[Vwdiesel] HELP - WHEEL FELL OFF !!!

[James Hansen]

just thinking later...
the condition of the circlip will tell you if it separated on the first 
or second deal.

For the shaft to not have been broken, as in busted off and floating in 
the bottom of the case, the circlip would have to be sheared in half- as 
in sheared by the circlip groove, leaving the shaft intact.  It's the 
only way the shaft could come out without the shaft breaking.

If the circlip is intact, the shaft broke when the first charge went 
off.  It's the only way for it to to come apart and not take half of the 
tranny case, bearing and all with it.

If the circlip is not available for comment, as in it went through some 
gears, there are other issues.  There is NO space between the gears of 
the diff.  For stuff to make it's way between the gears, there has to be 
some other damage.  I've seen a differential center section split 
completely in half from one roller from a bearing escaping the 
confinement of the bearing cage and getting carried by thick oil to the 
crown and pinion... where it got between the gears, the front half of 
the 3rd member promptly jumped free of the truck, escaping with the 
driveshaft in a dash for freedom. It was rather spectacular and would 
have been moreso of I was merely a spectator, not the one that had to 
round up the escaped parts, and try to get them back in their cage.
-james