What is it with wheel nuts and me?

[Casper]

Well, last night turned into a bit of an adventure. Mrs Casper and I headed off to Whoosha’s 50th party in the XR for the long drive from Hoppers to Cranbourne for a good night out. Half way there (just out of the tunnel) and the car pics up a vibration from the rear end. Pulled over as it felt like the passenger side rear wheel was the cause. Looked at it, all ok, checked the wheel nuts, all good. Thought we may have thrown a wheel weight so jumped back in and off we went. Then, coming through the road works on the Monash there was a “crack” noise and the vibration got much, much worse. This time I pulled straight over as it was certainly more than a wheel weight causing the issue. Checked the passenger rear wheel again and checked each nut for tightness, all good. Scratching my head I walked back around to the drivers side and noticed a wheel nut sticking out further than the others quite a way. Aha! The culprit, a loose wheel nut on the drivers rear. Went to go tighten it and the whole thing just fell out, still locked onto the wheel stud! Then, at that moment I noticed than one other wheel nut AND the entire wheel stud was missing as well. The entire wheel was held on by 3 nuts. Made the decision then that it was just unsafe to drive and we called a tow truck. If 2 had snapped off like that then the likelihood of the other 3 going were just too high for me to risk it. So we sat and waited for the tow truck and thanked our lucky stars that the wheel hadn’t completely separated from the car on the freeway. What is currently a minor inconvenience could have become a major accident!
Anyhow, its not all bad, you do get to see some strange things sitting stationary on the Monash Freeway.
1)Ironically the car was stopped due to missing studs only meters from the Stud Rd exit :
2)People don’t seem to give a damn about roadworks speed limits
3)Melbourne has a LOT of stretch limo’s. I counted at least 10 of them including a stretched Territory and Morgan Excalibur (WTF?).
4)CrannersEL has a VERY shiny car.. but it needs to be lowered more :LOL: Must have been en E Series cruise on last night, saw a few of them blinged up and shiny drive by but Cranners stood out, it looks in perfect condition. A credit to the owner.
5)Associated Towing are fantastic.. and back at the depot have some very cool tow trucks. The owner is a Ford fanatic and, parked down the back, is a fully functional “monster truck” tow truck made from an ex-Army recovery vehicle with a customized F100 cabin on top.. Very Cool!

Anyhow, below is a pic of the one recovered stud, wheel nut still attached. The cause? Its suspected the wheel nuts were about 2mm too short to suit the length of the wheel studs and were overtightened when the new wheels were fitted. This has stressed the wheel studs and they have simply sheered off with the stress. All are being replaced now (car’s at the tow yard just up the road from G&D, they will pick it up on Monday and sort it out for me).








Special thanks for the night goes to:
Whoosha, for seeing the funny side
Matt @ G&D for helping me organize the tow truck and for next week when they will no doubt go out of their way to fix it all up and get me back on the road.
Mark and Tracey. Tracey fro coming to get us at the tow yard and driving us back to the party. Mark for making the night amusing and offering the loan of the Festiva. The offer was very much appreciated Mark, and the cause for a couple chuckles on the way home remembering the discussion :
Rusty @ G&D simply for the priceless look on his face when presented with what was decided a few months ago to be “unbreakable” wheel studs after we tried to actually break one at Heathcote.

[bodes-sh]

well, that's both funny and scary at the same time...i guess it is a good thing you stopped when you did, and noticed the other wheel...i've heard of wheel nuts undoing themselves, even had it half happen to me on an old car, but never wheel studs breaking like that, glad you and the car are all ok, hope the new set lasts longer

[Melz]

Shane I think you have found your 'thing' in life... wheel nuts. I have a 'thing' with autos, and breaking them! hehehehe
So did you take up the offer of the Festiva?? And discover the joys of Korean power.... hehehehe

[The Mighty Red]

Holy Crap! Glad you are all ok ......

I better make sure I get the right wheels Nuts when I copy your Rims ..... _2:

[xr8ute]

Damn...that looks a little scary....glad it happened at relatively slow speed and you are all OK.

Cars are a PITA sometimes

[LUXO_8]

casper.....does the center of your rim fit snugly over the lip on your axle....i have seen this happen before where the weight of the car is taken up by the studs and not the axle itself...

the studs are only designed to hold the rim to the axle, not suport the cars weight....

this is why running those spacer plates is bad as it puts load on the studs.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

casper.....does the center of your rim fit snugly over the lip on your axle....i have seen this happen before where the weight of the car is taken up by the studs and not the axle itself...

the studs are only designed to hold the rim to the axle, not suport the cars weight....

this is why running those spacer plates is bad as it puts load on the studs.

The wheels fit snug on the axle, that was the first thing I looked at when they fitted them as I was aware of this issue in the past with other cars.
I'd say the fact that the stud is still firmly in the wheelnut (I cant turn it at all to get it out) is a sure sign of overtightening.. Wheelnuts are just too short unfortunatly. Looking close you can actually see the bulge on the top of it as the stud has hit the top and started pushing its way through. :

[LUXO_8]

ah gee......did you get the rims from a shop? i'd be hitting them up for new studs....

