37 replies to this topic

[thirty6289]

Are you getting at, that it was the MOT mechanics fault? 

 

Definitely looks like the nuts have been overtightened and that they may even been the wrong shape for those wheels.

 

But the MOT mechanic would have no reason to remove the wheel...

 

I'd like to establish if its their fault before i throw anymore money at them that's all.

I understand though its one of those situations were it may be no ones fault but surely the mechanics are not going to admit to any wrong doing?

[carbon]

If there was a knocking noise before the wheel came off it could be that the wheel nuts were not tightened.

 

Loose wheel nuts give a distinctive knocking sound...

[Jordie]

Sounds like wheel was loosely fastened. However using the wrong type nuts on the wheel can cause them to come loose....

[djdanmk]

I had this happen on my mini after having some work on the back brakes done. Was driving and the knocking started then my back wheel came off and bouncing past the car.

We complained to the garage but it just came down to them saying that they asked the guy who was doing the work if he torqued the wheel nuts up after he finished which of course he said yes to.

They did pay for some new wheel studs as one snaped but that was it as they said it's down to the owner to re check the torque of the nuts after so many miles.

[Cooperman]

I have twice had a wheel come off a Mini whist driving it. The first time was with an earlier Mini Traveller which had the very early weak 10" wheels and the wheel fractured and just came of at about 55 mph on a country road.

The second time was on a rally in Belgium when the service crew didn't torque up the nuts on the right front Minilite after fitting new tyres at the start of a special stage. I guess I was doing around 75 mph on a narrow closed road at night. It was quite interesting! 

When this happens it is normally possible to stop in a straight line, but it does damage the lower swivel pin which usually needs changing if you are doing any sort of speed when it happens, so check the lower pin on that side.

[Spider]

Given your initial description here it sound to me like the wheel nuts were loose in the first instance.

 

Yes, Impact guns are bad news on our wheel suds, but given that the studs are a high tensile grade, they won't stretch them but just break them off.

[Anthony30]

Are you getting at, that it was the MOT mechanics fault? 

 

Definitely looks like the nuts have been overtightened and that they may even been the wrong shape for those wheels.

 

But the MOT mechanic would have no reason to remove the wheel...

More to the point , the MOT tester is not allowed, by law, to remove wheels or any pieces of trim ect. Your allowed to check oil ect, but that's about it.

[minisilverbullet]

Are you getting at, that it was the MOT mechanics fault? 
 
Definitely looks like the nuts have been overtightened and that they may even been the wrong shape for those wheels.
 
But the MOT mechanic would have no reason to remove the wheel...

More to the point , the MOT tester is not allowed, by law, to remove wheels or any pieces of trim ect. Your allowed to check oil ect, but that's about it.

Thus, i am not sure about the ops angle in blaming the mot tester? Thirty - Are you trying to say they should have noticed the wrong / over tightened nuts?

[Spider]

A similar thing started to happen to me once a few years back. i went to look at another mini (to purchase) and while I was away from the Mini that I'd come in, some lovely person tried stealing at least one of the wheels or was out for some sick joke. Immediately when driving off, that thump thump thump started, took a couple of minutes to track down, but that's what it was. I can only guess that the moron was disturbed.

Edited by Moke Spider, 21 August 2015 - 08:44 PM.

[Shifty]

So what nuts are fitted to the wheels on the rest of the car?

[Anthony30]

A similar thing started to happen to me once a few years back. i went to look at another mini (to purchase) and while I was away from the Mini that I'd come in, some lovely person tried stealing at least one of the wheels or was out for some sick joke. Immediately when driving off, that thump thump thump started, took a couple of minutes to track down, but that's what it was. I can only guess that the moron was disturbed.

[minisilverbullet]

So what nuts are fitted to the wheels on the rest of the car?

Indeed, if these are incorrect and have also been over tightened / damaged the wheel, then at least you are looking at changing all studs and nuts, perhaps even wheels

[Cooperman]

Good quality alloy wheel nuts are fine, but they do need slightly longer studs with deeper thread engagement from the nuts.

The Porsche 911 uses alloy nuts, but the quality is superb and failure is virtually unknown. However, the torque must be correct and set accurately.

One might suspect that some after-market alloy nuts for Minis may be not good enough.

[peter-b]

You mentioned that it had alloy nuts, is this right? Must are steel of some sort, although I have seen alloy ones listed on flee bay for bigger cars. Old triumphs had alloy nuts and were notorious for stripping and coming off. As was mentioned, if it was rattling before departing, it probably was just loose not over tightened. The broken stud would have been the 'last man standing' and failed under stress. You might have a case but proving it could be tricky and drawn out. Probably best to just grin and bear it, in saying that, i'd be checking other wheels/nuts. Did it bugger the wheel?

[pusb]

From looking at the pictures, at least it didn't cause much damage, When it happened to me I needed a new wing, new A panel, repair to the sill, repair to the A post new seam cover, new wheel arch, complete front end respray, and new ball joints. 

 

When my wheel come off it seemed to bounce back into the car causing a lot of damage.