy for someone to sabotage a car by removing the bolts, I only have one locking bolt per wheel.
I've stopped pointing out bald tyres, and initially I thought someone was trying to sabotage the 1st car, so was surprised to get the indifference really.

gozomark

167 posts

259 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
jacko lah said:
twister said:
I think what the OP is concerned about are people driving around in cars with missing wheel *nuts*, as opposed to wheels designed for a certain number of studs as the opening post seems to suggest...
It was clear to me that's what I meant. Thanks.
ah... now I understand ! I didn't realise you meant nuts missing

gozomark

167 posts

259 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
jacko lah said:
twister said:
I think what the OP is concerned about are people driving around in cars with missing wheel *nuts*, as opposed to wheels designed for a certain number of studs as the opening post seems to suggest...
It was clear to me that's what I meant. Thanks.
ah... now I understand ! I didn't realise you meant nuts missing

zcacogp

11,239 posts

275 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
... trouble is that it is not just limited to wheel nuts (or bolts) and tyres, although I'll grant you this is one of the most common problems.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen (or heard) a car with one or more nasty mechanical noises eminating from it. Quite often the sort of grinding noise that I would associate with brake disks worn to the backing plates (and which consequently offer precious little braking force.)

On a different note, on Saturday I saw a Carina E with a dent in it's front wing big enough that the tyre was catching against it when turning at a junction (and having chunks carved out of the tyre at the same time).

An annual MOT is fine (you can't expect people to have their cars tested every week for roadworthy-ness) but this is just another example of why an unpoliced road network (which is what we have) is lethally dangerous.


Oli.

thetrash

1,860 posts

237 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
I've tried to tell a woman in a new Golf GTI that her bonnet was not closed and sitting on the catch at some traffic lights. I got told to f**k off and mind my own business.

Balmoral Green

42,561 posts

279 months

Tuesday 31st July 2007
quotequote all
What is really worrying, is that these people are totally incapable of noticing these things. A bit like not knowing that their tyre pressures are low, as if the flat tyres weren't a giveaway? TBH, if the tyres had been painted bright blue, they still wouldn't notice.

I just happened to glance at a colleagues Saab recently, and immediately noticed that one nut was missing from each wheel. It had been serviced a few months back and the locking wheel nuts had been left until last, then forgotten completely. And how many times had he washed the car and one would assume, the wheels, since? Yet had not noticed.

Mind you, i'm the sort of person who is always casually telling folks that their front nearside tyre is flat/bald/tracking out/whatever or that a brake light is out. Many weeks later, still the same.

Edited by Balmoral Green on Tuesday 31st July 17:27