Wheel fell off today...

I check my nuts daily

 

You need longer spline nuts to grab more threads. Looks like you used stocks lugs?

 

Agreed, one sheared stud and I tried to see if the lugs would screw on the rest...no dice. Wouldnt be save to use without swapping them out.

Definitely agree LOL my rotor was mangled and most likely warped some other bits too.

I appreciate the offer! A lot of you guys are so willing to help out when in need! I hope your buddy was okay, a 40" and at THAT speed could have been a very serious accident!

Agreed, I most likely checked afterwards and thought they were tight since the torque wrench clicked.

Exactly, this is what I ended up doing. It took a few days of back and forth with the insurance, tow yard and body shop but they ended up sending a flatbed out to where I was to take it back home to a body shop near me.

Exactly what I did, got them to tow it back home. I feel you on the repair bill, its probably something you would never want to claim but thats what insurance is for. When you need it, at least you have it. I hope the repair goes well!

I agree, I have a feeling it will all have to be checked and maybe replaced. Do you think the body shop will just assume that and replace all of it? Or will they just replace the minimum?

Agree, I tried to take the proper steps, bought wheels that fit the hubs snug, and bought ET spline lug nuts to ensure proper thread engagement.

 

I actually thought of this thread this morning getting out of work. I got behind some guy in a Malibu and noticed his whole wheel was shaking. I thought he was going to get on the thruway. He ended up turning before I could try and let him know what was going on. Not sure if he knew or not. I’m sure he had to feel the vibration and realize something was up. He was driving kind of slow so maybe he was trying to limp it home or something. It was pretty dicey to see. I’m not sure he could of made it a mile past where I seen him turn. Hopefully nothing catastrophic occurred.

 

That's the crazy thing, mine only shook for about 10 seconds before it came off. Hopefully he pulled over just around the corner. Calling someone to come help you tighten your lugs is definitely cheaper than the repair bill!

Funny though that you noticed the same thing after reading this thread!

 

Since he was only going around 20mph I’m guessing that would allow the tire to wobble more depending how far out the lugs were. If you were going faster, the Centrifugal force should of keep the wheel more linear, up until a slight turn or maybe that one lug shearing off. I’m no engineer though, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

I think you're right and probably the case. When I was rolling around 60mph I had a slight jerk in the steering wheel, when I slowed down to about 20mph the steering wheel started shooting violently side to side.

 

Thanks. Next engineering opening at work I might try applying...

 

@Lawfarin LOVE it!

 

Aren't those all forms of negligence too?

OP, glad you're ok and I have no idea what could have happened as you did everything right. Running them on with an impact and over tightening would have led to the studs shearing off, not loosening. Like this guy

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

 

Thanks for the kind words! Agreed, I tried to do what I could to ensure proper fitment and thread engagement but sometimes things happen that can't explain.

Submitting a claim, paying a deductible and increased insurance premiums will suck but I just have to consider it a learning lesson.

But you bet now I'll be double-triple checking my lugs much more often

 

I'm still not convinced that those ET lug nuts are a good thing. I am old enough to remember ET Wheels. In those days, ET stood for Elapsed Time. That was in the days when people bragged about having a 3/4 race cam, Hooker headers, dual exhaust, and 4 on the floor. ET Wheels were made to fit more than 1 bolt pattern. They had oval steel plates that fit into oval recesses. The plates had the lug nut hole near 1 end. They used that style of lug nut. The plates were installed with the hole to the outside for a large lug pattern or towards the inside for a small lug pattern. It was a screwy design. The original ET never stood for Extended Thread. What's the point of all this? Those wheels were famous for falling off. This may be irrelevant to the OPs situation, but making a phone call to the wheel manufacturer may be a good idea to see what they have to say about those lug nuts with their wheels. I don't imagine that the insurance company would be so nice about paying, if a wheel fell off a 2nd time.

 

Interesting

 

Has your wife taken out a generous insurance policy on you lately?

 

Si nce this is a lug nut thread, or closest to it, I woke up this morning to a flat on my 24k Gen3 . KEVLAR tires bullet proof right?

So, I took the opportunity to do a stock wheel exchange to the stock spare. Has anyone else done this? Been a long time since I actually HAD to change a tire.

My biggest concern is that the stock lug nuts do not fit down into the wheel holes. So the back part of the lug does not fit down through the wheel's lug holes.

Is this normal? I'll definitely run it around the yard and re-torque, but I think that's iffy. Sorry , no pictures, phone dead too

 

Stock lug nuts are designed to work with the spare. You’ll be ok. I know what you’re talking about and that it looks odd, but it’s designed to work.

 

My biggest concern is why the hell this happened. How to fix it is easy to deal with (tow it to where it needs to be at home and rent a car home, insurance should pick that up).

Did the wheel fail?
Did you recently have your frame replaced? Did a Toyota tech fuck up something?

I’m glad no one was hurt!

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence , here's a snap of what I was trying to describe.



And the culprit pretty close to side wall :cry:

 

That’s unfortunate, looks like a costly repair.