Damn Fiat. (With SR20!)

"DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully" (danceswithrotors)
03/03/2014 at 00:28 • Filed to: Fiat, broken again

Well, one step forward, two steps back... Or in this case, three wheels on the car, one wheel across the road and in the ditch.

I was driving my mom home from when I took her out to eat for her birthday, when I felt a shimmy in the rear end, about a mile from her house. So, I slowed the car down, and then felt a nice bang, pulled the car as far off the road as it could get without going into the ditch, and watched the left rear wheel roll on across the road and into the ditch on the other side. And then it started raining.

Anyway, we got out of the car, I called AAA for a tow (fat chance getting one within an hour, in Savannah, TN from AAA) and then my brother, so he could drive her the 1/2 mile to her house. Anyway, that failed, and a friend of mine from the Sheriff's department pulled up behind me and put on the blues and twos, so traffic would give clearance, and I inspected the damage. So far: Four broken lug bolts, and the axle shaft popped out of the diff. Also, it broke the BRAND NEW brake rotor that I had just installed, yesterday. :(

Anywho, radioed for the local tow driver to come get me, dragged the car home and now, I'm going to be borrowing my mother and her Fiesta for a trip to Nashville, tomorrow.

On the plus side, at least the tow driver knew where we were going, as soon as he saw me. Needless to say, between me, my sister and my brother, he's had a little bit of business over the years.

So, the plan is as follows...

Tomorrow: Lift the left rear off the ground and put a jackstand under it.

Weekend: Take off work Friday, since I'm normally off Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, drive down after my Wednesday night shift ends, put the Fiat back together, drive around the neighborhood, get Bob to put off working on his Alfas long enough to check out the Fiat, and (hopefully) arrange for a friend to come down with me in two weeks, so I can drive the Fiat back, and he/she can drive the Mazda.

DISCUSSION (23)

puddler > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 00:34

a buddy of mine was abusing his jeep when one of the c-clips came loose and this happened. luckily, putting it in 4h let us tripod home (like 25 miles away)

All Motor Is Best Motor > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 00:40

So what the hell caused it? That's crazy.

All Motor Is Best Motor > puddler
03/03/2014 at 00:40

25 miles tripod? Color me impressed.

puddler > All Motor Is Best Motor
03/03/2014 at 00:42

only 20 of 'em were paved ;)

All Motor Is Best Motor > puddler
03/03/2014 at 00:45

Kinja'd!!!

puddler > All Motor Is Best Motor
03/03/2014 at 00:46

kinja'd.

All Motor Is Best Motor > puddler
03/03/2014 at 00:47

Give it a bit, Kinja's been slow tonight for my pics.

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 00:48

Sorry to see this. I had the cage that holds the spider gears in the rear end shatter and munch the differential in my 81 spider. I had to replace it with a junkyard rear end. On the plus side the rear end I swapped in was geared higher so highway driving was a little calmer.
I hope your repairs go well. What caused the failure?

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > All Motor Is Best Motor
03/03/2014 at 00:50

Haven't done any in-detail investigation (Read: It's cold, raining and I'm not freezing my ass off, right now.), but I'm suspecting that either: I didn't tighten the lug bolts enough, or the snap ring wasn't properly seated. Honestly, I'm leaning toward the former.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > evil2win
03/03/2014 at 00:52

I'm suspecting either the snap ring wasn't properly seated or, more likely, I didn't tighten the lug bolts down enough. I'll be investigating a bit more in-depth tomorrow morning, when the rain stops. Either way, my 81 Spider will be rolling again soon, because I like the car too much to let it sit for very long.

All Motor Is Best Motor > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 00:58

So it just -broke- while you were driving? That's pretty scary. I thought maybe you hit a pothole or something along those lines.

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 01:02

If it were the lug bolts the wheel would have fallen off and left the axle and rotor in place. Most likely the snap ring. I had to replace the rear bearings on my 73 last year. That snap ring is the only between you and your axle falling out. When I did those bearings I had an accident using the press and split the tip of my left index finger in half. I have some gruesome pictures but don't worry I won't post them.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > All Motor Is Best Motor
03/03/2014 at 01:03

It just broke. Middle of a state highway...

I would've thought it would have broken over some of the potholes I've hit in the past, but nope... Glassy smooth road.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > evil2win
03/03/2014 at 01:07

I'm just curious why it didn't fail earlier... I haven't touched that snap ring, and I've driven nearly a thousand miles in it, in the past two weeks. (Three trips to Savannah, TN and two back, at 150 miles each way, plus two trips from Savannah, TN to Florence, AL at 62 miles, each way, in addition to all my regular errands.) Okay, I lied, it's been running for 15 days, as of today. 9 of which, I've been driving it, and only it.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > evil2win
03/03/2014 at 01:10

I'm just wondering why it didn't fail earlier... 15 days running, ~1000 miles in that time, and it didn't break until now...

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 01:17

It could be a defective part or a halfassed repair by a previous owner. I assume the bearing is intact and rolling smooth? Otherwise you'll want to replace that as well. I can't tell from the pictures; is the axle damaged or bent? Even the slightest bend could be an issue. Once you have all the parts all you have to do is remove the caliper, slide in the axel, install the retainer clip and put the rotor, caliper, and wheel back on. Easy peasy.

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 01:23

Parts are like that. One day I'd just gotten home from driving over a windy mountain road with steep drops off the side, and as I was pulling into my driveway the steering box broke free from the frame. I don't why it happened when it did, but I sure was glad it happened there. This was on an old Toyota van, not the Fiat. Parts wear out, things break. When you hear a noise it's always a good idea to check it out.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > evil2win
03/03/2014 at 01:25

The bearing is completely unharmed. The only things I can see that are harmed are the lug bolts (nonexistent) and the rotor (which I happen to have in the trunk).

I'm going to put the axle on a known flat surface and see if the axle is bent in any way, or not. I suspect it isn't, because the weight of the car never rested on it. The caliper and the axle housing bore the car's weight, because the axle pulled freely out, when it was on the side of the road. (I pulled the axle to prevent it from being damaged, while getting yanked onto the flatbed.)

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > evil2win
03/03/2014 at 01:26

The part that scares me a little is that it gave me about 30 seconds warning, before it failed.

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 01:34

Must have been loose lug bolts. Check the threads. They can get destroyed if the lug bolts work themselves loose and fallout. You can probably chase the holes out with a tap and they'll be fine. If there was enough force to break the rotor the C clip never stood a chance. I had a rear wheel fall off once due to my own incompetence (forgot to torque the lug bolts). The threads in at least one of the holes needed repair, though I was able to take a lug bolt off the remaining three wheels, put it back on, and drive home.

evil2win > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 01:39

That's fair warning, I've had parts fail with no warning. Alway be sure to torque those lug bolts. Older cars do require more attention than a new car. You really have to take odd noises and shimmies and shakes seriously.

HammerheadFistpunch > puddler
03/03/2014 at 02:49

man I see so many c clipped jeep axle fails. Full floating for the win.

chuck07 > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
03/03/2014 at 05:14

Time to get a 131 transmission and Ranger rear end.

http://www.applemotors.com/turbo.htm