Front hub problems Daimler Fifteen

[Petelang]

I regret we had a nasty little incident last weekend, yes it's not been my lucky month!
After finally sorting our head Gasket issue and the rough running we ventured out with our Fifteen and met with some tram tracks.
The car was running smoothly, no funny noises and no warning when the front left wheel suddenly took a little detour all of its own.
The front hub had fractured all four lugs off allowing the drum to fall off, securely attached still to the wheel. We were lucky no one was in the way of the errant wheel. An acutely embarrassing event, which rendered the car immovable with the entire Nottingham Tram network held up for 45 minutes whilst myself and some ingenuitive local people found a way of moving the car on a trolley jack. It was over an hour before a recovery truck could uplift us.
There is some leading history about this as, when I first got this car it had a slightly loose wheel nut on the opposite side. This became evident as a squeak developed alerting me to something not quite right. On removing wheel and drum the hub was cracked on one lug, however closer inspection revealed that all the lugs had been previously welded back after similar failure. I took no chances and replaced it with another hub assembly we obtained. The track rod end on that side had a nasty bit of damage to the underside which I thought it had at some time grounded on a kerb, however after this incident on Saturday we have an identical mark on the left track rod as it takes the brunt of the impact when the wheel leaves.
The failed left hub had never been welded and no evidence of having loose wheel nuts. (I check them regularly after the first case). It seems extraordinary that ALL four lugs could shear off so easily without so much as a rattle or a squeak as warning. So I'm asking if any of you experienced guys have known this as an issue on early Daimlers and is it possible that the tram track effect on the tyres could have aggravated such a failure? Is there anything else I should be looking out for here on maintenance to prevent such a likelihood of occurring again. We were fortunate no one was in the path of the wheel or I could be facing ruin!
Picture attached shows jury rig specs on the recovery truck used to haul it away and the damage to the hub.
I'm also possibly looking for a replacement hub with LH studs if anyone has one.
If you check your track rod ends and see similar ground off marking, your car may also have seen this problem at some time in its history. See picture 2.
Peter

[JT7196]

Hi Peter, yes Peter Russell had a similar event happen to his Daimler 15 , I seem to remember that I let him have one of my spare LA Eleven front hubs ,and as far as I know it's still on his car to this day .

Cheers A'l

[David1]

Evening Peter

Sounds like a horror story, and no I was not aware of this being a problem on Daimler 15's. I see yours is an earlier model to mine, with hydraulic brakes, 1936 maybe. Mine are 1937 with rod brakes, and having taken off the hubs on mine many times, but never seen any form of cracking or crazing. I am staggered that this is possible knowing how thick the metal is on the hubs. These are a couple of images showing an accident I had 5 yrs ago in one of my 15's, and the hub is still intact, even though the drop arm was bent. Sorry cant help you with the parts required to put yours back on the road,but I wish you well in your search.

David

[JT7196]

Hi , Peter Russell's front hub failure was also on the N/Side , I wonder if it's because this side usually gets the worst of the road conditions, I.e Pot Holes , Drains ,etc,etc ??

Cheers A'l

[captain bobo]

So sorry to hear about your misfortune Pete; I can only ooze sympathy without offering any sensible input I'm afraid.

I did have a problem with the front n/s hub when a nut refused to come off a stud a while back, even with an air chisel! I ended up drilling the nut out to discover the thread had been b*ggered somehow by a previous owner. Marcel Renshaw loaned me a reverse threaded die & special tool to recut the thread,

I did take the hub off and inspect it in detail, and didn't see any evidence of stud damage or fractures.

My car is the same model / year as the Dave Woolcock cars (1937 with Girling mechanical brakes).

If anyone hears of anything suitabe I'm sure they'll let you know.

[Petelang]

Thanks Dave,
Just waiting for my friend to find my spare axle he's been storing for me, to see if we have suitable replacement bits but we also have a possible plan b, and maybe plan c, since Marcel asked if I need one making.
I've been on the trail for steering track rod end joints today, ouch, they're available but expensive at £118 a pair. Having stripped one I'm not entirely happy with some marks on the ball pin, possibly where some previous intervention has involved a splitter indenting the pin.
I'm taking no chances as my wedding car business reputation is at stake if we make the press for the wrong reasons again.
Peter

[Lanchester]

Hello pete, You can buy one frome me, i have the two different one`s. The screw in type and the one that is wellded on the back. gettings Wim

[Route 66drivers.com]

Not an old Daimler but something a bit faster. I had to replace the "dead" starter on a Dodge Viper. Starter was fine - bent conrod. Anyway, there was eventually a whole list of items to be sorted, but the most impressive, for an 180mph car, was the damage repair to the steering rack. Someone had obviously kerbed it and ripped the rack apart. No problem, remove the bent bit and weld in an extension from a sock set !!!!!!

Will see if I can find the photo from 2008.