Check your lug nuts frequently!

[4eyes]

I was driving on interstate last night and started feeling a vibration. Thought a tire was going flat or separating. Stopped but found nothing so kept driving and vibration continued to worsen. This time I stopped at a gas station under lights and found the above situation... 3 lug nuts missing, the other two finger loose. Freaking scary. If you look close, the vibrations were violent enough to snap a wheel stud.

It had been roughly 7k since last time wheel was removed for rotation. I was told the lugs probably weren't torqued properly and over time worked loose. Just thought I'd share as a reminder you need to check wheel lugs regularly because they can loosen on you.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[smitty54]

That's not only scary, but life threatening as well. I'm glad you're OK and a good reminder for all of us.

[83gt351w]

I've had this happen to me twice. Each time was after getting new tires installed. I was told to check them after 25 miles. "Yeah, sure, I'll get right on it." Driving around town, I turned a corner, and heard what sounded like a .22 going off. Turned another corner, same thing, another turn, there it was again. After the FOURTH TIME, I got out and inspected the car. I snapped 4 wheel studs off, and the last lug nut I took off with my fingers. Installed new wheel studs on the side of the road.

Yes, I did this twice. About 20 years ago. I check em often now, but never ran into it again.

[cb650]

The very reason I take my wheels in to have the tires installed. I ran into some loose lugs on my 72 dart once in storage. After thinking about how I remembered there was a 71 duster there at one time too. I had The utra rare factory rally with the small bolt patern. Maybe he was trying to jack them.

[webestang]

I will never forget the time I changed a flat tire on my 68 coupe and forgot to tighten the lugs. The rear drivers side wheel came off and when I got control of the car and stopped the wheel and tire went pass me and kept on going down the road. Lucky for me I found 2 of the 4 lugs laying in the street and was able to make it home, well and not wreck the car.

[83GTRAG]

Use a torque wrench. Keeps pressure even on all wheels. Everytime, even check bolts after you get it back from the shop.

[gmatt]

Happened to me once after buying new tires and wheels.

I remember driving on the expressway in Chicago where I90 and I94 merge. I was in the far left lane when my passenger yelled 'look out!'. I hit the brakes without seeing what he was yelling about and a tire/wheel shot across the lane in front of me at about 60mph. Never saw the car it came from.

[Haystack]

I always go out and check the lug nuts right infront on who ever was working on my car. If they pull the car around, I do it before I pay.

[tonysilver82]

Someone might have took them loose

[TNT]

I learned that lesson the hard way, TWICE!

First instance was when I was living with my parents. I was working nights and for some odd reason dad liked to check over my car when I was sleeping in. So one morning he got bored and rotated my tires for me, but didn't tell me. Didn't tighten them enough. So I drove down to UCLA for an even, about 2 hours. On the way home I noticed there was a wobble on the freeway. Next thing I knew, the front wheel came off my Probe, bounced over the center divider and hit a minivan in the lanes going the opposite direction.

A couple of years ago it was my turn to screw up. During the detailing to get my 86 ready for the show at Knotts, I took the wheels off and didn't tighten the lugs enough. On the freeway again, a few miles short of Knotts, the rear wheel came off my Stang. That one stayed in the breakdown lane on my side of the freeway at least. So recovering it was a little easier.

[84StangSVT]

That sucks! I always double check my lugnuts after service and before long trips. Never have lost a lugnut or tire yet but I have seen it happen and it usually does not end well. Glad you didn't lose the tire Chris.

Wait....didn't you lose the tire on the Mustang when you picked it up because the lugnuts came off?

[danco86]

I routinely check mine with a torque wrench as well. It is surprising how often this does occur.

[STL79Coupe]

My son's buddy had a noise in his truck that was loose lug nuts, than a couple days later my son had lost one and the rest were loose. First I asked who they been pissing off but we came to the conclusion it was a coincidence. I wonder if it is the cold weather and heat cycles making them come loose.

[4eyes]

That sucks! I always double check my lugnuts after service and before long trips. Never have lost a lugnut or tire yet but I have seen it happen and it usually does not end well. Glad you didn't lose the tire Chris.

Wait....didn't you lose the tire on the Mustang when you picked it up because the lugnuts came off?

Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner! You're right Brock, my coupe project almost ended before it started because I didn't check lugs when I towed it home from storage. That one rolled across a busy intersection without hitting any cars. I was very lucky...

I routinely check mine with a torque wrench as well. It is surprising how often this does occur.

My buddy who owns a body shop said he sees 15-20 cars a year come in due to lost wheels. He said lug nuts work loss particularly on longer trips because of the constant speed of rotation.

