I got two reports within the last 4 weeks about f-types (builts unknown) causing accidents because of loosing the rear wheel while driving.
Are similar accidents known in the US?
1. V8
15.11.15 | VN24 ? Unglaublicher Unfall auf der A1 ? 495-PS-Jaguar F-Type bricht auf gerader Strecke einfach das Hinterrad ab ? zwei Verletzte | videonews24.de
2. V6 (





Sandmann

 

Hier in den Staaten haben wir nichts davon gehort.

Since the V8S only had two lug nuts attached to that wheel, it is possible the other nuts weren't torqued on properly and worked themselves loose.

 

With my new winter wheels the tyre shop recommended that I get them re-torqued after the first 100 km. Which I just did with minimal change.

 

Its not a problem of not properly torqued nuts.

 

Which bits in those pictures are impact damage?

 

Hmm that's odd.

 

When you look at these pictures it is actually quite shocking how little is actually holding the whole hub and wheel assembly on, considering the forces involved. It would only take a manufacturing fault in that tie rod end to fracture and the wheel to get a little out of true and the forces at speed would then just tear through the suspension arm mounts.

Any idea what year and version?

 

It's really not fundamentally different from any other IRS rear-end set-up. Now if you want a solid, rear-axle, those are getting hard to find, except in trucks.

 

Bigger pictures help!







Although the rear lower wishbones on the F-Type have different part numbers to the XK, XF, and the earlier cars, they do externally appear to be identical, and are no doubt from the same supplier and probably cast in the same moulds. This design of wishbone has been in use since 2002 with the S-Type and X350 XJ.

So if there was a design problem, or perhaps a metalurgical one, such failures would be seen on more vehicles around the world, not just two F-Types in Germany.

EDIT

I do find it interesting that the boot of the CV joint on that dislodged wheel looks to be melted.

 

+1. The cross sections of those suspension components aren't any less substantial than other vehicles of similar weight.

 

The working link for the video https://vimeo.com/145778988

Pictures here Thema anzeigen - F-Type V8S Cabrio verliert Hinterreifen-Aufhängung

 

OK here's some better pictures from the video.





The failure points are pretty obvious. But the reasons why they failed are anyone's guess.

Nobody has actually said if the rear wheel came off the F-Type first, which caused it to collide with the SUV. Or if the SUV hit the F-Type, breaking the wheel off it and sending it into the wall.

Plenty of heavy accidents have occured with many different vehicles, that have ripped wheels off the suspension.

My eyes are still drawn to the CV joint on the separated wheel. What happened to the boot?

 

Yes I am aware of the fact that bit is pretty much a standard IRS set up, but I had never really thought about it like that before. For old timers like me you think rear suspension, you think solid rear axle when you actually look hard at the reality of IRS it is pretty flimsy by comparison.

 

It would be Intersting to know if the two vehicles were similar build dates. You could get a small batch metallurgical fault in just one production run of parts.

 

Since it is the right rear wheel, it could have simply hit a curb once or twice , and was already compromised before the failure occurred.

 

Left rear wheel

 

Then not likely the issue. Left rear on both cars?

 

Looks that way. The car in the pic of the OP has a broken left rear wishbone but the wheel didn't leave the car. The pics of the other car has a separated wheel, again left rear.

But we are talking about 2 cars in 1 country from a total F-Type fleet worldwide of 30'000 cars or so... that's enough for it to still be a co-incidence in my book.

Especially since the 2nd accident that involved another vehicle was not explained. Did the SUV hit the F-Type?

 

Agreed. Since these failures have occurred on the highway rather than the track, it is unlikely that they are related to an inherently weak design.

 

I've been staring at the CV joint also. Not sure what exactly is going on but it does not look to be recent damage. A bad joint, even at the point of failure will generally not release enough heat to melt a boot. Being that the half shaft remained with the wheel ***'y during the event, and that a failed joint will not affect suspension geometry, it's probably not a contributor.

The fracture points on all the visible suspension components appear to be very fresh, with no evidence of pre-existing condition.

On the other hand, it is also notable that the right rear wheel, still somewhat attached to the car, has a pronounced toe-out angle. A car with any significant toe out would be almost impossible to control. The rim of the wheel also has fresh impact damage spread over most of it's circumference, indicating that it was rotating at the time.

There's virtually no body panel that has not sustained damage. The left front tire has been punctured. This suggests that the car spun extensively, striking other objects before coming to rest. The amount and type of body damage behind the rear wheel assembly is substantial and significant in nature.

To state that the fault originated with the left rear suspension based on what it known at this point is premature.

I would think that if the root cause was indeed the left rear wheel assembly, it would not likely have come to rest ahead of the car on the hard shoulder.