2003 TL 260k

Wife drove home last night complaining that car had thump, thump, thump noise coming from front of car. Took it out for a drive and, sure enough, noise was there - sounded like it might be wheel bearing.
Today, checked the front end and found 2 very loose lug nuts on front passenger tire. The 2 were right next to each other. Torqued them up, and bingo: no noise.

Questions:
1) Before I blame mechanic, is it possible that with all the ice, potholes, snow in the Northeast area that these lug nuts could have somehow worked themselves loose?
2) Any effect on alignment? - car was driven on highway for about 25 miles after noise was detected. Car rides smooth as silk now.

THANKS

 

how long ago did the mechanic mess with the vehicle?

glad you caught it in time!

 

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Car was brought into dealer for airbag recall 1/19/15, 1.5k miles ago - don't see how wheels were messed with - unless they decided to do a complimentary tire rotation.

Very Strange...

 

never trust anyone touching the car-
always ck your wheel lugs with a torque wrench, and make sure they are tightened correctly if its been near a shop
damage to the hub, rim and brake rotor can result from someone blasting a lug on too tight and uneven spreading of force

Yes they do loosen just by driving thru potholes and generally bad roads

A good thrashing on the backroads and mountains can loosen them 10 foot pounds
Spec is 80 foot pounds, not tighter not looser

for you in bad conditions, monthly would be a good idea

 

This happend to me and 2 actually came off on the road! Bumpy road + off calibration torque wrench did it! Luckily I caught it soon as I heard the click (sounded like a wheel bearing).

 

I had written a story the computer ate, involving race car trailer lugs not torqued after shop kid did the wheel bearing grease job
Driving up the big hill coming back from track when driver saw something flash in the mirror... 2 times (lucky to be going slow and watching side mirrors for passing traffic)

Discovered 2 lugs missing on each side of the trailer!!
luckily the ones on my truck/tow vehicle fit and were donated,,possibly without my full knowledge or consent
The other lugs were all loose, imagine the tires on the trailer coming off on the freeway!! Would be a great spark show!!

 

Personally, I've never seen a wheel come loose for any reason other than installer error. I've never even heard of it happening for any other reason. And it wasn't always my fault either! That said, it's really unusual for a car to go 1500 miles and then develop symptoms. Is there any chance that someone was trying to steal your wheels and got interrupted? That did happen to a member here a while ago.

 

good call trash!

 

Is there any chance that someone was trying to steal your wheels and got interrupted?

Hmmm...Tire valve caps have been stolen a few times - parked in a large open government facility - plus wheels are original and over 10 years old - but it's a thought.

 

when someone has a flat tire and no spare,,,your car may become a lot more attractive than you thought!

but chances are it was installer failure to properly torque the wheels
the shop kid gets assigned that job,,say the real techs swapped the wheels to inspect brakes (for selling you more work) and the correct procedure for re-mounting wheel to car was not followed

Many don't even know-or don't follow it = there is a special way to tighten any bolt- especially lug nuts- to spread the load and bring the tightness up in 2 or 3 steps

 

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How times have changed - I remember the days that lug-nuts were tightened by an air wrench to probably 150 ft/lbs (or more) and the only way to get them off was to attach a length of pipe to your lug wrench to get enough leverage to get the damn things off.