The day my wheel decided to overtake my car

vivtho · 4th June 2008, 16:55

I just thought I'd share one of the scary experiences that I'd experienced a month back.

My father had purchased a Mahindra Scorpio VLX in Dec 07 and had made several Mumbai-Kerala trips with it. By mid-March it was soon due for it's first service. Since he was travelling to Pune anyway, he decided to drive it there from Kerala since the service centers there were not yet equipped for the new VLX model. After the servicing, the car was driven about 250+ km to Mumbai.

A week later, we decided to drive back to Pune in the Scorpio and left early the next morning (I was driving). As we left, we noticed a sound coming from the rear which sounded like some part of the car slapping or rubbing against each other. We stopped twice to figure out what the sound was, but never could find it. One of the mudguards was loose and we figured that it was hitting the tyre at high speed.

We were close to Panvel and driving at about 80 km/h, when I felt the car was trying to move towards the left. It didn't feel like a flat tire (God knows I've experienced more than enough of them to know what one feels like), but I slowed down and began pulling to the side of the road. Suddenly I felt a jerk, after which the car began to really pull towards the left. I was still in complete control of the car and had brought down the speed to around 40-50 km/h when another car passed by me with the passengers wildly gesticulating. I was still trying to figure out what they were trying to say, when I saw the unmistakable shape of a Scorpio tyre merrily bouncing away ahead of me. I asked my Dad to point the passenger-side mirror down and could see sparks coming from where the rear-left wheel used to be.

When we finally came to a stop, we took a look at the drum where the wheel used to be. It was a complete mess. The all but one of the screws on which the wheel was mounted were completely sheared off. The one remeining screw was partially melted with the heat. I had to walk quite a distance to retreive my tyre, whose alloy was also badly scratched and gouged where the drum was riding on it. Since it was early in the morning, there were no mechanics whom we could call. We finally called a mechanic who was known to us, who drove from Worli to Panvel to fix the car. The car was in the shop for over 12 hours before it could be driven onward to Pune at a slow speed as the entire rear section was damaged.

We don't know for sure how this happened. We suspect that some mechanic forgot to install all the screws when the tyres were rotated. The service center (Silver Jubilee Automobiles, Pune) initially refused to accept blame, but finally agreed to make all the repairs. The drum, axle rod, axle fluid and the tyre were all replaced. The total cost came to over Rs. 35,000 which was waived by the service center.

The most important lesson I've learnt is that if your car is giving you signals that all is not well - DON'T IGNORE IT! I realize now that we should have stopped until we could get the souce of the sound from the rear assertained by a competent mechanic. I also realize that we were very lucky that day. If the wheel had come off 1/2 an hour later, it would have done so while we were on the expressway at 120+ km/h where the results could have been disasterous.

I hope those who read this post will have learnt something from it. I certainly did.

windsurfer · 4th June 2008, 19:15

That is very scary

What did service had to say about this.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 4th June 2008, 19:31

Isn't this the top of the line m- Hawk? Doesnt it have sensors in the wheel to detect any problems? Or it is just for sensing air pressure?

I am surprised that the service center waived off Rs. 35000.

theMAG · 4th June 2008, 19:34

That must have been fairly harrowing. I almost had a similar incident with 2 lug nuts flying off my front right wheel during the last T-BHP Nandi Hills drive - but caught the problem in time.

prince_pervez · 4th June 2008, 19:35

This is my worst fear when I drive or ride. This could happen to anyone!!!

GTO · 4th June 2008, 19:35

Thats one heck of a scary experience; I am glad that there wasn't any accident, no one was hurt and the wheel came off before the expressway. If Jubilee forgot to torque the wheels back properly, that is an unforgiveable error.

On the other hand, here is a small tip on alloy wheels : Their bolts have this uncanny ability of running loose anywhere between 30 - 50 kms (retorque after service, tyre rotation etc.). I learnt it the hard way once, but thankfully stopped before the wheel came off.

raj_5004 · 4th June 2008, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Isn't this the top of the line m- Hawk? Doesnt it have sensors in the wheel to detect any problems? Or it is just for sensing air pressure?

