Check those Lugnuts!!!

Wwildman

Wwildman

Never Give UP
Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Location
Garner, NC
I was on my way in to work Friday morning about 7:30 on 440. When the left front wheel ejected from my truck at roughly 70MPH . I got very lucky because I kept the truck from rolling over and eased it off the road safely .

I then watched the tire go across all the lanes of traffic hit the jersery barrier and then hit a Chevy coloardo bounce off of that hit the wall again go airborne soar 50-60 feet in the air, go over to on coming traffic and take out the left door,mirror,and fender of a F-350 work truck .

When I got my Truck to work I found the the lugnut threads were on the studs but there was no nut . I cleaned the stud off and checked it the threads on the studs were wore and the nuts would fit loose on the stud .
 
Let me guess.........aluminum wheels?
 
Yep. my current daily driver started making a weird noise in the left front a few weeks ago. I had only owned the car for a week or so. Sounded like a wheel bearing. The next day I was bored and decided to check out the brakes and bearings. Jacked up the car, removed the center cap, and grabbed the impact. When I was slipping on sockets to find the right size I noticed ALL the lugs were loose. Less than finger tight. The PO told me that he just had brakes done the week before I bought it. Both front wheels were dangerously close to falling off. Lesson learned on my part. No vibrations or anything, just a grunting noise that changed with speed. Good thing I was bored that afternoon.
 
Don't just hit them with an impact. Torque them to the correct specification.
 
even a set of torque sticks for an impact like techs would use will work just fine
 
I always check aluminum wheels at least twice, especially new ones!
 
So what is the reason that aluminum wheels are more prone to the lugnuts backing out than steel wheels?
 
Steel is harder and stronger than aluminum, so as the forces of turning, braking, accelerating, and bumps jerk the wheel around on the axle, the aluminum can get worn much more quickly than steel wheels. It can also be because of a different taper on the lug between steel wheels and aluminum wheels. Usually it is only a problem with new wheels, but its good to keep an eye on them anyway.
 
Went to change a flat on my Bronco this morning and 3 out of the 5 lug nuts broke loose with no force from me at all (also aluminum wheels), good thing I had a flat lol
 
Wwildman said:
I was on my way in to work Friday morning about 7:30 on 440. When the left front wheel ejected from my truck at roughly 70MPH . I got very lucky because I kept the truck from rolling over and eased it off the road safely .
I then watched the tire go across all the lanes of traffic hit the jersery barrier and then hit a Chevy coloardo bounce off of that hit the wall again go airborne soar 50-60 feet in the air, go over to on coming traffic and take out the left door,mirror,and fender of a F-350 work truck .
When I got my Truck to work I found the the lugnut threads were on the studs but there was no nut . I cleaned the stud off and checked it the threads on the studs were wore and the nuts would fit loose on the stud .
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Was that you in that white Chevy truck?



If so, it looked like you had a rough day...
 
Had new Chrome steel wheels, & tires installed at a Tire Shop, 30+ yr.s back. Drove about 15 mi.s on I-85, & about 1 mi. from home, when the wheels started coming loose. Stopped before any damage was done, BUT did call Shop back, to let them know. I suggested they get there impacts checked! They did not use a torque wrench. :fuck-you:
 
jeepinmatt said:
Steel is harder and stronger than aluminum, so as the forces of turning, braking, accelerating, and bumps jerk the wheel around on the axle, the aluminum can get worn much more quickly than steel wheels. It can also be because of a different taper on the lug between steel wheels and aluminum wheels. Usually it is only a problem with new wheels, but its good to keep an eye on them anyway.
Click to expand...

Ahh, gotcha
 
rockcity said:
I can imagine! I drove by before any help arrived (IMAPs, cops, etc.) and it looked like it was quite exciting getting it on to the shoulder...
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It was not too bad controlling it I just let off the gas and eased to the right plus it took about 1/8 of a mle to stop with out slamming on the brakes
 
I picked up a new Lincoln a couple weeks back...noticed a little shimmy on the drive home Wednesday...front right lug nuts were about finger tight by the time I got home. Shoulda checked them sooner...dunno if it was a poor tq job at the lot or if someone thinks they have jokes.
 
Old trucker joke...
Then I woke up Bob in the sleeper... Cause he aint ever seen a wreck like what we were getting ready to have!:lol:
I saw a tire truck bounce over a median on Sugar Creek the other day in Charlotte. 3 loaded 22.5 tires came bouncing out and went right for the bus stop full of very urban people. It looked like a Tarzan movie with all of them running in different directions. I had to pull over, I was laughing so hard!
You could have collected 20 cell phones at once, cause everybody dropped them and ran!
 
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