Nearly lost a wheel!

[ChrisW]

I've been noticing a slight knocking/scraping sort of noise from the back of the car for a little while now. I thought it was maybe a wheel bearing or a suspension component. It's booked in for a service next Tuesday so I thought I'd find out what the problem was then.

Well, coming home from work last night the noise suddenly got a lot worse and the car felt like it was going to shake itself to pieces. I pulled over, had a look round, couldn't see anything obvious. I wasn't too far from home so I drove the rest of the way very carefully, praying that nothing would fall off.

I jacked up the rear end and tried turning the left rear wheel. It was very wobbly. Oh dear. Took the centre cap off and found... 4 of the 5 studs holding the wheel on had sheared! The wheel nuts were still attached to the broken off bits of studs.

So this morning I'm hoping I can get the car towed to a decent garage and get it fixed.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas what might have caused it? I had the rear tyres changed 6 months ago - maybe they overtightened or undertightened the wheel nuts?

[Grajey]

From the pic in your profile you appear to have aftermarket wheels fitted.

You may find that the centre bore on the wheels is larger than the hub (60mm). If this is the case then the wheel will have been running with the weight of the car on the studs - hence they shear.

You will need to fit spigot rings to the wheel to get the wheel to sit hubcentric so the wheel does not rest on the studs.

HTH

[ChrisW]

Thanks Grajey, that sounds like a possibility. The previous owner had put the wrong size tyres on (205 all round) so I wouldn't be surprised if the wheels don't fit right either.

I was planning to change the wheels soon - if only the studs couldn't have lasted a few more weeks...