Wheel just fell off... on side of road could use advice

I have a 3 ton steel floor jack in garage that I love, I carry a bottle jack and hi-lift in truck, I just REALLY could have used another jack in this situation... Hi-lift was too dangerous to lift directly from receiver hitch as truck was tilted, the jack kept wanting to tip over when the tire came off the ground, bottle jack didn't have enough travel to get axle out of dirt and wheel mounted... had to lift from a corner of the bumper with hi-lift / lift mate, and that was far less than ideal.

Im in your boat, always carry some blocks of wood.

 

did you ever find out what the heck happened?

 

That preset torque wrench, tho. Just scored a used one of those by auction from a pawnshop in Topeka.

 

Im assuming the previous owner over torqued the lug nuts at some point.

 

The owners manual for my 2008 Tacoma says that the tires nut lugs should be torque'd down to 85 ft-lbs. (113 N.m).

Back when I was searching for a "1/2 drive torque wrench" specifically for this purpose and one that would click, I could not find one right at 85 ft-lbs.

So I just went with one that was close to the 85 ft-lb setting and well as shown in the picture, it is one that is set for 80 ft-lbs.

It is sold individually or as a set. If you notice, the name Toptul is online store's label is shown on these torque wrenches but I was not going to pay their asking price because I knew that I could find it cheaper and I did.


But this same style torque wrench can also be found at Walmart, Amazon, Ebay or some other online store and probably for a lot less $.

 

I've got a few other torque wrenches in my garage that are specified for specific uses but I also have these two basic torque wrenches from Craftsman that I purchased way back sometime ago that still come in handy. They are the old fashioned beam type, which are still very useful!





Also have this niffty tool from Koken. This is a compact small "star tool" I guess you can call it that. It comes in two parts then you just combine each part and attach a socket at the end. Using the two opposite handles to turn the nut lug, once loose, then grab one end of the star handle and you can twirl the other side ends to speed up, both the nut lug removal and installation process.

 

Just, great. Off to find one of these. You bastard just force me to spend money.

 

That really wasn't my intention but......

 

I'll be honest, I searched as well for one of those 80 lbs torque wrenches.

 

glad youre ok!

 

Don't give up, eventually you'll find one exactly like it. As I found out through researching them, they basically are all made from the same manufacturer just sold under different name store brands, some much more expensive and others less expensive.

 

I could find them, just don't need one is all. If I'm going to buy anything, it'll be some torque sticks for my impact since I take my wheels on and off so much.

 

Got the used Steelman 80 lb off the pawn shop site for $35.50 delivered. Will check it against my Tekton when it gets here...

 

I didn't know you could back out the drum brake covers out with an 8MM bolt like that

 

Well you can until the threads rust away..

 

Neither did I until about 2 months ago... also found out that the bolts that hold our skid pates on are the perfect length this weekend.

 

hmm

 

Shit!
That wrench is $80!

Edit: Found something very similar on Amazon.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81qZ7TNW89L._SL1500_.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51og2sit92L._SL1000_.jpg

 

Those are awesome..need to add one of those to the tool box for sure.