trebor_quitman

Well, Me and my roomate Redeye finally got some time to look into the whole suspected tranny/dif problem. We lifted the rear end of the car and noticed a problem...

Is an inch of camber play ok?...

We took the left wheel off and these FELL out.



Hey Tabor how's come you had so much trouble? All I had to do was take off the lug nuts.



I'm especially glad to be alive seing as how I was going excesively fast when these came loose. (>100mph)

SO, anyone know what all we should check/
replace? How much torque should these buggers be/(have been)

Steve Lavigne

That does not look good. That nut is supposed to be at 350 lb-ft. Take a good look at the suspension arm, bearings, caliper, rotor, etc. I can't really offer any help because I have never been beyond the rotor.

If I remember correctly, your mechanic installed the engine and suspension. Ask him how much he torqued those nuts at before you tell him what happened. Then tell him about how your wheel fell off your car and the car rolled into an elementary school.

'86 951
-Steve

justin

Well I had to replace my rear control arm and I had to take that damn nut off and they were TIGHT as hell,My dad and I had to use a torch and heat up the nut then while it was red hot put a break over bar on ther and brake it loose with a 7 ft pipe and all the strenth and weight we had(I weigh 200 and my dad weighs 170) we finally got it loose. We had to tighten the same way. I think they are supposed to be about 350 to 400 ft pounds.

Redeye

Well... We put the nut and washer back on with as much torque as we could with what tools we had available and then drove it around the neighborhood at <35MPH and it seems to have "fixed" all that was wrong. Better than what we were thinking anyway... ie. tranny/diff replacement. I think Roberto is planning on taking it back to the shop tomarrow and give the guy an ear-full.
Later

P.S. Steve Lavigne, I was LMAO when I read your post.

trebor_quitman

Well, This may cost money, but not as much as I had expected. The caliper is probably what kept the wheel on and me alive. This is the second time I've had this happen. The first time was with a VW. Those have a pin that goes through the nut and spline shaft to hold the nut on. The pin had freed itself and the nut walked off. I got back home and explained to my dad the noises I was hearing. I thought it was the front end then to. Funny how noise travels through a car frame. My dad kicked all the tires and the rear right one fell off droping the VW to the ground. What do they say about history repeating itself? Better start learning from it huh...

Hans

Lucky Bob...

You might want to inspect the bearing.

These nuts are lock nuts, for one time use only.
Please REPLACE BOTH NOW!!!!

Take Care

Thaddeus

Thank God you're OK. That made my blood chill down a few degrees C.

Another thing to check... CAREFULLY...

Thaddeus

threesticks

When I first took my 86 951 for a drive it made funny clicking noises from the left rear of the car. I thought that a C.V. might be failing. I ordered a new one and removed the axel on the left side and the joints looked new. Since the back end was up in the air I grabbed the left rear tire and it could be wobled around. This is not good. I removed the tire and the same nut that had come off on your car was about three threads away from parting company with the stub shaft. I tightened down the nut usint the BIG breaker bar and a long pipe and some ballast from the kids. I drove around and the rear end was quiet. I have a new bearing waiting on the shelf just in case.

Threesticks

alengyel

My rear has felt loose, I'll be cheaking mine tonight. Glad all is ok Robert.

K27

Glad you did not have an accident from this.
I had the same thing happen on my 86 951, it started out as a spongy brake pedal and some transaxle noise.
I thought I would check rear bearings and found that nut to be half way off!
that nut is tightened to around 340 ftlbs for aluminum control arms and 280-332 for steel arms., but I also punched it up on the front lip with a small punch.
This should be a regular check for all 944/951 owners, especially if you auto-x or track your car. I have heard of this too many times lately.
also the spongy brake pedal was because the wheel wobbled and forced the pads back in the calipers.

Renntag

Glad nothing bad happened. Definitely word to the wise!

OK Totally OT: Glad to see someone else works on their car in sandles I wear loafers sometimes too. you just cant get comfortable enough. We have phone, stereo, fridge, heat, and internet in the garage, This spring we will have a/c too...woo hoo!! Want to add a TV for satelite viewing as well...cant get enough Speedvision.

No offense Alengyel:
Uhhh...I kind of got a kick out of this comment...I know there was no pun intended...But if there was....brilliant!
"cheeking loose rear" ...awesome.

marky522

Glad to hear that your OK!!!! OT... I'll tell you one thing thought even thought its scary as HELL, it was the funniest thing in the world to see the front drivers side tire pass the car completely on my friends honda CRX (i was driving home from work with him) he had switched the wheels from front to back and forgot to tighten them aftere he set the car down..

Mark

Tabor

Bob, wow! I am glad that you are okay.

Just for your info, that should be replaced and torqued to 368ft/lb (500nm).

Also, IMHO the bearing should be replaced. Now, this is a pain (~8 hours, at least for me), but I am almost done writing a howto for it.

I should be installing mine tomorrow or the next day. FWIW, a pnumatic impact wrench set to 750ft/lb gets it off in less than 10 seconds!

michael2e

Roberto -go straight to 7-11 and buy a lottery ticket man

Renntag

lol, very true. work it while its hot.