Rear wheel breaks off!!!

[tooold2race]

A good friend has a 2006 SRT10 coupe with just around 10,000 miles on it and the right rear wheel assembly broke off and turned 45 degrees in the wheel well. The car has no history of being tracked or otherwise abused. The owner, who's in his 70's, uses it as a good weather cruiser. Fortunately the problem occurred in his neighborhood while he was driving at a very moderate speed. It turned the car around and put it in a ditch resulting in some underside damage. The dealer says the 'rear knuckle' sheared off. (I'm thinking that's like a U-joint) The car is still under the MOPAR extended warranty but it doesn't cover the additional damage to the car beyond the rear end issues.

He's very lucky he wasn't on the freeway otherwise it would have made the newspapers. Anybody out there ever hear of something like this happening or a failure similar to this???

 

[Nine Ball]

I haven't heard of this happening before. Likely the upper ball joint failed. Could have just been a faulty part.

 

[351carlo]

Actually this same failure just occurred to another person. Let me look for the thread and I'll link it.

http://www.viperalley.com/forum/viper-discussions-srt/102704-rear-suspension-defect.html

That link may not work, but the thread is on the "other forum" not far from the top. Has pictures and all.

 

[ACRucrazy]

how does the warranty not cover the other damage?

 

[Mamba52]

Houston we have a problem!! My 2010 Dodge ram was just recalled.

 

[VIPER 93]

Houston we have a problem!! My 2010 Dodge ram was just recalled.

So was mine, no fix yet

 

[tbsviper]

Wheel issue is serious. I looked at other link. Would like to learn more about this.

 

[NI-KA]

How do you detect this problem before a failure occurs?

 

[Green viper 1]

This makes me a little nervous that mine could break anytime, would not be fun at 80mph

 

[tbsviper]

I recall a while back an issue with front suspension. Some thought might be cars trailered with straps tensioning suspension. Need more info with pictures on what broke.

 

[3whitevipers]

I assume that Herb, Bill , John Gastman, or Bernie will look into this and advise because this affects all of us---Dave

 

[ACRucrazy]

From the other forum.

This:

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Caused this:

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Possibly prevented by using this:

It happens in vipers that are raced with some regularity. SnakeOyl products sells the rear toe link support for the rear upright that prevets the wheel from turning in abruptly in the event the rear toe link mount breaks.

Here is a pic of the piece. It saved my butt once.

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[Flexx91]

What ultimately happens when strength is sacrificed for weight savings. Unless the knuckle was subjected to an "unusual" amount of stress from impact to the wheel, etc. or a discontinuity in the casting, this should never happen.

 

[ViperGeorge]

Just ordered the Snake Oyl part. Downright scary. I track my 09 ACR and am heading to Daytona in May. If that knuckle broke at Daytona it would be fatal.

 

[NO HEMI]

I looked at both threads, im ordering the toe link support , as soon as it's "driving " weather again!!

 

[JAY]

WOW !!! I wonder if the Gen 5 uses the same knuckle ???

 

[Viper Specialty]

I bet a lot of these are caused by smashing and bashing the rear knuckle during service work to get the kuckle apart. This is why we use pullers rather than smash away with a hammer!

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

^^^^^ this +1

 

[PeterMJ]

How do you know this one was serviced though? If this part cannot be hit with a hammer, then this part should not be used period, road conditions can be harsher than the blow from a hammer. First the window regulator that cannot be installed without damaging it and now suspension that is not fit for the road or service?

I bet a lot of these are caused by smashing and bashing the rear knuckle during service work to get the kuckle apart. This is why we use pullers rather than smash away with a hammer!

 

[Viper Specialty]

How do you know this one was serviced though? If this part cannot be hit with a hammer, then this part should not be used period, road conditions can be harsher than the blow from a hammer. First the window regulator that cannot be installed without damaging it and now suspension that is not fit for the road or service?