My son's buddy had a noise in his truck that was loose lug nuts, than a couple days later my son had lost one and the rest were loose. First I asked who they been pissing off but we came to the conclusion it was a coincidence. I wonder if it is the cold weather and heat cycles making them come loose.

I never thought about cold weather versus heat change of brake friction. My body shop buddy also said these new chrome nuts don't grip the wheel surface as well as a standard lug nut and come loose easier. Who knows but I'm glad my family wasn't harmed because of a simple lack of maintenance.

[Mustang Marty]

I had this happen as well. I was driving home from college and while I was on freeway a knocking sound started from the back of the car. I pulled over at the nearest rest area and found 3 of 4 nuts were loose with one about halfway off. My rim ended up being bent, which I assumed was the cause of the loos lugs.

A similar thing happened on my 1998 Mustang. While parking my car I heard what sounded like gravel in my center caps. When I popped them off I found a broken stud with lug still attached in both of the front wheels. All of the other lugs were to torque spec. At the time, it at been at least 6 months since I had bought new tires for the car. Fixed the lugs and never has another issue with the car. Not sure what the cause was for that.

[mmb617]

I've always run them on till they felt right to me and I've never had a problem with loose lug nuts.

My son on the other hand works as an auto tech and he will never put a wheel on without grabbing the torque wrench and making sure the lug nuts are tightened to spec. Even with a torque stick on the impact he will go back over them with the torque wrench and double check. I'm sure that is impressed on them at work due to liability issues.

Mind you I'm not advocating my way as correct, but I have gotten away with it for almost 50 years.

[84StangSVT]

A similar thing happened on my 1998 Mustang. While parking my car I heard what sounded like gravel in my center caps. When I popped them off I found a broken stud with lug still attached in both of the front wheels. All of the other lugs were to torque spec. At the time, it at been at least 6 months since I had bought new tires for the car. Fixed the lugs and never has another issue with the car. Not sure what the cause was for that.

My son on the other hand works as an auto tech and he will never put a wheel on without grabbing the torque wrench and making sure the lug nuts are tightened to spec. Even with a torque stick on the impact he will go back over them with the torque wrench and double check.
:

Mike....you have more than likely answered Marty's broken lug nut symptom without knowing it. Heck, you may have actually answered most of the problems everyone has experienced. I was wondering if anyone would bring them up!

Impact guns and torque sticks are the DEVILS ADVOCATE when it comes to putting wheels back on. Having worked for a few years in the tire business as a younger guy, I always questioned things and how they work.

Here's the problems I have noticed.

1) Operator Error - A lot of guys guess what the torque should be instead of looking it up. I mean who has time to look it up when you are expected to change 4 tires in 20 minutes or less and you have 10 more customers waiting for tires behind this car. Oh this is a Ford Mustang so grab the "color" that equates to torque spec. Then depending on if you use a chart, some charts have 1 number and some give a range. Most charts for the Mustang show a range of 85-105 ft/# which complicates it. The lead guy may say 100# is a good base while the newer guy might be inclined to use the 85 ft/# stick to be safe since he is nervous. A pretty wide torque margin and that's where the issues come in to play. I have seen some guys grab a stick with the intention of over-torquing it so they don't have to follow behind with the torque wrench. All good and gravy until studs break, they warp your brake rotors or you have to use a 7 foot cheater to get your lugnuts off when you have a flat.

2) Trusting the torque stick and your equipment - They are convenient since you can stick them on a gun and make quick work out of lugnuts, but....they are not that accurate in the field. When these are developed, they were supposedly accurate within around +/- 3% but that is using a new impact wrench that has a 400 ft/# rating and a consistent air supply. Well guess what, in the real world, these have been proven to be inaccurate +/- 65% due to the variances in shop equipment. Some shops use a small gun rated half of whats required or have a weak air system that can't generate the consistent CFM needed where other shops have equipment that is rated way more than recommended and go full out Rambo on the sticks. Not tight enough and way too tight, some fall off and some break studs.

3) Not following with a torque wrench - Pretty self explanatory why this has become common practice. Too many PO'd customers coming back when their wheels fall off a day or two later. Of course there is the occasional customer that doesn't follow explicit instructions to re-torque or bring back to the shop after a few 100 miles to be checked. This is especially true with the aftermarket wheels and makes it more profound when they are of a different size or offset than the factory wheel.

IMHO, The sticks were made as a gimmick and they failed miserably. Tell the shop not to use them on your car and use a torque wrench, you will save yourself a lot of headaches.

Rant over.

