[Corsa B 1993-2000] Disaster! - Wheel bolt sheered on motorway

[jorded94]

Last night i was driving on a dual carridgeway and i managed to lose a bolt of the front left wheel, it felt like the tyre was off the rim and it kept getting worse, i managed to pull over after about 300 meters and ive had to leave the car there. Its undrivable as it is and im not sure if i have breakdown cover through my insurance or not. Ive also been back to check and the bolt has sheared so some is stuck below the surface in the hub, what the hell am i supposed to do?

[Rob]

first, title the thread correctly.

second, call your insurance and see if you have break down, if not, call the rac or aa and get cover, then get them to come out.

third, you will need some way of removing the fubr bolt. do you have access to stud removers, and a tap and die set?

[Dave]

I've re-done your thread title, please be more descriptive in future, it helps others find help on similar issues later on down the line when they're searching for it.

As for the wheel bolt. How close to flush to the hub has it sheered? Can yo get anything on it? Even if you cant, 15minutes with a suitable punch and hammer should have it out. The threads will still be fine, so you just need to get it turning. If you don't fancy it, take it to a garage, they'll likely use an air chisel and have it out in 5mins.

the general event is a little puzzling though, because although clealry not recommended, you can technically run a car with 3 bolts in each wheel perfectly fine. I'm going to assume that all of the bolts weren't done up tight, and the one that sheered was the unlucky one that took the force of it all.

Get some pics up if/when you can

Dave

[jorded94]

Thanks, sorry if it sounded abit too dramatic but i didnt want to put a massive title, i havent had time to go back to it yet or phone insurance ( im with endsleigh and they are completely useless, would probably tell me i havent got cover even if i have and i dont have the patience for them, theyve had me on hold for over half an hour before)
I only really come on this on my phone and it wont let me upload pictures as i just use the mobile web
all i have been able to do is stick my finger into where the bolt is missing and its just felt sharp and below the surface of the hub

[Dave]

Re: endlsleigh, i've heard they are bad too tbh, good luck with that.

Re: image uploads, download the photobucket app and upload them to there, the app gives you a link to copy paste for forums (the one with the [IMG] tags) that'll get your pics into your posts.

Re: the sharp hole, the fact you can feel its sharp is probably a good thing, means theres probably enough of a ridge to perhaps get a punch onto. If there isn't then a garage will liekly weld a smaller bolt to it and unwind it that way, theres many ways to do it, none of them are expesnive.

[jorded94]

And the car is undrivable, everyone says it should be fine only missing the one bolt so something else might of happened aswell :/ supposed to be getting a friends uncle (a mechanic) to look at it tomorrow, he also has a recovery truck if needs must

[craig55]

I'm unsure what has happened just one wheel bolt has snapped is that right

[jorded94]

Yes, as far as i am aware

[Vegas]

Same as above, feels like half a story

[jorded94]

Well im no mechanic at the best of times and i only saw it in the dark, all i remember was a high pitch squeeking noise then suddenly the steering wheel started trying to fight me

[BenWilliams21]

You say you were driving along and then the car started trying to fight you.... yet it's only 1 wheel bolt thats sheered?? That doesn't add up... you'd still have 3 that were more than tight enough (if done correctly) and you can indeed drive it on 3 ..

That being the case, the wheel wouldn't move....

Sounds more like the bolts weren't done up correctly, they've come loose, one snapped and you have movement in the wheel....

Need a much better description because this is half a story

[jorded94]

Im only telling you what i know? I havent had time to check the rest and starting to despise the car

[Taurus]

Sounds like the bolt snapped as a result of another problem - are the rest of the bolts tight or are they loose? If they are all tight jack it up and make sure that wheel is free to turn.

[Vegas]

I'm wondering if bearing collapsed and stuck to stub axle. Making wheel sit ****ed and put extra strain on it

[Taurus]

I was wondering about the bearing having seized, but even so the wheel bolt shouldn't shear.

But if the wheel has been forced out of alignment (as so eloquently put above ) then that might do it. Be interested to hear if the wheel is turning or not.