Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Have you ever had a wheel come off?

In younger years, some buddies and I were getting back in my truck at the local beer store, when we saw a raggedy old IROC Camaro heading at us on the street. The front wheel began vibrating and shaking and the kid got it slowed down to maybe 30mph before it came off and the car sat down hard on the front corner. The tire/wheel rolled straight at us, hit the curb, bounced by about 3 feet from the truck, and went out through the other side of the parking lot and into traffic from another street. The kid was chasing it on foot as soon as his car stopped. We got a really good laugh out of that one as he ran by us.

Most days.

There appears to be many reasons why lug nuts come off, besides failure to torgue-tighten them.
LINK: Why do nuts come loose?

Steve.

Closest I’ve come. Turning into my driveway.

After a tire change, I re-torque at 50 and 500 Miles.

Happened to me once years ago. I was towing a homemade livestock trailer when I heard a noise, stopped immediately and as I opened the door a trailer tire slammed into the door. Luckily I hadn’t swung my legs out yet or I’d have been a hurting unit. Years later I am sitting in my car in parking lot at the Camp Pendleton north gate on I5 when I look over and see a semi tire zipping through the ditch and roll out into a field. The bearing was still smoking as it laid there. Would not want that thing to hit me. Dave

that overtorqueing thing really bothers me. I have seen studs that look like a miniature file, and have had to use a 4 foot cheater to loosen a friends wife's lugnuts when he was away and she had a flat. I also like a little bit of never sieze on the studs when going back on, and use the skip one pattern, or similar on 6 and 8 hole. (I did see a Ford with 7). Another thing is finger tightening, then letting the wheel down to finish and the holes can't center.

As a dumb 18 year old kid I lost a rear wheel on my '57 Chevy. It smashed the brake drum but did no real harm otherwise. My fault, I had a flat a few days before and tightened the lug nuts with a crescent wrench.

Driver's side front wheel on my 1991 Ranger Club cab 4x4. I was doing 70 mph on I-69 south of Shelbyville, IN, returning from a training class. I was kicked back, listening to some tunes, hoping to eat up some miles. Then the wheel departed and I was driving on a rotor. Truck handled great, I used the brakes a few seconds earlier than I should have as I put a small flat on the rotor.

Couldn't get my jack under the truck to pick it up, too low. Couldn't find my tire, it flew off into a cornfield. Called 911 on the cell and asked for a wrecker. Driver of wrecker went up and down I-69 looking for my wheel. Never found it. We got the truck up, used a lug nut from the 3 other wheels to secure the spare and put the truck on the wrecker. Prior service USMC, gave me a discount, I gave him a fat tip.

Preceding this, on the night before I was leaving to go to training, I had brake problems, changed the fronts, found out the backs were expired also. Loggers with hydro axes showed up to cut my timber and I had to deal with them. Anyway, it the rush to do everything at the last minute I must not have torqued the front wheel properly.

While I was in away for that week, I thought from time to time that I should get out the lug wrench and check things but I never did. Wish I had.

Saw one that wasn't so lucky. Wheel crushed a woman's chest in the stands. Don't think she lived.

The pic didn't show. It was my 95 Taco with a broken ball joint.

Twice, once on a trailer on I35 at 0200 in the morning, wife was driving when a tire passed us
only had time to think what the heck. Other was in rush hour traffic in Anchorage. Wife driving again ( by herself) when she said it felt funny and pulled into a parking lot just as front left wheel took off. She chased it down-through traffic and rolled it back. I had changed to summer tires that week and used a torque wrench, first cross pattern then one round checking each lug nut again. I still don't know why it failed. Same actions as always for over 30 years and never had a issue before. The car does have aluminum alloy wheels but I followed the manual's spec.s as normal, I'm still puzzled why.

When I was about 10 years old I was jumping anything and everything on my bike. Launched off this dirt hump as fast and as high as I could. At the top of the arch, the front wheel fell off. The landing was not pretty.

