Oh FFS! - Broken Locking Wheel Bolt:-(

S

Stuart Truman

Lifer
The Cotswolds
So having bought a set of replacement wheel bolts, thinking that £400 for a set from Buchloe was over the top, I thought I'd at least see if they would clean up.

Bolt out, spray in Iron-X, clean with chrome cleaner then carefully use a Dremel with a light brass brush, resting pressure only to clean off the light surface corrosion. Then a coat of poorboys wheel sealer and refit

Before...
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After...
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Very happy except that the wheel specialists, who should have known better, has clearly both over torqued the bolts and not used any grease. This happened to the emergency wheel brace from the daughter's Peugeot when undoing one of the front ones. Snapped right off at the head after already getting bent out of shape on other nuts on the car...
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Then, reinstalling one of the locking wheel bolts, this happened :headbang:
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So off the road until Monday when the car will be getting more work than expected at Lovetts. It was booked in for a parking sensor to be replaced. Now I need the remnants of the bolt taken out with an easyout, (let's hope they know how to use one and have one) and I'll ask them to undo all the wheelnuts, apply some copper grease and retorque them in properly.

All weekend hooning suspended. :cry:

Edit - All local tyre places are useless. One asked what an easyout tool was. Do any of these muppets get even a basic engineering training now to cover what must be a common thing? At this rate I'm going to end up replacing a hub for a wheel bolt :headbang:
 
Sorry mate, it's a right cock...hooning maybe out of the question, but I'm sure you can do some speedy ironing instead.... :)
 
The way that bolt has broken is unusual.

Its not broken torsionally,so doesnt look like its been overtightend..

looks like it has been weakened in some way..

Easyouts are rubbish by the way..Super brittle on anything approaching tight in the thread.They usually break inside the original bolt and then your REALLY stuck..

I would suggest taking off the disc,see if there is any bolt thread protruding from the rear of the hub.If not then warm up the hub around the broken bolt and tap around with sturdy dot punch to extract..
 
Thanks. I've lost confidence in doing anything else to it. Will resort to the dealer and a credit card. I've used heavy duty easyouts before when I was a BA engineer but don't own the equipment or have a brace to drill into the remainder of the bolt squarely. I was gobsmacked when the local tyre places had no clue what they were. One said they could get the bolt out but could not re-cut the thread. What bloody use is that?!? :headbang:

Hopefully the fact that the remains are coated in copper grease will make it easier to remove. If not, it'll be a new hub for #69. Ho hum. As the good book says, F*ck it. Nothing I can do about it now, so best just get over it.
 
I thought you weren't meant to use grease on the wheel bolts as it multiplies the torque? Sure I read that on here.
 
Wondermike said:
I thought you weren't meant to use grease on the wheel bolts as it multiplies the torque? Sure I read that on here.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I shall investigate. Thanks

Edit - From what I can find, it appears to add 10% to the torque value, so shouldn't have been enough to break the bolt. Regardless, I've pulled the four I did out, cleaned them off and put them in again. I shall seek advice from the dealer on this.

Further Edit - This link is to the stuff I bought and it specifically states "Suitable for use on wheel nuts & bolts, exhaust brackets, flanges & studs" so if it turns out to be the cause I shall be having a word with them...
 
You might find after removing the wheel that the remaining stud will turn with a pair of mole grips or a small pipe wrench.

I've had the same thing happen a few times and only once did I have to drill out the bolt.

When this happens it tends to be the threads are U/S on the bolt or the hub assembly.
So plan in the back of your mind that you might need a new hub.

I damaged the thread on the front left hub on my z4 when fitting my winter wheels.

€ 60 for the hub, and a few euros for a bolt and two hours of fiddling and lesson learnt, (always do the first few threads by hand and then use the air gun)

But as mentioned above, remove wheel and if you can't get onto the stud remove the calliper and disc.

Hope it goes well for you
 
Wondermike said:
I thought you weren't meant to use grease on the wheel bolts as it multiplies the torque? Sure I read that on here.
Click to expand...
True, but a bit dramatic to say it multiplies. Grease reduces the torque needed to achieve the desired clamping force by 10-20%. To be safe, you should reduce the dry tightening torque accordingly if using grease. Even if the torque is not reduced, these bolts should be able to withstand the extra clamping force.

I find the need to apply a very minimal amount of grease to just the threads to prevent galling, and I reduce the applied torque by 10 N-m. I've put wheels on over a dozen times a year for many years and have never had a problem. I only apply fresh grease when the old has clearly dried out.

As Z4M-2006 pointed out, the failure pattern is inconsistent with torsion or tension failure. Looks like brittle failure to me, indicating poor choice of material or improper treatment in manufacture. Use of impact tools would have certainly aggravated this.
 
exactly the same happened to me

tightened the bolt up, didn't feel tight and it just snapped in half.

still haven't got the other end out of the hub, been a month or so now :lol:
 
Nathanhu said:
You might find after removing the wheel that the remaining stud will turn with a pair of mole grips or a small pipe wrench.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Nathan, I took the wheel off, but it's snapped below the surface of the disk and as the car is parked in the street I don't want to get into fairly major work roadside. Looks like I'll have to stump up for the dealer to do it. I might have new disks fitted while it's in the workshop as they're looking quite worn. Ho hum.

Trying to stay positive, I figured in for one hub, in for four and loosened and re-torqued the other three wheels. All were OK.
 
Stu,

you can DIY this easily, I've posted links for the bits you'll need in your thread over on The register

I'll send you a PM with my phone no if you need any advice

Perry
 
did you hold the wheel brace on nice and square?

personally i would not use a bog standard car wheel brace, i always use a tommy bar, when i fitted my new wheels i bought a slim long lenth socket and used my tommy bar, tightened up to a torque that felt ok
 
Taz x said:
did you hold the wheel brace on nice and square?
Click to expand...

Yep, it was a piece of cheap French tat. I actually bent it by hand undoing a bolt earlier and I'm no superman. Having unboxed my shiny new trolley jack to get the wheel off and check to see if I could get at the bolt remains, its handle doubles as a socket handle and that worked a treat for the other wheels :thumbsup:
 
MMmm? lesson's to be learned for sure , , ,after getting caught short many years ago with a nut so tight Geoff Capes would have struggled with i make it my golden rule that whatever car arrives i always jack up & remove all nuts replacing them with a good application of copper grease to the nuts & hub :wink:
http://www.copper-grease.com/
best to do it at your leisure at home with a brew than at the side of a rain soaked motorway
 
do people use a torche wrench on wheels or just gut feeling, personnal i tighten to a gut feeling
 
i always Tq... to 120nm, 130nm for track days...... i use studs and nuts... one snaps??? no probs 5 min job to replaced... By far one of the best mods ive done!!


Stu, btw these are really easy to get out.... one of mine snapped, this was the orginal reason i went to studs and nuts..... once youve got the disc off its plain sailing....
 
Shame your not closer, I have plenty of space and love to get my hands dirty.
Good luck stu, don't stress, this is minor... Please don't use grease on the wheel bolts.... It's not a good idea.
 
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