[PaceFever79]

Rather than scribe this, I'll just quote instead. Some good points made beyond the under and over torquing issue. Thermal loosening. And how 1 loose lug nut can cause the rest of the lug nuts to loosen over time even if they were correctly torqued.

Loose wheel nuts can occur for a variety of reasons, including undertorquing, overtorquing, differential thermal contraction, and improper mating surfaces.

Both undertorquing and overtorquing are common when air impact wrenches are used because the actual torque that gets applied depends on so many variables. A common approach is to purposefully overtorque wheel nuts, in part to combat this variability and in part based on the reasoning that "more is better". However, overtorquing actually reduces (not increases) clamping force in many cases, by stretching the studs or threads beyond their ability to respond - especially when this is done repeatedly. Overtorquing can also cause other problems such as cracked, seized, or cross-threaded nuts (which cannot apply the appropriate clamping force), and increases the frequency of stud failure and cracked wheels.

Differential thermal contraction can occur when wheels are mounted at shop temperatures in cold climates. As the wheel components cool to ambient temperatures, clamping force is lost. Wheel nuts which experience any rotation (i.e. back off) during this time will not regain their original torque / clamping force values.

Improper mating surfaces include both damaged and contaminated mating surfaces. Proper clamping force cannot be achieved with non-flat mating surfaces such as damaged or bent hubs and wheels, or worn or elongated bolt holes (raised metal). Contaminants such as excess dirt, sand, rust, metal burrs, paint or powder coating on mating surfaces can wear away with use, causing a settling effect. When present on the threads or between a nut and the wheel surface, these contaminants can also change the clamping force / torque relationship, resulting in "false torques" where much of the torque applied is used to overcome friction and is not converted into clamping force.

A loose wheel nut can originate from any of these sources individually, or more probably, from a combination of these sources - which makes the task of eliminating all loose wheel nuts very difficult.

Loose / Missing Wheel Nuts

Wheels are subjected to a variety of forces, including vertical forces from the vehicle and its cargo, road vibration and shock forces, cornering forces when the vehicle turns, and rotational forces from the turning of the wheel, especially during acceleration and braking.

When a wheel nut loosens these forces are redistributed among the remaining nuts and studs, mostly to the nuts and studs adjacent to the loose nut, causing these nuts to back off at reduced wheel force levels. This loosening process accelerates with each successive nut that loosens, as the total clamping force drops and the stress concentration at the remaining nuts and studs increases. At this point these studs can fracture due to fatigue or overstress, accelerating the process further - especially with heavy cargo or high stress loads.

When the wheel forces exceed the clamping force of the remaining nuts and studs, the wheel will move relative to the hub which results in side loading and loosening of the remaining nuts, bending fatigue failure of studs, elongated bolt holes and wheel pilots on the hub, fretting fatigue cracks between the bolt holes, and wheel separation if not detected quickly. Damaged wheels should be replaced.

The rate of this process, and thus the potential for detection prior to wheel separation, depends on the type and magnitude of the forces being experienced.

[84StangSVT]

Rather than scribe this, I'll just quote instead. Some good points made beyond the under and over torquing issue. Thermal loosening. And how 1 loose lug nut can cause the rest of the lug nuts to loosen over time even if they were correctly torqued.

A lot of good information in that one also.

[PaceFever79]

A lot of good information in that one also.

My personal feeling is that there are a lot of damaged aluminum wheels out there. Aluminum is a soft metal. Many of the wheels are older reused wheels that have had the lugs removed and properly or improperly fastened many times over the years. Mushroomed, elongated, cracked, or otherwise damaged nut seats, are what causes the majority of lug nuts to come loose despite having been properly torqued.

[rob342]

i keep an old beam style torque wrench in the car with the spare. it's the only lug wrench in the car. works.

[gr79]

Seen yesterday at car cruise.
All the lugs snapped (doing burnouts he said).
Driver drove truck around corner slowly with axle on ground.
Lots of help came quickly. No big damage or street drama.
Flatbed driver jacked up rear axle and inserted wood as a axle sled.
The axle rode on the wood for 20' then up the ramp.

[86MustangGtRob]

When ever I go to a autocross track I check my lug nuts every time I get off the track. After 5 laps the lock nuts become a little loose.

[gr79]

Found one of the snapped lug studs with the nut still on it in the street.
Lug threads were bent and twisted a bit, looked chromed about 2.5" long.
May have needed longer studs and even a spacer for the big Camaro? rims.
Dare say maybe he used threaded rod stock?

[Shoegazer GT]

This brings back memories of bringing home my Fox and finding that the lug nuts were finger tight. In fact, the list of fasteners that were finger tight on this car when I got her is alarmingly long.