Driving on the brake disk!

[Armitage]

Saw it on the way to work this morning. I think it was an Explorer. Sitting in the middle lane of S. bound Academy, no left front wheel, and a long mark on the pavement where he was driving on the brake disk.

How can you screw up putting on a wheel so bad that it actually comes off?? And it seems it'd be wobbling or such before it actually came off so you'd have time to notice.

 

[bmacd]

probably didn't torque the wheel to spec or just forgot about the lugs completely!

-=bmacd=-

 

[kt]

Originally posted by: bmacd
probably didn't torque the wheel to spec or just forgot about the lugs completely!

-=bmacd=-

A friend of mine has done that. He forgot to put the lugs in after working on his brakes earlier. Then he drove to a gas station without any lugs to hold his wheel in!

 

[Zysoclaplem]

I almost had the same thing happen to me. Turns out the wheels were directional, and they had been put on the wrong way. The one on my front driver's side should have been on my front passenger side.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
I almost had the same thing happen to me. Turns out the wheels were directional, and they had been put on the wrong way. The one on my front driver's side should have been on my front passenger side.

And that caused the lugs to loosen/come off?

 

[dullard]

Had that happen once in a school van. We saw this tire bouncing behind the van, and told the driver (our teacher) but she didn't believe us. The ride got slightly bumpier (only slightly) - and she thought she just went over the edge of the pavement. But once she got squarely in the middle of the road and it was still a bit shaky, she finally pulled over. We waited about 2 hours to get it all fixed, and had fun by putting red marker all over our faces and pretending we got in a big accident (4th grade students are a bit odd).

I don't know how it happened though.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Yes. They will loosen themselves over time. It happened twice. It got to the point where I could hear the wheel moving around, and I would have to stop the car and tighten the lugnuts. Then it happened again, and I am pretty sure if I had not have stopped when I did my car would have been missing a wheel. Eventually I read up on it, and I found out I had the wheels on wrong. They didn't look wrong, I just didn't know they had to go on a certain way. Switched them around and never had the problem again.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Yes. They will loosen themselves over time. It happened twice. It got to the point where I could hear the wheel moving around, and I would have to stop the car and tighten the lugnuts. Then it happened again, and I am pretty sure if I had not have stopped when I did my car would have been missing a wheel. Eventually I read up on it, and I found out I had the wheels on wrong. They didn't look wrong, I just didn't know they had to go on a certain way. Switched them around and never had the problem again.

Huh ... never heard of that.
At least you were paying attention enough to notice it.

 

[Thump553]

Happened to a friend of mine, several weeks after he had his car in the shop. Totalled the car. His insurance company claimed it was his negligence and refused to renew.

It also happened to my brother when he was 17, driving a Boy Scout camp dump truck on the highway. But I may be remembering that one wrong, it may have been a broken axle.

 

[NogginBoink]

A neighbor had it happen.

He'd had a tire fixed and the shop put on the wrong lug nuts. The lugnuts didn't have a shoulder to hold the wheel on. The stresses caused all five wheel studs to shear, and the wheel came off.

 

[Armitage]

Wow, I didn't realize keeping wheels on cars was so difficult :shocked:

 

[NTB]

Happened to my uncle years ago, too. Not sure of the circumstances, I just heard the story afterwards. Apparently he was driving down the highway when it happened :Q

Nate