Wheel Comes Completely Off While Driving!!

[byrdr1]

Originally Posted by Jack Larson

WOW, that must have been a smoker!

Never saw a thing, felt the bump. Thought a blow out. Wrong!!
5 hour delay before leaving it sitting on the side of I-73/74N for 2 days until we could limp it to a repair shop. 5 weeks now waiting on insurance, parts, etc. New axle, new tires x2.
Hopefully back in 6 weeks. Halloween camping trip end of October.

[emm-dee]

Bring up the music volume and sing along with Kenny Rogers as he sings "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel".

[Iwannacamp]

It's a crying shame you don't get what you pay for sometimes. You trust people to do a job and they either don't care....ok that's it. A greenhorn might not do it right, but they would double/triple check stuff. A person of low "care" doesn't care if it's right or wrong. That's my first thought. If your wheel runs off because of sheared studs they either were rushed or inexperienced. Someone with ANY qualifications would have done better than that. Even with an impact they know what's too tight and what what isn't. Use your gun a couple hundred times a day...you kinda know. I also realize maxed out axles with questionable products cause problems.

As for the burned bearings there are only a couple things would cause that. Too tight/loose torque or no grease. IMO(in my opinion)

[byrdr1]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Bring up the music volume and sing along with Kenny Rogers as he sings "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel".

Now that's funny!
Would not have been that day, but it is now..thanks for making me laugh.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by eye95

The neatness of the shears makes me think over-torquing. I would think that under-torquing would cause the kind of damage that repeatedly bending a paper clip back and forth would: signs of bending and a jagged break.

That's been my experience. Loose wheels will wear out the conical seat the lug nut sits in and the hole gets big.

The absolute answer would be in a picture of the wheel.

If you look closely at the picture, the center of the stud has been pulled out and broken just like when you pull a "Tootsie Roll" or a "Twizzler". The center gets thinner and thinner until it breaks.

If the lugs were torqued with an impact wrench this is not an uncommon occurrence. People might be startled to know how many pounds (actually tons) of pull that exists within a stud due to the mechanical advantage provided by the threads.

In the world of custom wheels this was a major problem when white spoke wheels first showed up. The centers were cut from flat steel plate and the holes just countersunk for the lug nuts. After thousands of lug failures due to over stretching, wheel manufacturers started using "coined" wheel centers where the lug nut holes were actually set back from the ring that contacted the hub. This allowed some spring so the lug didn't go from proper torque to "break" in a mere 1/4 turn. This is also why there are compression washers on many lug nuts used on trucks. Flat washers caused the same problem as flat plate centers on smaller wheels.

[donanddona]

Been There done that.

[traveltrailerrookie]

I had it happen to me earlier this summer. I also just repacked the bearings. Wheel was on in southern Illinois and by the time we got to Lake Barkley, it was gone. I did torque the lugs so I'm not sure what happened. I did replace both tires to be on the safe side. Who knows if the lone tire deteriorated from carrying the extra weight.

[dieselbobcat]

x2 loose

[garbonz]

A. TPMS Would do nothing in this case or in most cases of a sudden blowout. Only slow loss of pressure would have alarmed. Eventually the monitor would have noticed a missing signal. While TPMS's are nice to have, they are not a panacea for all problems and no substitute for all the normal inspections.

B. I had it happen on a boattrailer once, and it was undertorqueing. If it is over torque, then one of the bolts would have broken first and you would have seen it if you inspect the rig daily. Under torqued allows the wheel to move around until it begins to shear bolts and bingo it is gone.

[youroo]

Spurticus,we are all really giving "WAG'S" it would Help immensely if you would do a "Search and Rescue" on the "MIA" tire! This would help figure the Real Deal! The "RIM Holes" will tell "The Rest of the Story" Youroo!!

[helferdm]

My tow dolly tire passed me on I-70 just east of Abilene, KS a few years ago. A major "Uh-oh".

[Jakieboy]

I had a similar experience when I lost a wheel/tire assembly while driving home from a weekend campout. A few days before the event, I had to replace a damaged tire and I never double checked the torque on the wheel affected. All five studs were sheared off, as in your photo, but all showed evidence of classic fatigue failure due to bending stresses that would not relate to the kind of failure relating to over-torqueing. Fatigue failures on wheel studs are characterized by a fracture that shows a smooth section of the stud where the failure crack initiates, and includes a rough-textured cross-section where the brittle fracture causes the final failure. Close observation and analysis of the fracture patterns on the wheel studs can determine whether fatigue failure was the cause.


A similar fatigue failure of the front fork of my bicycle nearly cost me my life a few decades ago.


These days, I always double check the torque tightness of all wheels on my TV and 5th wheel before a trip.

[Svtyone]

Originally Posted by eye95

The neatness of the shears makes me think over-torquing. I would think that under-torquing would cause the kind of damage that repeatedly bending a paper clip back and forth would: signs of bending and a jagged break.

Not always. When we break off studs In concrete we hammer back and forth and come off clean and flush with the concrete.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

Looks to me like they torqued the lug nuts too tight and fractured the studs.

Or maybe left too loose and wore through and ripped off the studs. Those take 100 lbs of torque if I recall. My tire place and I only hand torque,with mechanical torque wrench. Wondering what kind of scary "for use only on big trucks" impact gun it would take to do that damage?

[rjshiflet]

My money is on under torquing. Happened to us with a previous trailer when the lug nuts on one wheel weren't tightened beyond hand-tight. Never let a campground neighbor offer to help change a flat and tell you he completed the job. It's a one-person job that needs no distractions. That, my friend is the sad voice of experience.

[rlocicero]

Originally Posted by eye95

And that that under-torquing damage would be evident on at least one bolt, but ALL five were sheared.

Wheels and tires should be installed and tightened with a torque stick. That ensures that all wheels I tightened to the proper torque. When your vehicles in service, it Best if you to ask the garage whether or not they use one.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

Wheels and tires should be installed and tightened with a torque stick. That ensures that all wheels I tightened to the proper torque. When your vehicles in service, it Best if you to ask the garage whether or not they use one.

I wasn't saying otherwise.

[russhd1997]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

Wheels and tires should be installed and tightened with a torque stick. That ensures that all wheels I tightened to the proper torque. When your vehicles in service, it Best if you to ask the garage whether or not they use one.

As a professional auto service technician I have been using torque sticks for years. I also use a torque wrench after a short road test and re-torque the wheels before returning the vehicle to the customer. You would be surprised at how many lug nuts need just a little more and how unevenly a wheel is torqued using just the torque stick.

[old40ford]

Originally Posted by russhd1997

As a professional auto service technician I have been using torque sticks for years. I also use a torque wrench after a short road test and re-torque the wheels before returning the vehicle to the customer. You would be surprised at how many lug nuts need just a little more and how unevenly a wheel is torqued using just the torque stick.

X2

[SC for Huskers]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

Wheels and tires should be installed and tightened with a torque stick. That ensures that all wheels I tightened to the proper torque. When your vehicles in service, it Best if you to ask the garage whether or not they use one.

Dad had an oil company and sold a lot of tires for cars and trucks. He told me never use an impact gun to put tires on. You never know how old or new gun the is, or how many ft/pounds that gun puts out. I ask them to put tires on without a gun. I have almost lost a wheel (under tightened), but felt the shaking of the wheel on the studs. Rim and studs had to be replaced. Remember if you have two axles, you put a lot extra force on the tires,rim and studs when turning. Buy extra replacement studs, and nuts for "Just in case this happens to you".