Driving along & my wheel fell off!

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justworking, Mar 25, 2:34am
Does anyone else find this odd!I have posted in general but want to know can the nuts just come loose like that!Been a year since I have had new tyres so!

pandai, Mar 25, 2:37am
Yes, it is very odd that your wheel fell off

robell, Mar 25, 2:40am
I would agree with pandai, it is quite odd that your wheel would fall off

dr.doolittle, Mar 25, 2:42am
I had a Range Rover do that to me once. I'd been 4wding all day & was going about 80kmh on the road when I heard all almighty BANG! & the car dropped to the L/rear & I saw my wheel pass me & go into the bushes at the side of the road.
By the time I stopped I had ground off 1/3 of the rear disc. When the wheel came off it punched up into the guard & made a big mess of the l/rear quarter.
I recovered the wheel & took a nut off each of the other wheels, found another on the road, refitted the wheel & drove home SLOWLY through the back roads.

To this day I thank someone(God maybe) that it wasn't from the drivers side otherwise I'm sure there would have been serious consequences.

cowboy110, Mar 25, 2:46am
I'm with the others on this one.most bewildering.I hope it's not catching.

justworking, Mar 25, 2:47am
dr.doolittle that is pretty much exactly my story except I hadn't been 4WD, could have been so much worse!

dr.doolittle, Mar 25, 2:49am
Yep, scared the bejeebers out of me. Not to mention the mess to the guard ANDthe driver seat.

lookoutas, Mar 25, 3:17am
If lefthand nuts are loose, they will completely unwind due to centrifugal force.

sr2, Mar 25, 3:24am
A wheel falling off just isn't cricket; I'd write a rather condescending letter to the NZ Listener if it ever happened to me.

justworking, Mar 25, 3:32am
Thanks lookoutas how long could they be loose for before the wheel falls off!

lookoutas, Mar 25, 3:38am
It happens pretty bloody quick once you're up to speed.
The reason why some vehicles have had lefthand thread on the left. Sports cars with knock-ons will be lefthanded on the left.

If RH nuts are loose, they won't come off. Will still flog the holes out though.

justworking, Mar 25, 3:45am
We had our brakes done about 4 - 6 weeks ago and was thinking it could have been because of not being tightened enough then so I guess not, time span too long by the sounds of it.What other damage might it have caused!Thanks

skyline_guy_r34, Mar 25, 3:46am
Have you ruled out someone tampering with your nuts! (good pun).

While I understand things loosen etc. Theres more than a few bored teenagers around these days that would get a thrill out of doing something like this. Any chance of this happening where ever you have your car!

im_andrew, Mar 25, 3:53am
I would start checking the taper on your wheelnuts matches the taper in the holes on your wheels, then that the wheels are seating correctly on the hub. then that the person refitting your wheels is torqing the nuts correctly.

tmenz, Mar 25, 3:54am
I'm just surprised the other 3 wheels stayed on!

justworking, Mar 25, 3:58am
Yeah skyline we were kind of wondering that too, parked just down a drive but very visible from street.We were just hoping for another explanation, you never want to think the worst

lookoutas, Mar 25, 4:03am
If they weren't tightened properly, they could take a while to work loose. It's just that once loose, they will come off very quickly.
Check to see if the RH nuts are tight enough.

Similar thing happens with shackles on trailer safety chains when fitted through a vertical bracket. If they're screwed in from the left, the bouncing action of the chain will undo the shackle even if tightened with a spanner. But if fitted from the right, they will actually tighten due to the bouncing. That's why you sometimes need a tool to undo them.
Fortunately, most of us are right handed, but I can remember a workmate nutting out over the amount of shackles he lost, and it took a fair bit of convincing to sort him out.

boss_hogg, Mar 25, 4:15am
hjave also had 2 very close calls with wheels coming off. Tandem trailer maikng a hell of a racket one day, stopped twice before i spotted that the wheel nuts were very loose on one wheel. also had it happen on an audi i once owned. caught that one just in time too. lost 2 wheel studs that day! both times for me its been very noisey and wobbly before hand so i stop and look and fortunately find the problem.
why it happens i dont know. i'm no expert but was thinking as the audi had had brake work done 3 wweks proir that the surface the wheel mates up to wasn't cleaned up properly and therefore wasn't sitting perfectly. 3 weeks worth of travelling and the forces mentioned above acting on the wheel --- wheels comes off.
FYI brake shop couldn't be more helpful when i told them of my theory and ordered new studs and gave me a loan car while they fixed it at no cost.

also had a set of duel wheels come off on a brand new four axle trailer. luckily that happened in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.

jono2912, Mar 25, 4:40am
Small world. Was it the one down the bottom of Kellands Hill earlier today!

My partner came out with Dave to help you.

boss_hogg, Mar 25, 4:46am
umm me.! sorry not me

jono2912, Mar 25, 4:51am
No, OP. Sorry wasn't very clear.

sr2, Mar 25, 4:56am
Not necessarily so; the jury is still out (after all these years!), in the l/h vs. r/h thread issue. I??

jogjm, Mar 25, 6:40pm
Bugger that

jono2912, Mar 25, 9:24pm
Looking at the marks on the road Kaz, she was very lucky. There's a big scrape mark from the middle(ish) of road all the way to a nearby barrier. Then Again, if she hit the barrier shes lucky, because behind it is a big ditch, and she would of rolled the car.

s.patete, Mar 25, 10:09pm
lol I saw this happen in Wanganui not that long ago, we were in the park with the kids up on the ship by the road, all of a sudden we heard this strange bang.Looked up to see a riced up cefiro dragging its ass then a wheel shot off in front, up the curb and over a hedge.The car stopped asap and 3 young guys got out, they retrieved the wheel and some nuts (wheel nuts that is) and stood there scratching there heads.What looked like one of there mates turned up had a laugh, scratched his head then left.In the end they called mum to come rescue them, not sure how they got the car home but was one of the funniest things ever.