Never heard of this breaking!

[Big G]

On thursday I was off up to Oswestry club. we were having a bit of a play like you do on the dual carriageway up from Shrewsbury and under moderate braking I heard a knock or a bang. I thought at the time I must have just clipped a cat's eye or something.

Next roundabout the brake pedal felt slightly longer to press. Something that was a bit alarming haha. Ray said it must be in my head so we carried on. No unusual noises from the car at this time.

On inspection at Os' there were no obvious signs of a brake pipe split or anything like that.

On the way home the alarm went off on the dash and the car was making a horrible grinding when cornering left. I thought a bearing must have got some play in it, although I'd replace both front bearings only a month ago.

So I jacked up the o/s/f thinking this was the suspect corner. nothing. the wheel span freely with no bearing wobble and the pads looked healthy. then it started to rain so I went indoors. After the rain had stopped I jacked up the rear and checked those 2. both ok. then the n/s/f... Masses of play in the bearing . The Mrs was in a rush so I didn't take the wheel off, but though I would just inspect the 30mm nut on the driveshaft as that nut has come loose in the past. Popped off the centre cap and the 30mm nut fell on the floor with an inch of thread from the driveshaft in it!

I have never in all the years I've been working on cars seen this happen. the end of the driveshaft had snapped off!

[GRIFF55]

Nice! good job they cant push out hey G! After doing many smashed cars over the years, i haven't seen that either.

[Big G]

eventually the bearing would of collapsed and I'm not sure what would happen then. I don't think it could fall off, but it probably would of locked up nicely lol

[Hog]

I guess the wheel was wobbling and knocking the pads back - hence the longer brake pedal?

Bloody lucky it held together though. I've only ever seen snapped driveshafts in banger racing!!

[Big G]

yeah must have been. new driveshaft should be here today so I can bolt it all back together. Then need to do a bearing

[RogerM]

I've seen it a number of times actually but only on tracak cars where people have overtightend the nut in a hurry.

Lucky escape mate!

[cmgreen]

Wot car is it??

[bert digler]

Originally Posted by Big G

On thursday I was off up to Oswestry club. we were having a bit of a play like you do on the dual carriageway up from Shrewsbury and under moderate braking I heard a knock or a bang. I thought at the time I must have just clipped a cat's eye or something.

Next roundabout the brake pedal felt slightly longer to press. Something that was a bit alarming haha. Ray said it must be in my head so we carried on. No unusual noises from the car at this time.

On inspection at Os' there were no obvious signs of a brake pipe split or anything like that.

On the way home the alarm went off on the dash and the car was making a horrible grinding when cornering left. I thought a bearing must have got some play in it, although I'd replace both front bearings only a month ago.

So I jacked up the o/s/f thinking this was the suspect corner. nothing. the wheel span freely with no bearing wobble and the pads looked healthy. then it started to rain so I went indoors. After the rain had stopped I jacked up the rear and checked those 2. both ok. then the n/s/f... Masses of play in the bearing . The Mrs was in a rush so I didn't take the wheel off, but though I would just inspect the 30mm nut on the driveshaft as that nut has come loose in the past. Popped off the centre cap and the 30mm nut fell on the floor with an inch of thread from the driveshaft in it!

I have never in all the years I've been working on cars seen this happen. the end of the driveshaft had snapped off!

did it have durango written on it

[Big G]

Originally Posted by cmgreen

Wot car is it??

opps sorry. mk4 golf TDI

It's all fixed now. it pulled the bearing back together and it doesn't make any noise so I think I got lucky

[BeachBuggyPhil]

This is what came off the end of my Passat drive shaft!



Mine happening pulling away on a hill and lost all drive.

[Big G]

not so uncommon after all then!

Passat has a bolt in the end doesn't it instead of a nut like the golf?

[Col]

VW build quality...

[BeachBuggyPhil]

That sheared where the circlip went, it was inside the CV joint and that is attached with the massive hub nut.

[Big G]

oh yeah I see now. so the CV joint was still bolted into the bearing, just the end of the driveshaft was now flapping about lol

[cjm_2008]

Originally Posted by Col

VW build quality...

usually the splines wear on VAG units - on my T5 the offside driveshaft had virtually nothing left after 100k or so. could be felt as a clunk when engaging first gear (a bit like on a motorcycle).

£300 quid later.....!

[Big G]

is that the only thing that needed replacing after 100k?

[cjm_2008]

Originally Posted by Big G

is that the only thing that needed replacing after 100k?

no.

that van was a total money sponge.

I never had a repair bill for less than £1k. utter nightmare. injectors, high pressure pump, all fuel system seals, both driveshafts, water pump, rad hoses, DMF, clutch.... the list goes on.

incredible van to drive, beautiful to look at, but not the most reliable.

I've just bought a 2008 313 sprinter as a base for a race home conversion - hopefully it'll be a bit more reliable.