<VV> Fuel Leak - Now Lug Nuts, etc.

[FrankDuVal]

I have seen two cars loose a wheel due to loose lug nuts. One was a 
front driver's wheel on a early 90s Park Avenue. Mechanic forgot to 
tighten lug nuts after mounting wheel. Got a few blocks. Not just not 
torqued, just started the nuts on the studs, got distracted, customer 
picked car up.  Being the guy who repaired the car, I did not laugh at 
my friend or his customer. Lucky, as within a year, I did the same thing 
on an Acura with aftermarket chrome wheels. Went around the block to 
test drive, made only two turns going around the block, front wheel 
left, car dropped, wheel missed hitting several parked cars. I walked 
back to shop to get lug wrench and jack.... Did I mention it was a $600 
wheel? Lower ball joint punctured the rim as it left the car. No body 
damage to car this time. Did replace grease fitting on ball joint.

Frank DuVal


On 9/29/2018 5:39 PM, Hugo Miller via VirtualVairs wrote:
> Just a final riposte to close this discussion – those lugs nuts were loose enough before I bought the car that the previous owner had called the AA, who recovered the vehicle and (incorrectly) diagnosed a collapsed wheel bearing. So the lug nuts must have been pretty loose. The lesson I took away from this is that it is actually much more difficult than I would have thought to lose a wheel off a car. In fact, you never see it happen, do you? Another lesson I learned from this discussion is that there is often much more science than one would think behind the simplest bit of engineering design, like attaching a wheel to a car for example. You never stop learning in this business, do you?
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