I am surprised that the service center waived off Rs. 35000.

yes, the mHawk does have sensors, but thats only for tyre pressure. it wont indicate if the wheel has come off.

DirtyDan · 4th June 2008, 19:42

You could have easily become a "crispy critter" especially if it had been a front wheel which would have probably caused you to lose control.

All is well that ends well.

manikjeet · 4th June 2008, 19:49

i has happened again

i was reading an old auto car few days back and the same problem had been reported by someone 4 years ago also

i would suggest you take it up seriously

abhinav.s · 4th June 2008, 19:49

Thats quite a scary thing to happen to anyone!! But the good thing is that there was no mishap and no one was hurt in this incident.

Glad as well as surprised to know that the showroom waived off Rs. 35000!!!

diabloo · 4th June 2008, 19:49

The designers didn't cover for the inefficiency of the service center

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj_5004

yes, the mHawk does have sensors, but thats only for tyre pressure. it wont indicate if the wheel has come off.

Technocrat · 4th June 2008, 19:50

Damn thats a scary experience, I am really glad that nothing happened to the occupants.

abhinav.s · 4th June 2008, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by diabloo

The designers didn't cover for the inefficiency of the service center

Awesome and hilarious way to put it!!

Sankar · 4th June 2008, 20:07

I have experienced a similar situation as a kid when i was travelling with my dad on an old Vespa scooter. Dad received the scooter after routine servicing and we were on our way to my school. Suddenly the scooter's rear fell down and started thudding on the road at the same time i saw our rear tyre overtaking us lol

Lucky for us the scoot didn't fall down and no vehicle hit us from behind.

What had happened was the mechanic forgot to put the split pin on the rear hub, so the hub nut got loosened and the wheel came off the axle! This happened a long time back when i was in 3rd or 4th standard and it happened on the one way from Plamoodu to PMG.

HappyWheels · 4th June 2008, 20:38

Whuahhh... that is one scary experience.

Glad that all of you came out of it with nothing bad!

And good that the service center took care of the whole thing, even though it still does not make it right!

