Dangerous wheel hub corrosion. Very Worried! Advice needed!

[Big_Mikey_G]

Hi,

I was cleaning my car this weekend (first time since before Xmas as I haven’t seen the point to doing it with all the salt and grit on the roads) when I came to clean the alloys.

At this point I noticed something that has got me seriously worried! Whilst the alloys and discs look fine, the wheel hub (if that’s the right terminology) seems to be almost completely corroded!

A little more investigation shows the rear passenger side wheel hub to be seriously corroded with holes in some places! The rear driver’s side looks to be on the turn but no where near as bad as the other.

The front wheel hubs look to be fine.

The car went in for its MOT in December and had both the rear pads and discs replaced due to wear.
The garage at the time said nothing about there being a problem with the rear wheel hubs. There’s no way they can have failed to notice this whilst fitting new discs!


What I want to know is, how dangerous is this? I’m getting extremely worried about the prospect of my wheel coming off whilst I’m driving down the motorway or something. The car is a 55 plate ref sport. There’s no way the wheel hubs should look like this after 4 years and 68,000 miles!

Has anyone experienced this before? Can anyone tell me which part it is that needs replacing and how much it might be likely to cost?

Pictures are linked below so that you can see exactly what im talking about. Any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks,

Mike

 

[doll]

Hi there,

That's not the wheel hub, its the brake disc dust shield that bolts onto the hub.

The corrosion isn't an issue...other than being cosmetic.

They can be replaced, but would require the removal of the discs again.

HTH

 

[Slimy]

I was going to say it takes some serious corrosion to hole a hub! There's a good block of metal there, you won't be getting through that in a hurry!

The brake shields seem far more likely, they're a half millimetre thick piece of tin can, I've had umpteen shields just fall off from rust when I've been changing discs and pads.

 

[Nath.]

You should have painted your hubs and shields like I did when the car was new and had no rust on them.

As said it's not dangerous, the bit with the hole in it is just a thin tin stone shield that can be removed if you like.

 

[DPJ]

There's been so much salt about on the roads this winter, corrosion is going to accelerate.

 

[robin cur]

Yes as the other members say nothing to worry about, just the brake shield I don't think all car have these any way.

 

[Kev Hall2]

As there is a picture and I don't know what the correct name for the bit is, I can hopefully get an answer to something that's always bugged me.

In the picture at the start of this thread, the hub in front of the disc that the wheel bolts to is also corroded. This appears to happen on most cars, even expensive ones. Why don't the manufactures coat it in something that lasts? You get a car with nice wheels and behind it you get a big rusty bit.

I'm annoyed because my car has only done 1000 miles and already it is showing initial signs of corrosion.

 

[jezyg]

As there is a picture and I don't know what the correct name for the bit is, I can hopefully get an answer to something that's always bugged me.

In the picture at the start of this thread, the hub in front of the disc that the wheel bolts to is also corroded. This appears to happen on most cars, even expensive ones. Why don't the manufactures coat it in something that lasts? You get a car with nice wheels and behind it you get a big rusty bit.

I'm annoyed because my car has only done 1000 miles and already it is showing initial signs of corrosion.

Over at Babybmw.net lots of 1 Series members have hassled BMW about corrosion not just to the hubs but also the callipers, lack of a protective coating seems to be the key to the corrosion in the first place. Some people have managed to get BMW to repaint highly coroded and unsightly parts and UK cars are now better treated. As it is our climate and road salt that acclerates this type of corrosion far faster than anywhere else in Europe according to BMW uk.

On each new car I have applied a laqure coat to the hubs and callipers in the first week of ownership. Hammerite has also be used by many to treat rusted hubs and seems to the job nicely with no further breakthrough.

 

[rockape]

"On each new car I have applied a laqure coat to the hubs and callipers in the first week of ownership. Hammerite has also be used by many to treat rusted hubs and seems to the job nicely with no further breakthrough"

I might do this too but do you have to remove the discs?

 

[jezyg]

"On each new car I have applied a laqure coat to the hubs and callipers in the first week of ownership. Hammerite has also be used by many to treat rusted hubs and seems to the job nicely with no further breakthrough"

I might do this too but do you have to remove the discs?

Nope I just mask the disks off minor overspray will come off as soon as you brake though. Hammerite is the easiest to apply though.

 

[Bedlam]

How easy to remove these shields, I get a lot of stones stuck which jangle on the approach to my home

 

[Big_Mikey_G]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the quick responses. I obviously feel a whole lot better to hear its just a protective guard. I couldnt see behind it and it looked pretty solid so i was figuring it was a part of the hub.

Ill have a word with Dave at Sere's and see what the price of some new ones are. Think ill also invest in some hammerite when i get round to changing them.

Panicked the life out of me when i saw it! It snuck up on me from nowhere and i was worried there were holes everywhere!

Cheers again!

Mike

 

[johnbev]

The dust shields are pretty cheap should be less than £15 a pair.
Unfortunately a bit of a bugger to fit as the hubs need to come off on the rears, well they do on the ibiza mk4 and its a similar set up.

 

[Big_Mikey_G]

Unfortunately a bit of a bugger to fit as the hubs need to come off on the rears, well they do on the ibiza mk4 and its a similar set up.

Bugger ......

 

[Nath.]

On each new car I have applied a laqure coat to the hubs and callipers in the first week of ownership. Hammerite has also be used by many to treat rusted hubs and seems to the job nicely with no further breakthrough.

Same here, but I just use Hammerite and apply it with a paint prush, the finish is very good and 3-4 years later they still look nice an smart.
Black looks nice, so does silver but red looks a little *brembo wis it was*

The odd touch up may be needed when you have new tyres fitted by a tyre money, other than that it's allgood.