Mk4 wheel studs broken off on motorway

[Toie]

Hi all,

I have a mk4 small wheel base camper.
It is a banana with turbo swap.

The rear wheel came off on the motorway.
Looks like all the wheel studs broke.
All was well, no vibrations or noise. Then suddenly a huge vibration and 5 seconds later the wheel came off.

Any idea what can cause this?

Pulling the half shaft later and asses all the damage.

[gotgcoalman]

Can you get a closer in pic?

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[dumper]

Probably over tightened with an impact gun and not torqued up properly and weakened the studs overtime or been loose what damage has the wheel got .

[Toie]

Here is closer picture.

I got the axle out, now have to undo the nut fot the hub.
Does anyone know the correct size?

[dumper]

Sorry can’t remember the size but I would put a strong elastic band or cable tie round the brake cylinder pistons I have seen them pop out if left without shoes on .

[MinorMatt]

The nut is a 56mm bi hex on 5 stud axles.

[MinorMatt]

And I'm going to make a suggestion here that may not be popular.

I bet part of the reason the studs failed is due to constant overloading. Campers are heavy and that one has a large overhang at the rear which will make the situation worse. The leaf springs in the pic have been upgraded to carry the load better (4 leaves present).

There is a reason the bigger variants have 6 stud axles.

[dumper]

Yes Matt that will not help and coupled with the age of van and the cone type wheel nuts are a weakness I’d be changing the o/s/r as well and give the wheels a inspection the cone in the wheels do wear .

[gotgcoalman]

Looking at the closer pic on the computer and enlarging further.

Not much shiny (just broken) material.

Appears they have been on their way out for a while

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IMG_20230629_155702.jpg

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[Toie]

I can feel a bitt of a burr on the cone in the wheels.

I am going to change the studs and nuts on other side as well.

Do you recommend replacing the wheels to?
Do they still sell them new?

[dumper]

See if you can find good second hand ones I don’t know if you can get new ones maybe expensive someone on here may have some good ones

[Toie]

Thanks for all the advice guys.
I am replacing all the damage parts.
And studs, nuts and bearing on the other side as well.

For the wheels, the other ones seem ok.
So the wheel with the burr will become my spare.

@Matt and coalman: I think you are correct.
I added a close up of the broken studs.
Lets hope the new ones last another 30years:)

[wallaceES]

Happy you sorted it out, hope it lasts many more years.

Maybe it is a little too late since you already got it repaired, but...

Did you happen to have a Type 34 rear axle? If that is the case, did you took the half shafts out?

I am looking for the spline count in the half shafts leading to the differential.