I was going to Mothers Day dinner Sunday night. I had my grandfather and Uncle in the xB with me and my mom drove her van had the women in there. now my grandfather and uncle are both pushing 300lbs each. So...we start driving and everythings fine then there starts to be a little vibration and a wierd noise coming from the front of the xB. I'm thinking the front is rubbing from all the weight or a tire is going flat. get to dinner, check the tire, nothing. after dinner get back in and drove it for a block and the vibrations was getting very bad. pulled off the side of the road and noticed the front right rim not properly on the hub. take my center cap off and the lug nuts were about 2 turns from coming off! all 4 of them. I drove 100 miles round trip the night before with no problems. the last time I had the rims off was a week and a half before.

so please check your lug nuts to make sure nothing like this happens to you!

 

Pretty scary. Did you torque them down enough last time you took the wheels off?

 

Aluminum rims often shift and need to be torqued down twice.

It's S.O.P for the Porsche Club, and saved me with my new
wheels. After only 25 miles of being torqued down to the
manufacturers specs, one of the wheels was already starting
to walk!

 

So Tru! Buy a torque wrench set that biatch and Check them at least one more time after a tire rotation or any time the get loosened or taken off. I found it good to check them every month or so cause they'll tighten to and to tight can crack aluminum. Anyone with pimped rims should own a torque wrench

 

I actually lost a wheel on an El Camino I had. I stopped twice to try to figure out what the vibration was from, but couldn't find anything wrong. I dropped an American Torque Thrust D with a 50 series wheel off at about 45mph. Damn thing passed me on the road while I was riding low on my rotor... and smacked a soccer mom in the side of her van. (She was pregnant and threatened me with how big her hub was, etc. etc... but that's another story.) I recovered by wheel and bolted it back on, to find out that I hadn't replaced the shim washers on the wheel when I worked on the car. Those silly little skinny washers that I didn't think I need cost me a heap o' trouble - and no... soccer mom's hub never so much as called me.

Ah, to be young and stupid again...

 

I was told this when i got my rims on too... i checked them about 4 times every 50 miles just to make sure they stayed at 80lbs/in.

 

Shouldn't it be about 80 lb/ft, not lb/in?

Anyhow, recently a coworker of mine had her snow tires removed so her summer tires could be put back on. In the process of removing the winter wheels and tires, the tire shop snapped two studs off the wheel. Good thing it is just an old Hyundai Tiburon!

Moral of the story: After you have a shop put on wheels for you, take them off and torque them down yourself, to the correct torque specs. Overtorqued lugnuts can cause a whole lot of damage when it's time for a change of seasons.

 

As a rule of thumb all wheels shoudl be re-torqued after 50 miles...steel or aluminum...and you should insist that any tire shop you use utilizes a torque wrench...not just slap the wheels on with a torque stick on an impact wrench...a good torque stick will stop the impact from even reaching the correct torque...and under torque is so bad I don't even want to talk about it...over-torqueing can warp rotors, pull the threads on your studs, and ruin your wheels...insist they do the job right...it's not just your safety that is dependant on it...it's the other people that are driving on the road also...a loose wheel can kill

 

nuts should be retorqued after the first 100 miles.

 

hmm. now i must check mine just in case..

 

wow Bill, crazy. Glad everyones O.K. !

 

I had them torqued to 80lb/ft when I had them put back on a week and half ago. this has been the first time I had a problem with the lugs and I had the rims on since September. now I will be more careful.

 

You might find this useful!

Adjustable Torque Wrench (light duty for home use)
1/2" drive adjustable torque wrench
Click type design – wrench clicks when selected torque is reached
Accurately measures up to 150 ft./lbs. of torque
Price: $29.99 each
Estimated Availability: In Stock

For more information, please visit our site at: http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=DG2&url=index.jsp

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=239

$10 dollars for all you cheap a$$ ****'s out there like me

 

I had the same thing happen to me a few months back ... Lugs came loose while driving ...

 

hmm never happened to me. knock on wood

 

I need to check mine. It is very important. Especially if your car is lowered.

Where did you guys get the 80ft/lbs number?? Is that the same with most wheels?

-THE DON

 

The 80 ft/lbs. number is the Scion factory spec. Some aftermarket wheels will have their own torque specs and generally when you run acroos those they recommened new lugs as well.

 

 

damn .. lucky.. i kept a torque wrench with me the 1st week i had my rims on.. after each long trip i made sure they were good.. now i dont worry.... well cept for potholes... GOD DAMN NY!!!