A loose wheel and hair raising experience

Brakes could have been if they pulled the pads off. They squeeze the brake caliper all the way open to make it easier. Takes a few pumps after reinstall to get proper braking pressure back.

 

That's two levels of incompetence then - I've never seen someone not pump the brakes after pulling pads, and I've never heard of pulling pads for a 20k service.

 

Personally I would have them do a full inspection of everything…replace all brake pads .

 

Wow, so much struggle here.

Race car drivers with simple wet brakes frequently have to double pump their brake pedal because after a hard corner there is enough deflection in the wheel bearings to push the brake pads further back in the caliper. (Think more like old VW beetle sand rail/dirt track car.)

If his tire was loose the brake rotor itself would have pushed the brake pad further in the caliper. Causing him to have a soft pedal on the first press. The brake rotor is held on with the wheel and lug nuts. If they are not tight it can shift side to side quite a bit.

This is not rocket science.

 

Maybe ABS prevented the wheels from locking up. Edit: 1955 Buick’s never had this problem

 

That would be nice but never going to happen. At best they will check and replace items from the lose wheel, rotor, pad, studs and lug nuts. caliber if damaged.

 

Neither is tightening lug nuts.

 

It was targeted at the people who can't seem to understand why a loose wheel would cause braking issues.

 

Holyshit!!!

 

I know...I was targeting the dumb schmucks who failed to tighten lug nuts.

 

Because drums

 

I can see someone doing that if they are close to the shop. The smart thing would have been to pull into a lot and call the dealer, have a tech come out.

 

Hang on.

I've only done a couple of wheel jobs on a couple of vehicles, but on all of the ones I've done, tightening the lugs does not tighten down the spindle or the rotor. The castle nut does that.

 

On the taco and my
Old ranger the rotor is held in place by tightening the wheel lugs.

 

Well then I learned. That's wild stuff.

 

Not the first time of heard of this or seen this actually. A few years ago a newer 4runner barely made it off the dealer lot and around the corner. His wheel fell off too. Most likely the tech put the lugs back on all 4 tires and forgot to torque them when they were done.

On a side note, if they inspected your rear brakes and had the rear drums off they might have been improperly adjusted. The star wheel needs to be turned an equal amount of clicks on each side to push the drum shoes close to the brake drums. (Too many clicks the shoes drag, too little and the brake pedal can go to the floor as the hydraulics are trying to make up the extra gap space between the brake pads and drums.)

I'd also inspect that left front brake rotor for any scuffing or damage and also the rims for any damage as well. Then have the service department make a note in their records of exactly what happened in case of any future issues. You want it documented that the tech didn't tighten the lugs and the wheel fell off. You might be able to get a free car wash or Sirius xm radio subscription out of it. You can also call Toyota corporate and explain, but I'm not sure they'll do much. Glad you're okay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii8rC6CPCvM

 

They dont make’m like they usetah

 

As I said in my original post, I eventually had some braking power. When I first hit the brakes, I had nothing but I quickly realized that I had to depress the pedal about half way before I got any grab.

 

The tech or the truck?

 

What vehicles? That is not common.

The rotors are squeezed against the hub and the wheel.
The hub is held on by the spindle nut tightening against the spindle.

Drums, for sure.