If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
wheel falls off :/
Me and my wife are in our beater 73 Super (not the good 73 that isn't
completed yet) just got on the highway after filling up the tank. Not even a half mile up the road the steering fall starts to shake, then got worse quickly. Instinct says let off on the gas and pull over. Right then the drivers side front drops six inches to the ground and our tire passes us. No problem with control, I steered off the highway into the shoulder. I probably scraped 100 feet. The tire kept going about another 1000 feet across the highway and rested in the left shoulder. So I get out and see, yup, no wheel. How the hell did that happen? Over the road I did find the four lug nuts. Lower control arm and the bottom of the spindle are worn flat. Repairable.. My wife was freaked out and I was just laughing at the whole thing. I was the last to take the wheel off when I was working on the front brakes, but I know I torqued the lugs down... I don't know why this happened. -- David Gravereaux > [species: human; planet: earth,milkyway(western spiral arm),alpha sector] |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"David Gravereaux" > wrote in message
... > I was the last to take the wheel off when I was working on the front > brakes, but I know I torqued the lugs down... I don't know why this > happened. Man, I hate to say this, but it looks like sabotage. I mean, you would _know_ if you tightened the nuts. Seems real unlikely that all four would spin off in such synchronicity. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
>From: David Gravereaux
>, but I know I torqued the lugs down.. famous quote....just like "i *know* the firing order is correct", or "no that's not the problem" etc... ------------------- Chris Perdue "I'm ever so thankful for the Internet; it has allowed me to keep a finger in the pie and to make some small contribution to those younger who will carry the air-cooled legend forward" Jim Mais Feb. 2004 |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
David Gravereaux > wrote in message >. ..
> Me and my wife are in our beater 73 Super (not the good 73 that isn't > completed yet) just got on the highway after filling up the tank. Not > even a half mile up the road the steering fall starts to shake, then got > worse quickly. Instinct says let off on the gas and pull over. Right > then the drivers side front drops six inches to the ground and our tire > passes us. No problem with control, I steered off the highway into the > shoulder. I probably scraped 100 feet. The tire kept going about > another 1000 feet across the highway and rested in the left shoulder. > > So I get out and see, yup, no wheel. How the hell did that happen? Over > the road I did find the four lug nuts. Lower control arm and the bottom > of the spindle are worn flat. Repairable.. > > My wife was freaked out and I was just laughing at the whole thing. > > I was the last to take the wheel off when I was working on the front > brakes, but I know I torqued the lugs down... I don't know why this > happened. Geez! I'm glad you and your wife are ok. If you are going to quadruple check ANYTHING, check your lugnuts. I almost forgot to tighten mine once.....thank goodness I remembered. Yes. I'm *sure* you tightened them too. haha....If you really did tighten them, SOMEBODY loosened them. There are no other explanations. What happened to the whole brake assembly? Are you sure the wheel didn't pull off with the drum, IE the spindle nut was loose? How did you stop if the whole brake assembly was gone? If this happened, you would have lost brake pressure. Maybe I'm not understanding what came off, exactly. Anyway, again, glad you're ok, and glad the damamge is fixable. ~Anthony |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
did that one time also. put the nifty 8 spoke mags on my junker bug "just to
see how neat they will look on my next bug ". well....... forgot to tighten the lug nuts after lowering the jack and later watched one front wheel fly across the road into oncoming traffic seemingly dodging every car to land beside a fir tree. so that is something i double check everytime, now. -- bob http://photos.yahoo.com/ysail1 |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Michael Cecil > wrote:
>On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 13:48:16 -0600, "jjs" > wrote: > >>"David Gravereaux" > wrote in message . .. >>> I was the last to take the wheel off when I was working on the front >>> brakes, but I know I torqued the lugs down... I don't know why this >>> happened. >> >>Man, I hate to say this, but it looks like sabotage. I mean, you would >>_know_ if you tightened the nuts. Seems real unlikely that all four would >>spin off in such synchronicity. > >Hubcap fingerprints? No hubcaps were on the fronts.. was lazy.. This makes the most sense.. had to have been sabotage. From the looks of the 4 lug nuts I found on the road, the beginnings of the threads took all the chew damage when the wheel started shaking. So they must have been turned out by someone. And I do park this car on the street. -- David Gravereaux > [species: human; planet: earth,milkyway(western spiral arm),alpha sector] |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
|
#9
|
|||
|
|||
"David Gravereaux" > wrote in message
... > No hubcaps were on the fronts.. was lazy.. This makes the most sense.. > had to have been sabotage. From the looks of the 4 lug nuts I found on > the road, the beginnings of the threads took all the chew damage when the > wheel started shaking. So they must have been turned out by someone. > And I do park this car on the street. Kids probably ****ed-off because they couldn't steal your hubcaps. Glad you are okay. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
David Gravereaux > wrote in message >. ..
> (Anthony) wrote: > > >What happened to the whole brake assembly? > > No damage.. The drum didn't touch the ground. Under the strut is where > the spindle attaches and under that is where the lower control arm bolts > to. All the damage was to the lower control arm and its pivot. > > I'll take a pic of it today. D'OH! Spaced that it was a Super Beetle. I was thinking standard Beetle suspension compenents. Makes more sense now. ~Anthony |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
2001 Accord LX-V6 - weird wheel tuff | George Earl | Honda | 3 | September 27th 04 01:01 AM |
96 Land Rover Discovery : Diagnosing High Pitched Squeal Wheel Noise ??? | Zach Bower | 4x4 | 2 | August 27th 04 06:16 AM |
Over wheel king pin | Malcolm K. Beyer III | Antique cars | 1 | June 17th 04 09:01 PM |