4-1=3 or, you picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel :-(

[ozziedog]

Wow,,, I`ll just say ^^^^^ the same as everybody else,, mightily glad that your gang are ok most importantly.!! I think the next time a lot of peeps get near their bus,, they will put a bit more attention to those wheel nuts / bolts than they usually do. I know you have done them up up properly and you had them freshly powdered, so does this apply to painted wheels as well ????

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,, Just so glad you guys are good :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

Torque Wrenches on everyones christmas list then?

Remember raving wheel bolts as tight as possible or buzzing them to death with the windy gun is as just as dangerous as leaving them loose.

 

[sparkywig]

Glad to see you're all OK though.

 

[aogrady]

only have 4!!! this is one of em!!

That's nice - I reckon it would have been better if the wide 5 had a center supporting boss, at least a better chance of the wheel only being loose and less likely to fall off?

Alistair

 

[aogrady]

Sorry to hear this Al but glad you are all OK, worth checking wheelnuts before any trip, seen a few wheels fall off recently!!

Cheers Graham, funny thing i was gonna check the nuts, i keep a long bar and socket in the van, though i thought maybe a little further down the road than 15 miles or so!

Hopefully my problems will make other people check there own wheels and fixings too - it'll be nice to think i may prevent any more accidents

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[aogrady]

So glad you are okay dooder! 8)

Please can everyone remember that if they have had their wheels powdercoated to remove the bit around the nut, as it has happened to many times that a wheel has come off and one of these days its going to do someone some harm. Luckily everyone was okay.

I personally would have thought that if the wheels had been done by a vw dealer, they would have taken care of this :?: poor show imo if not.

Thanks Ez and everyone for your words of support!

Yes i arranged for the wheels to be powder coated by a reputable vw restorer, with many show winning buses, as he was doing the respray at the rear etc, i got some additional work done as we were not going away due to baby chicken pox, so he had it another week to play with. I think that he hasn't come across this before, that's the impression anyway, and i think the binding drum may have contributed to the failure, more annoying is that i had asked for the sticky drum to be looked at the same time as the offside wheel bearing was changed, so maybe if the paint was removed from the bolt hole, and the drum wasn't hot i wouldn't be here writing all this, I would obviously like it sorted, as you said, at least no injures, just the van which is fixable. will be popping in to see him later in the week to see what we can sort. A lesson for everyone i think.

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[aogrady]

WOW,man I'm gutted for you & flippin 'eck what a shocker as you're driving!!!!. :shock:

Sooo glad everyone OK.
Great thought on the powder coat/wheel nut - makes sense! Thanks for sharing the knowledge Alistair - you may have saved lives without knowing it! I also have a set of freshly powder coated wide 5's in the garage....you guessed it.I'll do it after work tonight.

keep us updated on repair progress mate.on a lighter note,you'll be telling that story to the little one for years to come...."the day we lost a wheel"


Kind Regards - Rob

Cheers,

Hopefully people will check now, even they have non powder coated wheels, just have a look, you never know.

Yeah, a story to tell when she's older!

Alistair

 

[aogrady]

Same thing happend to me recently (3 weeks ago).
Freshly painted wheels just fitted for the 1st time.
Wheel bolts were DEFINATELY tight.
NSR brake drum was getting hot due to new rear shoes (and me over adjusting em :roll: ).
Pulled over, removed my hubcap and all 4 wheel bolts were hanging out.
No damage done thankfully!

Rich

Hi,

Yep, bingo, same thing, if you take the heat from the equation it would probably not happen, all my other wheels were fine - the torque was checked when i got rescued.

Alistair

 

[creationblue]

Wow,,, I`ll just say ^^^^^ the same as everybody else,, mightily glad that your gang are ok most importantly.!! I think the next time a lot of peeps get near their bus,, they will put a bit more attention to those wheel nuts / bolts than they usually do. I know you have done them up up properly and you had them freshly powdered, so does this apply to painted wheels as well ????

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,, Just so glad you guys are good :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Normally painted wheels are ok OZ. Powdercoating is a lot thicker and softens up when hot thus causing loose bolts.

