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One wheels off and the axle's draggin'

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beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904369
Yep, on my way back to Inverell from the Nationals last night, I had my LH front wheel, brake disk, and all associated gear leave the car at a good 100kmph. Still haven't found the wheel ect in the long grass - will have a look today.

It happened between Scone & Murrurundi - I am in Murrurundi now - Lee, anyone around here who you would recomend?

Reminded my of what my dad used to say - "One wheels off and the axle's draggin', that's what happens when you own a Volkswagen". lol

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From your ole' mate Jeff

HappyDaze Superannuated

2,887 posts · joined Jun 2009 ·

#904372
Recon I know what happened. The wheel spotted that kangaroo that got you last time, and went after it.

Look for a dead 'roo with tyre marks all over it.🙄
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!

RISKY4LIFE Officially Full-On Dubber

308 posts · joined Jul 2010 ·

#904374
OMG where did that happen?
i seen you on Friday leaving the servo at uralla (looked like you where in a hurry 😉
and i seen you at the nats talking to rose but i had to get home
hope you find your wheel !!!

ian.mezz I never said, I could write or spell

3,913 posts · joined Sep 2004 ·

#904382
nymeyer at belmont may have some parts.
49 45 4811.
😂🤪😂🤪😂
car forums. where a lot of peoples good intentions end up taking a good old car off the road forever never ever to see the road again. 🥲

empi Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,131 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#904390
Haha had this one happend to me in a 1500 beetle bang in the middle of Melbourne... snapped 2 ball joints (car was stupid low and i was young...) Saw a wheel overtake me and commented to my mate the passenger that some idiot had lost a wheel ... 5 sec later crunch.. the car comes to a grinding halt!! Twaz my wheel that had overtaken me!😁
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you." - Anonymous 🥷

donn Wolfsburg Elder

3,515 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#904398
well it is your birthday, maybe your both getting old 🙁🙂😬
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!

Matt Ryan Fahrvergnugen

890 posts · joined Jan 2006 ·

#904399
What do you reckon happened Jeff?

Did the nut unwind or did the bearings disintegrate?

Lucky the wheel didn't trash the guard on the way out.


Regards,

Matt.


http://portvwforum.freeforums.org

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904403
Matt Ryan wrote:What do you reckon happened Jeff?

Did the nut unwind or did the bearings disintegrate?

Lucky the wheel didn't trash the guard on the way out.


Regards,

Matt.
I don't think the nut unwound - I would have to go with the bearing disintegrating. The other wheel had the bearing collapse only a week ago, but it made a lot of noise before that, so I repladed it before it let me down. I did check this one - seemed ok. They are both only about 13months old - did about 30,000km.

The end of the stub axle is broken off at the start of the thread, but whether this was the cause, or it broke off as the hub came off.

The lip of the guard is cracked and marked. Adam only re-did it for me 2 weeks ago after a 'lady' didn't give way to me at a roundabout. I will have to find the big target that must be painted on it. lol
From your ole' mate Jeff

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#904425
Hi Jeff

YIKES...

that isn't good... Lucky no more damage or worse....

I don't know where You would get an L bug front axle etc...

Only mechanic I have used here in Scone is Ward brothers

they have a small pantech truck they take to jobs..

I'm presuming You will be stuck until You get the parts??

LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#904426
Did the brake caliper go too?

I don't know anything about L beetles

LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

vlad01 Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,270 posts · joined Jun 2010 ·

#904431
68AutoBug wrote:Did the brake caliper go too?

I don't know anything about L beetles

LEE

good question? how did it get out? must of pried its way out?


what caused the spindle to snap there. my hunch says when your bearing failed the heat weakened the stub or the mechanical impact of broken bearings?

71 notchback,
Past owner of, 70 NB, 73 SB and 72 FB TLE

Camo Custom Title Time!

1,936 posts · joined Oct 2007 ·

#904438
Gee you have had some bad luck with that car recently, you might be right about the target painted on it :-)

On a side note, nice to meet you at the show. I have seen you around at several shows/shops, but never knew that it was you (beetleboyjeff) until yesterday.

Good luck with the repairs and hope she's back up and running soon.

Kev
I thought rebuilding a VW would be cheap - Shit I was wrong, just don't let the wife know !!!!

Click here for my (slowy) modded 1961 Beetle build.

lohoon Wolfsburg Wizard

466 posts · joined Sep 2002 ·

#904440
Is the sub axle the same on l beetle as any other super bug? I may have the sub axles off the car
You got the steering box out of jeff

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904442
The brake caliper broke it's mounting tab off, and was still on the disc, which was still on the wheel (when I found it - about 350m down the road. I will post pictures tonight when I get a chance.

I have been talking to VVD, and they can get all the parts for me and send them up. The shop in Murrurundi, who are also the NRMA towing agent, said they can fit the new parts for me.

I have a hire care, and as soon as I sort the last of the arrangements with the shop here, I am heading to Inverell in the hire car. I will hopefully pick up my car later in the weeki.
From your ole' mate Jeff

donn Wolfsburg Elder

3,515 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#904446
then you can disregard my phone message Jeff, good luck with it.
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#904470
I had a similar experience about 7-8 years ago except my wheel stayed on thank god.

