Couple weeks ago, I pulled my drivers front wheel to do some maintenance. Like it usually happens, i got in a hurry and rushed. Jump ahead to today....nice day, cool temps....good day for a drive. Set out about 11 this morning, drove about 30 miles and went to eat lunch with a buddy. Took off down the road, caught in construction traffic moving about 5 mph but not more than 30. Started to hear a noise, like a knocking in the front suspension. Determined it went away if you tapped the brakes. Kept going until i could pull off the highway, wondering if I torqued the lugs when I pulled the wheel.... That would be a negative Ghostrider....two MIA, and a third backing out..... Expensive lesson learned...how expensive is yet to be determined. Hopefully, there wont be any damage to the hub... Thank God I was in stop and go low speed traffic, rather than flying down the highway... Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my SM-G955U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Called my roadside assistance...aka the wife...and had her bring supplies. Pulled the wheel, did an inspection of the wheel and suspension. Good news is all the threads are good. Reinstalled the lugs and TORQUED THEM then back home. Up next is detailed inspection of everything... Thank God for the traffic that I was cussing because if I had been at speed (75 mph for that stretch) it would have been a little harry....
Not sure I'd broadcast this mistake if this was me doing it---just sayin'--! Sent from my LG-M150 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Thanks for the reminder to double-check this stuff...and for being real about mistakes we all make sometimes! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Long story, I nearly lost a wheel once. Caught it just in time. No damage. You might be lucky and no damage except some wheel hub paint. Glad you are safe.
Nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes and we all forget to do something once in a while. Happy to hear you are OK. Dan
Relatively inexpensive yet good reminder how a even small distraction when tinkering with cars can really lead into something bad, either financially or even life threatening accident. I try always do one job at a time, no phone calls, no "wifey time", nothing whiles at it. And if I'm even slightest in doubt, I'll check. Once I got carried way when doing simple rear brake job to my daily driver that apparently I forgot to tighten the rear caliper upper bolt as it wen MIA while driving (luckily in suburb area) and the upper part of the caliper "dropped" on the alloy wheel causing it almost to lock and made really bad mars to the said alloy wheel. What a ****** thing to do but I always remind me, it could have been with my F-car.
I’d hate to admit it but I have been there on an E36 M3 many years ago when I was just learning how to work on cars. Believe it or not, failing to torque the wheel bolts/lugs after lowering the car is more common than you may think and can cause severe damage and even injury. I learned my lesson and now I always leave the torque wrench on the driver seat/floor throughout the job just as a reminder before I turn the key. I know that feeling in your gut after you realize what it was so just glad it worked out okay! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Yep it happens. I did something to my wifes horse float a fews ago and never tightened not one, but two wheels on one side. That was messy Nothing died or got injured but I was deeply in the S**T for a few days.
Human error. Fact of life. All we can do is learn from these misadventures and try to adopt procedures to reduce risk. Good thing you aren’t one of those who advocate using anti seize on lug threads (I’m not one). May have been worse. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I lost a wheel on the highway once, after I let Walmart rotate the tires on my suv. It’s very disconcerting seeing your wheel roll pass you on the highway a couple hundred feet. Fortunately damage to my suv was minimal (I was actually towing a small trailer at the time, which may have helped balance my truck on 3 wheels), and the wheel didn’t hit any other vehicles.
you got lucky! I learned long ago to put a; "Lug bolts loose" sign on the drivers window. Don't ask me how I learned this lesson............................ Craig
The OP is lucky for sure! Many moons ago I was driving along I695 that circles Baltimore. As above, the right front tire came loose and rolled off on to the shoulder. It was a company car, well, not so much a company car as it was... my marked police car. Very embarrassing! The county shop that had just performed maintenance on the car forgot to tighten the lug nuts. When I work on my car wheels/tires I put a small piece of painters tape on each lug nut as i torque it down in case I get distracted and have to leave mid-task. OCD I guess. Image Unavailable, Please Login
There was a fella who broke out of jail in the South somewhere. He stole a car and took off. While driving the right front wheel came off causing the vehicle to come to an abrupt halt. The arriving police officer heard the convict say while looking at the wheel as the police officer pulled up "you picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel"!!!
First, Glad you are safe. Second, this isn't big deal and we have all done this, something equally silly, or had something similar happen. I had a shop replace the rear A-arm bushings and they didn't tighten one of the bolts (not my Ferrari). I lost that suspension at 40 MPH on Van Ness (San Francisco) in the middle of traffic. Really not sure how I didn't hit anything OR how I found a parking spot right then and managed to pull over.
Wally, I have some extra mint lugs if needed if yours got scratched/beat up. Swing by and pick them up for free if needed. Cheers, Mat
Yup, like the remove before flight banners on aircraft. I have for on my tender cable on my steering wheel because I forgot it 2x this summer with the long roll out procedure at home. Ramps, cover, tender and so on. Glad you are safe and the wheel stayed on.
I'm so anal with checking mine, I probably check them 3 times each if rotating tires, etc..I worry about this very thing happening to me/my wife. Things happen though, we're all human, this time you got lucky with minimal to no damage.
A shop forgot to torque the driveshaft bolts after doing a clutch replacement on a buddy’s 599. The bolts backed out just about when he arrived home. Lots of noise as they dropped out! We theorized that the tech hand-started and got them snug, got distracted, and when he returned to the task, thought he already torqued them. The shop made good on everything, but it was scary. Glad to hear nothing bad happened to the OP. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
A mechanic of mine uses a chalk/wax piece to mark EVERY torqued nut and bolt...makes him comfy....but maybe use tape unless you want have to wash the wheels after!!
