Clio 16v - Wheel nuts sheared off

[Mattymouse33]

Hi,

I'm restoring my first car, a Renault Clio 16v Dimma which i have owned for 13 years.

It has been in a garage for 4 years and i dont plan to drive it, just bring it back to its former glory.

Anyway, some wheel nuts have sheared off on the front passenger side, all four of them.

Do i just need to replace the discs and all is well or do the threads go through and tighten in a hub of some sort?

I am planning to replace the discs anyway but i need to know whether i need some guy to come and drill them out or just replaced the discs.

Thanks

Matthew

[GreenV8S]

Without wishing to be rude, your question shows a level of ignorance that suggests you are not competent to do this job. In case you're in any doubt, the attachment of the wheels is safety critical and not something that you should tackle lightly.

[Mattymouse33]

GreenV8S said:

Without wishing to be rude, your question shows a level of ignorance that suggests you are not competent to do this job. In case you're in any doubt, the attachment of the wheels is safety critical and not something that you should tackle lightly.

Excuse me? Ignorance? I take it you fell out the wrong side of bed?

Anyway, would someone else care to add some helpful response to this thread?

I am not too mechanically minded and didnt think this was an ignorant question or that i was being ignorant by posting it. I am completely capable of replacing a set of discs myself when i have read up on how to do it. I am just interested in knowing whether the wheel nuts screw into the disc only or through the disc and into something else?

I will be receiving my wheels back an have ordered new discs for the car however should i take the disc off and the nuts are still screwed into a hub then i have a problem and need to get them removed. If not then fine.

What is it with this place sometimes?

[Pushrod-Power]

The disc wheel bolt holes are not threaded so if you remove the set screw/s from the disc the disc will come away then your just left with sheared bolts in the hub,you could alway remove the hub assy and get a good engineering shop to drill out the offending items.

[Mattymouse33]

Pushrod-Power said:

The disc wheel bolt holes are not threaded so if you remove the set screw/s from the disc the disc will come away then your just left with sheared bolts in the hub,you could alway remove the hub assy and get a good engineering shop to drill out the offending items.

Ah thanks for that, so the wheel nuts screw threw the disc into the hub.

I will get a haynes manual and set about it.

Thanks

Matthew

[Incorrigible]

Fair play for having a go, but I think Pete may have a point. If you take the wheel off and can't work out how the disc is attached it's not a good sign

Or have I missed something ??

You'll need to take the caliper off to remove the disc

Also if things are sheared one side try taking the other side apart it may give you more of a clue on how it should all go together

Good luck, and unless you're sure (as in you're 100% you've worked through the problem and know what was wrong and it's together correctly) get someone to check it

Sorry if any of that came across as patronising

[GreenV8S]

Mattymouse33 said:

I am not too mechanically minded and didnt think this was an ignorant question or that i was being ignorant by posting it. I am completely capable of replacing a set of discs myself when i have read up on how to do it. I am just interested in knowing whether the wheel nuts screw into the disc only or through the disc and into something else?

That is the ignorance I am referring to. If you don't have any idea how the hub, disc and wheel are attached to each other by the wheel studs / nuts then evidently you have never taken these apart and have no idea what's involved.

In case you're in any doubt, the idea that the studs are attached to the discs is absurd.

There's nothing wrong with being ignorant. You aren't expected to magically know everything. But to tackle a safety critical system without the feintest idea what's involved is very unwise indeed.

If you still fancy having a go, perhaps you could guess why the studs/bolts failed and whether the studs/bolts or hub have been damaged as a result - and how would you tell whether they were?

It's all very well having a positive attitude but you really can't afford to get this wrong and I don't believe you know enough to be sure you are getting it right.

Again, I'm not saying this to be rude or annoy you, I'm saying it because I think you're in danger of doing something dangerous.

[phumy]

To shear all four bolts on one wheel is very unusual, i have heard of one or even two being sheared off but never four. Are you sure you are "undoing" them in the correct direction?

[Trooper2]

GreenV8S said:

Mattymouse33 said:

I am not too mechanically minded and didnt think this was an ignorant question or that i was being ignorant by posting it. I am completely capable of replacing a set of discs myself when i have read up on how to do it. I am just interested in knowing whether the wheel nuts screw into the disc only or through the disc and into something else?

That is the ignorance I am referring to. If you don't have any idea how the hub, disc and wheel are attached to each other by the wheel studs / nuts then evidently you have never taken these apart and have no idea what's involved.

In case you're in any doubt, the idea that the studs are attached to the discs is absurd.

There's nothing wrong with being ignorant. You aren't expected to magically know everything. But to tackle a safety critical system without the feintest idea what's involved is very unwise indeed.

If you still fancy having a go, perhaps you could guess why the studs/bolts failed and whether the studs/bolts or hub have been damaged as a result - and how would you tell whether they were?

It's all very well having a positive attitude but you really can't afford to get this wrong and I don't believe you know enough to be sure you are getting it right.

Again, I'm not saying this to be rude or annoy you, I'm saying it because I think you're in danger of doing something dangerous.

Have to agree with GreenV8S, Mattymouse, you would probably be a great automotive engineer (especailly at Ford) but you should let someone else be the mechanic.....


sorry Gavin!

[Mattymouse33]

Incorrigible said:

Fair play for having a go, but I think Pete may have a point. If you take the wheel off and can't work out how the disc is attached it's not a good sign

Or have I missed something ??

