FakeConcern's C4 VTS

[Hell Razor5543]

To add to the stealth (and lock down the colour differences) you might want to change the fog light bulbs to one that match the colour output of the main lights. Mind you, I don't know how easy it is to access them.

I would not change the rear clusters for smoked ones though. I was following an Audi this evening, and I could hardly tell he had his lights on. The light output from his brake lights were of a similar level to the normal rear lights on a proper car. If a police officer were to see them, they would have the car pulled.

[Fake Concern]

That's a good idea, James, I think you can get LED bulbs for the fogs (I have them on the side lights) & they should match the xennon headlights better. Having said that, I don't normally drive around with the fogs on, this was just for the photo!

[Fake Concern]

Bad news regarding the wheels and the Fake Mobile.
Yesterday on the way back from Norwich, as I got close to home, it felt like a balance weight had come off & I could hear a regular thump in time as the wheels went round. I stopped & had a look a few times, tried to rattle or shake all the wheels & found nothing wrong. However it got worse & worse as I went. This morning, I looked again & 2 of the wheel bolts had sheared off leaving the stub in the hub & stripping the remaining exposed thread. Of the remaining bolts one was also sheared off, but the outside was still attached and I could remove it. The other was a different style (Alan head, used because we couldn’t use the locking nuts, due to not having the key) and that was not broken at all.
I don’t really understand how this happened. I would have thought that either the nuts were loose, but we used a torque wrench & checked them again or the wheel was not located properly, but when I took it off it was still on the spigot ring and also you could easily see the face of the wheel hard up against the hub. I would also have expected the wheel to feel massively out of balance.
So I’m really fed up now, I have just got the wheel on (hopefully enough) to take it down to my mechanic after work tomorrow, but it’s out of action until fixed.

Any ideas what happened?

[Citroening]

Sorry to hear that Peter, that is a strange one.

It was about time something went wrong - you've been illegally running a Citroen that's fully working for too long now. Jim will tell you that!!

Joking aside I'm sure someone will have some ideas on here, and hopefully your mechanic can sort it out for you.

[daviemck2006]

It probably had been the bolts slackening off. It once happened to a transit at work after wheels had been swapped front to rear. I learned from that and re-torque the wheels again a day or 50 miles after they have been of, and sometimes do get some slack in them. I hope you haven't damaged the hubs or wheels and all that is required is new bolts.

[Fake Concern]

It probably had been the bolts slackening off. It once happened to a transit at work after wheels had been swapped front to rear. I learned from that and re-torque the wheels again a day or 50 miles after they have been of, and sometimes do get some slack in them. I hope you haven't damaged the hubs or wheels and all that is required is new bolts.

I think you are right, I should have checked them all the next day. Unfortunately 3 bolts are sheared off in the hub. I spent the afternoon trying to remove them with an easi out tool, but the first one I tried snapped the easi out despite me using only a small adjustable to try & prevent this happening! Second one just wouldn't turn. I'll have to limp it down to mechanic & if they can't get them out, then fit new hub. Wheel looks ok luckily.

[daviemck2006]

have you taken off the disc? That should get enough length on the sheared studs to get them out with a stilson or similar. I would think they are sheared at the face of the disc.

[Fake Concern]

have you taken off the disc? That should get enough length on the sheared studs to get them out with a stilson or similar. I would think they are sheared at the face of the disc.

I have not done this, strangely they are sheared well inside the hub, so much so that I have been able to secure the wheel again for the short drive down to town. It's so strange that this wheel should come loose. I checked all the other bolts with the torque wrench & all ok. I also fitted them all the same way as usual, put wheel on spigot & do up one bolt by hand, put in second bolt by hand & spanner up until hard against hub. Put other bolts on with spanner, lower car & torque up. Usually no problem at all & I usually check a few days later, not this time though, oh well!

[CitroJim]

I've heard of a similar case of this happening on a Xantia and although the root cause was never 100% proved it was suspected to be a result of overenthusiastic tyre-changing monkeys at places like Kak-Fit tightening the bolts well beyond their correct torque settings and causing micro-fractures...

[citronut]

how/what device ( ie impact gun ???? ) were the bolts wound up before they were torqued up,

as i has seen so many times the type of monkeys Jim refers to wang the bolts up with the impact gun, then set the torque wrench to the correct setting, and clicking it off on all the bolts without backing each bolt off a bit first,

using this method the bolts will already be way over there correct torque, so the torque wrench is going to click off ,

bolts will shear off if the above is done

[daviemck2006]

Its a bit strange and the cause may just be one of these things. Are the bolts the ones which were on the other car that you got the wheels from? I would be tempted for safetys sake to get a full set of new bolts in case it is metal fatigue. If they are all new and tightened properly you should not have any problems.

[Citroenmad]

I think replacing all of the wheel bolts is a good idea, you dont want to risk that happening again or something worse.

I only trust tyre places to remove and fit a tyre from a wheel as thats all most of them can do but it would be nice if they could balance wheels the first time and not the fourth! Anyway, this is partly why I always take the wheels in to have tyres fitted, so they dont over-tighten the wheel bolts or throw the jack under the car and raise it up on whatever it happened to be under.

I should look out for a reasonable tyre fitting machine and balancer

[citronut]

I think replacing all of the wheel bolts is a good idea, you dont want to risk that happening again or something worse.

I only trust tyre places to remove and fit a tyre from a wheel as thats all most of them can do but it would be nice if they could balance wheels the first time and not the fourth! Anyway, this is partly why I always take the wheels in to have tyres fitted, so they dont over-tighten the wheel bolts or throw the jack under the car and raise it up on whatever it happened to be under.

I should look out for a reasonable tyre fitting machine and balancer

i agree with all you say,
usuallythe tyre fitting companys sling there jack under and if/when you say/ask if they are jacking the car in the correct place, you just get the old " i know how to jack a car up i have been doing it for X amount of years BLA BLA BLA" B*O*L*C*K*S,

probably get the same if you quized them on they wheel bolt torquing procedure

[Fake Concern]

Thanks for all the replies to this question, I have finally got to the bottom of the problem, bit of an expensive lesson in the end.
Tom (of TSW Bexhill, highly recommended) found that the replacement bolts that came with the wheels are longer than standard and the previously empty end of threaded hole in the hubs was rusty. Consequently on that wheel the bolts went to the correct torque before the wheel was completely tight up against the hub. Also when I tried to extract the bolts, they were stuck in the rust, breaking the extractor. Tom replaced that hub & tapped out all the other threads & put new bolts on all round. What a pain!

[Fake Concern]

I've just made an important discovery, it would be a good idea to pull the roof blinds when I leave the car if the weather is hot & sunny!