[Vwdiesel] HELP - WHEEL FELL OFF !!!

[The President]

Not read the whole thread; but...
What if the clip was damaged and on the rebuild it was not put back on but 
put on the bench with the intention of replacing.
But due to distractions etc reasembly omitted the replacement. How far can 
you go before stub pulls out? On my Quantums I have found more than once 
that the outside clip that holds the outer u/j bearing on actually popped 
off when I have come to change a gator for the first time since aquisition 
some 20000 miles on. Am I lucky; or has it just popped off and caused the 
split gator?....Maybe it's my gentle driving :o)
Mark


>From: Rolf Pechukas <rbp at 4u2bu.org>
>To: ev_update at yahoogroups.com, vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] HELP - WHEEL FELL OFF !!!
>Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:59:43 -0500
>
> > The stubby axle tip sheared off after the ball joint failed, the shaft
> > pulled out, the load of the drivetrain was bore by the shaft tip
> > alone,
> > and the groove behind that tip wasn't strong enough to bear that load.
> > The circlip had nothing to do with it.
>
>
>Mike
>not to prolong this hypothetical debate - I'm sure everyone is sick
>of it including us -
>(and I understand what you are saying and I do understand the
>function of the clip)
>
>BUT
>
>1. WHY, if the shaft tip sheared when you say - at original BJ
>failure - did the tip of the shaft, floating around in the tranny,
>sit so quiet and polite for 20 miles of driving around town and then
>80 miles of driving to Boston AFTER initial rebuild
>and ONLY bust through the tranny case when the shop drove van 3 miles
>to alignment shop after I'd gotten towed back to western MA?
>
>b/c we do know this:
>the hole in the tranny case WAS NOT there after original BJ failure,
>WAS NOT there after 80 mile drive to Boston, and WAS NOT there on 2nd
>rebuild of driver's side axle
>we know that because exit hole was low on tranny case and DEFINITELY
>would have been noticed every time transaxle fluid was changed, which
>happened all 3 above times
>
>stubby tip punched through case *first time* van was driven AFTER I
>stopped at red light in Concord and couldn't get going again
>which was when shop drove van to alignment shop
>
>I find it difficult to believe that stubby tip sat quietly somewhere
>in tranny case and didn't get jostled around and punch through during
>any of that 100+ miles of driving I did after initial BJ failure
>but that it just decided to jump up and bust through on mile 103
>
>rather, what I think happened is what I have been saying all along
>(and the timeline of the tranny case hole reinforces this)
>namely:
>
>- BJ failed, clip was damaged by initial axle yank, but stubby
>remained intact
>- shop reassembles w/ damaged clip, clip fails to hold during long
>drive to Boston
>- axle works its way out, eventually only tip is engaged
>- tip shears off trying to start from zero at red light (only stop
>and go of entire trip - all rest of time cruising in 5th - not too
>stressful)
>- stubby tip is now sitting in tranny, but van not being driven
>- gets towed back to western MA, gets worked on 2nd time at shop
>- stubby replaced, axle rebuilt, etc
>- shop drives van to alignment shop, loose stubby tip gets bounced
>around immediately and punches through tranny case
>- shop notices tranny case hole (hard to miss) upon return, notifies
>me, gets it alum welded
>- weld leaks and they temp fix it w/ 2-part epoxy, etc etc, saga
>continues
>
>but the main point is, despite your insistence that stubby had to
>have failed during initial BJ break, I am now more convinced then
>ever that stubby didn't fail until the red light in Concord
>
>after all, you said yourself clip gets 'nicked'
>you can also see from the pictures how hard the bearing got slammed
>on initial BJ yank - hard enough to leave deep spline indents in
>hardened steel
>why is it so difficult to believe that the clip got 'nicked' hard
>enough to fail to hold when reassembled ??
>and that the stubby got yanked out so far and so fast its tip never
>got twisted by final drive ?
>
>anyway
>that's my story and I'm sticking to it
>I really think that's the way it happened
>
>peace
>--
>
>Rolf in MA
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>Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
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