I lost such as you speak once. Had my M-37 on the flat bed. I also lost 6" of axle at the same time.
Cost, one wheel, new axle, one tire and assorted stuff. Tire and wheel lost in a ranch next to the road.

I grease bearing now days. A lot.

It can take a long time for them to work loose. I had it happen on a boat trailer, I’d removed the wheel and when I reinstalled it I tightened it with a four way wrench but didn’t put a torque wrench on them. About 1500 miles later I noticed that two of my lug nuts were missing. Now I use a torque wrench on them, especially if they’re aluminum rims.

I’ll bet anything the shop didn’t use a torque wrench.

Was driving home from having a flat tire repaired and was about 2 blocks from the house, as I made a right turn the Wagoneer steered kind of funny and I stopped and looked at the tires thinking that the tire had gone flat gain. To my surprise the tire that was repaired didn't have a single lug nut on it. I took one off of each of the other tires put them on and drove back to the repair shop and they very apologetically put the missing lug nuts on my wheels.

The EX did......I

Just remembered -
Back in the mid - 90's, a fellow lost a wheel off a gooseneck stock trailer, while passing our RV Park.
Rim & tire (don't remember if hub, also) came over a 6' chain-link fence, ran ~ 150 yards through the park - missed one gentleman walking - missed all the rigs - jumped another 6' fence - another 6' fence on the other side of the street - ran across ~ 200' of farm land - 40' of driveway - slowly bumped a shop building, and fell over.
Nobody hurt, thank God - and the only property damage was to the gentleman's trailer.

Another reason I believe in "guardian angels"

You can bet whatever you want. I've seen him use a torque wrench. I'm not saying he didn't get a phone call and then forget to torque them, but he routinely uses a torque wrench.

The one possibility I haven't heard anyone mention is sabotage.

Steve.

If he’d done it properly then it wouldn’t have come off.

I really don’t get the attitude when someone just tries to relay an honest opinion. You asked for opinions & I gave mine, why be a jerk about it? I put myself through college installing tires and put on enough for ten lifetimes, mistakes happen & maybe he did get distracted, I don’t know what he did. Wheels that are properly installed don’t come off 900 miles later.

I was about 13, last day of buck saeson, Dad and I were coming home and the right rear left.
We walked home, patched it up and limped home Sunday afternoon.

Was sitting at a red light that's on a curve, I was on the side road outside the curve.
A quick trip to pickup something for my wife, in a hurry zoned out.
I see something odd coming at me, then a bunch of sparks as a Red Durango goes by
on the right front rotor. It looked like he was just driving along. He pulled over, on a bridge, in a turn.
I went to help, along with two other cars. Then it got interesting.

The guy was on a cell phone, wouldn't talk to the people helping him.
We found his tire.

Still on phone.

A ambulance came sliding in. EMT's running around "who was in the wrecked car, who is hurt?" "No one, he broke down" "Oh!" you could see disappointment
.
One helpers Jeep overheated, sitting there in a cloud of steam. I went home and got him some antifreeze and water.

Still on phone.

Fire trucks roll up. "Accident, car on fire!" "Nope, lost a wheel, overheated". Disappointment, again.

The Jeep is cool enough to top antifreeze. Get that done.

Cops roll up.

Guy still on F'n cellphone.

I went shopping.
Finally.


Worst, almost, lost wheel.
Just loaded 7100 gallons of diesel, climbing a steep hill on I-99, one lane construction zone.
I notice the car behind me is impatient, need to keep an eye on him.
Looking back and forth in the mirriors, I notice it's "foggy on the left side. That's weird.

"OH, F, IT'S SMOKE!

I hit a pull off, run back with the extinguisher. The hub cover, lock, nut, and bearings are gone!
The wheel is riding on the spindle and the grease is on fire. Under the tank of diesel!
It went out before the extinguisher died, and all was well
But this was on top of a big hill, on a 65 MPHl road, with a good right hander on a bridge at the bottom.
The potential is a bit scary.


Only wheels actually lost were a few hay and forage wagon spindles broken.