[FarPatel]

Originally Posted by aaren

3. The car did not hit any stone or go into a big pothole or whatever. The entire wheel just decided to go its own way.

4. The road is quite smooth; I have traveled on that road. Where the accident took place, there is nothing to suggest that the vehicle hit anything.

Aaren, it is quite obvious from the condition of the rim as well as the fact that the lower arm was ripped from one of its mounting points and is now skewed by 90 degrees towards the rear, that the inside of the rim rammed something sharp, strong and probably immovable compared to the bulk and inertia of the vehicle. There are too many components attached to the wheel to allow it to just go its own way like this.
The road may have been smooth, no doubt. However, all it takes is one sharp object, maybe dropped from a truck earlier, to do this kind of damage.
I remember maybe 20 years ago, when I was tailgating a truck in my Padmini over the Vashi flyover, I didn't see a large concrete block in the middle of the road, which the truck happily sailed over, and ended up with a damaged sump and an engine 'raised' by about 2 inches.

[JediKnight]

The severe bend in the rim of the detached wheel very clearly shows that the wheel hit a strong immovable object (inertial or attached ) at high speed causing the wheel to detach. If the wheel detached first such a bend on the rim could not have formed. Most likely the wheel hit and detached almost immediately causing the driver to think that the wheel detached spontaneously.

When a severe impact happens to the Tyre the Tyre compresses and transmits the force to the rim and hence the Tyre sometimes will not show any signs of impact.

This looks a like a case of an object carelessly lying on the road carelessly rather than a manufacturing defect. Just plain bad luck.

On Indian highways you need always be very alert, no matter how inviting the road looks like.

[srishiva]

Could it be that the wheel came off and the cars suspension area hit the wheel which caused the dent in the rim? It might not have rolled off away from the car as it broke.

[Jaggu]

Hope the injured are out of danger and recovering well.

From the picture, it looks like an impact. Rim, Stabilizer bar are bent. Even otherwise how will suspension strut, axle, lower arm, tie rod end all break away at the same time?

[moralfibre]

If the wheel just gave away like how the opening poster has mentioned, how on earth does it show an impact? Wouldn't it like roll away? Such a sharp dent on the rim can only happen upon a severe impact.

Looking at the pictures alone, I feel the rim hit a stone or the kerb at high speed and that could have caused the driver to lose control and topple.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Looking at the pictures alone, I feel the rim hit a stone or the kerb at high speed and that could have caused the driver to lose control and topple.

I too have the same feeling as to the car would have hit the divider at high speed causing it to topple.

Though lets wait for update from the OP!

Anurag.

[supertinu]

Wow as scary as this accident seems, so far i dont see any reason to doubt the build quality of the vehicle in itself. As most of the experts pointed here already, the wheel rim and the sheared under arm certainly shows significant impact that caused this level of damage. It almost as if someone ripped the entire wheel out.

Though its unlikely, but I wonder that maybe the hit happened earlier and they kept driving the vehicle till eventually the wheel gave away after sometime on a smooth road.

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by aaren

..........
3. The car did not hit any stone or go into a big pothole or whatever. The entire wheel just decided to go its own way.........
These are the updates. However, the intent of the thread is not to make disparaging comments or make wild criticism. Will make additional updates as and when I get specific inputs.

Team-BHP@iPad

A wheel deciding to go its own way is quite a nasty and unnerving incident that should not happen to any driver.I have completed 55000 kms on my duster without any serious issues. However, this incident will for sure give me some cause for worry. So do us all a favor and keep those updates coming.I would really like to see the close up of the failed suspension components. If you can get the Renault report on the cause of this "incident" as per the FIR, that would be tops.
Here is the feedback from my end, which can be confirmed by other duster users. After the vehicle crossed 25000 kms, whenever I ride over rough roads on turns, I hear a lot of mild thud like noises from the suspension/steering box assembly.The speed I take these rough road turns is usually around 20-40 kmph. I escalated this feedback to Khivraj pearl in Chennai, and the reply i got was that this noise is common in Duster after 20000 kms and renault is working on it. I was assured that this is a minor irritant and it will be resolved soon and "nothing to worry about".Aaren, if you can confirm if such symptoms were present in the Duster, that would be really helpful and informative.
With regds.

[rdhawan15]

This is scary, for sure. Please do update about the root cause of the incident and Renault's assessment on the same. This does give me a fear while moving on my Duster. I hope Renault will offer help in isolating the cause.

[lifebuoy]

Originally Posted by aaren

3. The car did not hit any stone or go into a big pothole or whatever. The entire wheel just decided to go its own way.

the Police registered an FIR for recording that an incident took place and not an accident.

5. My co-worker got a call from Renault and this person had read this thread since he mentioned about it!! So Team-BHP's voice is being heard.

1. Do not trust the police .. they can register anything for money.

2. The fact that the road was smooth, no obstruction and that a Renault
guy called all by himself is a sure indicator of either a design fault or a material failure. (the car is definitely under warranty - 6 months old).

[P76]

That bent rim is a clear indicator of the severe impact received by the car against a rock or milestone. May be suspensions of older generation suv's with ladder chassis would have remained attached to the vehicle after a similar impact.
I have attached a crash test video link of the Duster carried out by EuroNCAP. The frontal impact tests I think are conducted at a speed of 64Kmph(40 mph). The stationary object against which the car crashes (00:17) causes the steel rim to bend, which is very similar to the accident!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eou5lN1hV4M

[kiranvakati]

I don't get one thing. If the wheel got off on its own, won't the vehicle nosedive at some point which should damage the bottom of front bumper?

[nigel92]

The bent rim clearly indicates that the wheel hit something at a high speed which caused the wheel and brake assembly to come off. If the wheel just came off on it's own then the bend is a mystery.

[swiftnfurious]

Two points are clear from the pics!

1. Broken rim is bent indicating a severe impact.

2. NO dividers on the road - looks like a state highway / village road.

Thinking aloud, the impact could have happened at some point of time and the condition of the part gradually deteriorated leading to the portion getting broken away. I think this is the ONLY way this would have happened as I see quite a beautiful tarmac in the pic and devoid of any dividers.

OP, Could you confirm with the owner / driver whether they had any severe impacts (like falling into a pot hole or a bit of off-roading attempted) any time?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

If the wheel just gave away like how the opening poster has mentioned, how on earth does it show an impact? Wouldn't it like roll away? Such a sharp dent on the rim can only happen upon a severe impact.

Looking at the pictures alone, I feel the rim hit a stone or the kerb at high speed and that could have caused the driver to lose control and topple.

One possibility: Car would have hit something but was driven for some distance without analyzing the impact. Meantime more parts would have given away (progressively) resulting in wheel shearing off and running away.