Rear left wheel all broken or something

essentialatom

essentialatom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2005
Messages
695
Location
Birmingham, UK
Car(s)
Renault Clio Sport
Hi,

I haven't posted on Finalgear in quite some time, but I could use some help.

My car is a 2001 Renault Megane 5-door.

Driving on the motorway today, 30 miles from home the rear of my car began to judder up and down, increasing at speed. Long story short, I took it slow from then and once home, my friend got out and observed that the rear left wheel isn't on quite right. It's kind of wobbly. Not loose, but it rotates somewhat eccentrically in driving. The car remains driveable, I noticed no change in handling, and I should be able to get it to a garage.

It's not a wheel problem - I swapped it out for the spare and the same thing happened. It judders up and down and makes a good deal of noise, but the bolts are nice and tight, and the rims/tyres aren't deformed in any way.

I took a set of photos which are included below, but I don't have an astonishingly good idea of what's to be noticed, if anything. I'm sure this is going to end up in a garage, but I wonder if you lovely folks can suggest where the issue is and what the likely fix will be, and if I can do anything (with the exception of using the car as little as possible for the time being)?

Thanks in advance, and thanks also later when I read things you have written, if indeed you have written things.

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When the wheel is mounted, if you put your hands in the 12 and 6 o'clock positions, can you wiggle the wheel? What about at 3 and 9 o'clock? My other thought might be a seriously worn or leaking shock/strut but, I would think car should've been leaning if the strut was bad.
 
Sounds like it could be a wheel bearing or the spindle being bent. I would take the drum off and have a look under there, and see if there are work parts. Depending on what you find, we can advise from there. Popping the rotor off just takes a bit of wiggling and maybe some whacks with a hammer. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, then I guess just take it to your mechanic to check it out.

The only other thing I can could think of is that something with the suspension arm is worn out or bent and is throwing it out of whack.

Either way, its a reasonably easy and cheap fix to do bushing or a wheel bearing, but if you have to replace the entire suspension arm it could get a little more spendy.
 
I would also go with the wheel bearing being bad.
 
Thanks for the thoughts so far. I'll try and get a video today if I can. When I say eccentric, I was slightly incorrect - the wheel appears correctly centred (as in, it doesn't lift off the ground then come back). It's developed a camber, and as it rotates the wheel leans left, right, left, right etc. Does that make sense?
 
Please tell me you are you are not driving it like this.
 
essentialatom said:
Thanks for the thoughts so far. I'll try and get a video today if I can. When I say eccentric, I was slightly incorrect - the wheel appears correctly centred (as in, it doesn't lift off the ground then come back). It's developed a camber, and as it rotates the wheel leans left, right, left, right etc. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...

It does make sense. Sounds like something is bent, not seated correctly, or has worn to the point of being out of center. I still think the most likely candidate is the wheel bearing, but like I said before it could be a bent spindle as well. You are really going to have to take the brake drum off to know (you might be able to just wiggle it loose).

If you aren't mechanically inclined, the only thing to do is take it to a garage and have it fixed. I can't imagine the parts will be particularly expensive, so its down to what your mechanic charges plus maybe ?100 in parts. Actually, probably less, the wheel bearings on ebay are ?12-13, so maybe ?20-30 from the mechanic. They had entire wheel hub assemblies for ?45 on there too, with the bearings already installed just unbolt the old wheel hub and bolt on the new one and torque it spec.

It could be more if the spindle is bent, as it looks to be built into the whole rear axle assembly from looking at pictures on ebay, so they'd either spend ALOT on a new one or maybe find one from a used parts dealer for cheaper. I'm guessing its less likely that they happened though unless you remember hitting something really hard recently (big pot hole or similar). The wheel bearing or hub can just fail over time, and it being a 12 year old car it was about time to replace those anyways.

Either way, get the work done as soon as you can. You definitely don't want to drive it, as its unsafe on one count and driving it further could do more damage on the second.
 
Last edited:
GRtak said:
Please tell me you are you are not driving it like this.
Click to expand...
It was yesterday that it happened, and I haven't driven it since. It's going to have to go a garage though, obviously.

It's the whole wheel that moves, not just the tyre. Fingers crossed it's not too bad. I'll let you guys know what happens.
 
Aaaaaaaaand it turns out that whatever my friend thought he saw, he probably didn't see. Mechanic said nothing's out of alignment; the shock absorber broke. So they're replacing it right now. Sorry for the completely wrong info, but thank you for your suggestions anyway!

I blame my friend, because I couldn't see anything he told me was happening, and just copied what he told me. I also blame him for the broken part, just because.
 
Good to know it wasn't something serious!
 
Glad to see it's been resolved. See what happens when you give French shock absorbers labour unions? They go on strike. Firing it and hiring a new one was the best way to go IMO.
 
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