BANG! and coast to a stop

[kentv]

Timothy, you say:

"The left rear axle came loose, and when it did, broke the wheel carrier. The bolts are missing but the axle itself is okay. This is the same corner that had a CV boot replaced 10k miles ago and Hans is taking care of me. I expected it to be the right axle due to the torn underpanel but that must be due to road debris."

Are you saying that all 6 bolts at the transmission flange on the inner CV Joint were missing, and that the axle fell out at that location, then causing the wheel carrier to be torn up?

Were there are strange noises leading up to all of this? Just a sudden drop of the axle?

Thanks, I'd be curious because it would seem that regular checking of the hex bolts might be in order.

[JAAY]

Funny, I was going to check mine tomorrow just to be sure that there in there good from my 3.4 swap. Does anyone know the torque specs on them?

[timothy]

@kentv Something like that. The shop gave a brief explanation but I never saw the carnage in person as it was dark at the time and I didn't have a flashlight to poke around. The car is a daily driver and nothing leading up to then gave any indication of an impending problem. Just midway through a turn it let loose. I did look for parts in the intersection (at the time I didn't know whether to look for bolts or pieces of engine) but never found anything.

[kentv]

Originally Posted by JAAY

Funny, I was going to check mine tomorrow just to be sure that there in there good from my 3.4 swap. Does anyone know the torque specs on them?

30 foot pounds on the standard Boxster with 8M bolts and 60 on the Boxster S with the 10M bolts.

[kentv]

Timothy, the axle fell out at the wheel carrier, outer CV JOINT end, is that correct?

If so, my guess is that the CV JOINT totally froze and siezed, causing the force to pull the wheel carrier apart.

[timothy]

Originally Posted by kentv

Timothy, the axle fell out at the wheel carrier, outer CV JOINT end, is that correct?

Nope, inner CV at the transmission. I know because it now has a new boot and bolts. They said the failure broke the carrier, but when I looked the wheel carrier is still the same old part (with known scars), so now I am confused exactly what they replaced. Since the shop covered the cost of repairs, the receipt doesn't list any part numbers to cross reference. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was the same axle that had a CV boot replaced last year so we suspect it was a repair gone wrong and is not something that you generally need to worry about.

[kentv]

Timothy, that would mean that six bolts came loose and fell out before you knew anything was wrong. That can't be. The thumping would have been crazy with even three bolts lost. All couldn't come out, and even if a few did, that would likely have torn up your transmission flange and stripped the threads.

I know I'm beating this to death, but my dealer sometimes gives me an incomplete explanation and it is annoying. I like to know who did what and what happened.

It sounds to me that your inner CV Joint just went bad and, maybe, nothing else, except for some shock and jolting at the outer CV Joint and wheel carrier.

Just don't know, but still curious. thx

[Thumper]

I have had RUF do work on my car several times and I think Hans is a great guy, but I think some of their techs do sloppy work and have quit using them. I had them do my 60K maintenance and when they handed over my car, it was filthy, the oil filler cap was laying in the trunk (didn't find this out until after I had drove for 5 hours on a trip the day after I picked up the car), and I had an oil leak. It had never leaked before. The leak ended up being a loose oil filter.

When I first bought my Boxster, I had them go through it and fix a few things. This was when the shop first opened and I was extremely pleased with their work and customer service. I had the 60k service done two years later and almost all the techs in the back were different from the ones that originally worked on my car.