Author Topic: WHEEL FELL OFF DOING 65MPH! (Read 4411 times)

sethyboy85 · « **on:** March 11, 2005, 05:58:19 pm »

driving my 84 jetta today it started to make a funny noise.... and boom car jerked, luckily my shocks are shot so the fender kept the tire under the car and me riding on 4 tires... sorta... nobody was injured and I calmly drifted off of the highway

I am having it towed to my mechanics cause I don't know when I would beable to work on it or how extensive the damage is and besides he has way more tools than I do but I will try to get a pic of exactly what happened cause it sure is a funy story to tell people!

Seth

vwmike · « **Reply #1 on:** March 13, 2005, 02:41:25 am »

Quote from: "sethyboy85"

driving my 84 jetta today it started to make a funny noise.... and boom car jerked, luckily my shocks are shot so the fender kept the tire under the car and me riding on 4 tires... sorta... nobody was injured and I calmly drifted off of the highway

I am having it towed to my mechanics cause I don't know when I would beable to work on it or how extensive the damage is and besides he has way more tools than I do but I will try to get a pic of exactly what happened cause it sure is a funy story to tell people!

Seth

2 things that are issues are wheel studs and steel bolts on alloy wheels. No matter how much you tighten wheel studs, they always seem to loosen up. As a result, one of the wheels fell off my gf's car. All the others were loose too even though I had tightened them just days before. There are different lug bolts lengths as well, shorter ones for steel wheels and if you use them with alloys the wheels will more than likely fall off.

racer_x · « **Reply #2 on:** March 15, 2005, 09:16:59 am »

It could also be a lower ball joint failure. I've had that happen to me once. It wasn't fun.

And I've lost more rear wheels than I care to admit to wheel bearing failures. It's to the point now where that doesn't even surprise me much when it happens. I just hit the turn signals and coast to the right shoulder.

As for wheel bolts, there are different lengths and some of the alloy wheels definitely need logner ones. Many of the cars that left the factory with steel wheels have very short lug bolts. When you install the lug bolt, give it a half turn or so to engage the threads, then count turns as you tighten it down. It should go on at least 6 full turns before it snugs down on the wheel. If it's less than 6 full turns to get it down snug, then you need longer bolts. Do not run with the short bolts and alloy wheels.

dieseltech · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2005, 01:22:53 am »

it is very important to use a good rear wheel bearing (timkin,fag vw original etc) stay away from BCA and most of the bearings that are not made in germany or usa. all others i would NEVER put on my vw's or any car. i almost died when a wheel bearing failed good thing a guard rail was there or the 170foot drop behind the rail would not have been fun. For a while BCA used a plastic cages in there bearings, bad news. always wonder how many other people have experienced a failed wheel bearing in a vw?
guess more than just me. scary
dont cheap out when i comes to brakes bearing or an suspension/steering component. you can replace parts on a car but you cant replace the loved ones in the car.

Quote from: "racer_x"

It could also be a lower ball joint failure. I've had that happen to me once. It wasn't fun.

And I've lost more rear wheels than I care to admit to wheel bearing failures. It's to the point now where that doesn't even surprise me much when it happens. I just hit the turn signals and coast to the right shoulder.

As for wheel bolts, there are different lengths and some of the alloy wheels definitely need logner ones. Many of the cars that left the factory with steel wheels have very short lug bolts. When you install the lug bolt, give it a half turn or so to engage the threads, then count turns as you tighten it down. It should go on at least 6 full turns before it snugs down on the wheel. If it's less than 6 full turns to get it down snug, then you need longer bolts. Do not run with the short bolts and alloy wheels.

Bookerdog · « **Reply #4 on:** April 01, 2005, 01:42:49 pm »

Quote from: "dieseltech"

always wonder how many other people have experienced a failed wheel bearing in a vw?
guess more than just me. scary
dont cheap out when i comes to brakes bearing or an suspension/steering component. you can replace parts on a car but you cant replace the loved ones in the car.

I had one fail on me, '84 Jetta Diesel as a matter of fact. I was too young and stupid and I guess the big guy decided that it wasn't my time yet. I too was on the highway and it actually gave me warning. A very strange twitch. Well I pulled over, looked things over and didn't see anything visibly wrong, so I got back on the highway. About 5 miles later it let loose entirely. I think the wheel basically stayed on because of the Cotter Pin. Brakes went mushy because I'd lost one of the circuits, I used the e-brake, and somehow got it to the side of the road.

This time there was a tell-tale smoking from the left rear drum. When I jacked up the car, the wheel fell off. :shock:

Even though guys say that if you use a good bearing all you ever need to do is repack it, I now replace the drum bearings every 50,000 miles or so, no matter what. I never want to have that feeling again...