I always said I’d drive her until the wheels came off

I just didn’t expect it to literally happen while driving on the freeway!

Dash cam footage:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ai8zvSIVGTzzhP13jNUdlBk0NYlsYA

We’re okay and safe. I made it to the side of the freeway and was able to slow down a lot before the back end hit the ground and we came grinding to a halt. Then we watched as my wheel rolled off into the sunset.

On inspection, it looks like only one of the lug nuts was tightened down, the rest were loose. The one tightened one snapped off, and the other five went flying across the freeway.

The only options I see are:
Option one:
Brake masters didn’t tighten the lug nuts after doing an inspection. I brought it in for an alignment and when I left I had some severe brake pulling and noise that was not present before going in.

I went back for them to take a look at it. They couldn’t identify the issue. I don’t know why they’d take off a back wheel to diagnose that though. Is that standard practice?

Option two:
I saw someone crash into two cars multiple times in our apartments garage. She was confused on how to get out of a spot, and was wedged in tight against the back end of a Jeep and the front of a camero. I helped guide her out of the spot through what must have been a 10 point turn, and told her she damaged the other cars and that she should leave her insurance info. She did not, so I sent pictures of the incident to the complex for them to action on.
I doubt she did it personally, but perhaps someone in her family retaliated? Seems like a stretch, but it was the first thing that popped into my mind when we came to a halt.

I have the truck at Yota Pros being looked over and eventually repaired. They’ve been slammed yesterday and today, so I don’t expect to hear back until tomorrow.

My question is, how bones am I? Is it time to lawyer up? I emailed brake masters corporate and let them know what happened, but I haven’t heard back yet. I said I expected them to cover the full cost of the repairs, so I’m sure they’ll review whatever they need to me get back to me. I know they’ll fight me tooth and nail, especially because I suspect a lot will need to be replaced as a result.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How would you handle it?

Pictures:

 

Amazingly I was able to recover the wheel. It was about half a mile down the highway on my side. It must have been guided by hitting a few cars.

Really thankful no one was hurt and the wheel didn’t cause any accidents.

 

Cracked up seeing that wheel rolling down the highway into the sunset, glad you're ok

 

Glad you're ok.

 

Happened to me in my old VW GTI VR6 back in the day. Discount Tire failed to securely tighten the bolt adapters coming out of the hub during their install. My car at the time was less than 2 months old. The best part was the manager accused me of sabotaging my own brand new car to get a free tire. Long story short after threatening lawsuit or getting one of the local tv consumer advocates involved they paid for the damage to my front brake and fender. Plus new wheel and tire.

Hopefully you can take it back to brakemasters and they treat you better than DT treated me.

 

I'm not sure you really have any way to know for sure. Do you know of security cameras in your complex? I would go after brakemasters first, as that seems more likely. Go there and don't tell them what happened first, just if they typically check lug nuts, etc... then lay it on them that your wheel fell off after having them do work.

But in either case, you're not likely to see much action. I would let insurance take care of it, that's what it is for.

Glad you're okay.

 

@MacGyvR You mean to tell me you didn't fix it with a bubble gum wrapper and a match then drive off in it

 

Heh, thought about putting the spare on. But then I realized that a spare doesn't help you when you have no lug nuts. I know what I'm adding to my emergency kit now

 

How long did it stay on the truck after you left brake masters?

 

Looks like 4/4. I initially stopped in on 3/28 for an alignment and when I left I had severe brake pulling and a vibration and hum. I brought it back to them 4/4, they said they had no idea what it could be. So almost two weeks ago, but I don't think I've driven many miles since then.

 

I think your going to be SOL with them. anything could happen in 2 weeks. Now if it had come off on your way home from there that's a different story

 

You could have taken 2 lug nuts from the other back wheel and 1 from each of the front wheels then driven slowly home on the spare if there wasn't damage to the drum/hub.

You should always check the work after taking it in for repairs, like check the torque on the lug nuts. The agreement you sign at these shops basically says they're allowed to disassemble your vehicle to look for problems. That's why I do all my own work now, including alignments. If I need tires I take them in loose off the car. That's not to say that there aren't quality reputable mechanics around if you don't have the time or inclination to do your own work.

 

I had to recover the drum, it fell off shortly after the wheel. Also didn't want to mess with it and cause more damage.

Definitely on my list of things to do after getting any work done. I just replaced the entire front end on my own over the course of a week. I just didn't have any energy left to deal with the alignment.

 

How long was it between leaving and that happening?

 

If you just pulled out of their parking lot and we’re driving down the road, you would have a case against them. You even said you suspected that someone could of retaliated against you for reporting an accident. Even if they didn’t securely tighten your lugs it’s your responsibility to retorque the lugs after driving maybe 30-50 miles or atleast make sure they still are tight. Even if you traveled very few miles after leaving and parked the truck for the two weeks, liability wouldn’t fully be on them.

It’s a shitty situation, but I don’t feel it’s right for you to try and stick them with the bill. Also with the OP you pretty much just killed any case you might of even had, saying your first thought was vandalism.

 

If insurance takes care of it l, they would likely go after the shop.

Is it possible the vibration, humming and pull was a result of a loose wheel from your first visit?

 

Best guess is 2-3 days, was a long time ago.

 

Betting it was the shop. Lug nuts will stay on for a while, even finger tight. A friend of mine drove 35 miles on finger tight lug nuts before his wheel flew off.

If someone did loosen your lug nuts intentionally, they would likely get attempted murder charges if you were badly injured as a result. That would be stupid even for a person who drives without insurance and leaves the scene of an accident.

 

Same thing happened to me on my 1990 Nissan pickup. On the drivers side front wheel in Atlanta morning rush hour traffic. I took a lug nut off the other three wheels and put the wheel back on and went to work.
I bought the truck used and the pervious owner had used the wrong (seating) lug nuts to mount the aftermarket wheels.