I absolutely do not know if this car was serviced or not in that fashion, nor am I saying that it is impossible that this is not a manufacturing defect. It is not however very common. I have seen/heard of this maybe a dozen times in the past decade, and many of them have questionable histories involving tracks, curbs, and hammers. That's not unheard of, but its not commonplace either

However, I do not agree with you on the hammer comment. I have seen techs flat out break the knuckles to pieces- not on Vipers, but on TRUCKS. A 5-pound sledge hammer will do a lot more damage to any kind of a toe-link than any bump in the road short of a curb ever could. All it takes is a couple good hits [or miss and cause a weakness] to start the process down the road to failure. These are not iron parts, they are aluminum- and a steel hammer head wins the hardness battle every time.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

What ultimately happens when strength is sacrificed for weight savings. Unless the knuckle was subjected to an "unusual" amount of stress from impact to the wheel, etc. or a discontinuity in the casting, this should never happen.

I bet a lot of these are caused by smashing and bashing the rear knuckle during service work to get the kuckle apart. This is why we use pullers rather than smash away with a hammer!

These are both correct scenarios... Very easily could have been a bad part from day one. Castings are susceptible to voids during the casting process. It's just the nature of the beast. Machine from billet is the only way to ensure integrity but that's far more costly than casting parts. And yes, machined from solid billet CAN be light weight when designed with proper lightners and ribs for strength.
Bashing the rear knuckle during service work to get the knuckle apart would be less a problem from billet as well... and it definitely will weaken a cast part.

 

[Green viper 1]

Kind of crazy that this has happened to 2 cars around same time frame

 

[Flexx91]

How do you know this one was serviced though? If this part cannot be hit with a hammer, then this part should not be used period, road conditions can be harsher than the blow from a hammer. ?

That's not necessarily true. Materials and the manner at which they are stressed (from the manner at which forces are applied) has a direct impact on failure. In addition, these parts also benefit from the dampening of the shock to help alleviate some of the high stresses during "normal" driving. Cast aluminum is not a very strong material in itself and definitely not strong enough to handle a blow with a hammer especially at the smallest cross-sectional area. It is simply not designed for that. It should be, however, be strong enough to handle driving on a smooth, flat surface.

 

[ViperGeorge]

There was another thread on here somewhere with pics of stress cracks in an A-arm. Can't find it right now but that worried me too.

 

[tbsviper]

There was another thread on here somewhere with pics of stress cracks in an A-arm. Can't find it right now but that worried me too.

search "control arm broke".

 

[ViperGeorge]

search "control arm broke".

Yea I had done that but the only threads I saw were for Gen 2s with broken control arms, scary too but not what I was looking for. There was a thread in the SRT forum here about cracking on a Gen 3's control arm. Included pics of cracks. I assume Gen 3 and 4 use the same control arms. Still can't find it but it was enough to get me to jack up my Gen 3 and check everything. I need to remember to check my Gen 4s now.

 

[IDM]

I'm spooked by this...what happens at 150mph?

And worse of all everyone assume the driver was in error or drinking and driving as there would be no evidence left.

Will buying that kit really save your butt in this situation?

 

[ViperGeorge]

Just installed the Snake Oyl brace on the rear of my 2009 ACR. Either my car was built upside down or the instructions and pictures supplied by Snake Oyl are upside down. Instructions say "remove the 2 lower bolts that secure the bearing assembly and set aside". It is the upper bolts that you remove. It also says "Remove the cotter pin and nut that secures the tie rod end." There is no cotter pin, at least on my Gen 4s. I used some locktite to make sure it didn't move once attached though. The picture above in this thread is upside down as well at least as compared to my car.

I do feel better though that the bracket is installed. Should make it stronger.

 

[steve911]

Here are a couple of pics of a comp coupe that had a very high speed off track excursion. This car has the toe link kit installed. You will notice that the toe link reinforcement is bent, but it kept the wheel straight and not turned into the wheel well like the unfortunate OP.

The driver stated that he felt a wobble but he was able to keep full control as he stopped. He was actually able to drive the car back to the pits. I am just trying offer some reassurance. I will not say its 100% failsafe, as I don’t believe anything is, but I personally look at it as cheap insurance.

The half shaft and the upright broke just as he was entering the pits.

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[ACRucrazy]

No bueno