The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Almost lost a wheel - Art Deco

Took my truck out today to drive around the State forest and see some of the fall changing colors. it was a good ride up until the last couple miles. I drove about 40 miles total and when i was about 8 miles from home the truck really started to pull like I had a flat tire! i finally found a place to pull over in front of an old farm house and walked around finding that all four tires were still holding air. So I made a second walk around wiggling the tires/wheels. The rear drivers side was loose so I popped off the hub cap and almost soiled my pants. All of the lug nuts were so loose there was no more than a quarter thread holding them on. That would have completely trashed my truck!!!!!! I have no idea how these loosened up but I am darn glad that I caught it before any major damage. I had just over 100 miles on it when I left for my trip so this may have been working loose for all 100 of them.

The wheel is pretty much ruined due to the lug nuts thrashing each hole. Thank goodness I have a spare. I had to call my wife to bring me a jack, tire iron and the spare but 40 minutes later I was back driving home. I contemplated using the Hagerty service just to see how good it works but figured it was easier to just call home since I was so close.

I had several people stop and ask if I needed help. One guy on a Harley stopped and talked with me for about 20 minutes. Probably would not get this type of reaction in my Buick.

Close call!!! Check your lug nuts!!!!

Glad you caught it. It'd ruin your day being a freak accident.

Wow. That was lucky ...in a way. Hope you can fiqure out why they loosened up.

That's why I'm a firm beleiver in torqueing lug nuts, as is the company I work for.

It's not just the old truck. I had a similar thing happen on my minivan. I think those aluminum alloy wheels were the reason.

Yes, aluminum wheels are very prone to lug nuts comming loose. Those should always be rechecked approximatly 25 miles after they have been removed and installed/reinstalled on a vehicle. Best way is to use a torque wrench using the specs listed in the owners manual. Most modern American cars torque to 100 ft/lbs, foreign cars torque at 75-87 depending on brand. Trucks can get ricky, as there is a rather broad range with late full size, even within the same tonnage class, but most run between 135-160.
Older trucks tend to run much lower. ADs and TFs run at 45-65 for 1/2 tons, 3/4 tons run 85-110.

I THINK I WILL BE GETTING THE TORQUE WRENCH OUT!!!

Me too! Thanks for the info. I'll check the lugs before I take it out next time.

Tim...I had a similar experience a few years ago,are your wheels powder coated by any chance?
If so,I would suggest you try and remove the coating at the lug nut seats and as others suggest torque the bolts evenly.
I'm not sure what lb/ft you should use but maybe someone else will chime in with the correct torque settings.
Thankfully neither you or your precious 'bolt were seriously injured!

I've heard of this with alloy, powder coated, and chrome rims too. Another no-no is the use of anti-seiz on the lugs. Glad all you lost was a rim. Could have been a lot worse. Stu

I have always Tourqe my wheels Aluminum or Steel to 110 ft. lbs.and retourqe em after a run to town and back or so 10 to 20 miles and KNOCK ON WOOD never had a set come loose!


Tim

Interesting topic. Few years back, I had a 55 Oldsmobile Sedan, and I lost the front left wheel while rounding a corner doing about 35 MPH. It felt like the earth had fallen out from under me until the 3,825 lbs hit the ground running. I watched the wheel in my rear view mirror traveling down the hill until it hit the curb and landed on the sidewalk.
A true eye opener! I ran down the hill, grabbed the wheel and brought it back to my car. Jacked up the front end, pulled the lug nuts from the other three wheels and was on my way. Fully shaken from this ordeal, when I sulked my car and my pride back into my garage, I circled the car and checked and double checked the torque and all wheels.
Lesson learned. When it comes to safety, check and double check your work prior to launching your vehicle. If you have a buddy, have him do the check, if no avail, walk away and come back for the safety check. Chevrolet have a similar problem back in February 1946 with the 1-½ Ton trucks. Attached is a scan from Chevrolet Service News.
Dale

http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo352/46Canopy/scan0004.jpg

Careful! There will be different torque values for different size studs. And, it seems, every wheel manufacturer has torque specifications for their wheels. Keep in mind, you could over torque a stud and stretch or snap it. Over torquing can fatigue studs. Most important is to tighten evenly so you don't warp the disc or drum beneath, causing braking problems.

