Four weeks ago I had some new tires put on.

Sunday, I went with Mark on a small trip and as I was stopping my car in his driveway, he mentions that I have some sort of "clunking" noise. I thought it was just the rear or something.

Yesterday I drive 75 MPH on 565 to downtown. As I am leaving the parking garage, I heard that noise. I stopped and checked some stuff, then pulled off the cap to the pony rim on my right front wheel. Now, my car has 4 lugs. Guess how many fell out to the ground?

























3.

The only one holding the wheel was the locking lug.

I owe that little angel.

 

Hey Ralph,

Who installed that wheel? Who is responsible for that little gem? C'mon, tell us. We deserve to know. They deserve to hear about it.

 

*chuckles*

Mark, someone reminded me that - although the probability is very low - it could have also been a certain female that loosened them.

So, my mouth is shut.
Besides, when I dropped by the store yesterday, they are treating me right.

 

Do any of you torque your wheels, or do you just use the 1 grunt 2 grunt method? There is a torque spec for lug nuts, most I've seen are between 85 and 105 foot pounds. Check your service or owners' manual for the correct torque or consult the aftermarket wheel manufacturer. kennyg

 

yikeeesssss thank the lord you stopped!

 

I torque mine to 90ftlbs. That's not as tight as you would expect. Those that are standing on their four-way are making them WAY too tight.

 

Too tight or unevenly torqued will warp some brake rotors. kennyg

 

I torque mine, ussually 85-90 ft-lb.

I now check all the lugs after having tire service done. Why? A few years ago my wife had a flat due to a huge pothole on HWY 20 and we didn't have the money for expensive tires so I went to Wally-World. I bought 2 new tires to replace the other one on that axle and asked them to rotate the old tires to the back of the car. Well my wife gets a call that there is something severly wrong with the car and she needs to come look at it. Well we get there and the tech shows me that both front tires are cambered in very severly. At this point the car is on the ground and has been driven about 50 yards across the parking area. I walked over to the car and grabbed the tire and shoved the wheel-tire combo and watched as the studs oscilated thru the hole on the wheel. Whom ever did the "install" didn't even hand tighten the lugs. Needless to say once I got done talking to the service manager I ened up with a free set of tires. Many, Many lessons learned that day.

 

Mental note, don't accept a ride from Puter.

 

*laughs and smacks Keith*

Kenny, of course I torque 95. So does the shop where I got new tires. I ask.
The person that worked on my tires/wheels has been there for 20 years, aint no WallyWorld tech. Heck, I took my car to WW once and they could not even do an oil change right.

 

i thought you just put lug nuts on hand tight!









j/k

i always wondered why lug nuts don't have a safety feature like say a tie rod end or spindle nut,

 

I worked with a guy that drove a Chevette, he was kind of goofy anyway. I was driving down the road and saw his car on the side of the road, but he wasn't there. The front drivers side wheel/tire were off and it was sitting on the rotor. The rotor had a major flat spot where it had ground on the asphalt.

On the way into work he had a flat. He then put the spare on, when he went to lunch the wheel came off. He wasn't hurt or anything, but if you knew this guy you would have enjoyed a laugh.

 

This thread reminds me of the Vet Day Parade and the Eleanor incident......ugh. Ralph, Glad you discovered the problem before it became a REAL problem.