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Triumph TR6 - REAR STUB AXLE FAILURES on TR6

The TR Register magazine TRaction has reported three rear stub axle failures in the past year or so. When this happens a rear wheel comes adrift carrying the brake drum with it. Not a happy ocurrence , especially if the car lacks a roll-cage. How common is this failure? Has it happened to your car , or to your knowledge?
pcobbold@email.msn.com

This is not if common occurence if I rely on my club knowledge. A frequent thing is rear diff. stud breakage. It happens to my car and was an unpleasant souvenir.
Cheers, JGC.
J.G.Catford

Has the axle come right out of the Diff. attached to the wheel itself?? OUCH!! My rear wheel has come off with the Drum in tact. However it was due to agressive diriving and perhaps a faulty aluminum Trailing Arm. The brake plate and drum assembly literally sheared off of the Arm pulling the 8 mounting pins straight out!!. I was on a gravel road and cornering perhaps a little too hard when this occurred. Luckily I was able to stop immediately to prevent any damage to the drive train and to the underside of my car. I have since rebuilt the rear suspension complete with a Spax conversion kit, Competition springs, and poly bushes for the new Trailing Arms. Too Pretty!!
Regards, T.A.Christie-Toronto, Canada
Trevor A. Christie (tchristie@sprint.ca)

Question: Where did you buy your spax conv. kit in Canada and at what price.
Thanks, JGC
J.G.Catford

The stub axle failure I referred to is not the same as the hub and back-plate detaching itself from the ali trailing arm , but I've heard of that happening too. When the stub axle shears the outer casing of the hub stays attached to the ali trailing arm together with the brake back plate while the wheel , still bolted to the brake drum comes off.
Where the big nut and the sheared off end of the drive shaft goes was not reported. Peter Cobbold , Cheshire, UK
pcobbold@email.msn.com

I have heard this is a common failure among TR6 racers. Cambridge motorsports in England sells racing hubs and CV joint axles. One guy I know welded 73 Datsun 510 axles in for this reason.
Mark mjwdmjse@aol.com

This happened to me in June 1998. The outer stub axle sheared off just inside of the
castellated nut on the end of the shaft. The wheel came free of the car (an interesting expression)
complete with the bearings. The bearing housing stayed attached to the trailing arm. Fortunately,
I was only going about 20 kmh through a parking lot at the time. The parts people I talked to
seemed surprised this happened, so I would think it is a rare occurance. It was a fatique failure.
I suggest you could check for this by removing the wheel, placing a large set of vise grips on the
nut and seeing if it is free to move in any direction. Any movement would indicate a crack in the
stub shaft.

PS; My wife was upset with me because I called my mechanic first, the tow truck second and
then here. My 5 year old son loved it because he got to ride in the tow truck.
D. Gill DaGills@home.com

Failures on racers' cars are one thing. What concerns me is failures on road cars , and at low speed. Do you have any idea of the history- age , mileage- of the stub axle that failed? Peter
Peter Cobbold pcobbold@email.msn.com

I believe it was the original stub axle, and so had been on the car for 25 years. The car had about
76,000 miles on it when it failed.
D. Gill DaGills@home.com

Very worrying. I'm driving around on 220,000 mile hubs which have never been rebuilt ( although many UJs have been replaced). With 205 section tyres and lowered,stiffened suspension and rear antiroll bar the car handles great - but the prospect of loosing a wheel, and half the brakes with it, is somewhat inhibiting.Frankly I doubt that testing for impending fracture by twisting the hub nut by hand would work , normal driving loads would well exceed that. In UK a small business is selling IRS hub kits derived I think from Ford - I plan to investigate. They are D. Vessey Vehicle Repairs, Barnetby , North Lincolnshire tel 01652 688904.
Peter Cobbold pcobbold@email.msn.com

This thread was discussed between 28/02/1999 and 18/07/1999

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