You'll need to take the caliper off to remove the disc

Also if things are sheared one side try taking the other side apart it may give you more of a clue on how it should all go together

Good luck, and unless you're sure (as in you're 100% you've worked through the problem and know what was wrong and it's together correctly) get someone to check it

Sorry if any of that came across as patronising

The reason i dont know is because i havnt really looked. I took the wheels off to get refurbished. Two bolts had snapped already, most likely due to being tracked. The other sheered when i was trying to loosen them. The car has sat there for a few years without use so again another reason.

I am quite capable of doing this so there is no need to question my ability. Its just that i have not had time to read up on it. Simple as that so thought i would ask the question.

[Mattymouse33]

GreenV8S said:

Mattymouse33 said:

I am not too mechanically minded and didnt think this was an ignorant question or that i was being ignorant by posting it. I am completely capable of replacing a set of discs myself when i have read up on how to do it. I am just interested in knowing whether the wheel nuts screw into the disc only or through the disc and into something else?

That is the ignorance I am referring to. If you don't have any idea how the hub, disc and wheel are attached to each other by the wheel studs / nuts then evidently you have never taken these apart and have no idea what's involved.

In case you're in any doubt, the idea that the studs are attached to the discs is absurd.

There's nothing wrong with being ignorant. You aren't expected to magically know everything. But to tackle a safety critical system without the feintest idea what's involved is very unwise indeed.

If you still fancy having a go, perhaps you could guess why the studs/bolts failed and whether the studs/bolts or hub have been damaged as a result - and how would you tell whether they were?

It's all very well having a positive attitude but you really can't afford to get this wrong and I don't believe you know enough to be sure you are getting it right.

Again, I'm not saying this to be rude or annoy you, I'm saying it because I think you're in danger of doing something dangerous.

I have some idea of what is involved. 1 loosen/remove caliper, 2 loosen/remove disc. It isnt rocket science.

I'm not quite sure why you think it is an absurd idea that the studs are attached to the disc. All i see are threads going through the disc so I thought a viable question.

To guess at why they failed:

1 track use
2 lack of maintenance
3 lack of use over last 4 years

I wouldnt be able to tell if the hub is damaged until i see it. I have owned the car for 13 years and am restoring it but i do not plan to drive it, just keep it for part of a collection, 1st car and all that. I will hopefully be able to remove the studs when the disc is off and then check if the threads are ok but essentially i may get someone out to confirm or re-thread the hub.

Everyone bears the risk of doing something dangerous however reading up and asking questions minimises the risk, hence me doing that and about to buy a haynes manual on the car. Believe me, this is nothing compared to what this car has been through.

Anyway, no offence taken and thanks for the help.

[Mattymouse33]

phumy said:

To shear all four bolts on one wheel is very unusual, i have heard of one or even two being sheared off but never four. Are you sure you are "undoing" them in the correct direction?

Yes I'm sure, some answers above as to why it happened

[gamefreaks]

Had this problem on my 19 16v.

Yes, the wheel nuts do screw into the disks. ETA: Nope...into the hub through the disk.

Just replace the disks. Might as well for what they cost.

Replace all the wheel nuts. When they get old they snap like cheese.

Edited by gamefreaks on Wednesday 10th December 17:17

Edited by gamefreaks on Wednesday 10th December 17:21

[Mattymouse33]

gamefreaks said:

When they get old they snap like cheese.

Edited by gamefreaks on Wednesday 10th December 17:17

Edited by gamefreaks on Wednesday 10th December 17:21

Your not wrong, i was quite surprised how two snapped when removing wheel but i seem to remember the other two shearing whilst tracking the car so it would make sense i suppose given the extra pressure put on the two remaining nuts and the fact it wasnt driven in 4 years.

[gamefreaks]

Some of these card are 15 or so years old. The bolts get fatigued after a numer of changes. Espcially if there has been some over-zealous tightening.

[AdrianR]

A bolt should never break in use. The most load on it is when it's being tightened or removed. If your bolts broke while you were driving, they were either loose, corroded or they were the wrong ones for the wheels. Either way, get them checked properly.

Different wheels need different length bolts and have different shapes for the contact faces, some are square, some chamfered and some round; I've heard of people fitting alloys to a car that had steels and not realising this; the bolts then work loose and break. If the car has been run with the wrong or loose bolts you may also have damaged the threads in the hubs which means they are likely to work loose and break again.

Seriously, it is not worth mucking about here. See recent newspaper reports for a bloke that killed 4 of his kids by bodging his own mechanics.

AdrianR

[DaveL485]

FWIW- Been into Renault's for a loooong time now. The sheared bolt thing is common on that age of car. Ive just had to remove 2 from a scenic last week that broke as the threads were seized....it's not hard to grease bolts after they're removed.
If you havent got access to heat and a fair range of tools i'd drop the hub off and take it somewhere or you'll end up wrecking the threads in the hub itself....and yeah the bolts thread into the hub, the disc is not threaded at all. Disc is retained by 2 T40 torx screws.

To remove the hub you need to drop the caliper off (2x18mm bolts), pop the track rod end off (1X16mm nut), Take the bottom balljoint out of the bottom (1x16mm nut and bolt, remove the bolt completely or it wont slide off) and then the 2 strut bolts (2x18mm I think).