Ok so I picked up some 18'' rays wheels yesterday and I picked up some lug nuts from auto zone today..I put everything on and I drive the car..everything seems fine but I here a noise coming from the right side of the car..as me and my buddy are trying to figure out what this noise is...BOOM..the wheel falls off on the Left side of the car...all lug nuts were shot off of the wheel and car and my brake was sitting on the inside of my wheel...nothing was damaged and we were not hurt

does any one know what could of caused this? the only thing I can think of is the cheap lug nuts that I bought
or that the lugs were too lose?
any help would be appreciated
thank you

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv4m41viy4I

Wrong lug nuts, wrong threading.

 

Would that cause the brake assembly to fall off with the wheel, though?

 

do you have pics of the aftermath? the whole brake assembly came off too?

 

over torqued? could be that not torqued...

and lug nuts from autozone??
lol..

 

special rims often require special lug nuts that fit just them
or you didnt torque the whels down
or the center hub of car axle didnt fit opening of rim but tightened up--until
they moved on road and ptttt suddenly its not on tight at all!!!

you will see some rims calls for a `hubcentric spacer` thats a ring that takes up the space and keeps rim in align with hub as you tighten

 

ya sorry I did not mean my brakes fell off my bad...what I was getting at was that the wheel did not fall COMPLETELY off I was lucky enough that I was going really slow..so my break setup was basiacally sitting inside the back of my wheel..if not it would have been sitting on the ground

 

I will post some pics tomorrow but nothing was really damaged besides the inside of the wheels where the break was grinding agianst it

 

ya I know bad decision but I was really anxious to get the wheels on

 

I didnt use a torque wrench if that is what you mean but ya the rims seemed like they fit pretty well when I was putting them on but they are 5 lug universal

 

wow glad I was driving really slow when this happaned...is there a way to tell that it was the wrong threading?

 

What did you use to torque the lugs?

 

ouch

 

they are "locking" lugnuts which is a joke because anyone can go to the same place and get the same lugnuts and lock , so I had to use the lock and I used a ratchet to tighten them but I did not torque them to anything specific I just tightened them, is this where i went wrong? or a combo of that and cheap lugnuts?

thanks for everyones help!!

 

ok here are the pics, good thing I was stock height because it could have ruined my fender



and the damage caused to the wheel

 

Is the damage to the wheel undrivable now?

 

that center part of the rim has to fit exactly with the axle ring on the rotor assembly- the raised part of axle must fit into hole on rim or else!!
if too small hole on rim they never got tightened down at all~
If too big the rim can move as you install it and not get tight, and not centered which causes severe vibration and lugs fly off
MEASURE with caliper of precision tool--both parts for exact match in size

you MUST tighten the lugs to 80 foot pounds torque
any less risk loss of wheel
tighten with socket-ratchet? how big a ratchet= something a foot long you can stand on to get some real force?
hand tight is about 50 pounds with cars tool

 

many years ago: someone else greased the race car trailer's wheel bearings-- and hand tightened the lugs, let it off the jacks...
Forgot to go back and torque them properly with the tool!!
got to the track ok- on the way home saw something go ZING in the side mirror
hmmmm what was that???
then ZING! another one,,,hmmm this is really odd....
ZING!!!! ok its time to pull over NOW!!

Found 2 remaining lug nuts--loose of course
luckily the tow vehicle used same lugs and a donor from each wheel made a full set for the trailer
trust nothing always verify- especially your own work!!

 

yes I used a socket-ratchet..and I did hand tighten it...ok so that is what I did wrong, do you think the lug nuts should be replaced? if so with what type? thanks for ur help man I appreciate it

 

naw its driveable, just got a little scraped up

 

crazy!! but I was driving on mine for not long at all..why do you think they shot out so quick? and all at the same time?

 

skimmed the thread, what type of lugs did you get? rounded or coned? most aftermarket rims take coned nuts while oem wheels are rounded. don't mix them up or else you won't have enough surface area contact to hold..

at least your ok and car seems fine!

 

Lugnuts NEED to be the correct seat for the rim. Some are coned, some are flat. You NEED the lugs that match the seat. Also were they the proper thread?

And lastly HOW TIGHT did you tighten them? How tight is "Hand" tight? To me that is not very much at all. They need to be 80lb/ft

 

ok guys here are the exact lugs that shot off so you have an idea

 

I uploaded some pics of the lugs...and your right hand tight is not tight at all , especially from me lol I have hand tightened my lugs everytime I have ever put them back on

 

they look coned to me?

but ya thanks man and the car does not really have any damage, could have been ALOT worse

 

wtf, so you never tightened your lugs after the car is on the ground to 80lb/ft?

no wonder why it fell off.

 

lol at hand tight...

and as above.. use the right lug nuts for the wheels.

 

well u didnt tighten them like everyone else is saying 80lb/ft and u used Autozone lug nuts.

 

....funny story from my youth.

Driving one of my many marginally roadworthy MGB's with wire wheels, (one big nut in the middle of the wheel) the front end suddenly drops. I stop and get out only to see the wheel continue rolling down road. I'm more concerned with the damage to the rotor or whatever and as I'm totally focused on the new flat spot on the brake rotor when the wheel returns and runs me over.

I'm so glad video recorders where quite rare in those days and the internet hadn't been thought of yet as this scene would have been a youtube hit !


As for wheels coming off, the secret is to get the lug nuts as tight as possible. One trick I use is to hand tighten the nuts with the wheel off the ground, then lower the car until the tire is touching the ground and then stand on the lug nut wrench to tighten to make sure they're tight. I take mine off the same way.

 

yes I tighten them when the car is on the ground but not using a torque wrench to 80ib/ft...never had any problems until yesterday

 

how do I tell which are the right lug nuts? dont they have to be smaller then most aftermarket lug nuts since the wheels are 5 lug universal?

 

ya well I deffinately learned from my mistakes

cant u overtighten them tho? causing the same problem

 

tapered seats are the right ones iirc... you just need to torque them

so, yea.. next time... go torque them down.. torque wrenches aren't that expensive... way cheaper than replacing a wheel + more

 

Harbor Freight even has some for like 25 bucks..

 

alright thanks man, definitely gonna invest in a torque wrench

 

ok kool thanks bro

 

These are very large bolts and I have never seen a stud stripped due to over-tightening. I think using any hand (un-powered) tool would have a very difficult time damaging this stud/bolt combination unless your using a 4' breaker bar or something equally exotic.

 

ok man thanks

 

1/2-20 ≠ 12-1.5