Good friend of the family had the front left tire come off his truck while driving down the road at a decent speed. Speculation amongst the females is that it was from over tightened lug nuts. I said 99.9754% chance it was from lug nuts not being tightened correctly (ie not tightened enough) Can i possibly be wrong?
Why would a tire come off?
- Thread starter Barkleymut
- Start date
The tire? Or the wheel and the tire?
Under or overtightened.
A shop left the wheel bolts on my wife’s Volvo under tightened. She noticed the clunking as it was coming loose, long before the wheel departed the hub.
Did the driver of this car notice anything before it happened?
What parts are left on the car? Is it possible the wheel fractured?
Did the driver of this car notice anything before it happened?
What parts are left on the car? Is it possible the wheel fractured?
wheel and the tire
Driver is a competent male, around 50 years old. said nothing felt odd until boom the wheel is gone
I too would think this was probably under tightened lug nuts. I don't remember for sure but it seems like I had someone put a wheel on for me once and either they didn't tighten the lug nuts or didn't torque them and I caught it before losing the wheel.
I've never had a wheel come off but did have an idiot forget to tighten the jamb nut on a tie rod after an alignment. Luckily I was in downtown Charlotte, NC and only going about 10 mph when the tie rod came loose. I went back to the garage that did the alignment and told the owner he needed to get some competent mechanics. It wasn't uncommon for me to drive that car on the highway at 70-80 mph and could have been a disaster. Maybe not as accurate as a professional alignment but, now I often do my own alignments using a string line. I just put new outer tie rod ends and tires on one of my cars a few months ago and did my own alignment. Thus far it's driving great and and no abnormal tire wear.
I've never had a wheel come off but did have an idiot forget to tighten the jamb nut on a tie rod after an alignment. Luckily I was in downtown Charlotte, NC and only going about 10 mph when the tie rod came loose. I went back to the garage that did the alignment and told the owner he needed to get some competent mechanics. It wasn't uncommon for me to drive that car on the highway at 70-80 mph and could have been a disaster. Maybe not as accurate as a professional alignment but, now I often do my own alignments using a string line. I just put new outer tie rod ends and tires on one of my cars a few months ago and did my own alignment. Thus far it's driving great and and no abnormal tire wear.
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The two times I’ve encountered undertightened lug nuts, there was a lot of warning from “rut rut rut” rumbles and wheel noises. Once on my own project car (I noticed and stopped within 1/2 mile) and once in my brothers outback, which my mom probably drove a dozen times that way before he caught it.
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JHZR2
Staff member
What disappeared with the tire?
I think if overtightened, the lug bolts would be sheared off... If undertightened, the lug bolts would all be there.
Depending upon the bearing type, a bad/failed bearing could result in the wheel coming off... with the hub.
I think if overtightened, the lug bolts would be sheared off... If undertightened, the lug bolts would all be there.
Depending upon the bearing type, a bad/failed bearing could result in the wheel coming off... with the hub.
If the lug bolts were all there, the wheel wouldn't come off.
Bolts were probably under tightened, the studs got wallowed out, and then the studs sheared.
Did quite a few root causes on this exact scenario as a fleet manager.
Under torqueing was a key factor, usually happening after a wheel removal service and then not getting a retorque done .
Stripped and mangled threads means Some Boob Spun them down and forgot to tighten them down. Snapped cleanly off and all likelihood it’s going to mean somebody got really frisky with a higher than normal pneumatic air gun. Something like a two stage air compressor.
One of mine tried to come off my Camaro when I was in college. Some moron
,me had forgotten to finish tightening them down. It was pretty obvious when it started behaving badly and all I had to do was tighten them up. Duhhhh.
I fella I worked with had one come off and go sailing off into the Puckerbrush and he skidded to a stop in the street. His claim was he was entertaining some guys wife and he might’ve caught on. My own theory was the beer monster got to him and he fell victim to the same issue as me years before
.
It’s a good idea to go around and check those things one more time before you walk away. It’s a very very good idea to go around and check him after somebody else like a shop has been playing with them. It’s real easy to spin lugs down with an air gun and then forget to go back and finish torquing them by hand, TOO EASY
One of mine tried to come off my Camaro when I was in college. Some moron
,me had forgotten to finish tightening them down. It was pretty obvious when it started behaving badly and all I had to do was tighten them up. Duhhhh.I fella I worked with had one come off and go sailing off into the Puckerbrush and he skidded to a stop in the street. His claim was he was entertaining some guys wife and he might’ve caught on. My own theory was the beer monster got to him and he fell victim to the same issue as me years before
.It’s a good idea to go around and check those things one more time before you walk away. It’s a very very good idea to go around and check him after somebody else like a shop has been playing with them. It’s real easy to spin lugs down with an air gun and then forget to go back and finish torquing them by hand, TOO EASY
I think he meant the lug studs would still be there if the nuts loosened.
Probably depends on what you are accustomed to. A lot of Euro cars have lug bolts, while North American and Japanese have wheel studs and lug nuts.
But EITHER over or undertight can result in the bolt or stud being sheered off for different reasons.
But EITHER over or undertight can result in the bolt or stud being sheered off for different reasons.
Isn't that the next question? What is the condition of the studs? Are they chewed up or sheared off? or missing, in the case of being lug bolts, although I'd think loose lug bolts would leave a tell-tale sign of rocking and other abuse if they had gotten loose.
Also, if the hub and/or rotor/drum were still on the vehicle or not. What else fell off or stuck on, which may give clues.
People wonder why we all need to carry smartphones... a few snaps of the carnage and there'd be no question here! [Well no, we'd still argue but we'd be in a different spot with different data.]
Also, if the hub and/or rotor/drum were still on the vehicle or not. What else fell off or stuck on, which may give clues.
People wonder why we all need to carry smartphones... a few snaps of the carnage and there'd be no question here! [Well no, we'd still argue but we'd be in a different spot with different data.]
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I’ve seen bad bearings when they fail completely make the wheel come off if you are going at a high rate of speed. I have also seen people forget to tighten lug nuts and have it happen as well.
