I need some input here... I left Hilo =
going north
up the Hamakua coast on my way to Kailua-Kona yesterday... about 25 =
minutes out
of town, just as we got to the bottom of the first of three deep =
horseshoe turns
through gulches in the area, I heard a loud clunk... like I had run over =
something that had hit the bottom of the van... or maybe something had =
broken
below. As I slowed down rather quickly, there were a series of =
sharp metal
on metal sounds like the driveshaft was catching on something. =
Scared me
to death... I tought the front diff had gone out or something. Any =
subsequent moving of the van created the same driveshaft catching metal =
on metal
sound every eight or ten feet. Naturally I stopped the car as soon =
as I
could get safely to the shoulder which was at a very precarious position =
in the
bottom of the gulch where vehicles don't slow down much and visibility =
is poor
at best. It was raining steadily. I could see nothing amiss =
below
the van so I assumed the front diff (or something nearby) had broken
internally.
Anyway, called a flatbed tow truck and =
had the van
trucked back to Hilo to my mechanic's shop... about 32 miles or =
so. Cost
me $87... I was glad it wasn't more. Today my mechanic told me the =
left
driveshaft had come apart from the CV joint. Bolts were so twisted =
they
had to cut them off to repair... probably from the catching noise I
experienced. Somehow the bolts had managed to work their way =
loose...
question is why? Tow cost me more than the repair (thank =
God!).
Why in the world would this =
happen?
The only background I can give is =
that we
recently rotated the tires, back to front and vice versa... not crossed, =
no
spare added. All tires are Michelin MTX's and are evenly worn with =
about
3/8" of tread on each. Funny thing was, last week after we rotated =
them
she pulled to the left, against the crown of the road... badly enough =
for me to
be concerned about an alignment problem. Unfortunately, I didn't =
have time
to check out the pull to the left prior to my trip. But, oddly =
enough,
there was no mis-alignment prior to the rotation. So we have =
now
re-rotated (un-rotated?) the tires to the original positions and... =
guess
what... no more pull to the left. Hmmm. Also, checked tire =
pressure
upon return... all were at 38 except the right front which was at 40 for =
some
reason.
The CV and shaft had been disconnected =
twice
before... once when we installed a new VC and the other when we rebuilt =
the
gearbox (rear). So, the initial suspicion is that they weren't put =
back
together tightly, right? But that was about five months ago! =
My mech
says if that were the case we probably wouldn't have gone more than a =
few days
before it came apart. Over the past five months I've driven over =
many very
rough roads and not experienced any problem whatsoever.
So, first, could the tire rotation have =
anything to
do with the shaft/CV working it's way loose? Seems pretty weird to =
have
been that, but we can't think of anything else. And why would the =
tire
rotation cause a strong pull to the left? Anybody have any =
thoughts?
Concerns me for future trips, =
especially here
where there are only a few qualified mechanics and lots of places to get =
stuck
far away from them. Yikes.
BTW, my mech is a very experienced VW =
guy who races
VW's and works on them full time in his own shop with his son and two =
other
guys. He's worked on four of my vans over the years and I trust =
him
implicitly. We talk over ever detail of every repair. He's =
taught me
a lot of the little that I know (if that makes any sense).
TIA Volks!
Baffled in Hawaii...