Yesterday at a rallycross event I lost a wheel. It was my final run for the day and halfway through I just plowed straight into a berm. As soon as I got out and saw the cockeyed front left wheel I figured it was a split control arm, but once it was dragged off the track - accidentally dragging the wheel the rest of the way off which popped off the bumper cover and broke the wager fluid reservoir - it was clear that the studs had stripped off. Just broken.
Im trying to figure out what happened, but I have a sneaking suspicion that when we swapped the wheels on those lugs weren't torqued down enough, so maybe those longer two were nutless and a lateral slide broke the remaining two or three?? But then there is evidence of lug nut material on the bent ones.
Unbelievably after losing a wheel in a race, I was able to drive home shortly afterward.
I sure never expected that!
That's weird, it looks like some broke and others bent & stripped?
I had a coworker who once got sent out of a tire shop with some slightly loose lugs and he said it quickly started making a horrendous clunking noise.
I've only had a set shear at the base, freshly installed extended lugs, but they were suspiciously cheap:
It felt like I had a soft tire while I was driving and you can see at least 2 breaking off and flying out before the hard braking zone causes the wheel to break free completely.
Three were loose, one was tight. The wheel wasn't centered when you tightened the lug nuts down. It was cockeyed, aligned with only one lug nut. When you started driving it, the wheel found its center, so that lug nut stayed tight but the other three were now loose.
Best way to prevent future mishaps is to retorque the lug nuts after the first run.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Could be something like that, numbers are off with 5 lug nuts and all. Apparently the guy I was swapping wheels with doesn't routinely tighten- tighten lug nuts. Sheesh.
Front wheel fell off my tractor (Yanmar diesel) while I was mowing the back 40. Spindle literally snapped in half. Luckily, the hydraulic lift bucket up front was only a few inches off the ground, and easily supported the front of the tractor when the wheel decided to take a hike.
P3PPY said:
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Could be something like that, numbers are off with 5 lug nuts and all. Apparently the guy I was swapping wheels with doesn't routinely tighten- tighten lug nuts. Sheesh.
If nothing else, keeping the torque wrench with you with all the other Grid Stuff and giving then a retorque after a run is a nice safety net against the thrill of arriving 10 minutes before drivers meeting and having to empty the car and swap tires in a huge rush. We've all been there 
I met a very nice Ohio State Patrol officer when I thought of my lug nuts while driving to an event and didn't remember torquing them after putting the suspension together the night before. He held a flashlight for me while I went around the car at the side of I-71. Turns out he autocrossed a WRX in Toledo region.
