Hi guys...

Serious issue...

Just turned into driveway and wheel went....

I have noticed the top bolt attaching the wheel to the suspension shaft has gone and the lower bolt isn't held in place by a nut.... wheel is at an angle.

I had work done on my MOT 8 months ago on the following:

1. Front left stabiliser link renewed.

2. Front left suspension strut mount renewed.

3. Front left drive shaft flange oil seal renewed.

Do you guys know if any of this work would have meant that these nuts and bolts that are missing would have been removed?

I cannot see any corrosion that has caused these nuts and bolts to fall out and even if there was....surely that should have been spotted and fixed in the MOT as well.

Nobody else has worked on this area of the car since the MOT 8 months ago.

Surely the MOT centre unscrewed these bolts and didn't screw them up properly again when putting it back together....how else would these bolts just fall out/off. I have not hit anything and even if I did I am not sure what kind of impact I'd have to have for nuts to unscrew themselves.

Photo attached.

Cheers guys.

The two bolts your referring too actually hold the suspension leg to the wheel hub...so if you've had a suspension leg strut mount changed then yes they would have been removed. The strut mount 'sits' on top of the suspension leg itself.

I know it looks serious,and very well could have been had it have 'gone' when driving but your lucky it went on a relatively slow manoeuvre and is an easy fix

BUT thats not the issue. I would leave the car as it is and make contact with the garage who did the work first thing.

nikrox said:

The two bolts your referring too actually hold the suspension leg to the wheel hub...so if you've had a suspension leg strut mount changed then yes they would have been removed. The strut mount 'sits' on top of the suspension leg itself.

I know it looks serious,and very well could have been had it have 'gone' when driving but your lucky it went on a relatively slow manoeuvre and is an easy fix

BUT thats not the issue. I would leave the car as it is and make contact with the garage who did the work first thing.

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Thanks for the reply.

It was Halfords autocentre. Jeez! this is not good!

You say it's an easy fix.... due to the wheel coming out of position the suspension leg strut has been pulled into a 10 or 20 degree angle from where it should be. There is a major oil leak which I don't know where is coming from, I am not good with the technical side of cars, but the fluid/oil leaking is clear/light brown, I assume it is maybe power steering oil? anyhow....on top of these things.....I don't know what other damage has been done.

Would you say it's highly likely, if not certain, that they have not tightened up the bolts properly?....

No other work has been done on this part of the car since they renewed all those parts I listed. I have not crashed into anything or hit any curbs badly. I just walked 200 yards back up the road and found the bolt which is not damaged itself, so it's just fallen out, who knows when the nuts unscrewed themselves.

Ahhhh...the penny drops..they aint called Halfrauds for nothing..

So now you've given more detail I take back the 'easy fix' comment.

The bolts should have some form of threadlock on them,imho.

Defo leave as is and back to Halfords manager in the morning with the card up your sleeve of trading standards,dvla or whatever they are called..be polite and dont take any crap.

That's why I don't trust mechanics, "grease monkeys".

If you (all of you) can, go full DIY (most things can be done "at home").

nikrox said:

Ahhhh...the penny drops..they aint called Halfrauds for nothing..

So now you've given more detail I take back the 'easy fix' comment.

The bolts should have some form of threadlock on them,imho.

Defo leave as is and back to Halfords manager in the morning with the card up your sleeve of trading standards,dvla or whatever they are called..be polite and dont take any crap.

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Well I hope they are going to pay to have my vehicle picked up by a truck, taken to their autocentre and fix this whole mess free of charge.

If not.....not sure what excuses/reasons for this 'not being their fault' they will come up with.

It's been 8 months since the work was done, but it can take a while for nuts to come loose and I don't drive that much. (1.5 miles a day on average). Not sure they can make up any reason why they aren't to blame.

The oil leak..

The driveshaft will have fallen out of the gearbox

Its a proper mess.. good luck.


And YES .. VERY fortunate it happened at 5 mph .. not 50

varesecrazy said:

The oil leak..

The driveshaft will have fallen out of the gearbox

Its a proper mess.. good luck.


And YES .. VERY fortunate it happened at 5 mph .. not 50

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So damage that I know of is....

-Driveshaft pulled from gearbox.

-Suspension pulled at a 20% angle.

-Possible wire damage (not sure what the wire does, but is is one in black ribbed casing shown in attached photo).


Any ideas how much all this could cost if Halfords claim innocence?

I might just right the car off, send it to a scrap yard....buy a Mercedes A class.

These buggers at Halfords should be sacked for this, imagine on the motorway the wheel ends up at a 45 degree angle at 70mph. Possibly would have pulled my car left or sent it into left to right swerving mayhem.

Good luck with the claim
Unfortunately I think after 8month they will simply tell you to fudge off

chris3234 said:

Good luck with the claim
Unfortunately I think after 8month they will simply tell you to fudge off

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Not sure what else could have happend in 8 months to cause this to happen.

I don't drive the car a massive amount, maybe 1.5 miles a day on average. I can check my current mileage to that on the MOT certificate and it won't be much of an increase. I rarely exceed 40mph either. Rarely on a dual carriageway or motorway.

But yeah, they will probably try to dodge it and claim it's nothing to do with them and that the bolts unscrewing could have been caused by this or that.

I thought last night it was both bolts.. you have thankfully just lost the 1..

Can you post a pic of the bolt you found

( the nut couldve gone weeks ago..)

Charlie

Where are you based?...

nikrox said:

Where are you based?...

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Far from me.. as the only Halfreads round here are staffed by school leavers.
But are capable of building bicycles.

LOL..was actually asking the op,sausage..

Pretty sure they forgot to put the nuts back !

The suspension geometry is such that it tend to "sit" the wheel-hub in, due to car's weight pushing between the two resting points (the tyres). When you pulled-up the driveway, it was most probably by turning right, possibly a bit quicker than usual, then the lateral force applied and the mass transfer MAY have overpassed the "sit-in" force so the link opened ...
Does that make senses ?

I wouldn't even try to bring the car to Halfraud's: it's just wasting money. I'd give them a call though, just to hear what they'd say and express my real opinion about their service ...

Instead of that, DIY as follow:

- lift the car (jack is enough)
- push the shaft back in the gearbox
- install nex bolts (screws and nuts), and tight
- The rubber "wire" is the brake flex-pipe: have to be replaced for safety !!

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

I would personally see if Hafords accept any responsibility and then go from there.If they decide to accept no responsibility ,go up the chain.
Trading standards etc next.
Your lack of miles,is imho supportive evidence, which as you have said can be verified by the mot certificate and current miles.

Any transportation back to them,if, should be down to them or at the least you should be repaid any costs.

The work to repair is within diy territory if you want to go down this route. Only thing Id add to Bernie's advice is the drain the gearbox oil completely and refill with new as you dont really know how much has been lost.

The flexi brake lines not to bad a job to do either. I use an Eezi bleed system.

HTH

nikrox said:

Only thing Id add to Bernie's advice is the drain the gearbox oil completely and refill with new as you dont really know how much has been lost.

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Thanks Nick, I missed that point ! At least top up to right level ...

BRs, Bernie

Bernievarian said:

Thanks Nick, I missed that point ! At least top up to right level ...

BRs, Bernie

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TBH I thought it was a good time to renew the stuff whilst your doing the job...couldnt hurt none.

nikrox said:

Where are you based?...

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Guildford.