4th June 2008, 16:55	#1
vivtho BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 75 Thanked: 157 Times	The day my wheel decided to overtake my car I just thought I'd share one of the scary experiences that I'd experienced a month back. My father had purchased a Mahindra Scorpio VLX in Dec 07 and had made several Mumbai-Kerala trips with it. By mid-March it was soon due for it's first service. Since he was travelling to Pune anyway, he decided to drive it there from Kerala since the service centers there were not yet equipped for the new VLX model. After the servicing, the car was driven about 250+ km to Mumbai. A week later, we decided to drive back to Pune in the Scorpio and left early the next morning (I was driving). As we left, we noticed a sound coming from the rear which sounded like some part of the car slapping or rubbing against each other. We stopped twice to figure out what the sound was, but never could find it. One of the mudguards was loose and we figured that it was hitting the tyre at high speed. We were close to Panvel and driving at about 80 km/h, when I felt the car was trying to move towards the left. It didn't feel like a flat tire (God knows I've experienced more than enough of them to know what one feels like), but I slowed down and began pulling to the side of the road. Suddenly I felt a jerk, after which the car began to really pull towards the left. I was still in complete control of the car and had brought down the speed to around 40-50 km/h when another car passed by me with the passengers wildly gesticulating. I was still trying to figure out what they were trying to say, when I saw the unmistakable shape of a Scorpio tyre merrily bouncing away ahead of me. I asked my Dad to point the passenger-side mirror down and could see sparks coming from where the rear-left wheel used to be. When we finally came to a stop, we took a look at the drum where the wheel used to be. It was a complete mess. The all but one of the screws on which the wheel was mounted were completely sheared off. The one remeining screw was partially melted with the heat. I had to walk quite a distance to retreive my tyre, whose alloy was also badly scratched and gouged where the drum was riding on it. Since it was early in the morning, there were no mechanics whom we could call. We finally called a mechanic who was known to us, who drove from Worli to Panvel to fix the car. The car was in the shop for over 12 hours before it could be driven onward to Pune at a slow speed as the entire rear section was damaged. We don't know for sure how this happened. We suspect that some mechanic forgot to install all the screws when the tyres were rotated. The service center (Silver Jubilee Automobiles, Pune) initially refused to accept blame, but finally agreed to make all the repairs. The drum, axle rod, axle fluid and the tyre were all replaced. The total cost came to over Rs. 35,000 which was waived by the service center. The most important lesson I've learnt is that if your car is giving you signals that all is not well - DON'T IGNORE IT! I realize now that we should have stopped until we could get the souce of the sound from the rear assertained by a competent mechanic. I also realize that we were very lucky that day. If the wheel had come off 1/2 an hour later, it would have done so while we were on the expressway at 120+ km/h where the results could have been disasterous. I hope those who read this post will have learnt something from it. I certainly did. Attached Thumbnails
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4th June 2008, 19:15	#2
windsurfer BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Dundee, UK Posts: 513 Thanked: 25 Times	That is very scary What did service had to say about this.
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4th June 2008, 19:31	#3
CrAzY dRiVeR Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore / TVM Posts: 17,180 Thanked: 73,491 Times View My Garage	Isn't this the top of the line m- Hawk? Doesnt it have sensors in the wheel to detect any problems? Or it is just for sensing air pressure? I am surprised that the service center waived off Rs. 35000.
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:34	#4
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,217 Thanked: 1,807 Times View My Garage	That must have been fairly harrowing. I almost had a similar incident with 2 lug nuts flying off my front right wheel during the last T-BHP Nandi Hills drive - but caught the problem in time.
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:35	#5
prince_pervez Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA Posts: 4,210 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	This is my worst fear when I drive or ride. This could happen to anyone!!!
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:35	#6
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,512 Thanked: 300,698 Times View My Garage	Thats one heck of a scary experience; I am glad that there wasn't any accident, no one was hurt and the wheel came off before the expressway. If Jubilee forgot to torque the wheels back properly, that is an unforgiveable error. On the other hand, here is a small tip on alloy wheels : Their bolts have this uncanny ability of running loose anywhere between 30 - 50 kms (retorque after service, tyre rotation etc.). I learnt it the hard way once, but thankfully stopped before the wheel came off.
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:42	#8
DirtyDan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Dharamsala, H.P Posts: 2,075 Thanked: 1,564 Times	Good outcome You could have easily become a "crispy critter" especially if it had been a front wheel which would have probably caused you to lose control. All is well that ends well.
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:49	#9
manikjeet Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: chandigarh Posts: 1,618 Thanked: 295 Times View My Garage	i has happened again i was reading an old auto car few days back and the same problem had been reported by someone 4 years ago also i would suggest you take it up seriously
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:49	#10
abhinav.s Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,774 Thanked: 1,272 Times	Thats quite a scary thing to happen to anyone!! But the good thing is that there was no mishap and no one was hurt in this incident. Glad as well as surprised to know that the showroom waived off Rs. 35000!!!
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 19:50	#12
Technocrat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: GTA Posts: 14,813 Thanked: 2,700 Times	Damn thats a scary experience, I am really glad that nothing happened to the occupants.
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4th June 2008, 20:07	#14
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	I have experienced a similar situation as a kid when i was travelling with my dad on an old Vespa scooter. Dad received the scooter after routine servicing and we were on our way to my school. Suddenly the scooter's rear fell down and started thudding on the road at the same time i saw our rear tyre overtaking us lol Lucky for us the scoot didn't fall down and no vehicle hit us from behind. What had happened was the mechanic forgot to put the split pin on the rear hub, so the hub nut got loosened and the wheel came off the axle! This happened a long time back when i was in 3rd or 4th standard and it happened on the one way from Plamoodu to PMG.
	() Thanks

4th June 2008, 20:38	#15
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,106 Thanked: 537 Times	Whuahhh... that is one scary experience. Glad that all of you came out of it with nothing bad! And good that the service center took care of the whole thing, even though it still does not make it right!
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