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Well, my wheel fell off....

SmoothCustomer

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
3,319
Location
Lexington, KY
So here I am starting this journey to this house this girl was at (she was house sitting /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif) and I noticed the whole way there that when I was making turns the car was vibrating bad, and making a clunking noise, definitely suspension, but nothing too bad I can't drive on it. Anyways, I'm leaving her house with my buddy, and we are heading down the road only now the clunk is all the time, very loud, very fast, and the wheel is shaking so bad that it starts to shake out of my hands. Flat tire? Nope. So I'm like WTF? It's so bad I can tell bad things are going to happen, so I turn around to head back to a bank less than a mile away I know I can leave it at for the night, and I know that girl can give me a ride. So I put my flashers on and ride the shoulder going 5 MPH and as my buddy is on the phone telling this girl to come get us, BAM! The wheel flies off the car, rolls across the street (my buddy said "yeah, it's really messed u-Oh, there his wheel goes across the road) hits the nearest trailer park trailer, and as this is happening I have successfully pulled the E-Brake so hard that it would later be hard to get down, and I start running across the street so fast due to adrenaline that I almost catch up with the tire, but I do manage to pick it up like it weighs nothing, (I'm puny, normally these wheels weigh a lot to me) and run back across the street. About 2 hours and $115 later, the car is sitting in my driveway, with a real messed up dog leg and really messed up rotor.
So it turns out that all of this was due to one loose lug nut, had I jacked the car up where I originally pulled over and shaken the wheel around to see what was loose, I would have been home in 20 minutes. Instead, I have one sweet paper weight (the sheared stud) and 3 lug nuts scattered around on route 444.
 

steve

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 11, 2003
Messages
18,897
Location
NJ
Whoops, that oughtta learn ya to ignore a problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

Terry Posten

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Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
9,009
Location
Davenport, Iowa USA
Smooth, real smooth. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sorry about your luck, just playing on your name.
 

belize1334

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Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Messages
3,316
Location
Bozeman, MT
I had that happen when I was in high-school. I had some friends help me rotate my wheels/tires and one of them wasn't seated correctly. Then it came loose and all the lugs backed off and the tire went rolling away at about $25 mph. Messed up the fender but other than that there wasn't no real lasting damage. Definitely a dumb-ass moment though.
 

SmoothCustomer

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Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
3,319
Location
Lexington, KY
The worst part is that I can't take anything seriously so when the tow truck guy asked me if it was lowered I said "well, the wheels gone, so yeah...it's pretty low."
 

Lonewolf64

Well-known member
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
1,197
Location
Birmingham, Alabama
One of my friends did this too. sh*t like that wouldn't happen if you used a torque wrench on your lug nuts like you are supposed to. I make fun of my friend for it to this day.

Just don't let it happen again and say thanks that it didn't happen at high speeds or during a tight turn. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif
 

turbowop

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2001
Messages
11,971
Location
Yakima, WA
I always snug my lugnuts down before I drop the car off the jackstands. A couple times I've forgotten to torque them down before taking the car out to test whatever work I did to it. Usually I remember within a couple miles, turn around and torque them down. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif
 

Terry Posten

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Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
9,009
Location
Davenport, Iowa USA
Quite a few years ago, my wife and I needed a place to stay while looking for an apartment. We stayed in the basement of a friend of hers that had just kicked her husband out.

A month goes by and the front tire of this ladies minivan fell off. 3 days later, BOTH of my rear tires on my TA almost fell off.

Her EX basically tried to kill her (and there 2 very small kids) and because we were helping her with bills, he decided to go after me as well.

I was lucky that I realized what was going on soon enough and only had to replace 10 lug studs. The steel wheels did not get harmed.

If I ever see that guy out on the town, he just may get a tire iron wrapped around his skull. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 

1990ggsxnj

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
525
Location
Blackwood, NJ
That would be well deserved fun...just gimme a heads up!
 
Last edited:

deez

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Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
1,150
Location
Chico, CA
Bad luck with the wheel....but the question is, how was your luck with the girl? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif
 

Armitage

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Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Messages
715
Location
Herndon, VA
Lesson learned... ALWAYS CHECK YOUR NUTS!!!
 

Dialcaliper

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Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
1,287
Location
Mountain View, CA
Also, don't forget to put on some nice smelly antiseize on the shaft of the stud so the nuts go on real smooth... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif
 
Last edited:

steve

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Joined
Sep 11, 2003
Messages
18,897
Location
NJ
You're just askin for it.
 

fivestardsm

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Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
1,699
Location
Middle, Michigan

SmoothCustomer

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Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
3,319
Location
Lexington, KY
Wow, I never even saw that and it was only a couple months earlier. That's exactly the same as what happened to mine only I wasn't in my driveway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif
 

JackbNimble

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
274
Location
Youngwood, PA
Heh, I almost had that happen. My brother and I were working on our car and I had to leave partway through. He finished up what we were doing and put the wheel back on. Later that evening I was driving with him and I feel this real bad rumbling and know somethings not right. Pull into our driveway and realize one of the lug nuts is on the verge of falling off. It's at this point in time that my brother remembers that he didn't tighten the lug nuts as much as he usually does because he was in a hurry...
 

fivestardsm

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Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
1,699
Location
Middle, Michigan
Yeah there was a little confusion on that which I never cleared up. It wasnt my driveway, it was down the road in a driveway leading to a corner store. Granted it was only 1/4 mile from home so it wasnt a very long walk. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

fivestardsm

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
1,699
Location
Middle, Michigan
Actually, this is mild to some of the other wheel losses that I have had. I was doing 80 in my 88 t-bird turbo coupe when I lost the drivers front wheel. It shot off and went right in between two trucks that were coming at me. I thought for sure that it was going to take out the front of the ford pickup. The tire bounced so high on the second hit, that it launched over top of a 20 foot tall pile of trees stacked up in a log haulers yard.

To make it worse, after I got out to the shop and grabed the wrecker, I was 1/2 mile from my driveway when the rear pass side wheel fell off. I hated aftermarket rims for the longest time after that. I thought the lugs were tight, but they were not. I only had a 4-way back then so i couldn't hit them with the impact. A lot has changed since then.

Then there was another time I was out wheeling in my Bronco and somehow sheared off 3 of the studs. Well I thought I could make it home just fine, so I drove a few miles and the shacking got really bad. The tire didnt fall off, but I stopped and called for a ride so I could go and get the flat-bed. On my way home, in the exact same spot that I lost the rear tire on the t-bird, the flat bed dedcided it wanted to do a dance (the front end radius arms were shot) The truck started shaking so badly, that the topper on the bronco raddled off (it was only being held on by 2 bolts) I ended up runnig over it with the duallies of the flatbed and destroyed it. to this day, one of my windows is still in the ditch under the grass

I changed my ways since back then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif
 
Last edited:

G

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Feb 24, 2004
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8,896
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zompton
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