After posting an update, I was out of station and saw quite a bit of responses and am trying to respond in the best possible manner.
First and foremost, on my statement stating that the "Wheel just broke off", I stand corrected as subsequent understanding of the accident proved that multiple things happened that led to this accident. It was not a case of "Wheel just broke off". It was much much more than that.
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Originally Posted by aaren The wheel just broke off. Will be getting more details on this - we are busy with the financial year closing due to which, my co-worker has not yet met his bro. He will be travelling early April and return with details. |
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Originally Posted by humyum Well, I see a lot of alternate theories here out of which IMO the one that sounds the most plausible is, 'the hit on the tyre/rim took place sometime/some kilometers before the actual accident happened and due to not stopping the car to check even after the hit, the tyre/rim combo just came off from the additional pressure of driving on a damaged vehicle. There are no ways about the hit being the cause of the accident, whether it happened sometime before the accident or right then and led to the overturn is what could be ascertained only by the driver or the passengers of the car. |
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Originally Posted by shashank.nk If the wheel did hit something sharp and strong before it boke off, how come the tyre is still fine ? Wouldn't the sidewall be cut as a result of such an impact ? It looks alright in the picture.Or are MRF's stronger than that |
This vehicle was at Indore on the day of the accident and in my presence only the driver parked the vehicle, when I was standing outside my office. Remember, the vehicle was a 6 months old vehicle. On way back, the accident took place.
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Originally Posted by Sankar The hit and drive-on theory and eventual failure doesn't seem possible in this scenario - it is a huge dent uncovering tyre seating area and this would have resulted in an instant flat and loss of control. If the owner managed to bend the rim like this he wouldn't be able to drive on and cause a further suspension failure.
Also note that its the inside of the wheel that is bent, if the vehicle had accidentally hit a median or stone severely it would be the outside end of the rim that gets bent unless the vehicle climbed completely overt the kerb/median/stone. But if such a climb occurred the owner would never be able to NOT notice it. Owner says no such thing occurred. |
Correct. As I understand, the vehicle did not have any other incident on its way back other than the one that happened. Since I can not vouch for at what speed the vehicle was being driven, I do not have any comments to make.
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Originally Posted by racerdabba After going through all the posts, the updates and everything else, a theory
The wheel did not deform running running. A inflated tyre will never allow such a sharp bend on the steel wheel. It will round up owing to the air pressure, as it distributes the force.
The wheel indeed came of as a surprise, and got lodged between car body/suspension components and that is what caused the bend. This lodged wheel caused the car to brake immensely and as the tyre was lodged in suspension lower arm/tie rod/anti roll bar, it raised the car enough to make it roll over to the other side.
This also explains why there are no scuff marks on the bumper/lower body, since the car never nosedived. |
Not sure if you have seen the subsequent photographs of the vehicle.
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Originally Posted by Mr.Boss Can you please post the snap of incident location more clearly, showing the traces marked in road? To understand the initial direction of travel and travel after the incident.
Also what is the direction of roll? (which side of vehicle lifted first?)
Going by the snaps of wheel outer side, couldn't convince myself that the wheel didn't got any hit before. |
a. As mentioned earlier, the vehicle was at Indore earlier in the day and it was in a good condition.
b. This place is probably around 100 kms from Indore; hence, it would be difficult to post the snap of incident location, with any trace marks.
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Originally Posted by Mr.Boss Sorry to say, OEMs don't make cars, they 'Design' it.
Many may claim on the part / product quality, but the level customer abuse can put any over design / 10,20,50,100 times the factor of safety in shame.
This statement is definitely not for an argument, this is purely from my experience.
The kind of durability loads / cycles the suspension parts were tested is next to impossible to reach in real life situation.
Forget the rapid loss of air pressure, just throw away the tyres and try running the vehicle only with rims for a considerable distance (distance required by the driver to bring the vehicle to halt after the incident) I'm sure the wheels / suspension parts will never fail to this extent unless and until the wheels get an severe impact.
The part connecting wheel to engine is Drive Shaft. DS failure will never generate a huge load/force to push the wheel outwards / break the suspension member / put such a load on shock absorbers. |
Thanks for correcting me on some of the terminologies.
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Originally Posted by black_rider Outside of the rim bending that way could be because of the tire rubbing against median. Maybe the wheel broke off when car hit the median. A survey of accident spot can clear this.
Looking at the pictures, I still find it hard to believe that there was no impact, "and the tire decided to go its own way". A wheel running off, just like that, will not have damage on the outside, like it has now.
With no intention to be harsh, what is the source of this statement : |
My statement, "...the tire decided to go its own way" is incorrect as subsequent findings are proving. My sincere apologies on this count.
Also there were some questions in regard to Insurance. It is tricky for me to answer this question. On the one hand, am a member of Team-BHP and on the other hand, my office only has insured this vehicle. So I have to tread this issue carefully. I brought this case here as an Automobile enthusiast only. But at the same time, I need to ensure that my company's interests are also protected. Hence, I have to draw a line so that there is no conflict of interest. All I can say is that various options are being considered from an Insurance perspective.
At the time writing this, no other developments from Renault side. If there is any, will keep posted.