Just

 

[Nugsy]

The thread title didnt half make me laugh, but it soon stopped when i read the story.

As per everyone elses comments its good to know you guys are safe, not ideal but the bus can be repaired. Its something a lot of people wont even think of but following your post a lot more are aware.

Can some kind of spider think not be designed to fit the bolts and have a hole in the middle to keep it centralised. Not sure how solid the centre of the hub is on wide 5's but as you say it would reduce the risk of the wheel leving the hub so quick

 

[NickJ]

Hi Alistair, scary story :shock: but very glad everyone's ok , Nick.

 

[Bennythew]

I might be drilling some small holes and doing some wire locking when i get the bus then!!! Its what we do on aircraft and it seems to work for them...

 

[loweredlight]

Glad you're all okay.

Same thing happened to us last year. N/s rear drum got very hot and luckily felt the wobble just as I lost all brakes going into a sharp corner so was only doing about 15/20. Stoped on the handbrake and guess what all 5 bolts were very lose. Like others have said I think the heat causes the problem, but guess who checks bolts every time and sometimes twice on longer journeys.

Just call me paranoid :shock:

 

[robins]

bloody hell mate good you can tell the story mate, :shock:

rich

 

[aogrady]

bloody hell mate good you can tell the story mate, :shock:

rich

Hi Rich,

Yeah, tell me about it , everyone check your nuts! :lol:

Are you off to Dubs at the Castle by the way?

Cheers!

Alistair

 

[robins]

bloody hell mate good you can tell the story mate, :shock:

rich

Hi Rich,

Yeah, tell me about it , everyone check your nuts! :lol:

Are you off to Dubs at the Castle by the way?

Cheers!

Alistair

ill see how things go mate,next year ill dothem all :lol:

 

[Bears Dad]

I wish I'd seen this thread before the weekend!

I got a set of wide 5's refurbed and painted - 2-pack back in Jan. Since then they've sat in the house - nice and cosy so the paint was definately dry.

With new tyres fitted last week, and eventually balanced (that's another thread!) they went on.

Saturday morning we took a short shopping trip to see how steels handled.

Never having driven with wide 5's I took the opportunity to adjust all the drum brakes before we hit the road - so easy to adjust now.

10 - 15 miles into town and I smell burning rubber...

I quick sniff round the bus ('bus-sniffing' - we all do it - right?) and I found the rear n/s wheel was smelling a bit. Stupidly touching the hubcap - and reeling back with cries of 'See You Next Tuesday' I found it to be VERY hot.

Chucking the contents of a bottle of water over it produced a rather magical affect that Thomas the Tank Engine would have been proud of!

Pulling the hubcap off I found all 5 bolts were loose.

Now I know I tightened them - 94 lb ft as the book says!

I suspected - as you guys have confirmed - that I over adjusted that brake shoe and the heat weakened the paint causing the bolts to work loose.

I have now added a torque wrench to the growing tool chest under the R&R bed!

 

[aogrady]

Hi,

Glad you caught it in time, but please, before you use the bus again, adjust the drums so not binding, and most importantly, remove any trace of paint or powder coating from the taper where the bolt sits, you need a metal to metal contact, not bolt and paint!!

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[sharky71]

hi alistair.
tkanks for the tip,shall remove build up of paint around all holes once i get them back!!!

regards.

sharky. :shock:

 

[clyde]

Even after reading this thread and checking my bolts (on alloys) i forgot to mention alittle story of mine.

After Dubsatthecastle we went on to a week in and around the area, no problems. Drove home and as i left the M5 to drive home i was parked at the traffic lights and a guy next to me is looking over and pointing at my front left wheel. I wind down the window and he says do i know ive only got 4 bolts and 5 holes????
Jumped out and had a quick look and noticed my locking nut had gone walkys. Luckily pulled around the corner to a lay by outside a garage and nipped into the workshop to borrow a wrench (my tools where under the R&R bed and the van was stuffed.)
All the bolts where slightly loose and they had all been tightened to correct tolerance.
First thing that went through my mind was this post...................