Sudden incident of wheel breaking off control arm?

Oh . Didn't even notice that. Yeah great observation. I would go with grenaded wheel bearing for sure then. That CV boot does look messed up though. That looks like a bunch of CV grease flung everywhere. And if that side did that her passenger side probably isn't too far off and same with rears. The fronts usually fail like clockwork at the 100k mile mark on all midsize platforms for toyota. Tacoma, 4runner, and gx470! Hell I'd even be bold enough to side shotgun the rears too but those are a labor intensive bitch to do especially if you don't have the special service tool for it.

 

OP, just simply jack up and pull that wheel off then you will likely get your answer. Not questioning your friend's mechanical knowledge but there are usually vibes, noises, clunks that occur for some time before something like this scenario would occur(WB,BJ,etc.).

 

mine did that on long trip . wheel bearing melted. it sucked

 

great eye

 

I know the pictures aren't great, she's a first responder and was heading to shift when it happened, so had to go back home and figure out a way to get to work and figure out the car, so it was a scramble to say the least. Just figured I'd get a post started to try to help her hit the ground running when she was off shift.

 

UPDATE: She had it towed last night because she's in a time crunch...

thoughts on the recommended replacements? I know it's hard to know that without actually looking at the damage.
One friend is confused as to why the breaks would need to be replaced and flushed, another is wondering about the knuckle.

[had a chuckle at the "no longer with us" line...]

 

RIP Wheel Bearing.

May your soul find peace in the next life.

 

Yeah, pics would be required to comment on those recommendations. If they are recommending to replace the entire knuckle there must be a really significant amount of damage.
When replacing a caliper, you wouldn't need to flush the brake lines entirely, just bleed and ensure there are no air bubbles.

I think we all wanna see more pics of the carnage.

 

Wow. One of those "knee bone's connected to the thigh bone" things. Bearing goes, now the wheel and rotor are at an angle to the to the knuckle. The caliper, pads and backing plate, being attached to the knuckle are still upright are now interfering/grinding with the rotor. Speed sensor is caught up in the heat and interference. CV joint, possibly the same. That's quite the estimate $ wise. Curious as to what is the parts/labour breakdown is. Some of the other members should be able to chime in on costs.

Good luck.

 

had this happened to me twice one on both sides.

 

actually had the other side break my bad.

 

Recommendations don’t seem far fetched at all. Rotor is on the wheel bearing whereas the caliper is on the spindle. When the bearing went, the rotor went all off angle, fucking up the pads and probably caliper. Spindle may be gouged up from the rotor digging into it.

prices are a bit steep but maybe that’s all oem parts, which would add up. Just an oem cv axle is a bit over $300.

 

Sounds like some bad luck! I didn't think it was a common occurrence but I guess it might be. Did you have any indication of them failing or was it unannounced?

 

3300! Damn that is crazy high! I bet the wheel bearing was really humming before melting! She might look at getting the other one done and try buying one of those ready to go hubs from one of the vendors on here.

 

all i heard is was loud bump.

 

$3k? Yikes..... if you want to be a really good friend, you could do this for about $500

 

Yeah looks like the shop quoted 14 hours labour at $200/hour plus parts.

 

Yeah be cautious with that shop. Many overlapping labors here. I would ask the shop what labor is for a wheel bearing and see if they would do an extra 0.5 hour for the CV axle, extra 0.5 hour for the knuckle, and an extra 0.5 for brake hardware. That's what my shop would most likely do. Maybe an extra hour for each depending on the situation. But full labor rate for each item is insane. But also by the time you tow it shop to show for a a diag you'll be wasting money

 

I think all of those items are probably in need of replacement. A melting bearing involve a LOT of Heat. Not to mention it flopping around.

I too recommend getting the other side done as well before it sh!tz the bed.

 

yea if the bearing failed like that, it did alot more damage than that picture will show.
axle is probably shot now, bearing and hub (obviously)
spindle MAY have taken some damage
rotor and pads definitely damaged and the caliber is literally holding the wheel on and likely has alot of metal deformed...


sadly at a dealer that 3000+ quote sounds about right with all new parts. Time to shop for a used spindle with all the goodies attached, a new caliper and do some front brakes!

my brothers friends colorado's wheel bearing failed in a VERY similar fashion, (his assumed tired noise was indeed a failing bearing!) and it actually CAUGHT FIRE. didnt do much damage from the fire, but the bearing going out caused enough damage it effectively totaled the truck due to cost in parts to repair (it needed the whole right side knuckle and everything attached)