I got the torque wrench out tonight before taking the truck on a little trip and found that almost all of the lug nets needed to be tightened!!!! Needless to say I'll be checking them before the next few trips to be sure they do not loosen up again.

SCARRY!!!!

Tim

Like most bolters, I can't count the number of times I removed the wheels on my rigs. I learned that the pressure drop in my air compressor lowers the torque that my impact has so I always finish with torque wrench. I did have one experience with my 82
F-150, steel wheels. I felt a vibration and pulled over thinking I had a flat, but all tires were up, so pulled back out on the highway and made it about two miles before the left rear wheel passed me up. Never did find it, put on my spare finish the trip.

Another thing to keep in mind. An impact can run upwards of 200 ft lbs to 400 ft lbs of torque. I would recommend using a gun to snug up the nuts then finish off with a torque wrench. This way you don't accidently stretch or snap your studs.

An alternative is to use torque sticks which only allow a certain torque.

No anti-seize? I better go clean my lugs!!

The issue with anti-seize or any other lube on lug studs is that on closed end lug nuts, any kind of lube has a tendacy to get squeezed out of the threads and build up on the top of the stud. It then gets trapped under the end of the nut, and can cause a hydraulic lock situation. The nut will "tighten up", but in actuality, it won't be properly seated nor at the correct torque. Most tire shops will not apply any kind of lube to lug stud for this very reason.
A suggestion on using an impact gun, turn it down to one of it's lower settings, the second from lowest usually works well, depending on the gun. Don't hammer on it, just a bit past snug. Then finish with a torque wrench. Personally, I use torque sticks, but those are rather expensive for the average guy who doesn't work on cars for a living. I do, so I could justify it.
One more thing, some of the newer guns on the market can exeed 750-900 ft/lbs, so be carefull.

Good points, Longbox! I teach all my students to snug wheels with an impact wrench, turned down to a low setting, then follow up with a torque wrench. Anti-sieze- - - -no problem, as long as it's not overdone- - -a little goes a long way. Dry threads don't torque well, so some type of lubricant, even plain old 30 weight, is a good idea to allow for uniform torque values. Powdered graphite doesn't accumulate road dust in the threads like oil-based lubes do.

If anyone chooses to use torque sticks, be aware that when the "shake" point is reached, hitting the trigger again will overtorque the nut. Don't get tempted to go around the lug bolt pattern several times.

As a general rule of thumb, the following torque values work pretty well:

7/16" bolts: 65-75 ft/lb.
1/2" or 12MM bolts: 80-100 ft/lb.
5/8" bolts: 100-120 ft/lb.

Jerry

Interesting, Tim, especially the discussion concerning aluminum wheels. I had the driver-side rear wheel/tire come loose on my '64 Nova wagon once (I run 15" Cragar mags on low-profile Kumho tires.) The tire got caught up under the car and caused the back end of my wagon to jump up in the air and about 4 feet to one side. I even saw a couple of the lug nuts rolling down the road behind me! Scared the living cr@p out of me, to say the least, not to mention snapping two lugs and denting the heck out of my inner wheelwell...and I was only going about 35 mph.

I never figured out what caused the nuts to loosen, but I check the torque on my wheels often, now! I agree. Use the impact, but final torque with a hand wrench.

Glad you weren't hurt.

~Bruce
(darn! And I swore I'd never talk about that 'incident'! )

I agree with you on the anti-seize, Jerry. I like to use a very light coat on mine. just enough to get 'em lightly coated. Helps with accurate toque and prevents galling. Powdered graphite is an exellent idea, too. I run my gun turned down when I'm doing lugs, I have one of those IR 2135ti impacts, they will pull well over 700 ft/lbs, so care must be taken.