[Casper]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

ah gee......did you get the rims from a shop? i'd be hitting them up for new studs....

Yeah, the nuts were purchased with the wheels and I'll be giving them a call to let them know the issue however I doubt they can or should take responsibility. In the end it was my responsibility as its my car. I should have checked and been certain they were the right nuts for the job. My fault in the end, I dont really see how I can pass the buck.

[sfr rob]

I am more amazed that you could find somewhere to stop on the freeway around the roadworks there, if you had my number, you could have called me, i live 2 minutes from the stud road exit.

crazy that the wheel studs sheered off like that, makes me think twice about dropping skids now.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by Casper

Yeah, the nuts were purchased with the wheels and I'll be giving them a call to let them know the issue however I doubt they can or should take responsibility. In the end it was my responsibility as its my car. I should have checked and been certain they were the right nuts for the job. My fault in the end, I dont really see how I can pass the buck.

ah yeah thats fair enough i suppose....

[Casper]

Originally Posted by sfr rob

I am more amazed that you could find somewhere to stop on the freeway around the roadworks there, if you had my number, you could have called me, i live 2 minutes from the stud road exit.

crazy that the wheel studs sheered off like that, makes me think twice about dropping skids now.

Yeah, the roadworks made it a little more hairy but we were lucky to find a spot with a little room and space for the towie in front when he arrived.

As for them sheering off, I suspect it only happened because of the wheel nuts being overtightened. I'd be less worried about doing skids and more about making sure the aftermarket wheelnuts are the right length etc.

[Whoosha]

At this rate Casper you would have spent more time taking wheels on and off with broken studs than you have driving it :eclipsee_ glad it all ended well anyways :thebirds:

[JC]

Casper that's both bad and good luck (bad cos it happened, good cos you stopped before it became more serious). To replace the studs on the rear is a PITA. The whole axle assembly has to be removed, so you might look at doing the wheel bearings at the same time.

[DJM83]

Lucky casper the whole wheel didnt come off

[Kenaz]

I probably drove past you as well Shane. There was a big Ford cruise last night, as far as I know Cranners was behind me on the Monash.

You're lucky you found the problem before any serious damage was done :

[chrispie123]

im glad you stopped same thing happened to me a few weeks ago in my au11 except mrs's was driving and didnt stop 3400 in work got done and cant by mag wheel replacement so also a new set required so all up about 5000 damage i feel for ya

[xr8man83]

thats it im off to go check my nuts hahaha your a lucky man that the wheel didnt come off that would of been messy

[jabba]

Holy wheel nuts Casper... Mate that is not good, bloody lucky you did not loose the wheel....

[peterban]

Maybe an AUFALCON.COM.AU flashing sign in the rear window when broken down would see some members who just drove straight past you stop and help.

It is a shame that people just drive by without lending a hand, especialy when they see such a great looking Ford sitting on the side of the road.

I am glad no harm came to you or your vehicle.

I am surprised that the wheel place didn't check the nuts first as this is part of the job they do everyday.

I would expect they at least supply new parts for free!!!!

[KOUPE76]

Damn, glad you guys are alright, might have to go and see G&D about the same thing as I've snapped one stud and one other isn't looking to good.
Don't worry Shane, your not the only one with troubled nuts :

Mick

[Orbit]

glad to see everything is ok.....injury wise...it could have been ALOT nastier. pleased to see you used better discresion and common sense then most would have.

[Casper]

To be honest, once I felt the vibration, I knew something was horribly wrong. Anyone who would actually drive the car with that sort of vibration would have to be totally oblivious to the "feel" of a car. It wasnt an option in the end, the car was undrivable as far as I was concerned.

[FTE217]

Casper should buy a lottery ticket mate !
Damn lucky and glad you decided to pull over and get the AU towed.
G&D wouldn't recognise a clean wheelblinged Casper AU lol...

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Bluedriver

Casper should buy a lottery ticket mate !
Damn lucky and glad you decided to pull over and get the AU towed.
G&D wouldn't recognise a clean wheelblinged Casper AU lol...

Every time it goes to G&D its had different wheels on it. I'm just glad they stayed on this time round.. it could have been a LOT worse.

[poolkeeper]

Originally Posted by BLUPRNT XR8

Damn, glad you guys are alright, might have to go and see G&D about the same thing as I've snapped one stud and one other isn't looking to good.
Don't worry Shane, your not the only one with troubled nuts :

Mick

Haha, sounded funny lol

[Stav]

Bloody heck Casper!! Who tightenend them last time? Thats dangerous!!

[AUIII XR8 MAN]

Hard luck mate. But at least no major damage was done.

[chief]

Dam Casper. It was lucky it was only 2 and not 3 or 4 wheelnuts. Happy to hear that the car is ok and more importantly you are ok.

[Laminge]

Im suprised its only the car nuts that where torn off to tell you the truth.

:voldar02: :voldar02: :voldar02:
Main things is both of you are ok.