So my wheel fell off, anyone else?

[jbtvt]

If all the other lug nuts are still tight, that tells you that the process you use for torquing is sound, so all the questions about torque levels, torque sticks, debris on threads, etc, become a moot point.

I'm guessing that either someone did a prank on one wheel (which I agree is highly unlikely), or you did not torque one set of lug nuts correctly. Happens to all (most) of us.

I would check with new lugs, studs or wheels... but if they have all been used a few times you shouldn't need a re-torque if you do it right.

-Charlie

Guys, and the others posting this, rims absolutely do loosen. I drive a ton of miles for work, split between about 8 vehicles between personal and company fleet, and have seen probably a dozen alloy rims come loose or loose-ish over the years. My own that I know were done by the book, procedure as mentioned before, when I was beating the car hard before retorquing, exes cars who had it done at a shop, company vehicles done at reliable shops. There's a reason they all tell you to retorque.

In this case, maybe there was a piece of grit or burr in one of the threads when he tightened in the air, then he set down and loaded the suspension which tweaks the camber and put excess pressure on that stud which was already loose. Now when he tightens the lug, he's trying to adjust a fully loaded vehicle's camber with a few lug nuts, so torque clicks before half the studs under camber pressure are actually to torque, and over time they work loose. Maybe he's got a caliper dragging creating excess heat and that excess and differential thermal expansion between the steel rotor/hub and alloy wheel works them loose. Or any other number of ways. Literally the last time I checked my lugs the other week after feeling vibration (think a belt snapped on my 7yo tires) I found all studs on one wheel that hasn't been off in over 1k miles slightly looser than the 100 ft/lbs I tighten them too. Nothing major but in another 1k miles, who knows. Odds of this being tampering are slim to none imo. This is not uncommon.

I've been getting retorque notices from shops since I've been driving, 25 years, if older people haven't maybe it's because alloys were less common before then. Personally never had an issue with steel, suspect the reason is that steel is more ductile than cast alloy and acts like a lock washer slightly compressing and loading the lug, so where heat or vibration would give an alloy some room, the steel springs back and takes up the slack. Like a spilt washer. My steelie vehicles don't get hot-rodded as much either, so that could be a factor.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Guys, and the others posting this, rims absolutely do loosen. I drive a ton of miles for work, split between about 8 vehicles between personal and company fleet, and have seen probably a dozen alloy rims come loose or loose-ish over the years. My own that I know were done by the book, procedure as mentioned before, when I was beating the car hard before retorquing, exes cars who had it done at a shop, company vehicles done at reliable shops. There's a reason they all tell you to retorque.

In this case, maybe there was a piece of grit or burr in one of the threads when he tightened in the air, then he set down and loaded the suspension which tweaks the camber and put excess pressure on that stud which was already loose. Now when he tightens the lug, he's trying to adjust a fully loaded vehicle's camber with a few lug nuts, so torque clicks before half the studs under camber pressure are actually to torque, and over time they work loose. Maybe he's got a caliper dragging creating excess heat and that excess and differential thermal expansion between the steel rotor/hub and alloy wheel works them loose. Or any other number of ways. Literally the last time I checked my lugs the other week after feeling vibration (think a belt snapped on my 7yo tires) I found all studs on one wheel that hasn't been off in over 1k miles slightly looser than the 100 ft/lbs I tighten them too. Nothing major but in another 1k miles, who knows. Odds of this being tampering are slim to none imo. This is not uncommon.

I've been getting retorque notices from shops since I've been driving, 25 years, if older people haven't maybe it's because alloys were less common before then. Personally never had an issue with steel, suspect the reason is that steel is more ductile than cast alloy and acts like a lock washer slightly compressing and loading the lug, so where heat or vibration would give an alloy some room, the steel springs back and takes up the slack. Like a spilt washer. My steelie vehicles don't get hot-rodded as much either, so that could be a factor.

I'll be checking mine tonight. Haven't re-torqued my factory 5-Stars since about 2 weeks after I installed a set of Spidertrax - nearly 2 years ago.

 

[octanejunkie]

With proper torque, assuming lugs and studs are in good shape, I've never had to retorque at any point.

I used loctite on my wheel spacers and they never loosened up.

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[phattyduck]

Guys, and the others posting this, rims absolutely do loosen.

Yes, and I admitted as much in my post. I have been doing my own car maintenance for 20+ years now. That said, the only loose wheel I have had was one that I forgot to torque after I put it down on the ground (took about 60 miles for the vibrations to start). This is about 85% aluminum wheel / 15% steel wheel over maybe 500k miles. I will still re-check new components after some driving. I also rotate tires on all my vehicles every 5k miles, so that's a lot of on/off cycles...

-Charlie

 

[FD7683]

That said, the only loose wheel I have had was one that I forgot to torque after I put it down on the ground (took about 60 miles for the vibrations to start). This is about 85% aluminum wheel / 15% steel wheel over maybe 500k miles.
-Charlie

I remember when I forgot to torque one of the wheels on my Civic a couple years ago and the vibration was intense. Pulled over to a grocery store that night and remembered I didn't torque the lugs when I finished a job! Never again lol. Checking the torque on the lug nuts every month or so is the rule for me. The aluminum rim was trashed and had to buy a new one at a scrapyard.

 

[Oregon Runner]

Interesting situation. The only time I've ever heard of this happening was 25 years ago when my girlfriends mom had her car sabotaged by a tweeker neighbor. Exactly the same situation (freeway driving, etc). My guess is somebody wanted your rims, began to loosen, then came across your security nut and stopped. If you have cameras on your rig I'd check the footage from the night before...

 

[gamefreakgc]

Speaking as one whose son is a Toyota / Lexus Certified Service Technician; I can assure you that 175 ft. lbs. is waaay too much and you run the risk of greater harm than going with the factory recommended (86 ft. lbs.) torque. Besides, standing on a lug wrench is very inaccurate when it comes to consistent torque. Just my 2 cents.

I find it very consistent, as I weight the same amount on every lug! Like I mentioned, the Toyota dealership where I have my alignments and balancing done torques it way tighter. If it were an issue, they'd be replacing wheel studs on a regular basis. I still have all 24 original wheel studs from 1997 when the vehicle was produced so I'd say they are very stout and can take a lot of abuse. That's part of the reason why we have 6 lugs instead of 5.

 

[jbtvt]

Thought of this thread while I was sitting in traffic coming home last Friday �� at least it wasn't a Toyota

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Imgur inline link doesn't work from the advanced image adding tab? Huh

 

[3bears]

i have a set of winter wheels and tires and summer wheel and tires. I torque then one time on install and check a few days after.....then it does not cross my mind again.
factory 5 stars and lug nuts, no spacers