A unwelcome surprise

[NBtaurus]

I just came home from a christmas shopping trip in nearby Laporte, In. Three miles until the Michigan border I had my front passenger side wheel fly off my car while I was driving. I braked as hard as I could And me and my car survived unscathed on the side of the road. I figured out how that incident occurred my wheel studs on the brake assembly came off clean. I found my front passenger wheel in a cornfield 14 feet away.

[Bob R]

Glad you're OK!

[crackhead]

I would check all of your wheel studs. There are a few things that could make that happen.
1. If it has been a very long time since your wheels have been removed, the brake rotor could rust and push the wheel away from the hub, thus over stretching the studs.

2. The lug nuts could be over tightened a lot and caused the studs to over stretch.

3. The lug nuts were never tightened town and the wheel was allowed to wobble putting impact forces against the studs.

If any of these happened to one wheel, chances are, the same thing is happening to the other wheels.

[NBtaurus]

Originally Posted by crackhead

I would check all of your wheel studs. There are a few things that could make that happen.
1. If it has been a very long time since your wheels have been removed, the brake rotor could rust and push the wheel away from the hub, thus over stretching the studs.

2. The lug nuts could be over tightened a lot and caused the studs to over stretch.

3. The lug nuts were never tightened town and the wheel was allowed to wobble putting impact forces against the studs.

If any of these happened to one wheel, chances are, the same thing is happening to the other wheels.

I checked the front rotors and they are brand new.

[loudsho92]

Originally Posted by NBtaurus

I checked the front rotors and they are brand new.

Then the lug nuts were loose or over tightened.

[Blkfordtaurusman]

That had to really stink. I'm happy your alright. I will check my studs tommorrow.

[aaroncgi]

That's scary, glad you and the car are ok.

I know two people that have had this happen to them, one on the freeway and one on a small rural highway, both cases the people and vehicles survived relatively unscathed.

I can't believe your wheel only went 14 feet though - were you just crawling along? I can set a loose wheel/tire upright and push it more than 14 feet from a standstill! I would think an already rolling wheel at driving speed would go much farther. My friend whose wheel came off on the freeway said the wheel hit a jersey barrier, bounced over it, and kept going for some distance!

[Roach]

Didn't this happen to an Odessy awhile back....?

Glad you're okay!

[NBtaurus]

Originally Posted by aaroncgi

That's scary, glad you and the car are ok.

I know two people that have had this happen to them, one on the freeway and one on a small rural highway, both cases the people and vehicles survived relatively unscathed.

I can't believe your wheel only went 14 feet though - were you just crawling along? I can set a loose wheel/tire upright and push it more than 14 feet from a standstill! I would think an already rolling wheel at driving speed would go much farther. My friend whose wheel came off on the freeway said the wheel hit a jersey barrier, bounced over it, and kept going for some distance!

The speed I was going is at highway speeds of 55mph. I braked hard after the wheel fell off in that one second. The wheel went through the ditch on the right side of the road, and landed in a cornfield on the other side.

[Sardog]

Glad you're OK! Curious to hear what the cause is, please post when you know.


1966 Ford Galaxie 7 Litre, love my 428
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