I was driving home from Atlanta to Birmingham today and started feeling a vibration in the steering wheel. I had noticed a problem in what I thought was the suspension about a week ago and was planning on taking it in to get checked out on Thursday. I kept going (bad idea) and decided to look at it closer when I got home. I was going about 70 mph when all of the sudden I felt a huge bump and my car came to rest completely on the front left wheel. I, of course, carefully slowed down and got off the interstate. When I looked at the wheel I saw 3 of the lugs completely sheared off and 1 lug gone. Somehow the wheel was still partially on the car and I have no idea how. When I took it in, the mechanic couldn't believe I was going 70 and the wheel didn't fall off. It was pretty scary and I can't imagine what could have happened if the wheel had completely fallen off. Tow truck came and took it in and it is getting checked out right now but I thought I might just share this incident with everyone. I'm not sure how much damage was done but I will find out soon. I know the lugs weren't loose but I didn't use a torque wrench so I could have possibly overtightened? This is weird bc I tightened them the way I always have and haven't had a problem until now. I guess I will always use a torque wrench from now on. I have some pictures in my gallery if you want to check them out.

 

It's amazing that you didn't end up with alot of body damage. Looks not too bad from the photos. How does the wheel look? Are the lug holes enlarged or distorted? If they are replace the wheel because it could happen again. Hope everthing turn out OK, someone was watching over you for sure!

 

Amazing. Just how big/strong are you? What is the torque spec for the lug nuts, anyway?

Unless you were using a cheater bar or are a defensive lineman standing on your wrench, it's hard to believe that you got enough torque to damage things.

 

checking lug nuts as well as a few other things is good practice.

 

I'm 18 about 5' 8'' and weight 135-140 pounds so im not the biggest guy haha. The wheel was damaged a little but could possibly still be used. The lug holes are fine. I used the wrench that came with the Mini so I'm not sure why this happened. I let you know the extent of the damage when I know.

 

Wow. Doesn't sound like it could have been you.

 

Were they from Palo Uber???

 

no they were just the regular lugs from when I got the car. I have the 17" s lites. Is there a problem with the palo uber lugs?

 

Question? Do you have an aftermarket brake kit? I ask this because Jsouz had the same symptoms when we drove to the Dragon in 2006 resulting in a wheel coming off as well. Switched to a stud kit and as far as I know he has not had any further problems. With the wheel spacer on he had that much less stud in the drum.
Jim

Nevermind I just looked at your pictures in the gallery you don't have aftermarket brakes.

 

yeah all stock there

 

I'm going to guess vandalism. If you put them on tight but not too tight, they should have been fine. Someone must have loosened them on you.

I torque mine to 90 ft-lbs when I change wheels and check them periodically over a period of several days after that. Never a problem.

 

If thats the case what a horrible thing to do. I can't imagine someone doing that. I'm definitely going to start a routine check of the lugs.

 

I broke one off last year at the track but I switch wheels often for to put on sticky shoes. My guess is that all that changing wheels does stretch the bolts. I actually had an extra set of bolts for this reason and switched them out. now i just replace them every year. Much cheaper to do than what could be a horrific accident at 100+ mph. I do use a torque wrench also.

 

I've had the same lugs since Jan 2004. I cant imagine that they could go bad. I don't take them off enough for that. Would you recommend getting new lugs everyone once in a while.

 

i'd imagine most places slightly overtorques the lug nuts in general. using the oem mini bar, can you really overtighten? i'm in the middle of a brake job and i'm using torque wrench from now on

at least the wheel didn't fall off and you didn't get into an accident. seems a weird thing for vandals to do but there're some sick people out there. always pays to be careful

 

I had lugs loosen up on me after some spirited driving during a track session. I had used a torque wrench, but they still worked loose. It's a good idea to periodically check them, especially if you've been driving aggressively (even if it wasn't recently). I would not suspect vandalism, but rather they just managed to work themselves loose. Glad you didn't incur any major damage.

 

At the track the rule is to check you lugs every morning. you can not check them hot. If you re-torque mid-day you can really stretch the lugs and weaken them. Only once before the first session.

 

A good torque wrench is not all that expensive and well worth getting it exactly right every time. I would hate to have to guess every time I switched between winter and summer wheel setups, particularly given the knowledge of occasional experiences such as yours.

Get one. You will thank yourself.

 

Already have one

 

It is not that hard to snap a lug.
When I worked at a body shop and we had totaled cars we would just snap the lugs to get the wheels off. You might be surprised how easy it is.

 

i don't think the 3 that broke were overtightened. i think what happened is one lug was left loose (the one that is missing). it fell out. the other three started working themselves loose. the vibration started happening when all 3 were somewhat loose. now at this point the lugs are taking the shearing load of the wheel, a load they were not designed to withstand. one of them snapped off, increasing the load on the remaining two, quickly snapping off the other two.

 

Don't forget a star pattern when you tighten the lugs. If you tighten one all the way down then start the second one and so on, you could easily snap a lug. Probably more so with the conical head shape of the mini lug, I can see a situation where one lug side is not in full contact with the rim or the lug itself is slightly ****-eyed. My rule is hand tight star pattern, half way tight star pattern, remainder torque star pattern. Always using a torque wrench. I had a friend who put 6 lug toyota wheels on a chevrolet only to throw a wheel a week later. The lug holes were microns off, not enough to notice, but it was enough to work six lugs free. Lugs are a strange breed.

 

I change my wheels at least once a month for track events. I've found that it is necessary to torque them at least two times after driving on them. I do it three times to be sure. For example, put on street wheels, torque them and drive home. The next day before going anywhere (so they are cold) torque them again. repeat the next day for good measure.

Also, at the track I torque them immediately before every session. So they have cooled from the previous session. Once a day will not get it done.

Alan

 

update: The car is ok, I have to replace a wheel but that's it. We think that it was one loose lug and then the rest broke off like what was said earlier. To think that you could potentially die because of one loose lug is scary but goes to show you should always use a torque wrench.

 

Glad you are OK.

One other thing to learn from this.....

If you have a vibration, stop & check the lug bolts!