The bearings completely disintergrated when I was driving down the pacific highway at 110km/h

luckily though the caliper kept the disc and wheel on the spindle.
Got so hot it fused the bearing inner race to the spindle.
I thought it had just been my caliper sticking.

grumble Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,672 posts · joined Jun 2008 ·

#904524
beetleboyjeff wrote:The brake caliper broke it's mounting tab off, and was still on the disc, which was still on the wheel (when I found it - about 350m down the road. I will post pictures tonight when I get a chance.

I have been talking to VVD, and they can get all the parts for me and send them up. The shop in Murrurundi, who are also the NRMA towing agent, said they can fit the new parts for me.

I have a hire care, and as soon as I sort the last of the arrangements with the shop here, I am heading to Inverell in the hire car. I will hopefully pick up my car later in the weeki.
Sorry to see you are having problems,the main thing is that you escaped unscathed as the potential was horrendous.If you need any bits let me know. Cheers Les

DylanTheDubber Custom Title Time!

1,252 posts · joined Jun 2009 ·

#904525
Well you could say the car has had alot of bad luck but i say the cars just had a dam lot of adventure and I'm sure Jeff has had a bit of adventure thru it all. Thats the positive way to look at it i guess. On the other hand, Hows it coming along Jeff? Have you tracked down parts? Hope all Comes along well.

From Dylan

t_tuffnut Wolfsburg Wizard

425 posts · joined Jun 2009 ·

#904558
It looked good when you over took us on the M2 if that is any help.
1966 Bug

1973 L Bug

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#904566
Camo wrote:Gee you have had some bad luck with that car recently, you might be right about the target painted on it :-)

On a side note, nice to meet you at the show. I have seen you around at several shows/shops, but never knew that it was you (beetleboyjeff) until yesterday.

Good luck with the repairs and hope she's back up and running soon.

Kev

JEFF

Good to see You have it all on the way and the car is safe etc
Could have been nasty...

KEV

Easy to find ... look for the feet... 😂

the car doesn't have bad luck when You see how many klms he has traveled in it..

LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

silver Dangerous when poked

2,169 posts · joined Dec 2002 ·

#904585
Happens in threes .....get one of these mate

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Keeping it real !

whatnow Custom Title Time!

1,000 posts · joined Jan 2003 ·

#904608
glad you're ok jeff. happy b'day btw.

shaun, why weren't you loitering around the swap meet... it would have been good to catch up.

henry.

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904630
Thanks for the comments guys.

Just been looking it up, the wheel bearing on the same wheel started to collapse on 12-4-11 at 598,801 kms, so we replaced the stub axle then, as the bearing had started to 'weld' itself on, and replaced the bearings.

This time, the car has about 624,500 kms (not sure exactly - the car is still in Murrurundi), so a bit over 13 months and about 25,500 kms.

For some reason, I can't get my photos to load onto Photobucket, so here they are direct - a bit of a pain, doing it this way though.

Here is a photo is the broken stub axle with the speedo cable hanging out.

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From your ole' mate Jeff

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904631
Here is the wheel as I found it (eventually) with the brake disc and calliper still attached.

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From your ole' mate Jeff

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904632
And here is the calliper, you can see where it is broken off.

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From your ole' mate Jeff

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904633
And finally, here is the end of the stub axle with the lock nut on it, and the stuffed bearing.

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From your ole' mate Jeff

donn Wolfsburg Elder

3,515 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#904638
It looks like that caliper may have been going for a while if the corrosion stains on the break mean anything, makes one wonder what the condition is of the other parts in our "old" cars ❓🤪 and just how long things will hang on even though they are starting to fail.
BTW it's after two, get to bed you old bugger.
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904675
Donn, the wheel, disk, and calliper spent the night out in the dew - I am pretty confident it is just from that. It does look a lot worse in the photo than it does in real life.
From your ole' mate Jeff

vlad01 Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,270 posts · joined Jun 2010 ·

#904910
I wonder if this anything to do with rolling your car? I mean small or big accidents can and do cause subtle damage to other components on the car.

I bought a low mile diff of some guy who said everything was good on the car and it was being wrecked due to smallish accident in the front. well the diff was fuched from the accident.

See I dropped the oil and is was clear as liquid gold proving that it "was" a goodie , but the bearings were fine for the first couple of ks then disintegrated after 10ks of fitting it to my car, Yes! 10km!. I questioned this to my mech I refer to and first thing he asked is if it was in a accident lol

the shock from the crash damaged the pinion bearing 😂🤪😬

There is a reason why they don't allow cars from accidents to be put back on the road, depends on the accident of course.

So perhaps the spindle was bent or cracked from that and wasn't noticble till it fell off. as for the caliper 🤪

71 notchback,
Past owner of, 70 NB, 73 SB and 72 FB TLE

beetleboyjeff Custom Title Time!

1,790 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#904933
I guess that is a possibility. I have done about 18,000 kms since then - I would have thought it would show up before now.
From your ole' mate Jeff